Hot Pepper Jelly Recipe for Canning Step by Step

Welcome back to the kitchen, friends! Today we’re making a hot pepper jelly recipe for canning. You may have heard it called green pepper jelly or jalapeno jam. All of those are in the same family as today’s recipe.

For those of you who have never heard of or tasted hot pepper jelly, you’re in for a treat! It’s a Southern specialty, hailing from the great state of Texas; a sweet & deliciously spicy jam made with bell peppers and hot as the blazes jalapenos. If you’re not a fan of sweet and spicy that’s okay-for this recipe you can control the level of heat to make it as mild or hot as you please!

If you’ve never made jelly or canned before, no worries. We’re going to walk through each part step by step, complete with pictures. Making this recipe is easy as can be and if you can boil a potato, you can water bath can!

First though, is it Jelly or Jam?

Technically this is a JAM recipe, not jelly. According to this Farm Market site “Jelly is made with strained fruit juice. There are no pieces of fruit in jelly. Jam is made with mashed fruit. Preserves have whole fruit or large pieces of fruit.”

But since no one I know asks for Pepper Jam, we’re calling it Pepper Jelly here.

Here’s why you’ll love this recipe:

• It’s a great beginner recipe for making jelly or jam
• You can make it giftable with cute labels and ribbon
• It’s a great way to use up a garden harvest of jalapenos and bell peppers
• It’s a yummy appetizer with cream cheese and crackers
• Makes a great intro to canning jelly
• The pride you get when you hand someone a jar and you say “I made this!” (but for real-the accomplished feeling you get from making & canning your own jelly is amazing!)

Here’s what you’ll need to make this Hot Pepper Jelly recipe for canning

There are a variety of ways to make pepper jellies-almost all use a combination of bell peppers and jalapenos, though the amounts and colors vary.

The ingredients are basic:

• 1-2 bell peppers: I like to use green, but green or red is fine for this
• 6-10 jalapenos: I prefer smooth and green to keep the heat level down, but I have made it with both red and green
• salt
• sugar (white granulated)
• white vinegar: some recipes suggest either apple cider or regular vinegar. I’ve only used white so that’s what we’re going with here.
• butter (I used salted)
• Certo liquid pectin

Note: For this recipe, I have not tested it with powdered pectin, so I can’t be sure of the instructions. I wouldn’t sub it in this recipe unless you’re familiar with the method.

What equipment do I need?

Must haves: Knife, mesh sieve, a large stock pot to make the jelly in (5-6 quarts), canning jars, lids and rings, jar funnel, jar remover and magnetic lid tools, and a canner. For the canner, I just use my largest stock pot with a canning rack or you could also use a metal trivet in the bottom.

Nice to have: A food processor is a must-have for me, but if you don’t have one, you can finely chop the peppers with a good knife. A vegetable corer isn’t necessary but it’s helpful for removing seeds.

This is my basic kitchen set up when I’m canning and making jelly. It’s helpful to have everything organized and ready to go before I start cooking.

What size jars to use?

I like to use a mixture of different size jars for making jellies. This recipe makes about 5 half pint jelly jars. For myself, I know I’ll want a large jar, so I’ll use a pint jar (16 oz.) for myself, then use half pint (8 oz.) and quarter pint (4 oz.) jars for gifting.

Here are some helpful tips for making the jelly:

• Use gloves when handling the jalapenos. You do not want that burn in your eyes!
• A serrated vegetable corer makes quick work of removing the seeds
• Using a food processor makes this about a thousand times easier than chopping the peppers into fine bits with a knife

How to make jelly more or less spicy

• You can control the heat of the jelly by using more or less seeds from the jalapenos. If you don’t want it spicy at all, you could use all bell peppers and no jalapenos.
• Using seeds in half of the jalapenos will give you a medium-hot jelly.
• For a pretty tame jelly (very little heat), remove the seeds in all but one to two jalapenos.
• The color of jalepenos also makes a difference in the heat level. A smooth green pepper with no white lines or marks will be less hot than a red pepper with lines running down it.
• Check this helpful post from Simply Recipes if you’re unsure about how to pick which jalapeno to use.

Here’s how to make Hot Pepper Jelly for Canning Step by Step

Prep work: Begin with setting aside the tools & jars so that when the jelly is done cooking, you’ll have everything you need ready to go.

• Prepare the canner (I use a large stock pot) about 2/3 way full with hot water, or enough to cover jars. Turn on medium heat. We want a gentle simmer, not boiling. Wash and rinse the jelly jars, and place them in the canner. Add the lids (not necessary to add the rings). These will be sterilizing while we make the jelly.
• Set aside the lid remover tool, and the jar remover tool. If using a lifting rack, have it set aside, along with a clean kitchen towel and clean washcloth. I use either a kitchen towel or a wooden cutting board to place the jars on while they’re cooling.

Chop

• Put on some rubber gloves!
• Cut off the stem of the jalapeno peppers and use a vegetable corer to remove the inside and seeds. Or, cut the stem off and then cut the peppers in half, and de-seed. For a spicier jelly, leave more seeds.
• Cut the bell peppers into long slices, removing the seeds & stems as you go.
• Use a food processor to finely chop the peppers. If you aren’t using a food processor, grab your knife and chop the peppers as finely as you can.
• Add mixture to a fine sieve and squeeze out as much of the liquid as possible. Discard the extra liquid.

Cooking

• Add the minced peppers to the large pot that you’ll use for the jelly.
• Add the sugar, salt, vinegar, butter, and stir together. Turn on to medium high heat and bring to a boil.
• Once boiling, set a timer for 10 minutes. Continue to stir mixture periodically.
• After 10 minutes, add the package of Certo, bring back to a full rolling boil (that cannot be stirred down), and continue to boil for 1 minute.
• Remove from heat and skim off any foam that may be on top (if you’ve used butter, there will probably not be any foaming to remove).

Filling the Jars

• Remove the jars from the canner and put them on the towel you set aside. Make sure they’re dry before you begin to fill them.
• Using a jar funnel, ladle in the jelly, leaving a 1/4 inch headspace at the top of the jar. Continue until all the jars have been filled.
• Dampen the clean washcloth and wipe the rim and edge of the jars to make sure no excess jelly is sticking (this will prevent a good seal).

• Remove the lids from the canner and place on the clean jars. Tighten the rings only finger-tip tight (tight enough that you could tighten the band 1/4 to 1/2 inch tighter). I do this by tightening and them turning them back 1/4 inch.
• Bring the water in the canner to a low boil, and add jars to the rack.

Canning

• Lower the rack into the water. Make sure the water covers the jars by at least an inch.
• Once the water is at a low rolling boil, begin timing for 10 minutes.
• After 10 minutes, turn off the heat and lift the rack. Let the jars rest for about 5 minutes and then remove the jars on to a towel or a wooden cutting board to cool. As they cool, you will start to hear a popping sound as the jar lids seal in place.
• Let these cool and set for 24 hours.

How to serve Hot Pepper Jelly

Our favorite and the most common way to serve hot pepper jelly is atop a club cracker, smeared with cream cheese. Other ways include as a condiment on any sandwich or wrap, make a sauce for meats, or add it to your next charcuterie board.

Troubleshooting:

My hot pepper jelly didn’t set up

I’ve heard this several times from people who’ve attempted to make pepper jelly. Without knowing their exact recipe and watching what they did, it’s impossible to know what went wrong.

I can say that I’ve made this exact jelly recipe lots of times and never had a failure with it.

Here are some practices that make sure my jelly sets every time:

• Strain the extra juice off of the peppers after chopping them in the food processor. I never skip this part! The exact amount of the peppers doesn’t matter as much as the amount of liquid in the pot.
• Use exact measurements for pouring the vinegar.
• Make sure your mixture is at a rolling boil (meaning it can’t be stirred down) for 10 minutes, and then after adding the pectin return it to a full rolling boil and then start the 1 minute timer.

If you haven’t canned before, be sure to check out this post from Ball Canning. 

My favorite book on canning is You Can Can from Better Homes and Gardens.

Try out these other Southern Specialties: Louisiana Crawfish Pie, Mississippi Chicken, and Alabama Tomato Zucchini Pie