If you love Jalapeno Pepper Jelly like I do, stop spending a fortune buying those speciality jars and make it at home. It's so easy to make, takes about 30 minutes, AND you control the spiciness!
I'll never forget the first time I had Jalapeno Pepper Jelly on a cracker with cream cheese. I was in heaven! I had bought my mom a gift basket and there was a jar of it in there. I had no idea what to expect and, honestly, it didn't even sound that good. Boy, was I wrong.
Everytime I ran across a jar, I grabbed it and bought it. They are mostly sold in specialty stores and the price tag can be pretty expensive. They run around $7.00 for 8-10 ounce jar.
I wish I would have thought about making my own way back then, because I would have saved a good amount of money! It might cost around $2.00 to make a batch of my jalapeno jelly, but I'd bet it's less.
Jeff's co-worker gave us pounds and pounds of jalapeno peppers, so, I had to come up with various different uses for them and I decided to try my hand at making my own Jalapeno Pepper Jelly. It's amazing and amazingly easy!
How do I serve Jalapeno Pepper Jelly?
This might come as a shock, but jalapeno pepper jelly is good on almost anything! I'm serious!
My favorite way to serve it is on a cracker with cream cheese. It's a super easy appetizer and is delicious!
Here are some other ideas for using Jalapeno Pepper Jelly
- Brush the Jelly on bacon and wrap the bacon around shrimp for grilling or air crisping
- Glaze chicken or pork chops or even roasted veggies
- Turn the jelly into a dip by combining cream cheese and the jelly
- Mix it in with pulled pork or shredded chicken
- Use it as a glaze for ham
- Make Candied Bacon!
- Use it to make salad dressings or bbq sauces
These are just a few ideas; there are tons more! What would you use your jelly for?
Do I have to make this in the Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooker and Air Crisper?
Absolutely not! I did it that way because I like the deep pot and it's super easy to clean, but you can use any pot on the stove and follow the same directions.
What is the difference between powdered pectin and liquid pectin?
I honestly didn't know the answer to this question, but I was testing out various recipes using both kinds of pectin and sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. It never occured to me that the the type of pectin made that much of a difference, but it does.
I've done a bit of research on this and from what I can tell (besides the obvious that one is powder and one is liquid) is when you add them to your jelly/jams/preserves.
Powdered pectin, like I use in this recipe, is added with the fruit pulp/juice and other ingredients, and then everything is brought to a boil BEFORE the sugar is added. Then the sugar is added and the mixture is brought back up to a boil until it reaches the desired temperature.
Liquid pectin is the reverse. You add the fruit pulp/juice and the other ingredients including the sugar, bring it to a boil and then add the liquid pectin. The mixture is then brought back up to a boil for 1 minute.
I prefer using powdered pectin, but either should work in this recipe as long as you change the order in which you add ingredients.
Can I make Jalapeno Jelly without sugar, or use a sugar substitute?
I have not tried to make Jalapeno Jelly without sugar and I would be cautious if you want to try that because the sweetness of the sugar really balances out the spiciness of the jalapeno peppers. I'm just not so sure how good it will be. BUT, if you love spicy foods you might be able to use the same technique as you do when using a sugar substitute.
Although I have never made any jams, jellies, or preserves using a sugar substitute, I get the question a lot, so, I did some research.
You can use a sugar substitute IF you use a pectin that is specifically for low sugar. I tried to find some so I could test the recipe that way and give exact instructions, but it was nowhere to be found near me.
I was able to locate it on Amazon and have ordered some to give it a go. If you can't find it at your local store, you can buy it HERE: SureJell Low Sugar Pectin. This was the best price I could fine on Amazon, but it is a box of 6. If you aren't planning on making low sugar jams or jellies much, then you might want to really shop around. Walmart should carry it, although mine either doesn't or it was out of stock.
I would use a sugar substitute that is a 1:1 replacement for sugar. If you give this a try, please let me know in the comments how everything goes!
Can I make variations of this Jalapeno Pepper Jelly?
YES! YES! YES! I have been having so much fun playing around with this basic recipe and adding various things.
I have made a Jalapeno Wine Jelly by substituting half of the vinegar with red wine. I think I increased the pectin a tad, but I'm still testing that recipe and will get it out as soon as possible.
I have also made a Jalapeno Mint Jelly that was so amazing! I made it and then ran out of mint, so, as soon as my mint grows, I'll be finishing that recipe and getting it out.
Can I make other types of jelly the same way?
Yes and no. The basic technique is the same, but the ingredients and amount of pectin will vary depending on what type of jelly, jam, preserves, or marmalade you want to make.
Some fruits (jalapeno peppers are in the fruit family) have more pectin than others, and that will determine whether you need to add more pectin or need any pectin at all.
Ripeness of the fruit can make a difference, too. For instance, bananas have a good amount of pectin when they are greenish, but once they ripen and, especially if they are overripe (which is when the flavor is the best for breads and jam), the pectin is reduced. Stay tuned because I have a banana jam recipe coming soon that is soooo good!
So, the answer is... Yes, you can make all sorts of jellies/jams/preserves using the same technique, but you may need to alter ingredients.
I've been doing a lot of jelly, jam, preserves, and even marmalades lately and I love it! Even if you haven't made any before, give it a try! You'll be surprised at at how easy it really is.
Here are some of my other recipes that I've made and they are delicous!
Orange Marmalade uses a pressure cooker to cut down time and doesn't require any pectin.
Strawberry Preserves from Frozen Strawberries is a recipe that I wasn't sure would even work. It works great!
Strawberry Basil Preserves is a post that is actually about canning in the Ninja Foodi, but I have the recipe for Strawberry Basil Preserves in it.
Can I cut this recipe in half or double it?
You can make half a batch very easily by cutting the ingredients in half. I have done this many times and it works perfectly.
I don't recommend doubling it, though. With jams/jellies/preserves it is a better practice to make two batches rather than double a recipe.
What Do I Do if My Jelly Doesn't Set Up?
Making Jams and Jellies is pretty simple, yet sometimes we run into problems with it setting up.
I never had that issue with this recipe, but I have had it with other ones and it's frustrating! There is nothing worse than spending the time to make homemade jelly, chill it, just to open the jar and have sauce instead of jelly.
Each Jelly is a little different depending on the ingredients used and there is a fine line between cooking too little and cooking too much. I have canned jellies in the past and over processed them and that broke down the pectin too much and resulted in liquid jelly.
Here is a good article I found that goes over the common issues with jams/jellies/preserves not setting up and tips for fixing them.
Why your Jam or Jelly Isn't Setting and How to Fix It
I sure hope you don't run into this issue, but if you do don't give up! Follow the tips in the article above and I bet you can salvage your jelly!
How to make Jalapeno Pepper Jelly
Like I said earlier, I used the Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooker & Air Crisper to make this jelly, because I love the appliance and its deep pot. I like the fact that I can adjust the heat to 6 different settings and it's easy to clean!
For more information on the Ninja Foodi, please read my article, How to Use the Ninja Foodi.
If you don't have the Ninja Foodi or an Instant Pot, you can use a large pot on the stove.
I used the Ninja Foodi Cold & Hot Blender to blend up the vinegar and jalapenos, but you can use any high speed blender or food processor. If you see any chunks of the jalapeno after you blend the two, you may want to strain the mixture before adding the pectin.
The first thing you want to do is check the heat level of your jalapenos. This varies quite a bit and by tasting a tiny bit of a few of them, you will get a better idea of how many of them you want to remove the seeds from.
Most of the heat is in the pith (white part, also called veins) and the seeds. I sometimes cut off a tiny bit of the end of a few of the peppers and get a feel for how spicy the pepper is. If you don't want to do that, I've found that a 50/50 split gives a nice heat without being overpowering.
So, cut off the stems from all 10 peppers and remove the seeds and pith from 5 of them for a balanced heat. If you are sensitive to heat, deseed more and if you love spicy, deseed less.
Add the peppers and the vinegar to the Cold & Hot blender and select the extract function. This works great for really pureéing the mixture.
If you are using a different blender or food processor, use the highest blend setting. If you still see chunks of peppers, you can strain the mixture to remove them for a smooth jelly.
Make sure to stand back from the blender/food processor and DO NOT breath in the pepper mixture, it is very potent and can cause a burning sensation to your eyes and lungs and can even make you sick.
Pour the mixture into the inner pot of the Ninja Foodi or into a large saucepan or stockpot on the stove.
Select the sear/sauté on high or turn the stove on high heat, and then add in the pectin. Stir to combine and bring to a boil that cannot be stirred down.
This means that the mixture continues to boil even while you are stirring.
You will see the vibrant green mixture also change color and look more like the color of pea soup. Even if you don't want to add food coloring a little later, don't be too worried about the color. After the sugar is added and it boils, the color lightens up a bit. I've made batches with and without food coloring and they both look fine.
Add in the sugar and stir. Add 3-6 drops of food coloring if desired. Bring the mixture back up to a boil that cannot be stirred down and hold it there for a few minutes. If you have a thermometer, it should read between 220-223℉/104-106℃
Turn the heat off and allow the jelly to cool for a few minutes. Then ladle into jars and place in the fridge to set up.
This makes 4 (8 ounce) jars or 8 (4 ounce) jars. The smaller jars usually set up in 4-8 hours and the larger jars are completely set after about 24 hours.
Jalapeno Pepper Jelly
Ingredients
- 10 jalapeno peppers
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 2½ Tbsp powdered pectin
- 4 cups sugar
- 3-6 drops green food coloring optional
Instructions
- Cut the stems off of the jalapeno peppers and cut them in half. Remove the pith (white part) and seeds from 5 of the peppers and leave the seeds in the other 5 the peppers. Add the vinegar and the peppers to a high speed blender. I used the Ninja Foodi Cold & Hot and selected the extract function to puree the mixture. If you are using a different blender or food processor use the high function and you might need to strain the mixture if you see any chunks of the pepper.
- Pour the mixture into the inner pot of the Ninja Foodi and turn it on high sear/sauté or a large pot on the stove and turn on high. Add in powdered pectin and stir. Bring to a boil that will not stir down. See post for more details.
- Add the sugar and stir. Add food coloring if desired. Bring back to a boil that cannot be stirred down and let it cook for a few minutes. If you are using a thermometer, the temperature should be around 220-223℉/104-106℃
- Turn off the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. Ladle into jars and let it set up in the fridge for 4 hours or until it's set. If you want to try some sooner, put some of the jelly into a shallow container and put it in the freezer until it is set. Enjoy!
Notes
- wear gloves so you don't get the capsium on your hands
- do not breath in the vinegar and jalapeno mixture, keep a little distance until the sugar is added.
- Use the seeds and white part (pith or veins) to add more heat
Nutrition
ABOUT THE RECIPE AUTHOR, LOUISE LONG
Louise is a full-time recipe creator and food blogger @ The Salted Pepper. She has over 30 years of experience with cooking and recipe development. She owned a restaurant for several years and was a full-time RN until retiring to blog full-time.
Louise has several very active Facebook groups that help people with the basics of cooking and getting the most out of the Ninja Foodi.
Ninja Foodi Fresh & Healthy Meals
Seeing the need for easy, delicious, and high quality recipes, she is focusing all of her efforts creating recipes specifically for the Ninja Foodi. Her recipes are easy for the home cook to follow and provide step-by-step instructions.
Louise is also a YouTube creator and you can find most of her recipes in video format on The Salted Pepper YouTube channel.
She is very responsive to messages and eager to help in any way she can.
Erin Yantz
Louise,
I made your jelly and it is awesome. Do you think it would be okay on ice because my sister wants to take a jar home with her. Thank you in advance for your help. We loved it!
Louise
Oh, for sure! It will be fine out of the fridge for several hours even if you don't put it on ice.
Stacey Pledger
Love your recipes!!!! I've been making this jelly for some time, now. My husband pouts if I give a jar away! My sister and niece cut it with bell pepper because they don't like it hot. Great as a spread on ham and swiss sandwiches!!
Louise
I bet it is great on ham and Swiss! I never thought of that, definitely going to try it1
Janet L.
I have never made jam or jelly...I expected it to jell, but the consistency is more like a thick honey. The flavor is way too mild..could my peppers have been too old??
Louise
It should have jelled, like a grape jelly. It's probably a temperature issue and the jelly needed to cook longer. Jalapenos vary in heat and they do mellow out as they age. I usually taste a bit of 1 or 2 so I can determine how many seeds I want to put in.
Diane
Worked perfectly! I did make an adjustment or two though. I like pieces in my jalapeño jelly so I left pieces in there and it turned out gorgeous! I wish I could share a picture as it’s truly a thing of beauty. It also tastes amazing! Thank you for such an easy and wonderful recipe.
Louise
That is wonderful! I bet it's good with chunks of the peppers!
Doug smith
Is this shelf stable, and for how long?
Louise
This isn't a canning recipe, but it is close to a ball approved canning recipe. If you want to can jalapeno pepper jelly, you would need to check out an approved canning recipe and water bath can per their directions.
Christy Laughridge
Are there any ways to fix the jelly if it is too set? Love the flavor but ours set too hard (thick and sticky) and is hard to spread. Maybe too much pectin (halved the recipe and used 1 1/4 TBS of pectin) or overcooked? I used a regular thermometer and by the time i got it in it was already about 10 degrees too hot so i am imagining this is the issue. Is a candy thermometer preferred? Wondering if we could use the jelly in a recipe or thin it out somehow to make it more spreadable?
Louise
I'm sorry that happened! It sounds like it was overcooked a bit. I have never found a candy thermometer that I like, so I use my instant read. Mine reads really fast though. I would try to thin the jelly out with a little water and maybe pop it in the microwave for 15-30 seconds to warm it before serving. This should help with the spreadability. I would only do it as you serve it though because if you thinned out and cooked the whole batch, it might not firm up again and then would be too loose.
Christy Laughridge
Exactly what I was thinking! Thank you for your response! And at least it's still yummy 🙂
Berni Brimmage
Fantastic!!
Louise
I'm so glad you liked it!
Tina
I made this with my home-grown jalapeños. It was fantastic! So far, all your recipes are home-runs in our house! My daughter got a Ninja Foodi and I've shared your recipes with her too. I'm excited to try this recipe with mint. I have an over abundance growing and need to do something with it. Thanks for a great recipe!
Louise
I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
Brigitte
The flavor of this jelly was fantastic, and it was super easy to make! i only had one problem though, for some reason my pectin didn't set up properly and the result was very gummy. any ideas on what happened?
Louise
Did you use powdered pectin? It sounds like the ratio of pectin to liquid might have been off and you had a little too much pectin. I really should have weighed the jalapenos because they vary in size so much!
Susie
Is it possible to hot water bath to seal it? That way I can keep it on the shelf instead of in my fridge?
Louise
I always suggest using canning specific recipes when canning. This recipe is very close to the ball jalapeno canning recipe, but I would reference that recipe for sure. Make sure to process the jars as suggested in the canning recipe.
Janice
I'm not sure what I did wrong, but my jelly didn't set. I followed the recipe exactly, even measuring the temperature with my candy thermometer. Should I have strained it? I just poured it all in the pot because that's what it looked like you did. I've never made pepper jelly and was hoping it would look like real jelly, but it is pretty liquified. Could my pectin not be working?
Louise
That is really interesting because mine set up every time. You don't have to strain it. Have you calibrated your thermometer to make sure it's accurate? Did you use powdered or liquid pectin? I can't imagine that the pectin isn't working, it sounds like it wasn't cooked enough or it was cooked too much. There is definitely a sweet spot for cooking jelly/jams/preserves. You don't have to throw it away though, I would try to save it! Here is a good article that goes over troubleshooting. https://www.homestead-acres.com/how-to-fix-jam-or-jelly-that-didnt-set/
Janice
I figured it out! I watched your video (which I didn't watch in advance and should have) - misread the temperature it should have been - read the celsius as fahrenheit so didn't cook it long enough. But since I canned them in my pressure cooker, they jelled up more as they cooled! They are a little more loose than I would prefer, but still pretty good. Even though I seeded and cleaned 6 jalapenos because I was concerned with the heat factor, but the the jelly is still super HOT. Must be my garden variety. But it is good and I am planning on making some dinners with the jelly as a glaze. I'll try it again seeding more jalapenos next time. Very good and easy recipe!
Louise
Oh fantastic! I'm so glad you figured it out, but sorry that happened in the first place. The next batch will be even better!
Jeff
As if jalapeños weren’t already perfect... now they are perfecter.
Louise
Thank you!
Kirstin M Bowen
I don't know what I did wrong. I have made jelly before and it has always worked. I ladled it into jars and placed in the fridge. The batch turned out rock hard! I am so bummed! I followed the directions and used the candy thermometer. It's almost like I burned it. Any suggestions???
Louise
Have you calibrated your candy thermometer? It definitely sounds like a temperature issue. Or possibly an ingredient change? I've also made this recipe over 10 times and it worked each and every time. You can try to reheat it and add some water. I'm not sure if it will set again though. Sometimes things that we can't even put our finger on cause jams/jellies not to set or set too hard. It happens, but it isn't usually the recipe that causes it if it is a tested recipe and this one definitely has been tested by me and many other people. If you evaluate your process and think it might be your error, it would be really kind of you to remove the 1 star rating because that has a negative impact on me and this recipe with Google. If you find that you think it's the recipe or unclear instructions, I would love to go over that with you and improve the recipe or instructions so that no one else has this issue. I work very hard to make sure my recipes are easily followed so people have great results each and every time, so I'd appreciate the feedback to improve the instructions if that is needed.
Kirstin M Bowen
Thank you for your kind reply. I totally think it was my issue. That is why I asked for help! I appreciate your pointers, and I will recalibrate my candy thermometer. I will also remove the one star rating. It was my cooking that was one star, not your recipe. I apologize, I should have not have given it one star. I will try again when I have a new batch of peppers. I will let you know how it goes!!
Louise
Thank you so much and please keep me posted! I don't think it was your cooking either though, these things happen.
shalei
Can I make the jalapeno jelly with strawberries or mangos along with the jalapenos? If so how much strawberries/ jalapenos would I need and would that change the amount of pectin?
Peggy
I followed the recipe exactly. My mixture was like sludge. What happened. Did I leave too much pith?
Louise
I'm not really sure what could have happened. When you say your mixture was like sludge, do you mean after you blended the peppers?
Peggy
Ok. Here is your laugh for today. I had my husband taste it to see if we wanted to keep it to mix with something. He said "Babe, I like salt but this is so salty I can't eat it." Yep, I grabbed the wrong container. I put in 4 cups od SALT!
shalei Wilkinson
I was wondering if i could use habanero peppers instead and how many peppers I would need.
Louise
I would probably use a mix of peppers instead of all habaneros, but you could use all habanero. It will be hot! You could also use 3/4 habanero and 1/4 green or red peppers. You will need about 1/2 pound of peppers total.
Shalei
Thank you. My dad loves really spicy foods. He dries habaneros and crushed them into a powder to sprinkle on his food.
Debbe
WOW!! This was sooo easy! Your video was fantastic. Of course ALL your recipes are so easy to follow. Like Jayne said ~this is the first jam/jelly I have ever made also & I'm 56. I have always been too intimidated to even try. I hunted up some mason jars: 2 8oz jars, 1 4 oz jar and divided the remainder between 2 regular sized jars as I wasn't sure if filling 1 regular jar would work out ok or not. I was nervous about the heat so I seeded 6 peppers instead of the 5 ~ next time I'll go with 5. I did still have the seeds in my 'trash bowl' so I added some seeds to one of the larger 1/3 filled jars as you mentioned to see if I liked that. Mine are in the fridge now too. I can't wait to try it! Thank you! I'm a member of all your FB groups too. THANKS for all your hard work!
Louise
YAY! I'm so glad you gave it a try! I hope you love the jelly!
Darlene
How long can you keep this in the fridge. Can you freeze the jars
Louise
I don't think I would freeze it, it might liquify. I'm not 100% sure on that, so you might want to check on Google. It will last a very long time in the fridge unopened, I would think 6 months at least. You can also cut the amount in half if you don't think you'd use it all within 6-12 months.
Sheila
Hi Louise, can you use gelatin instead of pectin.
Tia
Louise
I haven't tried that before, so I'm not sure how it would work.
Jayne
Made this today. First jam I have ever made in my life! It’s i. The fridge cooling down now but I did have a little taste. Can’t wait to try it with some nice Camembert and crackers.
Louise
That sounds so good! Enjoy!