Pickled serrano peppers are easy to make, great for extending your peppers' shelf life, and a delicious topping for walking taco casserole, smoked burgers, and more. Bookmark this pickled serrano pepper recipe so you always have a spicy, pickly topping on hand for all your favorite foods.
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We love pickles around these parts, from torshi (Assyrian pickled vegetables) to refrigerator dill pickles and even pickled mustard seeds. We'll pickle just about anything! Pickled serranos are a lot like your classic pickled jalapeños, but spicier.
They only take about 10 minutes of work, but the best thing about this pickled serrano pepper recipe is that they taste good on everything.
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🔖 Ingredients & Substitutions
- Serrano peppers: Some batches are spicier than others, so you may want to give them a taste test first.
- Vinegar: I like to use distilled white vinegar, but you could also use apple cider vinegar or rice wine vinegar.
- Alum: Optional, but it helps keep the peppers crunchy over time.
- Dill seeds: You can substitute with coriander seeds.
- Mustard seeds: Optional.
- Garlic: Fresh is the way to go for this recipe. Feel free to increase the amount.
- Shallot: You can omit or substitute with red onion or yellow onion.
*See recipe card for full list of ingredients.
🌶️ How To Make Pickled Serrano Peppers
Step 1: In a small saucepan, combine water, vinegar, salt, sugar, alum, mustard seeds, peppercorns, and dill seeds. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until salt and sugar dissolve. Remove from heat.
Step 2: Slice serrano peppers to the desired thickness and transfer them to a sterilized mason jar. Add thinly sliced garlic cloves and shallot.
Pro Tip: Feel free to leave serrano peppers whole or to cut them into halves instead of coins.
Step 3: Pour pickle brine into the jar. If the contents are not fully submerged, you can top it off with additional water. Seal the jar and give it a good shake, then refrigerate for at least 1 hour before consuming. For best results, I recommend pickling for 1-3 days.
🍽️ Serving Suggestions
There are an infinite number of ways to use up your pickled serrano peppers, but here are some suggestions:
Sprinkle them over the top of some Irish nachos, carne asada fries, a Mexican rice bowl, or this elote dip recipe.
Add them to a carne asada quesadilla, tacos de adobada, a hot honey chicken sandwich, smoked pizza, or Chicago-style hot dogs.
Blend them into this creamy cilantro lime sauce, avocado sauce, or your favorite salad dressing.
You can even repurpose the pickling brine by adding it to Bloody Marys, dill pickle potato salad, keto deviled eggs, and more.
🤷🏻♀️ FAQs
What's the best vinegar for pickled serranos?
Distilled white vinegar is the most common choice because of its clean, sharp flavor. Rice wine vinegar is a good alternative, as is apple cider vinegar, though each will produce a slightly different taste.
Can you add other vegetables to the jar when pickling serranos?
Absolutely. Feel free to add jalapenos, habaneros, carrots, baby corn, string beans, cucumbers, or even sliced broccoli stems!
How soon can I eat pickled serrano peppers?
You can eat them after about an hour of pickling in the brine, but they won't be as flavorful as they would be after 2-3 days. If you're in a hurry and don't mind a softer texture, you can boil the serranos in the brine for 5 minutes to speed things along.
Do pickled serrano peppers become less spicy?
Pickling serranos might make them a bit more tame over time, but only slightly. Removing the seeds and membranes before pickling will reduce the heat more noticeably.
👩🏻🍳 Pro Tips
- Make sure you wash your hands after slicing the serranos! Better yet, you may even want to use gloves so you don't get pepper juice in any microcuts on your hands.
- This recipe yields 16oz of pickled serranos and requires about 10 serranos. If you're trying to use up a larger quantity of peppers, you can double, triple, or even quadruple the batch.
- Refrigerate pickled serrano peppers in a sealed glass mason jar or airtight container (glass is best).
- If you want to extend their shelf life, give them as a gift, or store them in the pantry, you can follow the method used in this guide on how to can salsa.
🥒 More Delicious Pickle Recipes
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📖 Recipe
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Pickled Serrano Peppers (Small Batch)
Ingredients
Method
- In a small saucepan, combine water, vinegar, salt, sugar, alum, mustard seeds, peppercorns, and dill seeds. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until salt and sugar dissolve. Remove from heat.
- Slice serrano peppers to the desired thickness and transfer them to a sterilized mason jar. Add thinly sliced garlic cloves and shallot.
- Pour pickle brine into the jar. If the contents are not fully submerged, you can top it off with additional water. Seal the jar and give it a good shake, then refrigerate at least 1 hour before consuming. For best results, I recommend pickling for 1-3 days.
Nutrition
Notes
- Feel free to leave serrano peppers whole or to cut them into halves instead of coins.
- Make sure you wash your hands after slicing the serranos! Better yet, you may even want to use gloves so you don't get pepper juice in any microcuts on your hands.
- This recipe yields 16oz of pickled serranos and requires about 10 serranos. If you're trying to use up a larger quantity of peppers, you can double, triple, or even quadruple the batch.
- Refrigerate pickled serrano peppers in a sealed glass mason jar or airtight container (glass is best).
- If you want to extend their shelf life, give them as a gift, or store them in the pantry, you can follow the method used in this guide on how to can salsa.
Nena Sterner says
We hope you enjoy this recipe!