These simple pickles are spicy and delicious! We always love adding lots of fresh sliced Jalapeños from the garden to transform cucumbers into spicy pickles!
Jalapeño Pickles Recipe
- 10-20 Cucumbers (about 6 pounds)
- 6+ Jalapenos, sliced (or any hot peppers!)
- 6 cups (500 mL) white vinegar
- 6 cups (500 mL) water
- 5 tablespoons (25 mL) pickling salt
- 6 heads fresh dill or 8 teaspoons dill seeds (20 mL)
- 6+ small cloves garlic
- Several fresh leaves from Grape, Raspberry, Blackberry or Horseradish leaves (all of these leaves have natural tannins to help keep pickles crispy!)
- 6 - Quart-sized Jars, cleaned + lids and rings
Combine vinegar, water, and salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon of sugar if desired, no sugar is needed, but can be added to enhance flavor if desired.
Bring your canning pot to a boil as well and disinfect the jars.
Meanwhile, cut a thin slice from the ends of each cucumber. You can keep them whole or slice, or cut into spears. Remove hot jars from canner, then add sliced jalapeños, a couple garlic cloves, a grape/raspberry/blackberry/horseradish leaf*, and fresh dill to each jar (dill flower heads work great – select dill flower heads that have finished blooming and are setting seeds).
Then add cucumbers and stuff as full as you can get while leaving a little room at the top of the jar. Pour boiling vinegar mixture over cucumbers to within 1/2 inch of the rim. Clean the lip of the jars with a damp cloth, place new lids on and screw on the rings, and return to the canner and boil/process for 10 minutes for pint jars or 15 minutes for quart jars (adjust time for altitude). Remove from water bath, let cool, and store for up to a year. Enjoy!
*Crispier Pickle Tip:
Using Grape/Raspberry/Blackberry/Horseradish leaves are good for crispier pickles because they have natural tannins to keep your pickles crispy. For even crispier dill pickles, soak the cucumbers in ice water bath for minimum of two hours (max 8 hours) before processing them. This will help them to always come out crispy, even if the cukes are harvested from the garden gradually over a period of 1-2 weeks and stored in fridge until there are enough to make a big batch of pickles.
Enjoy your spicy pickles!
Were you looking to make Pickled Jalapenos?
Try this delicious pickled jalapeno recipe to use up a ton of jalapenos for crunchy, spicy treats that go great on everything from sandwiches to a bowl of chile.
Happy pickling!
