11 Ways To Use The Jalapeño Peppers From Your Garden
Jalapeño peppers are one of the easiest and most fruitful vegetables you can grow in a garden. These spicy peppers are usually quite resilient, and one plant can deliver dozens of peppers after a few months of growth. The only problem is these peppers pack a lot of heat, so one pepper can go a long way. This means you will likely be left wondering what to do with all your leftover jalapeño peppers before they go bad.
There are many delicious and creative ways to use your leftover jalapeños, including folding them into recipes such as cornbread. You can make jalapeño poppers, or try perfecting a homemade salsa of pico de gallo. Bottle or can spicy pepper relish, or jalapeño-infused oils, or pickle them and give the jars away as gifts. You can mix them into your cocktails, or even freeze them for later use.
Jalapeño peppers can be quite spicy, but that doesn’t mean you need to burn your mouth to use them up. There are tons of unique ways to prepare these peppers to remove some of the heat. There are also ways to preserve them so you can enjoy them weeks or months later. Below is a list of the most delicious ways to use up the leftover jalapeños from your garden.
11 Ways To Use Up Leftover Jalapeño Peppers From Your Garden
1. Spice Up Your Cornbread
One excellent way to use jalapeños is to add them to baked goods like bread. Cornbread is a particularly perfect place to add these spicy peppers. The sweetness of the corn helps to offset some of the spice of the pepper, but you still get the delicious flavor.
Cornbread is a popular side dish in southern cuisine, as well as in Latin American food. These types of food tend to pair well with the earthy and spicy flavor of jalapeños. When adding the peppers to your cornbread batter, make sure you remove the seeds first and slice the peppers thin to keep your bread from being too spicy.
2. Whip Up Fresh Salsa Or Pico De Gallo
When you have a vegetable garden that has peppers and tomatoes, you should try making some fresh salsa or pico de gallo. Salsa is a wonderful dip for tortilla chips, and it can also be added to fish, meat, and poultry dishes to give them some extra zest.
There are many different types of salsa you can make. Some are hearty, while others are thin. You can add citrus and other fruits like mango to make a nice sweet and spicy salsa. If you have never made salsa before, consider first trying a pico de gallo.
Pico de gallo typically has most of the same ingredients as salsas, but you simply need to chop the ingredients and combine them — there is no blending or cooking required.
3. Make Sweet Jalapeño Jelly
If you have lots of leftover jalapeño peppers but don’t love spicy foods, you might think you don’t have any delicious ways to use them up. You will be happy to know, however, that there are several ways to utilize jalapeños without needing to worry about the spice.
Perhaps the best way is to make a sweet jalapeño jelly. To make this jelly, you need to remove all the seeds and any white inner portion of the jalapeño.
Next, you boil them in water, sugar, salt, and other spices. The sugar and spices balance out any heat from the jalapeño, and you are left with a flavorful jam you can enjoy on savory bread. Jalapeño jelly also makes a fantastic gift, which is perfect if you are looking for DIY gift ideas for the holidays.
4. Pickle Your Jalapeños
Jalapeño peppers are a great pickling vegetable. Pickled jalapeños are one of the most common ways to use up jalapeños, as it gives them a distinct taste that many prefer over fresh jalapeños. You can use these pickled peppers in everyday cooking.
They are great on the side during a taco night, sprinkled on top of nachos, and even added to a homemade ceviche. If you have a canning kit, you can make your pickled jalapeños shelf-stable, and they can keep for six months or longer.
5. Create Your Own Poppers
If you like bar food or are a fan of tasty appetizers, then you are probably quite familiar with jalapeño poppers. While the jalapeño poppers you have had from the freezer aisle use processed ingredients, it is possible to make gourmet and fresh jalapeño poppers with fresh ingredients and the leftover jalapeños from your garden.
There are several variations of the classic jalapeño popper, and some are easier to make than others. One simple version involves wrapping bacon around a slice of fresh jalapeño and cheese mixture. You bake these instead of frying them, which makes the cleanup and preparation easier. As long as you add cheese and a bit of crunch, your homemade poppers will be delicious.
6. Invent Your Own Hot Sauce
If you love adding spice to all sorts of foods, consider using the seeds and essence of the jalapeño pepper to make your own delicious and fiery hot sauce. Jalapeños have a distinct and earthy flavor, which means you can create a very flavorful and potent sauce to add to your foods.
There are endless hot sauce recipes online. Pick a recipe you like best and give it a try. There are creamy versions, as well as vinegar-based sauces you can choose from.
7. Mix Up Spicy Cocktails
Do you like spicy margaritas or jalapeño martinis? If so, consider using your fresh jalapeños in your cocktails. You can muddle fresh jalapeños, but if you want a subtle spice in your next drink, consider infusing the liquor.
To infuse tequila or vodka with fresh jalapeños, use one seeded jalapeño for each 750 ml bottle of liquor. The key is time. You should infuse for at least two hours. The longer you infuse the peppers, the spicier the beverage will be.
8. Give Some To Your Neighbors
If you are trying to get your neighbors to like you, one of the best ways to any neighbor’s heart is fresh produce. If you have more jalapeños than you need or can use, see if any of your neighbors want some. You can even include a hand-written recipe card for your favorite salsa or any recipe that includes jalapeños if you want to give this neighborly gift a personal touch.
9. Infuse Cooking Oil
You can infuse oils with all sorts of flavors, including jalapeño pepper. To make a spicy oil, heat olive oil with some dry jalapeño seeds. Remember the more seeds you use, the spicier your oil will be. Furthermore, the longer you allow the seeds to infuse, the spicier the oil will become. Once the oil reaches the spice level that is ideal for your needs, strain out the seeds and enjoy the oil.
10. Freeze Them For Later Use
If you can’t decide what you want to do with your leftover jalapeños, then freeze them until you decide. You can freeze fresh jalapeño peppers for weeks, or even months before they go bad. There is a bit of prep work to do before placing them in a Ziplock bag and then in the freezer.
First, you must remove the seeds, stem, and the insides. You don’t need to cook them, you can place them fresh. Just remember once you freeze them, they will no longer be crisp, but they will still be great added to any baked or fried dish.
11. Make A Spicy Relish
If you like hot dogs or sausages, or love trying new condiments, then you should make spicy relish with your leftover jalapeño peppers. You can use fresh jalapeños to make a relish, but it is usually much better to use freshly picked ones.
You can add pickled juices, citrus juice, and other flavors to jazz up a jalapeño relish. You can place it on burgers, hot dogs, and any protein that needs a bit of added flavor and spice.
Final Notes On How To Use Up Extra Jalapeño Peppers
Jalapeño plants tend to yield dozens of jalapeño peppers in a short period of time. While it is fantastic to have a plant that produces so much, it can be hard to use all these spicy peppers. To help use up your leftover jalapeños, you can make a batch of salsa, pico de gallo, jalapeño relish, or even a sweet and spicy jam. Try adding jalapeños to cornbread or other baked goods, or make your own poppers. If you can’t decide what to do with them, remove the seeds and stems and freeze them.
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Tom Gaffey is an expert writer who currently resides in Washington D.C. Tom has a passion for real estate and home improvement writing, as well as travel and lifestyle writing. He lived the last twelve years in Hawaii where he worked closely with luxury resorts and event planners, mastering his knowledge of aesthetics and luxury products. This is where he found his passion for home improvement and a keen interest in DIY projects. Currently, Tom resides in Washington D.C, and also working on his debut fiction novel.
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