4 Easy Ways to Preserve Peppers

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Garden season is a great time to take advantage of the abundance of fresh vegetables for preserving, and fresh peppers are no exception. The great thing about peppers is that they can be preserved without canning. Today, we will talk about 3 easy ways to preserve peppers.

If you grow your own peppers, great! If not, no problem. Not everyone chooses to grow a garden or possibly doesn’t have the time or space. Peppers can be purchased at the local farmers market or even the grocery store.

This year, I really thought I was going to have no peppers. However, I have been purchasing them at my local farmers market to cook with and can my homemade cabbage beef soup.

I had planted them on time, and the plants were healthy-looking, but there were no peppers. I’m honestly not sure what happened. 

Finally near the end of the season, my plants all of a sudden began producing.  So I’m very excited I have enough peppers to preserve for winter enjoyment.

RELATED: Looking for easy ways to preserve your garden’s bounty? This Ultimate Food Preservation Guide has all the answers you need to freeze, can, or dehydrate your favorite foods.

4 Ways to Preserve Peppers

Freezing Peppers

One of the more simple ways to preserve peppers is by freezing them. It’s quick, easy, and my favorite. Peppers are one of the few foods that can be preserved without blanching, too. Another good thing is that peppers don’t lose their crunchiness when frozen, either.

Frozen peppers can be used just as if they were fresh.  Use them in soups, casseroles and other dishes.  I put them into the freezer in slices and if a recipe calls for “chopped” peppers, then it’s easy to chop a frozen pepper that is partially thawed.

Thick-skinned peppers such as bell peppers and habaneros are best for freezing.

• See how to freeze peppers step by step.

Another great way to preserve hot peppers is to air-dry or dehydrate them. This will preserve the flavor and quite simple can be easily done 2 different ways.  I’ve tried both and honestly, I don’t prefer one over the other.

It really depends on timing and how quickly do you want to get them into air tight containers and move on.

Drying on a String:   

The best peppers for drying are thin skinned peppers such as Poblano’s ad Cayenne. Of course there are many others too.

Of course, this process is much slower than dehydrating but works really well if you don’t own one.  Not to mention a string of red peppers can be  quite pretty hanging in the window. (~in my opinion) How to dry peppers on a string…

Instructions:

1 Use a piece of dental floss or nylon thread about 20 inches long (cotton will rot).  Tie a knot or tie a small button on one end of the string.

2 With gloves on, use a needle and poke through the pepper near the stem and gently slide to the end with the knot.

3 Continue this process until all the peppers are on your string.

4 Remove the needle from the string, and tie a loop in the end.

5 Hang peppers in a sunny window or from an herb drying rack for 2-4 weeks until dry.  Peppers will dry slowly and become leathery like and shriveled.

6 Once dried, wearing gloves, snip off knot or button and gently remove peppers from string and store in an air-tight glass container for up to 1 year.

Dehydrating

This process is much quicker than air-drying.  When I dehydrate peppers or any food, I use this Excalibur Dehydrator. 

Instructions: 

1 Place peppers in a single layer on the trays or screens.  Thin peppers can be laid out whole.  If peppers are thick or larger, they will dry better if sliced into smaller pieces.

2 After laying peppers in a single layer, place cover and set temperature to 125 -135 degrees (or per your dehydrator instructions). Depending on the thickness of your peppers, this process can take 4-12 hours.

3 Rotate trays periodically and remove any peppers that may be dry.  Store in an air-tight container.

4 Continue this process until all your peppers are dry.

Fermenting

A fourth way to preserve pepper is by fermenting. It is a simple process done without vinegar, and I will say it is very good for your health.

Instructions: 

1 Dissolve 3 tablespoons of canning salt per quart of water to be used.

2 Remove stems, seeds, and membranes from peppers.

3 Stuff peppers into a pint jar, leaving about 1-2 inches of head space.

4 Pour salt solution (brine) over peppers until completely covered.  Peppers should be continuously submerged in the brine.  If necessary, I like to use fermenting weights to hold peppers down.

5 Cover jar with a lid that allows jar to “breath.”  I use mason plastic lids like these.  You can also purchase fermenting lids if you prefer.

6 Store at room temperature (65-70 degrees is preferred) until they reach the desired taste you prefer.

7 Once finished, put on an airtight lid and store in the refrigerator.

Fermented peppers will store safely for up to 1 year.

So you can see there are various ways to preserve peppers.  Just out of curiosity, I ask Google how many varieties of peppers are there and my answer was a whopping “estimated over 50,000.”   Whew! That’s a lot of peppers.

Since there are so many varieties of peppers, it may take some effort to figure out how or what way to preserve them is best for you. I know there are many, and today, we talked about four ways to preserve peppers.

Do you have a favorite way?

More Canning Recipes

• Easy Sun Dried Tomatoes In A Dehydrator
• Sweet Pickle Relish Recipe for Canning
• The Best Way to Freeze Broccoli

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