Red Pepper Jelly

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Sweet and spicy, Red Pepper Jelly is one seriously delicious multitasker. It’s fantastic with any type of creamy cheese, works wonders as a glaze on salmon or pork, and adds a zesty kick to a sandwich or pizza.

Jars of red pepper jelly on a tray.


 

Need a fabulous party snack with your cocktail? Unwrap a block of plain cream cheese and put it on a nice plate. Then take a jar of this hot pepper jelly and pour it over the cream cheese. Serve it with crackers and a spreader and you’re good to go.

But that’s not all. Spoon it over a pork tenderloin, brush it over salmon, or give a basic grilled cheese a sweet little heat. Or, stash a few jars in your refrigerator just in case you need a quick appetizer or housewarming gift. It’ll disappear fast.

Recipe ingredients

Pepper jelly ingredient shot.

At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.

Ingredient notes

  • Bell peppers: Red bell peppers make red pepper jelly, but you can substitute any color bell pepper. 
  • Habañero chilies: These fiery peppers bring the heat. If you’re a chile novice, use rubber gloves while cutting and seeding them, and don’t touch your eyes or face. Or, for a milder jelly, substitute 2 jalapeño peppers.
  • Pectin: Liquid pectin is sold in boxes with 3-ounce pouches; Ball and Certo are good brands. Don’t rush the boiling step: liquid pectin needs to boil and reach a certain temperature before it does its work. Usually pectin is stocked in the baking aisle of the grocery store, but sometimes you can find it in hardware stores and online (Culinary Hill may earn money if you buy through this link).

Step-by-step instructions

  1. Cut off the stems of the peppers, and remove their seeds, but hold on to the habañero seeds in case you like a spicier jelly. Chop the peppers into rough pieces, then add them to the bowl of a food processor. Quickly pulse the peppers (and habañero seeds, if desired) in the food processor, about 12 to 15 times, until finely minced.
    Bell peppers blended in a food processor.
  2. Then pour out the mixture into a piece of cheesecloth set over a bowl and squeeze out any extra moisture in the peppers. A clean kitchen towel works for this, too. Transfer the peppers to a Dutch oven or (non-reactive) stainless steel pot, then add the vinegar and sugar. Cook over medium heat until fully boiling. Add the pectin, then bring the peppers back to a full boil, stirring frequently.
    Pepper jelly cooking in a saucepan.
  3. Keep boiling and stirring until the temperature reaches 221 degrees, which could take 10 to 15 minutes. Skim off any foam on the surface with a wide spoon.
    Skimming the foam off a pan of pepper jelly.
  4. Once the pepper jelly reaches 221 degrees, spoon the jelly into clean jars with screw-on lids. Allow to cool at room temperature before refrigerating, then let the jelly set up in the fridge for another 12 to 24 hours before using.

Recipe tips and variations

  • Yield: Depending on the size of the peppers, the recipe makes about 5 cups, enough for five 8-ounce jars.
  • Skimming the foam: If you don’t skim off the foam in Step 3, your pepper jelly will migrate to the top of your jar and you’ll have an inch or more of clear, unflavored gelatin at the bottom of the jar.
  • Storage: Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 months. To can, quickly pour hot jelly into hot, sanitized jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Wipe rim and center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight. Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool, and store.
  • Make ahead: Plan on making the jelly at least a day or two before you need it so the pectin has time to thicken.
  • Fun ways to use: Stir a spoonful into mayo for a sandwich. Add a dollop to a cheeseboard. Most importantly, spoon it over a block of cream cheese and eat it with crackers (like on my Midwest charcuterie board).
Pepper jelly spooned over a block of cream cheese.

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Jars of red pepper jelly on a tray.

Red Pepper Jelly

Sweet and spicy, Red Pepper Jelly is one seriously delicious multitasker. It's fantastic with any type of creamy cheese, works wonders as a glaze on salmon or pork, and adds a zesty kick to a sandwich or pizza.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Chill time 12 hours
Total Time 12 hours 25 minutes
Servings 20 servings
Course Pantry
Cuisine American
Calories 206
5 from 152 votes

Ingredients 

  • 3 large red bell peppers stems and seeds removed, coarsely chopped (see note 1)
  • 2 habañero chilies stems removed, seeded and reserved, and coarsely chopped (see note 2)
  • 5 cups granulated sugar
  • 2 cups white vinegar (distilled)
  • 1 (3-ounce) envelope liquid pectin (see note 3)

Instructions 

  • In a food processor, pulse bell peppers, habañeros and habañero seeds (if desired) until finely minced, about 12 to 15 pulses. On a clean kitchen towel or cheesecloth over a bowl, transfer pepper mixture and squeeze to remove excess liquid.
  • In a dutch oven over medium heat, combine pepper mixture, sugar, and vinegar. Bring to a vigorous boil. Add pectin and return to vigorous boil and stir frequently until temperature reads 221 degrees, about 10 to 15 minutes. Skim foam from jelly using a large spoon (see note 5).
  • Transfer mixture to clean jars with tight-fitting lids. Allow to cool, uncovered, to room temperature then cover and refrigerate. Allow jelly to set, about 12 to 24 hours. Jelly can be refrigerated for up to 2 months (or see note 6 for canning instructions).

Recipe Video

Notes

  1. Bell peppers: Red bell peppers make red pepper jelly, but you can substitute any color bell pepper. 
  2. Habañero chilies: These fiery peppers bring the heat. If you’re a chile novice, use rubber gloves while cutting and seeding them, and don’t touch your eyes or face. Or, for a milder jelly, substitute 2 jalapeño peppers.
  3. Pectin: Liquid pectin is sold in boxes with 3-ounce pouches; Ball and Certo are good brands. Don’t rush the boiling step: liquid pectin needs to boil and reach a certain temperature before it does its work. Usually pectin is stocked in the baking aisle of the grocery store, but sometimes you can find it in hardware stores and online.
  4. Yield: Depending on the size of the peppers, the recipe makes about 5 cups, enough for five 8-ounce jars.
  5. Skimming the foam: If you don’t skim off the foam in Step 3, your pepper jelly will migrate to the top of your jar and you’ll have an inch or more of clear, unflavored gelatin at the bottom of the jar.
  6. Storage: Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 months. To can, quickly pour hot jelly into hot, sanitized jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Wipe rim and center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight. Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool, and store.
  7. Make ahead: Plan on making the jelly at least a day or two before you need it so the pectin has time to thicken.
  8. Fun ways to use: Stir a spoonful into mayo for a sandwich. Add a dollop to a cheeseboard. Most importantly, spoon it over a block of cream cheese and eat it with crackers.

Nutrition

Serving: 0.25cupCalories: 206kcalCarbohydrates: 52gProtein: 1gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 2mgPotassium: 55mgFiber: 1gSugar: 51gVitamin A: 780IUVitamin C: 33mgCalcium: 3mgIron: 1mg
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Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.

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Comments

    1. This is actually a very insightful question. The reason I do it is because the jelly won’t set up well as long as you have water in the pot, so I try to remove as much water as possible before adding the sugar, vinegar, and pectin. You could probably NOT squeeze the juice from the peppers, and then you might have to just boil it a little longer. It’s an extra variable that can trip up some cooks, so I think I prefer the added step of squeezing if anybody is up for it. I have an orange marmalade recipe on the site, and you add a ton of water, and ultimately the marmalade won’t set up properly until you boil off all the water. We don’t use vinegar in that recipe obviously, just sugar (no pectin either; the pectin comes from the rinds of the oranges). Anyway, to your point, you probably wouldn’t have to squeeze the liquid out of the peppers. You just might have to adapt a little bit if the recipe has water in it. But I cannot imagine it would even be that much. Thank you Gina! -Meggan

    1. Hi Deb, thank you for your question. I haven’t tried it myself, so I’m not sure it will keep well or weep too much. Sorry about that! – Meggan

  1. I’m about to make this recipe after reading through the comments. For people in Canada, check your liquid pectin package for volume BEFORE going forward. Some comments say Canadan Certo liquid pectin comes in 5.7oz packages but I’m in Canada and my Certo liquid pectin package says 85ml (3oz.) Had I not checked, I’d have assumed it was 5.7oz like those few comments said and doubled the rest of the ingredients which would have ended up with a final result with only half the pectin it needs to properly set. (P.S. Please don’t add my e-mail to any mailing lists.. they always say consent is required as per related spam laws and yet they do it anyways.)

  2. I made this for a get together over the weekend. I served it over some cream cheese with crackers. It looked beautiful and there wasn’t a drop of it left on the board. Thank you!

  3. I made the red pepper jelly recipe and it didn’t set. All of the peppers are near the top of the jar. I used pickling vinegar and processed the jelly. What happened?5 stars

    1. Hi Sheila, I’m so sorry to hear that your jelly didn’t set. It sounds like there was an issue with the gel-setting part of the process, since pickling vinegar should have the proper acidity. Is it possible the mixture didn’t reach 221 degrees, the setting point? If the sugar to pectin ratio is off, it could also cause the jelly not to set. Otherwise, the jelly may have not yet had enough time to properly cool and set, it can take around 24 hours some times since store-bought pectin is used. You can reprocess it by reheating the jelly to temperature, and adding more pectin if needed. I’m so sorry again, Sheila. Take care! – Meggan

  4. Awesome!! I had to substitute the Habanero Peppers with Scotch Bonnet peppers (a close cousin in the pepper family). Still turned out terrific!! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
    Kimberly5 stars

  5. Hi There, the recipe states 3 large peppers but I would like to and rather see that related to how many cups of minced peppers are required. Large is a very vague measurement. Thank you.

    1. Hi Janice, thank you so much for your question! I understand completely, sometimes we’re at the mercy of what’s available in the produce aisle. One large bell pepper should yield about 1 cup coarsely chopped, so about 3 cups total. Please write back and let me know how you like this jelly! Take care! – Meggan

  6. Excellent recipe, easy to follow and seems to have worked out really well (the jars all sealed and look really nice). I did 5 jars using red peppers and habernero peppers and 5 jars using green peppers and jalapeño peppers. This might be a stupid question, but can the liquid squeezed from the peppers be processed with Knox gelatin to make a similar pepper jam?5 stars

    1. Hi Janice, thank you so much for your lovely comment! I don’t see why you couldn’t. I haven’t tested it, though, so I would recommend following a recipe developed for making jelly from juice. Take care! – Meggan

  7. HELP is there an error in the 2 cups of vinegar I am making it now and compared to other recipes it seems too much

    1. Hi Victoria, I hope I’m not too late to help! Yes, it is 2 cups vinegar. The vinegar taste will dissipate some after the jelly is refrigerated. I hope you love it! – Meggan

  8. I made your Red Pepper Jelly. Exactly as laid out in the recipe. Skimmed the foam and still had separation in the jars when cooling. Disappointed. So I did what any guy would. I tipped them over while cooling. Wait! Should I shake them? Well shake one and see what happens. Hmmmmm. That seems to be working. Proceed to shake, turn, invert, invert again to mix the contents of the jar. Long story short: It worked! Thanks, can’t wait to sample the product.

    1. Hi Geffois! Thank you so much for your comment! I hope you love the jelly! – Meggan

  9. Great recipe! I canned mine and it was perfect set up. Will make it a part of my canning repertoire. Thank you!5 stars

    1. You’re so welcome, Robin! I’m glad I could contribute to your repertoire! Thank you so much for your lovely comment. – Meggan

  10. I made this on the weekend. I’ve tried red pepper jelly before and it was very sweet with a bit of a kick from the peppers.
    I found this recipe has a really strong vinegar taste.
    Was that user error, or is that the goal?
    Should it be sweet or vinegar tasting?

    1. Hi Cindy, sorry about that! It should taste a little sweet, a little spicy, and a touch of vinegar. Did you taste it before it set? I’ve found that the vinegar taste dissipates after it’s set in the refrigerator. Also, is it possible you may be sensitive to vinegar tastes? The vinegar is essential for this recipe to set properly and be acidic enough to be canned, so I don’t recommend changing the amount. Sorry about that again. Hope this helps! Take care! – Meggan

  11. I made this , it is delicious . I do have a question , can you use apple cider vinegar instead of white vinegar ?5 stars

    1. I’m so glad you loved it, Brenda Leigh! I haven’t tried swapping it out myself, but I don’t see why not! Take care!

    2. Have made this recipe numerous times and have always used apple cider vinegar.
      Turns out perfect every time.
      Enjoy!

    1. Hi Susan, thank you for the question! I haven’t tried reducing the sugar in this recipe, and it may not work since pectin needs sugar and acid (vinegar) to set, since these vegetables do not contain large amounts of pectin and sugar themselves. There is no-sugar pectin, but I haven’t tested this recipe with it. Sorry about that! – Meggan

  12. This was super easy but if you are in Canada your liquid certo is in a 170ml package which is 5.7oz. so I doubled the peppers and squeezed out every bit of excess fluid from them, doubled vinegar and sugar then follow the recipe exactly as written and it worked out perfectly and I got exactly eight 250ml jars. I have yet to figure out why people complain about a recipe because it doesn’t say something they think it should. The author has clearly stated to use liquid certo. If you want to try something else by all means go ahead but if you have a hard time converting powdered certo or it does not work don’t complain about it! If you follow the recipe as written it is wonderful. :) Thank you! My first attempt was a successs. My only complaint is it doesn’t use more peppers because I still have another 40 more from my garden to go LOL5 stars

    1. Thank you, Lorrie! I appreciate your comment and help with the conversion! :) Hope you are able to find another use for the bounty of peppers you have left. Take care! – Meggan

    1. Hi Mel, the ingredient amounts are listed in the recipe card, towards the bottom of the page. There is a “Jump to Recipe” button at the top of the page, or continue scrolling to see the amounts. Hope this helps! – Meggan

    1. If you are in Canada your package is 170ml or 5.7oz. i doubled the recipe amounts for peppers, vinegar and sugar and made sure to remove ALL the excess liquid and it worked perfectly.

    1. Hi Geri, I haven’t tried to double it myself. Some say that doubling jelly will destroy the pectin. It may double, but I wouldn’t want your jelly ruined. Take care! – Meggan

  13. I made this with red peppers and 3 large jalapeno peppers according to your recipe. It turned out beautifully and was so easy to make.
    It made 7 half-pint jars.
    Thanks, Meggan for all your great recipes.5 stars

    1. Hi Audrey! We tested this recipe twice with a 1.75 ounce package of powdered pectin, adding once in the beginning and once just straight substituting, and it came out runny both times. It could work, but I don’t recommend it. Sorry about that! – Meggan

    2. I had a bonafide culinary chef friend of mine tell me that if you add sugar before powdered pectin it’ll be runny. He said mix the pectin into the mixture very well before you add the sugar, and it won’t be runny. Then he gave me some scientific explanation, which I can’t impart to you because I’ve forgotten, but that’s how I do it and it always comes out well. He recommended I do this with all my jams and jellies.

  14. Edit to my last comment:

    I actually added an extra 2 packets on top of the 3 packets since the author said hers always came out runny, so i attempted to slightly overestimate the amount of knox gelatine to be used by rounding up the amount of packets for the volume of the mixture i had in my pot. Total packets i used was 5 with a total of 500ml extra of water (100ml per packet.)

  15. Not 5* because there was no guidance on using powdered pectin (not even in the comments) and so i figured it out on my own since that was all I had on hand. Flavour still tastes really good though. I used knox powder gelatine with the packet instructions that says to mix 1 packet in 50ml water, add 50ml boiling water and stir, and then follow whatever recipe it’s being used in. It says 1 packet is premeasured to set 500ml of liquid. I prepped 3 packets, expecting it to set the 5-6 250ml jars i was expecting to end up with. After adding that to my boiling mixture, i realized i would need more jars to accomodate for the extra 300ml of liquid from the knox gelatine mixture. After fetching another 2 jars to sanitize, i then assumed i’d need to add another packet because now my total finished volume was increased and if the amount the packet says it will set includes the volume of the packet mixture, then i’d need more gelatine for a higher total volume. Off to fetch one more jar just in case.. I’ll admit it’s my first time using gelatine so that might have been wrong 😂 Anyways, i ended up canning all of it and crossed my fingers. At hour 24, it looked quite runny. At 48hrs, it looked slightly more set but still runny so I put one jar in the fridge. Today is hour 72. The jar in the fridge is jello-y so i stirred it up. Jello-y small chunks but it does still taste good and the texture melts quite smoothly (i’m not even a fan of jello.) The jars on the counter set a bit more and look jiggly and it pulls away from the side of the jar when i tip it but it still holds it’s shape loosely and doesn’t fall apart in a soupy mess. At room temp it looks like it’d be just runny enough to stir it up and use it in a spreadable fashion like in the video and in the images of the original recipe. I think if i pulled my fridged jar out and let it warm up to room temp, it’d be more spreadable like in the vid too.

    Next time i’ll dial it back by one packet and see how that one turns out, but YES, it certainly is possible to do it with powder gelatine. If the author says hers always came out runny, then obviously use more.

    In the end, the flavour is still good and pepper-y and sweet, but i would have liked more pepper material since the extra water thinned out the amount of physical pepper in it. I guess my recipe is going to be different then since next time i’ll be using more peppers to accomodate for the extra water (and my way of making it used powder gelatine makes it different too.) Let’s just say this original recipe was a good starting point. My total yield with the extra water/gelatine mixture: 9x 250ml jars! Haha if you find a way to stretch something with water (and gelatine in this case) and still have it taste delicious then that’s ultimately still a win 😂😎4 stars

  16. I would like to make red pepper jelly and only have the red pepper flakes ,will that work rather the actual jalepeno peppers
    I have my red bell peppers from my garden

    1. Hi Connie, I haven’t tried red pepper flakes instead of the habanero chilies, sorry about that! You can omit the habanero peppers if you wish, or substitute with another pepper. Sorry again! – Meggan

  17. I love this. Just made it for the first time and had zero issues with the recipe.
    I used Jalapeño from the garden and 4 cups of red pepper. Instead of using a towel I used a strainer to drain the liquid from the peppers which I used for a red pepper soup later ☺️
    I used the Bernardin liquid Pectin which worked great.
    I’ll be doing another batch tonight!5 stars

    1. So glad it worked out great and you got to repurpose the liquid! Thanks for sharing Mandi. – Meggan

    1. Hi Patricia, I would not recommend using a crock pot for this recipe. The jelly needs to reach 221 degrees to set, typically crock pots are not used to boil, and you may have trouble controlling the temperature as you would be able to on the stove. If you do try it, please stop back on by and let me know how it went! I hope your jelly doesn’t get ruined. Sorry about that! Thanks – Meggan

  18. With the 3oz of pectin i have a question. The sure jell packs say 1.75 net weight so would I use 1 and just over a half or is it still just 1 package of the surejell? All the jams and jellies I’ve seen say 1 package and not a specific amount so idk I don’t want it to be wrong. Thank you :)

    1. Hi Kelsy, so sorry for the late reply! We tested this recipe twice with a 1.75 ounce package.powdered pectin, adding once in the beginning and once just straight substituting, and it came out runny both times. It could work, but I don’t recommend it. Sorry about that! – Meggan

    1. Hi there Linda, so sorry for the late reply! We tested this recipe twice with a 1.75 ounce package.powdered pectin, adding once in the beginning and once just straight substituting, and it came out runny both times. It could work, but I don’t recommend it. Sorry about that! – Meggan

  19. My sister made some of this and I got to try it loved it so I’m going to make some for the first time hope all goes well and thank you

  20. I adapted the recipe with red jalapeños and red Serrano peppers. Turned out great. I deseeded the peppers before cooking and used immersion blender in the cook pot to reduce the cleanup5 stars

  21. This looks and sounds delicious. I’m going to get the ingredients and make some. Thank you so very much.5 stars

  22. I am diabetic and looking for a no sugar recipe for red pepper jelly. Could this be made using Splenda?

    1. Hi Claudia, I haven’t tried making it with Splenda, so I’m not sure if this recipe will work and I haven’t tested it using no-sugar pectin. I’m so sorry! – meggan

  23. I’m collecting recipes for my granddaughter, she will have my recipes and others . I’m going to give the book when she is older as she is only 10.😀5 stars