Little jars of spicy red pepper jelly – make a nice addition to a cheese or charcuterie tray. They make great little gifts as well.

Making Jelly

We happily grew apples and pears for many years in our little orchard. Naturally, fruit jellies were always on the menu. Fruit jellies are great for spreading on toast or for making a glaze or barbecue sauce for meats. Sometimes we serve a little bit of jelly as an accent to cheese and crackers. That said, wouldn’t it be nice to serve a spicy jelly with cheese?

Harvest Time

We are currently harvesting peppers of all sorts. Red and green sweet peppers, habaneros, scotch bonnets and jalapenos. My oldest just made a hot sauce with his spicy peppers – right after I cleaned up the kitchen after canning a batch of island grown blueberry jam. It’s preserving season!

With all those peppers to harvest we thought why not a spicy red pepper jelly? Not to mention – fresh bell peppers are even on sale at our local grocery stores. How often is anything in the grocery stores well priced these days?

Spicy Red Pepper Jelly

This recipe uses 2 packages of Liquid Certo Pectin and 6 cups of sugar – so it’s very firm and sweet. A little bit of chopped jalapeno and a sprinkling of dried pepper flakes adds some nice heat to contrast with the sweetness. 

Small Mason Jars

Ideally, make this jelly using the smallest mason jars – 125ml if you have them. You don’t need a lot of spicy jelly in any particular serving – just a dab, and these little jars are great for a quick gift when dropping in on the neighbours.

Don’t worry, there’s a printable recipe card at the bottom of this page.

Red Pepper Jelly Ingredients

• 2 cups chopped sweet bell peppers – I used 2 red and one yellow, discarding the centre, seeds and core
• 1 jalapeno pepper chopped – I left the seeds in but discarded the top
• 2 cups apple cider vinegar
• 6 cups granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp chili pepper flakes – this is spicy!
• 2 pouches Certo liquid pectin – that’s right – liquid Certo – not the powder

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Canning & Preserving: Jams, Jellies, Salsas, Sauces, Pickles

Red Pepper Jelly Directions:

• Sterilize jars and ring tops, by boiling in hot water for 10 full minutes. This recipe calls for 12 125ml jars, but I produced a few more – 7 125ml and 3 250ml – so the equivalent of 13 125 ml jars – I always get a few extra jars and lids ready just in case!

• Set the rings and jars aside to drain.

• Turn the heat off but keep the water ready to warm the snap disc seal tops when ready.

• Puree peppers and vinegar in blender.

• Pour into large stainless steel pot.

• Add chili flakes and sugar, stir and bring to a boil over high heat.

• Stir constantly while boiling for 10 minutes. Watch out – it will foam up quite a bit, so keep on stirring and turn heat down a touch to keep it under control but still boiling.

• Add two pouches of Certo Pectin.

• Boil for one more full minute while stirring constantly, then turn off heat.

• This jelly recipe does not usually produce a foamy layer – if it does – skim off and discard the foam.

• Ladle the jelly into sterilized jars. I found that using the ladle helps the pepper flakes to be evenly distributed across the jars. It’s important to do this fairly quickly  before the jelly starts to set. 

• Wipe down the jar tops. Heat the sealing discs in the water, then apply to the top of the jar. Screw the bands over the jar – to fingertip tight.

• Place the jars in the hot water to can, making sure they are covered by one inch of water.

• Bring water to a full rolling boil. Boil for 10 full minutes. Turn off heat.

• Remove from water – keeping upright after 5 minutes. (at higher altitudes – boil for 15 minutes).Turn off heat.

• After 5 minutes, remove jars (keeping upright) from water. I use some metal kitchen tongs – but I also love my silicone oven mitt for this. It’s waterproof so I don’t burn myself.

• Leave the jars alone to cool. You will gradually hear them pop as the discs seal and curve inwards. Once the jars are fully cooled you can wipe them off and store them in a cool dark place. Jars that are not properly canned should be refrigerated.

My cellar is starting to fill up with this year’s pickles, jams and preserves – and I’d better clean up my kitchen again! Perhaps we’ll take it easy for a bit before it’s time to pick tomatoes.

Below is a printable recipe card from RecipesGenerator. Please give it a try!

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