Name: Pickled Banana Peppers
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 2 min
Total time: 17 min
Cuisine: Pickles
Ingredients: 5 to 6 medium banana peppers; 2 garlic cloves; 1/2 cup white vinegar; 1/2 cup water; 1 tablespoon granulated sugar; 2 teaspoons kosher salt; 1 tablespoon black peppercorns; 1 bay leaf

This pickled banana peppers recipe is so quick and easy to make! The tangy flavor is great for salads, sandwiches, and more.

Got banana peppers? Here’s a fantastic way to use them: Pickled Banana Peppers! The other day a friend dropped off a huge bag of banana peppers from the garden. Turns out, this mild pepper is absolutely perfect for pickling. The tangy, garlicky flavor that results is absolutely irresistible! Use these bright yellow slices like a mild form of pepperoncini: in salads, on sandwiches, on chili, and more!

What you need for a pickled banana peppers recipe

Want to make a jar of pickled banana peppers? All you need are 5 to 6 large peppers. This recipe is best if you’re trying to use up garden produce, but of course it also works with store-bought peppers. The banana peppers from our friend were a bit of a surprise, so we weren’t quite sure how to use them up. Luckily pickles are fast and easy to make and save well for meals to come.

These pickled banana peppers are quick pickles or refrigerator pickles, which are stored in the refrigerator. While they’re not shelf-stable, they are very easy to make and don’t require any canning equipment! Here’s what you’ll need for this recipe:

1 wide-mouth pint canning jar
Banana peppers
White vinegar
Sugar
Salt
Peppercorns
Bay leaf

Are banana peppers spicy?

It depends on the variety. There are two varieties of banana peppers: sweet banana peppers and hot banana peppers. The sweet variety is very mild, whereas the hot variety has a medium level of heat, slightly spicier than a jalapeno pepper. Here’s where banana peppers stack up to other peppers in Scoville heat units (SHU), a scientific measurement of spiciness:

Sweet banana pepper: 0 to 500 SHU (No spice)
Jalapeno peppers: 2,500 to 8,000 SHU (Medium hot)
Hot banana peppers: 5,000 to 10,000 SHU (Medium hot)
Serrano peppers: 5,000 to 15,000 SHU (Hot)
Cayenne: 90,000 SHU (Very hot)
Habanero: 100,000 to 350,000 SHU (Extremely hot)
Ghost pepper: 1,041,427 SHU (Outrageously hot)

How to make pickled banana peppers

It’s fast and easy to make pickled banana peppers: in fact, once you’ve got them in the jar you only have to wait 1 hour before digging in! Here are the basic steps to how to make pickled banana peppers (or jump right to the recipe):

Thinly slice the banana peppers: Place them in a wide-mouth pint jar.
Bring the brine ingredients to a boil: Place the white vinegar, water, sugar, salt, peppercorns, bay leaf and peeled quartered garlic clove in a pot and bring to a boil (see the recipe below for the exact quantities).
Pour in the jar and wait until it cools (about 1 hour). You can eat immediately, or store in the refrigerator.

Storage info

How long do pickled banana peppers last? You can store the pickles refrigerated for up to 1 month. Of course, you’ll probably eat them quicker than that!

Ways to use pickled banana peppers

Of course, pickled banana peppers are best sneaked right out of the jar! But they’re great for incorporating in recipes as well. Think of them like a mild version of a pepperoncini (they even look similar). You’ve got all the tangy flavor without the heat, which is a great substitute for kids or people who don’t love spicy foods. Here are some ways to eat pickled banana peppers:

Add to salads, like this Chopped Salad or Tossed Salad (in place of the pepperoncini)
Throw in a pasta salad like Antipasto Salad or Easy Tortellini Salad
Use in sandwiches, like Rainbow Vegetable Sandwich or Chickpea Salad Sandwich
Add to a Bloody Mary, like Classic Bloody Mary or a Caesar
Serve on a cheese plate or charcuterie board

How do you plan to serve your pickled banana peppers? Did you use homegrown or store-bought? Let us know in the comments below.

More pickle recipes

Got a vegetable? You can pickle it. There are infinite recipes and variations on the theme. Here are some pickle recipes you might enjoy:

Try Easy Pickled Carrots, Pickled Green Beans, Dilly Beans or Pickled Peppers
Go classic with Dill Pickles
Grab Pickled Cauliflower or a mix of Quick Pickled Vegetables
Opt for Pickled Jalapeños or seasonal Pickled Green Tomatoes
Try bright pink Quick Pickled Radishes or Quick Pickled Onions

This pickled banana peppers recipe is…

Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.