Here’s an old Italian recipe for canning peppers, one of my husband’s favorites. Searching the internet, you’ll come across many variations — all probably good — but here’s a basic recipe to start you on your course. The kids and I canned these using the boiling method, though pressure canners might make the process easier. Not sure how, though, as this was as simple to do as it gets!
Unfortunately, I can’t give you too much direction on amounts. Apparently the Italians are like my mother in the sense they do everything “by taste.” I had my husband on hand to do the honors. Undoubtedly you’ll find your own guinea pig!
Now comes the fun part. First you cut your peppers and remove the seeds. The seeds are the hottest part and will overpower the flavor of your peppers. To begin, remove stems from your peppers and then cut them to desired thickness. I cut mine into about 1/4″ rings. Next, you must dry your peppers as well as you possibly can. Lay them out in a dish and liberally sprinkle table salt over the peppers. Best to remove as many seeds during this process as you can, then let them sit in salt for at least 3 1/2 hours. We let ours sit overnight.
This will dehydrate the peppers, leaving your dish full (relatively speaking) of water. Before draining the water, rinse the peppers thoroughly in water to remove any remaining salt. To drain, leave peppers in a colander. We pressed ours with a heavy weight to be sure the water drained out as much as possible.
Once drained, add oregano, garlic powder and canola oil to taste. Mix well.
Cold-pack the peppers in canning jars and be sure to follow manufacturer’s directions for safe and healthy canning procedures. We boiled water in a large pot, making sure there was at least an inch of water over and above the height of our jars. Also, place a wire rack on bottom of pot, setting jars on top. This allows for water to circulate beneath the jars for complete heating.
While water is heating up, keep your jars and lids warm (helps to avoid glass breakage when full jars are submerged in boiling water). The blue gadget is a funnel to make filling your jars easier. This one came in a kit I found at my local grocery store. Also, when filling, you may need to add more oil to completely cover peppers — but don’t overfill. You must leave room for expansion as food heats, so follow directions per your recipe. We left 1/2 inch of space at the top of ours.
Boiling time depends on what you’re canning and how large your jar is, so boil according to instructions. In our case, we used small jars and boiled for approximately 10 – 15 minutes.
Serve with fresh from the bakery Italian bread — or home-baked, if you’re the industrious sort. We enjoy ours on pizza.
- Large basket full of Hungarian Wax peppers
- Table salt
- Canola oil
- Oregano
- Garlic powder
- Remove the stems and seeds, then cut your peppers to about ¼” thick rings. The seeds are the hottest part and will overpower the flavor of your peppers.
- Next, you must dry your peppers as well as you possibly can. Lay them out in a dish and liberally sprinkle table salt over the peppers, then let them sit in salt for at least 3½ hours. We let ours sit overnight.
- Before draining, rinse the peppers thoroughly in water to remove any remaining salt. To drain, leave peppers in a colander.
- Once drained, add oregano, garlic powder and canola oil to taste. Mix well.
- Cold-pack the peppers in canning jars and be sure to follow manufacturer's directions for safe and healthy canning procedures.
- Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Make sure the water level will be at least an inch over and above the height of your jars. Also, place a wire rack on bottom of pot, setting jars on top. This allows for water to circulate beneath the jars for complete heating.
- While water is heating up, keep your jars and lids warm (helps to avoid glass breakage when full jars are submerged in boiling water). When filling, you may need to add more oil to completely cover peppers -- but don't overfill. You must leave room for expansion as food heats, so follow directions per your recipe. We left ½ inch of space at the top of ours.
- Boiling time depends on what you're canning and how large your jar is, so boil according to instructions. In our case, we used small jars and boiled for approximately 10 - 15 minutes.
- Serve with fresh from the bakery Italian bread -- or home-baked, if you're the industrious sort. Enjoy!
- Note: Best to refrigerate and consume within 2 - 3 days. For long term storage, low acidic foods (vegetables) should be canned via the pressure canner. Higher acidic foods (fruits and pickled vegetables) may be safely canned and stored using this boiling method.
Hi. I’m curious about how safe this recipe is. I love hot peppers in oil but everywhere I read they say they’re not safe. How long have you been canning them this way? Has anyone kept these on their shelves for a year and still able to use?
We’ve canned this way for several years now, though most of our peppers are consumed within six months or so. We’ve never had a problem and I expect could eat them through the year’s time. I believe this is more of an old-fashioned way to can, as opposed to using a pressure cooker. 🙂
I grew Hungarian Wax Peppers this year, hot and sweet. I came across your recipe, it didn’t state any measurement for the ingredients. This is the first recipe that I liked.
Unfortunately, the amount varies from person-to-person. Just use the ingredients according to your taste buds and I don’t think you can go wrong. We love them–on bread, pizza or straight out of the jar!
I would recommend NOT using canola oil. It is HIGHLY inflammatory to the body, as are ALL, highly processed vegetable oils.
Why not use a good, cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil instead…after all, it IS an Italian recipe…😁
This looks so good but if you can’t put measurements what’s the point of even posting it.