I love a tasty spicy pepper jam. It’s one of my favorite breakfast condiments. Sweet, a little spicy—it’s such a good topping for a breakfast sandwich. Pepper jelly can be a pricey splurge in the store or at the farmers’ market. Once I realized how easy it is to make and how few peppers it takes, it just didn’t make sense to keep buying it.

Additionally, while visiting Thailand I got hooked on Mae Ploy sweet chili sauce, yet another sweet and spicy delicious sauce. we use it as a dipping sauce for air-fried shishito peppers and add it to Veggie Pad Thai and other dishes as a sweet and spicy flavor enhancer. Mae Ploy has also gotten pricey over the years too and once I realized I could use homemade pepper jelly in lieu of Mae Ploy—it was an epiphany and even more incentive to make a big ole batch of delicious strawberry pepper jelly.

No Pectin Pepper Jam

Why no pectin? Quite simply, I didn’t have any, and I didn’t want to have to go to the store! I am all about simplicity and using what you’ve got. Plus, pectin is primarily made from citrus fruit peels. So why not just use the real deal and throw in some fruit peels? This won’t gel up quite as much as a jam made with pectin, but a good old apple will suffice.

Pick a Peck of Peppers

This strawberry pepper jam is made with mini sweet peppers, because that’s what we had in the fridge! You can make this with red bell peppers as well, both work equally well. I kind of love the flavor of mini sweet peppers, to me they are more flavorful than bell peppers. Don’t get me wrong, I do love bell peppers and cook with them very regularly. Did you know that mini sweet peppers are a new hybrid pepper that became commercially produced in the 1990s? It is a cross between a bell pepper and a bird pepper and they are nearly seedless. Who knew!

Choose the Old Strabs

My son Otis comes up with great nicknames for almost anything. At eight years old sometimes he sounds like he’s speaking a different language with all his made-up words and sayings. Strabs are his lingo for strawberries. For this recipe I like to use up the last of the strabs that have been overlooked by hungry little humans. They may have a bruise or two, but are still entirely edible. Cut off any questionable areas and toss them in for jelly. No wastes.

Home to Make Homemade Strawberry Pepper Jam

Making strawberry pepper jam is easy-peasy. The best part–it makes about three jelly jars worth, so you don’t need to do it very often. I love good food, and equally love efficiencies in the kitchen. At my house, these three jars will last our family of four over 6 months. Make a double batch, and you’re set for the year. I love this kind of batch cooking. This is how you eat well and still have time for all the other things in life.

To prep the ingredients for making jelly. First, toss the mini peppers (or chopped red bell pepper), strawberries, jalapeño, and apple slices into a food processor. Blend on high until all ingredients are chopped into small, even pieces. You may need to scrape down the sides with a spatula a couple of times. Once the fruits and veggies are chopped, transfer them to a medium size sauce pan. Add the sugar and apple cider vinegar, stir and cook on high until it reaches a boil. Once the mixture is boiling, reduce the heat to low. Let the mixture cook down uncovered for 20 minutes. Stir occasionally to avoid burning. That’s it! Your jelly is ready for jars.

Jam Making Supplies

We are canning folks! This is the real deal; you need approximately 3 8-oz mason jars with lids. While the jelly is cooking down, I like to sterilize the canning jars by boiling them (and the lids) in a large pot of water for about 5 minutes. Use tongs to slowly drop the jars into the boiling water and remove them from the water. The benefits of sterilizing the jars is that this jelly stays fresh for a long time. After you fill your jars with jam, screw on the lids and drop them back in the boiling water for another 5 minutes. Carefully remove the jars from the boiling water with tongs and check the lids to make sure the lid “pops” to know the jar is vacuum sealed. Using this water bath canning process makes the jam shelf-stable and can last at room temperature for around a year.

If you want to skip the water bath canning process and just make the jam and put it into clean jars, it will last for 2-4 weeks in the refrigerator or about 6 months in the freezer.

Let’s get jammin’!

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