8 Delicious Ways to Use Cayenne Peppers and Hot Peppers

Cayenne and hot peppers are easy to grow and can produce bucketfuls of peppers – so you might be knee-deep in colorful, spicy goodness before long. But there’s nothing wrong with a cayenne pepper surplus. These hot peppers can be prepared and stored in many different ways that preserve their flavor and that great spicy front-of-the-mouth heat.

Jump to:

• How to Harvest Cayenne Peppers
• Use Cayenne Peppers Fresh
• Dry or Dehydrate Hot Peppers
• Make Pepper Powder or Flakes
• Make Hot Pepper Jelly
• Pepper Ketchup
• Cowboy Candy, Chow Chow, or Candied Jalapenos
• 2 Ways to Use Unripe Peppers
• Pepper Vinegar!
• Ferment Peppers to Make Hot Sauce

How to Harvest Cayenne Peppers

Harvest cayenne peppers or other hot peppers when they’re bright red, firm, and plump. Pick them, don’t bruise them, and bring them inside quickly. Don’t let them dry on the vine because little insects will take up residence in the dried peppers, leading to unpleasant surprises in your food.

Peppers will rot if dried in the open air. Dry them indoors.

Use Cayenne Peppers Fresh

The favorite choice for many, of course. Add hot peppers to fajitas, soups, chili, salsas, and all kinds of foods for the perfect colorful kick.

Dry or Dehydrate Hot Peppers

String them up. Thread them on a piece of dental floss with a heavy-duty needle, then hang them to dry with other herbs. Run the string through the stems, not the fruits, to avoid rot. They’re usually finished drying in about a month, but they can hang around for longer. (If you celebrate Christmas, they add a nice red to the house.)

Once the cayenne peppers are dry, seal them in glass jars. Use them in chili and curries. Grind them up and sprinkle them on pizza.

Store whole dried peppers in the freezer. They’ll keep their flavor longer.

Lay them in an out-of-the-way place, and a year later, they’ll be intact and dried.

To rehydrate a dried pepper, put one or two in boiling water. Remove them from the water and use the spicy water to make pasta or fra diavolo.

Make Pepper Powder or Flakes

Dehydrate cayenne peppers, crush them, then put them in a grinder to make pepper powder.

An electric coffee mill works well for grinding them up. Use this mill for spices only, and don’t use it for grinding coffee beans unless you like high-Scoville coffee. Pulse the mill for flakes, and hold down the button for powder.

IMPORTANT: Before grinding up dried cayenne peppers, do this:

• Open the window.
• Put a mask and shield on your face.
• Turn on a venting fan.
• Be very SLOW AND CAREFUL any time you open the coffee grinder.

Otherwise, a cloud of fiery red death will leap into your eyes, mouth, nose, and throat, and you will deeply regret every decision in your life that led to this moment.

Make Hot Pepper Jelly

This jelly is crazy good. It’s often served with a block of cream cheese with some jelly on top to get the heat and the cool and the taste together.

Add more hot peppers if you prefer a hotter jelly. Use all red peppers so the jelly has a good color.

This recipe makes 6 half-pints of hot pepper jelly.

1 ½ cups red peppers (seeded and chopped)

¼ cup chopped cayenne peppers

1 ½ cups white vinegar

6 ½ cups granulated sugar

6 oz liquid pectin

6 half-pint jelly jars with new lids and metal bands. (Sterilize these beforehand and leave them in the hot water until they’re needed.)

Cheesecloth for straining

1. Blend chopped peppers in a blender or food processor until smooth. Pour into a large saucepan. Add vinegar and sugar.
2. Heat on medium-high, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Then, bring to a full boil, stirring constantly for 3 minutes.
3. Turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Strain, then return the liquid to the saucepan. Add 2 tablespoons of the pepper mixture from the strainer to the liquid (or whatever amount you prefer). Bring it to a boil.
5. Stir in pectin, then keep it at a full rolling boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and skim off any foam.
6. Ladle the pepper mixture into freshly sterilized half-pint jars, leaving ¼ headspace. Put sterilized metal lids on the jars, and screw on the metal bands.
7. Process the jars for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath. Let them cool. Then, check the seals by pressing the lids with a finger; the tops should not pop when pressed.

Pepper Ketchup

Ingredients:

12 cayenne peppers

2 cloves garlic

1 cup apple cider vinegar

48 oz. bottle of ketchup

Brown sugar

1. Mince a dozen cayenne peppers into fine bits. For extra flavor, add two cloves of minced garlic.
2. Put minced mixture in a large saucepan. Add a cup of apple cider vinegar. Bring it to a boil.
3. Keep boiling until the liquid has been reduced to a ¼ cup, then remove from heat.
4. Pour 48 ounces of ketchup into a double boiler. Stir in the pepper mixture. Add brown sugar to taste.
5. Cook slowly, stirring occasionally, for 2 or 3 hours.
6. Pour hot mixture into sterilized jars and two-part lids. Process for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath. Check the seals by pressing on the lids; if they pop, process them again, or put that particular bottle in the fridge and use them right away.

Cowboy Candy, Chow Chow, or Candied Jalapenos

Here’s a perpetual favorite to eat straight from the jar – spicy jalapeno slices in a sweet syrup. These can be added to hamburgers and sandwiches or chopped up into a sweet relish. The sweet syrup is incredible on cornbread.

Jalapenos are most often used for this recipe, but try this recipe with cayennes or other hot peppers. Add chopped pineapple for a dash of sweetness.

1.5 lbs. sliced hot peppers (more or less)

1 cup apple cider vinegar

3 cups sugar

1 tsp. turmeric

1 tsp. ginger

1 tsp. chopped garlic

1 tsp. chili powder

(Adjust the sugar and seasonings to your liking.)

Slice the peppers and put them in a bowl.

In a large saucepan, bring the vinegar, sugar, and spices to a boil, then simmer for 5 minutes to make them into a syrup.

Add the sliced peppers. Turn up the heat and simmer them for 4 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to move them to sterilized canning jars.

Turn up the heat and boil the remaining syrup for 6 or 7 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and let it cool for three minutes. Pour the hot syrup into the jars, poking the peppers with chopsticks to get the air bubbles out.

Wipe the rims clean and seal, then put them in the fridge.

Let them sit for a week or two to really soak up that syrup. Then enjoy!

They'll last a few months in your fridge, though most jars won't make it that long – cowboy candy will get scarfed down pretty quickly.

2 Ways to Use Unripe Peppers

There are a few ways to deal with unripe peppers that are harvested before the first hard freeze. Green cayenne peppers are not great for eating and might give you heartburn, but these methods will allow you to enjoy the last peppers of the year.

Pepper Vinegar!

Cayenne pepper vinegar is a fantastic addition to the dinner table. Enjoy pepper vinegar on red beans, cooked greens, carne asada, and many more dishes.

Pepper Vinegar Recipe

• Boil your bottle and lids in hot water (or heat water to at least 185 degrees). Leave them in the water until you’re ready to use them.
• Heat apple cider vinegar until it’s nearly boiling.
• Wash the cayenne peppers, remove seeds, and cut out bad spots.
• Fit the peppers into the jar.
• Carefully pour in the boiling apple cider vinegar, leaving ½ to 1-inch headspace.
• Seal the jars and let them cool.
• Put them in a dark cabinet for several days.
• If the lids pop up on any of the jars, immediately put them in the fridge to use.

Ferment Peppers to Make Hot Sauce

Quick pickles are one way to ferment cayenne peppers. These generally take a 50/50 mix of water and vinegar. Add salt and sugar to taste – make sure there’s about 1% salt, and that there’s more salt than sugar. Too much sugar and the peppers will ferment into alcohol.

1. First, place a crock or bowl on a scale and adjust the weight to 0 as the tare weight. Then, slice the hot peppers and put them into the bowl. Top off the peppers with water (leaving some headroom).
2. Place the filled bowl on the scale and weigh in grams. Multiply the weight by 0.03. This is how much salt you’ll need to add.
3. Pour about a cup of water from the pepper bowl into a saucepan and heat it. Add the salt and heat it until it dissolves.
4. Take it off the heat and add the rest of the reserved water so it all gets salt. Pour it back over the peppers.
5. Lay a large piece of cling wrap over it. Lay a plate on top of it that’s large enough to fit into the bowl, then weigh it down with something heavy.
6. Let the crock sit in an out-of-the-way place for about a week, then place it in sterilized jars and refrigerate.

Read more gardening advice from Rosefiend Cordell.