How To Make Quick Pickled Green Tomatoes and Peppers

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Quick Pickled Green Tomatoes and Peppers

Check out how easy it is to make Quick Pickled Green Tomatoes and Peppers. Are you new to canning or have you always wanted to try your hand at easy canning recipes like making quick pickles?

Have you decided you want to preserve the fresh vegetables you are buying and stock your fridge with easy homemade quick pickles?

This quick refrigerator pickle recipe will soon become your favorite way to enjoy green tomatoes.

Or to preserve a bounty of tomatoes and peppers from your garden or the farmers market.

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Quick Pickles AKA Refrigerator Pickles

You may have heard quick pickles also being referred to as refrigerator pickles.

Both terms are used to describe a canning method of preserving fresh vegetables without the time and equipment needed to make water bath canned dill pickles.

The difference between quick pickled vegetables and water bath canned pickles is that quick pickles covered in brine and are stored in the refrigerator.

Quick pickles only have a shelf life of a couple of months while water bath canned pickles have a shelf life of a year or 18 months.

I first fell in love with making refrigerator dill pickles many years ago when I planted a couple of Kirby cucumber plants.

I didn’t have much luck with the plants but I soldiered on and made a jar of refrigerator pickles with the few I fresh cucumbers I harvested that year.

For more quick pickles and canning recipes visit my Canning Recipes page.

A few years later I started to find pickling cucumbers at the grocery store and I made more quick pickles.

Quick pickling is so easy and the pickles taste amazing and are so crunchy.

I loved them so much I had to try my hand at making more quick-pickled vegetables. I am so glad I did!

How to make Quick Pickled Green Tomatoes and Peppers

You will need 3-quart canning jars, plus lids or recycled jars with tight-fitting lids that have been sterilized.

A basic refrigerator pickling brine is a simple combination of 5% white vinegar, filtered water and pickling salt.

You could use this basic brine recipe to make refrigerator pickles out of many different types of vegetables.

Quick-pickled green tomatoes, quick pickled red onions, or quick-pickled radishes to name a few.

I love to make Instant Pot Spicy Shredded Pork for street tacos and pile quick pickled red onions on top. It adds such an authentic flavor to street tacos.

What to do with quick pickles?

How to eat quick pickles is up to you. You can enjoy them like you do a favorite crunchy pickle. My favorite way to enjoy quick-pickled vegetables is:

• Eat them out of the jar.
• Pile them on top of a sandwich or wrap.
• Top a salad with quick-pickled vegetables.
• Add some to a pasta salad for a burst of flavor.

Pickled Tomatoes brine ingredients

• 6 cups 5% white vinegar
• 3 cups of filtered water
• 3 tablespoons pickling salt

Pickling herbs and spices

The herbs and spices you add to the basic pickling brine are what adds all of the wonderful flavors to a jar of refrigerator pickles.

This list of pickling spices is a recommendation. You can add more or less of any of the ingredients below depending on the pickled flavors you like best.

If this is your first time making quick pickles I suggest you use the ingredient amounts listed below.

Once you have tasted the crispy pickled green tomatoes and peppers you can decide if you want to change the amounts.

• 3 cloves of peeled garlic, per jar
• 2 teaspoon pickling spice, per jar
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, per jar
• 4 small dill stems per jar
• 2 jalapeno slices, per jar

Pickled Green Tomatoes and Peppers

Below are the fresh tomato and pepper combination I have used. The amount and types of peppers I have used are what I enjoy the most.

They make a very spicy combination when combined in a jar.

You can pick your favorite combination of sweet or hot peppers to pickle. The hotter the peppers you have use the hotter the pickled vegetables will taste.

• 3 or 4 medium Green Tomatoes, sliced into wedges
• 1 large red sweet bell pepper seeds and membrane removed, sliced into rings then slice each ring into quarters
• 2 or 3 medium-hot banana peppers, sliced into rings, seeds and membrane removed
• small sweet onion, peeled and cut into wedges
• 1 medium jalapeno pepper, sliced

Prep

1. Gather the supplies and ingredients.
2. Wash the jars, lids, pots, and utensils in hot soapy water and drain.
3. Prep the vegetables by cutting the tomatoes and onions into wedges and the peppers into rings before heating the brine.
4. Put all of the herbs and spices into the bottom of each quart jar.
5. Pack each quart jar tightly with the wedged tomatoes, onions and sliced peppers. Set the jars on a folded towel on the counter nearby while heating the brine.

Pickled green tomatoes brine directions

1. Place all of the brine ingredients into a 6-quart stainless steel or non-reactive pot only after preparing the vegetables to ensure that the brine will stay hot.
2. Bring to a boil and allow to simmer on low for 3 minutes.
3. Keep the brine hot while filling the jars.

Filling the jars with brine

1. Place a wide mouth funnel on top of one of the filled quart jar.
2. Using a ladle fill the jar with the hot brine. Let the brine settle then use a wooden chopstick or a canning bubbler stick to release the trapped air bubbles.
3. Top the jar off with more hot brine till the jar is filled leaving a 1/4 inch headspace.
4. Wipe the rim dry with a paper towel and place a clean flat lid on. Twist the canning ring on fingertip tight.
5. Place the filled jar on a soft towel and repeat filling each jar. If needed boil more brine so you have enough to fill all the jars completely.
6. Allow the jars to cool completely before refrigerating.
7. For best flavor allow the tomatoes and peppers to pickle for a week before eating.
8. Quick pickles will last up to 4 months refrigerated. You will probably eat them long before that.

Helpful Tools for making Quick Pickles

• quart canning jars and lids
• wide mouth funnel
• canning ladle
• flour sack dishcloths
• The Quick Pickle Cookbook

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