Homemade Green Pepper Jelly Recipe

Homemade cream cheese green pepper jelly jam is a great appetizer to serve. A little spicy and sweet served with crackers or chips is so yummy.

Cream Cheese Pepper Jelly

If you have a vegetable garden in your backyard you may be growing just what you need. At the store the ingredients are not expensive at all, making this a cheap party appetizer. Buy store brand cream cheese to save a few extra dollars and if you are having a crowd make a double batch just as easily.

We will show you how to make this in a pot on your stovetop but if you’d rather make Instant Pot jam you can use the timing in that post for that method too.

Hot Pepper Jelly

This is just one of our favorite Super Bowl party food items that everyone loves. You can add heat with jalapenos or red pepper flakes or leave it milder if you’d like. Now let’s get to chopping, blending and cooking so you can try this out too.

What do you do with pepper jelly?

This is just one idea but there are many others. You can brush it on as a glaze for ham which is wonderful, use it as a chicken wings dip of sorts, on top of salmon or even pork chops. Instead of pouring this on top you could instead blend it all together. This way the flavors get more incorporated for spreading on crackers or on bagels!

How long does green pepper jelly last?

It depends on how you store it. If yours is homemade like this and you store it in a sanitized glass jar sealed tightly it will last about 2 – 3 months. If you know how to can jam the shelf life will extend to years, but once opened it goes back to a few months in the fridge.

Pepper Jelly

As for the ingredients you can use different types of green peppers as you wish. If you only want a little heat only use one jalapeno and increase the amount of poblanos and/or bell peppers. Or visa versa for a spicy jelly. Adjust the amount of sugar to your liking too, that is why homemade is so great. You can make your tastebuds perfectly happy.

What is pepper jelly made of?

We’re going to use a variety of peppers from the produce section for this, with some sweetness. You can use whatever color of bells you like, or what is on sale at the time. Remember that some shades are sweeter than others so you can naturally adjust the sugar levels this way.

Need a sugar free version because you or a family member is a diabetic? Splenda is a great option but remember to use use half the amount. So instead of the 5 cups of white sugar you’d use 2.5 c. instead….or it would be sickeningly sweet.

Homemade Green Pepper Jelly

1. Poblano peppers
2. Green bell peppers, green is typically used above all other colors
3. Spicy peppers such as; jalapeño peppers, thai, banana, anaheim, serano or hatch chiles
   1. you could dice up canned or use fresh
4. Apple cider vinegar
5. White sugar
6. Salt
7. If you want it really brilliant you can add green food coloring, just a drop
8. Pectin used as a thickener
   1. I used powdered, liquid pectin would just use 2 Tbsp instead of 1 packet
9. These mason jars are best to use

Remember that after you’re done it will continue to thicken as it sits and cools. Don’t add more thinking it is too thin, you’ll regret it.

Green Pepper Jelly and Cream Cheese

Remember to sterilize jars if you’re going to use them to storage. 8 oz. is best I think unless you think you’re going to use a lot in a short amount of time.

• Remove seeds from all red and green peppers you want to use (will make it less spicy). Roughly chop them up and put half of your chopped peppers in a blender.
• Pour in half of the apple cider vinegar and puree together in a blender or food processor. Add this into a pot on the stovetop set to medium heat. Do the same with the other half of the peppers and vinegar until it is all pureed as smooth as you’d like it to be.
• Add salt and sugar to a large pot, stir together. Boil on medium high heat until sugar dissolves stirring constantly. This will take about 5 minutes at a rolling boil. Stir intermittently.
• Reduce heat until temp is 220 F, then sprinkle in pectin and continuously stir so it doesn’t clump up. Cook for 2 minutes stirring intermittently to allow mixture to thicken. Turn off heat and remove pot.
• Allow to pepper jelly recipe to cool, skim off foam, and then store in jars or pour over cream cheese as an appetizer, like over room temperature package of cream cheese.

If you want to can you’ll need boiling water and tongs, there is a link to how to can jam in the recipe card below you can follow. This will allow your jam to last for years this way.

If you’re going to use this on top a block of cream cheese you may want to heat it beforehand. Just warm a large saucepan to warm it up just a bit.

Then pour on and this will allow the underneath to melt just a bit and make it easier to spread. Want to add some fresh heat? Dice jalapenos and sprinkle on the top.

What can I do with excess green peppers?

This is one idea of course. Many times I will make a batch of Crockpot stuffed bell peppers or make air fryer fajitas with them.