Canadian Preserving Traditions: Red Pepper Jelly Recipe (2024)

I have been wanting to make homemade red pepper jelly for an extraordinarily long time. One thing my younger sister says she likes about me is that if I say I’m going to do something I go ahead and do it, usually asap. I am all talk and all action, a deadly combination ;) One day I will learn to keep my mouth shut and my to-do list will shrink significantly.

But red pepper jelly has been hovering on the outskirts of my to-do list for a good couple years, since receiving homemade red pepper jelly from a friend in Ottawa and realizing this can be made at home! This kind of perpetually unfaced niggling task makes me a little twitchy.

I’ve been avoiding it, you see, because this required that I take on the daunting task of canning.

Canning is something central to the Canadian food scene, and I’m so honoured to have this recipe included in theCanadian Food Experience Project, a movement spearheaded by the charming Valerie, A Canadian Foodie. As weshare our collective stories through our regional foodexperiences, we hope to bring global clarity to our Canadian culinary identity, part of which involves preserving the fresh bounty of spring, summer, and fall through long and frozen winters across most of the country.

Growing up, my mom canned all sorts of things from jam to peaches to pickled beets every summer, and I remember helping many a time. There is something deeply satisfying about row upon row of cans stocked in the pantry, all with nicely “popped” lids indicating a health-safe seal. However, helping is entirely different than doing the whole process myself from start to finish.

So what do I do when I want to undertake a daunting task I’ve been putting off for fear of my own incompetence? I call my big sister, naturally, and ask her to join me in my escapades. What I lack in common sense she makes up for in spades, and she happens to love red pepper jelly too so she was a pretty easy sell.

My sweet sister-in-law provided me with more than an armload of red peppers, my mother-in-law had all the necessary canning accessories stashed in our garage, and there could be no more excuses.

And wonder of wonders, as is the case almost 100% of the time, when you actually suck it up and do something you’ve been putting off, it’s pretty dang easy. We made 12 adorable little jars of red pepper jelly in under an hour, start to finish, while taking care of the seven children aged 6 and under we claim as our own. (Granted, at least 5 of those children came into the kitchen howling and wailing about some grand injustice at the very moment our bubbling hot mixture needed to be poured quickly into our hot jars, but we all emerged unscathed.)

I can say with great confidence that this was a huge success.

Much to our surprise (I don’t know why, since that was the idea), this red pepper jelly tasted exactly like every $6+ version we’ve bought at various markets and grocery stores. The texture is spot on, thick and soft (and -ahem- gelly?), and the flavour is sweet and bright with just a tiny hint of heat from the jalapeno and chili flakes. You could certainly increase the chili flakes if you like a spicier condiment.