The best way to store jalapenos at home is to cover them in a plastic bag and preserve them in your fridge’s fresh compartment.
Jalapenos are those well-known green, spicy peppers you notice in Mexican cuisine and other famous recipes. They offer great heat to your meal and lend a powerful touch to any dish.
If you’re also a spicy food lover, today’s post will tell you how to store jalapenos at home effectively so you could use them any time. Don’t miss out until the end, because we also include some critical related topics for more information.
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2 Best Ways To Store Jalapenos
After you get your peppers back home from your local market or collect them from the tree:
- Sort them according to your using plans.
- If you want to preserve some of them for early consumption, keep them in a refrigerator for 7 days.
- For extended uses, freeze them in the freezer.
Now, you might wonder, “Are those the only ways to preserve this type of peppers?” and “Can I just leave them in my kitchen?” Here’s your answer:
First and foremost, there are indeed lots of other methods to store this spicy ingredient at home. However, any techniques like drying or pickling will change their textures and flavors and require lots of steps, effort, and time, which might be challenging to amateur home cooks.
Secondly, yes, you can preserve jalapeno peppers at room temperature with plastic wrap, but storing this kind of vegetables there for more than 2 days will only make them softer and rot quickly.
Therefore, the techniques we reveal in today’s post will only be the most effective yet most effortless ones: refrigerating and freezing.
Refrigerating
Refrigerating jalapenos requires no effort at all: All you’ll require is some fresh jalapenos and a plastic wrap. You don’t even need to wash them at all. Pre-storage washing jalapenos (using this technique) will do more harm than good.
Indeed, giving them extra hydration before refrigeration will accelerate the decaying process. Thus, instead of rinsing jalapenos before you refrigerate them, clean them only when you are about to serve them.
In the fresh compartment of the fridge, place your fresh jalapenos in a ziplock package and preserve it. If kept properly, jalapenos can last up to a week in the refrigerator.
Freezing
Unlike other veggies, freezing peppers is straightforward since no heating is necessary. Indeed, after plucking, all you have to do is put them in the freezer to maintain their optimal quality during the storage phase.
The efficiency of this method is way beyond the previous approach as it could extend the shelf life of this pepper species up to a whole year (if done correctly). Thus, it’s our go-to answer to the question of how to store jalapenos at home.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to freezing jalapenos:
- First, separate any jalapenos that have bruises, wrinkles, or have become soft as you’ll know which you should use first. The fresher the peppers are, the longer their lifespan is and vice versa.
- Then, pat dry your peppers using clean paper towels after rinsing them under cool running water.
- After that, scrape out all the seeds by removing the stem and cutting it apart.
- Next, slice the jalapenos into small cuts to your liking. Also, we suggest wearing gloves when slicing jalapenos to protect your skin from getting irritated as there would be a scorching feeling on your skin handling this with bare hands.
- Afterward, whether you leave them as a whole or cut, arrange them in a thin row on a cooking tray, ensuring they don’t contact one another.
- Now, freeze them for 2 to 3 hours or until fully frozen. This method is instant freezing, allowing users to only store the exact portion of peppers they want without freezing the whole package.
- Following, move the slightly frozen jalapenos to airtight packages and zip the bags closely. Make sure you’ve already sucked out all the excess air, as it’s usually the cause of freezer burns.
- Finally, note the freezing date on the package to prevent over-freezing. Then, transfer all of your zip locks into the freezer once again.
Jalapenos will keep their optimum taste for 6 months following this method but will stay safe to consume all year long.
How To Use Frozen Jalapenos
Frozen jalapenos keep the initial taste, but not their crisps, especially after thawing. Thus, it’s advisable to add them to other cooked dishes instead of using them in fresh salads.
In this instance, you won’t need to defrost before use. Instead, take the jalapenos out directly from the refrigerator and add them to the pan.
Is It Ok To Freeze Jalapeno Peppers Whole?
Of course, we advise doing so as whole peppers tend to go much better when it comes to preservation. If you store them properly, frozen whole jalapeños will survive with no significant changes in flavors for up to 6 months, which is way longer compared to the 7-day shelf life of refrigerated ones.
Do Jalapenos Last Longer In The Fridge?
Yes, the fridge is the perfect short-term storage solution as it helps the jalapenos last longer than those outside at room temperature. Yet, they wouldn’t surpass the freezer when it comes to the optimal long-term preservation method.
Do You Have To Refrigerate Jalapenos?
No, it’s not a must to refrigerate or freeze jalapenos. However, it’s the best choice when you have already plucked the jalapenos out of the tree.
Several vegetables can not tolerate freezing conditions and will appear and taste very different from their initial texture and flavor. Yet, Jalapenos survives in such settings quite well. Thus, using the refrigerator to preserve them is a wise approach.
How Long Do Chopped Jalapenos Last?
Chopped jalapenos can survive for about 5 days if carefully preserved in the fridge.
For cut or minced ones, store them in an airtight plastic wrap or sealed zip locks. Insert a few sheets of paper towel into the bags to blot excess dampness if kept for more than a couple of days.