Apricot Habanero Pepper Jelly

This apricot habanero pepper jelly recipe is a pantry staple! Serve it over cream cheese with crackers, pork chops, or any way that sounds tasty, and enjoy!

Course Appetizer

Cuisine American

Keyword apricot habanero jelly, apricot habanero jam, pepper jelly

Prep Time 4 hours

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 4 hours 45 minutes

Servings half-pints

Calories 1249kcal

Author Audrey

Equipment

Ingredients

1 cup Dried Apricots finely chopped
2 ¼ cup White Vinegar
1 cup Red Onion chooped (approx. 1 medium onion)
1 cup Red Bell Pepper chopped (approx. 1 medium-large bell)
¾ cup Habanero Peppers chopped (approx. 6 oz. peppers)
9 cup White Sugar
3 pouches Certo Liquid Pectin

Instructions

Chop dried apricots with the Vidalia Chop Wizard and put them in a large bowl or measuring cup with white vinegar, and soak for 4 hours.
Finely chop the bell pepper, habanero peppers, and onion with the Vidalia chopper and set them aside in a bowl.
When you reach the last hour of the apricots soaking in vinegar fill your water bath canner with water, put in your clean canning jars, and bring it to a boil. Let the jars boil for a few minutes to ensure that they are sterilized.
After sterilizing, let the jars sit in the hot water until about 5 minutes before your jelly is done cooking. Then remove the jars and set them on a towel.
Put the lids in a small pot of water on the stove and turn them on low when you start cooking the jelly. Don't ever boil the lids or it could ruin the seal, just keep them at a simmer.
Once you reach the 4-hour mark, add the apricots and vinegar into a large pot with the chopped onion, habanero peppers, bell peppers, and sugar.
Cook the mixture on high heat stirring constantly with a large wooden spoon. Continue cooking until it reaches a rolling boil.
After one minute at a rolling boil, stir in the pectin and remove from heat.
Ladle the habanero jelly into prepared jars leaving ¼” of headspace from the top. Put hot lids on and screw bands on evenly and gently, just until resistance is met.
Place the filled jars into the water bath canner with water about 2” above the tops of jars and boil for ten minutes to process. But don’t start the 10-minute timer until the water is at a rolling boil.
After the jelly has processed carefully remove the jars from the canner and let them sit at room temperature for 24 hours.
After 24 hours, test the seals by pressing on the center of the lid and if it doesn't flex up and down it is sealed.
Put jars that didn't seal in the fridge and then properly store the others.
Serve the habanero pepper jelly over cream cheese with crackers or over top of sous-vide pork chops which is one of our favorites!

Video

Notes

I have found that keeping all of the habanero seeds in usually results in jelly that is pretty spicy. I prefer keeping only half of the seeds in or none at all if you don't like very much spice.
If you're looking for a fast way to bring your water to a boil check out my favorite new way to can here. I started using a propane wok burner instead of cooking on the stove and it's been amazing!
In order to determine if a seal has formed press the center of the lid to see if it is concave, if the center does not flex up and down and you cannot lift the lid off, there is a good seal.
The ideal temperature to store jars of jelly is between 50-70 degrees and they are safe for up to one year. Properly processed jelly can last longer, but the quality may lessen beyond 1 year.

Nutrition