In the Miller household growing up, Fall often meant canning season! My parents always made homemade salsa, canned hot banana peppers, and THIS Hot Pepper Mustard! This stuff is like crack. Take it to any picnic or party and people will be falling over themselves to eat it. It’s the perfect condiment that you never knew you always wanted!
It’s spicy and sweet and tangy and it goes perfectly with super sharp cheddar cheese and crackers or on a good ol’ turkey sandwich! The guys at work have also declared that they may never be able to eat a hot dog without it ever again.
I bought my banana peppers from Lois at the Bellefonte Farmer’s Market! She grows the most beautiful peppers and flowers, and we emailed back and forth a bit about how many peppers I would need! Then when I showed up to market, she had a half bushel + some more for canning just waiting for me. Really, she’s the best! I’ll update this with a pic if I see her at market this week!
A few things to keep in mind:
This recipe makes a big batch and is meant for hot water bath canning! I’m sure you could also portion it out into freezer-safe containers and freeze it (though I have not tested this).
FULL DISCLOSURE: As far as I know, this recipe hasn’t been approved by the canning gods, be it Ball or the USDA. That said, it’s loaded with vinegar and sugar and our family has never had any issues with it! Some people are wary of the flour… leave it out and cook it down longer if you are concerned.
If you’ve never canned with a hot water bath canner before, do not be intimidated! It’s super simple, and this recipe has lots of vinegar and sugar to keep everything safe!
If you want things to be spicy, leave the seeds and ribs in the peppers! If you’re more into mild, remove the seeds and ribs. Either way, we always use hot banana peppers which lend great flavor and spice (but the spice is offset by the vinegar and sugar).
LISTEN HERE. HUNAN HAND IS REAL, PEOPLE. Wear gloves when processing the peppers. Your hands will thank you later! Even if you’re using a food processor for most of it, why risk it?
I modified the original recipe to cut back on the sugar since it is quite sweet, but it is SO good either way! I listed a range in the ingredients section so you can go as sweet as you want.
Hot Pepper Mustard
Canning Supplies:
25 - 30 half pint jars, canning lids, and rings (throw some pint jars in if you want!)
large water bath canner with rack
silicone pot holders (I like my Instant Pot ones!)
Ingredients:
45-50 large hot banana peppers (6-10 red, for color)
6 cups prepared yellow mustard
6 cups white vinegar
4-6 cups of sugar
1.5 Tbsp salt
2 cups flour (Flour is controversial in canning. If it makes you uneasy, leave it out and just cook the mustard down to reduce it. Someday, I’ll work an a no-flour version of this recipe!)
2 cups water
Instructions:
Prep the hot water bath canner. Place canning rack in the bottom of the canner, arrange half pint jars in the rack, and fill the canner 1/2 - 3/4 of the way with hot water from the sink. Put it on the stove over high heat to start bringing it up to temperature as you prep the hot pepper mustard.
TIP: You want to make sure you have enough water so that when you add the canning jars to the pot, they are covered by about 2 inches of water. Add the jars while you bring it to a boil to sanitize them.Cut the stems off of the banana peppers. If you’re going for HOT mustard, leave the seeds and ribs. If you don’t want it to be super hot, remove seeds and ribs.
Working in batches, pulse the banana peppers in the food processor to finely chop them, adding them to a large pot as you go.
TIP: Adding 6-10 red banana peppers or even 1-2 red bell peppers will give nice color and red specs throughout the mustard.To the peppers, add yellow mustard, white vinegar, sugar, and salt. Stir to combine and bring to a boil on the stove, then reduce to a simmer.
TIP: I used 3 cups of sugar. The original recipe uses closer to 6. You make the call!In bowl or quart measuring cup. combine 2 cups of flour and 2 cups of water to make a thick slurry.
Pour the slurry into the mustard mixture, stirring constantly. Bring back to a boil and cook 3-5 minutes or until thickened.
Use canning tongs to remove the jars from the canner, dumping out the water and placing them on a dish towel.
To prep the canning lids, place them in a wire sieve and place into the hot water to soften the rubber seal.
Use a canning funnel to fill the hot jars with the mustard, leaving 1/2 inch headspace (basically, the height of the rim).
Use a wooden skewer or butter knife to run around the outside edge of the jar, releasing any bubbles.
With a damp dish cloth, wipe the rims of the jars to ensure there’s no mustard that will get in the way of the seal.
Remove the lids from the hot water and use the canning magnet to gently place a lid on each of the jars. Also remove the canning rack.
Add a canning ring and tighten to “fingertip tight,” or as tight as you can make it just with your fingertips, without gripping the jar with your other hand.
TIP: You want it to be tight enough so that mustard can’t get out, but loose enough for air bubbles to escape so the jars can seal.Place the jars in the canning rack then slowly lower it into the pot of boiling water. Place the lid on the canner and set your timer for 10 minutes.
Once the 10 minutes is up, use canning tongs to remove jars from the canner, placing on a dish towel to cool. Don’t touch them until all of the seals have popped down.
TIP: You could also remove all jars at once by lifting out the canning rack, but I usually do this one at a time.Repeat with remaining mustard and jars until everything is canned and sealed!
Serve the mustard with cheese and crackers, hamburgers, hot dogs, sausages, any kind of sandwich, or whatever you want!
PIN IT FOR LATER!
Hot Pepper Mustard – Maria Makes: Hot water bath canning recipe for amazing, spicy, tangy, sweet condiment you never knew you always wanted! Kind of a hybrid between pepper relish and mustard, and it is SO SO good. Perfect for gift giving!