Jalapeño Relish

This easy jalapeño relish features fresh peppers, red onion, garlic, vinegar, and salt. It's a great way to use up jalapeños and a delicious addition to burgers, sandwiches, bowls, and more.

Course Condiment

Cuisine American, Mexican

Prep Time 15

Total Time 15

Servings 2-tablespoon servings

Calories 17kcal

Author Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN

Equipment

Food processor (see notes for how to make it without one)

Ingredients

½ pound jalapeños about 5 to 6 large ones, seeded and halved lengthwise
½ medium red onion cut into quarters
3 cloves garlic minced
1 to 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
½ to ¾ teaspoon salt

Instructions

First, prepare the jalapeños by removing the stems, slicing them in half lengthwise, and cutting out the membranes and seeds. For a spicier relish, you can keep the membranes and seeds. Cut the red onion into quarters and mince the garlic (or you can let the food processor chop the garlic to save yourself a step).
Add the jalapeños, onion, and garlic to a food processor. Pulse for about 30 to 60 seconds until finely chopped, but try to stop pulsing before the mixture gets too watery. However, jalapeños are pretty watery by nature, so your mixture will have some water regardless. If you prefer to remove some of the water, you can transfer the pulsed veggies to a mesh sieve in the sink. Press them with the back of a spoon to drain off the water. I prefer to do this so that the texture of the relish is a little less watery, but the catch is that it also removes some of the heat from the peppers. So, if you like spicy relish, don't feel like you have to remove the water. The recipe turns out well either way!
Next, transfer your veggie mixture (whether drained or not) to a mixing bowl. Stir in the apple cider vinegar and salt to taste.
Spoon the relish into a glass jar with a lid. Store in the refrigerator. You can enjoy the relish immediately or let it sit for a couple hours for the flavors to get stronger. Enjoy!
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Notes

To make the recipe by hand, finely chop the jalapeños, red onion, and garlic by hand instead of in the food processor.
This relish will last for up to 7 days in an airtight container in the fridge. I prefer to store it in glass instead of plastic or silicone containers, because the jalapeño flavor can rub off on the latter ones and be hard to remove.
Recipe yields about ¾ cup total, depending on if you drained the veggie mixture or not.

Nutrition