Spicy Pickled Green Tomatoes

Spicy pickled green tomatoes are loaded with peppers, garlic, and just enough heat to keep things interesting. It’s like a cross between a relish and a chunky pickle, with big wedges of green tomato and colorful pepper slices all packed into one lively jar.

This recipe is adapted from the All New Ball Book of Home Canning, where it appears as “Pickled Green Tomato Hot Pepper Mix.” You can also find a similar recipe in older copies of the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving and The Ball Complete Book of Home Canning. All three recipes are quite different, even though they have the same title and similar ingredients. The proportions and directions are very different, giving you three different pickles in the end.

The newest recipe in the All New Ball Book is much simpler (and yields to higher quality pickles), so I’ve used the new tested techniques.

It’s delicious, but it’s also an eye catching recipe, so much so that it’s the cover art on the newest ball book. I know, it seems like an odd choice, but old canning books usually have far more green tomato canning recipes than they do cucumber pickling recipes, so it’s a nod to tradition (and a pretty picture too).

Ingredients for Spicy Pickled Green Tomatoes

The original Ball recipe is written as an eight pint batch. The final yield will depend a bit on how you slice the vegetables and how tightly you pack the jars, but you can expect roughly a pint jar for every two cups of mixed vegetables.

To make a batch, you’ll need:

• Green tomatoes: These provide the tart, firm base. Choose tomatoes that are fully green and firm for the best texture.
• Hot banana peppers (Hungarian wax): These give the classic hot-pickle flavor and heat, plus lots of pepper aroma. The color mix (yellow, green, orange) makes the jars look beautiful.
• Anaheim peppers: These add pepper flavor without as much heat as the wax peppers. If your Anaheims are mild, they help keep the batch balanced.
• Onion: Adds sweetness and sharpness and fills in the flavor gaps between tomato and pepper.
• Pickling salt: Used in two places, first to draw liquid from the vegetables, then to season the brine. Use pickling salt (or canning salt) so you don’t get cloudiness or additives.
• White vinegar (5%): The acid backbone for safe water bath canning. Stick with vinegar labeled 5% acidity.
• Water and sugar: The water keeps the vinegar from being too sharp, while the sugar rounds everything out.
• Pickling spice and mustard seeds: These provide that warm, old-fashioned “mixed pickle” flavor.
• Garlic: One clove per jar gives a noticeable garlic note without overpowering the vegetables.

The pepper mix here is where you can really make this recipe your own. The Ball version uses a total of about 4 cups of sliced peppers and suggests a combination for both color and flavor, aiming for bright jars that aren’t overwhelmingly hot.

As a general rule, using about two-thirds sweet peppers and one-third hot peppers will give you a pleasantly spicy pickle without burning your tongue off (unless that’s exactly what you’re going for).

If you can’t find Anaheim chiles in your area, a good stand-in is about 1½ cups chopped green bell peppers plus ½ cup jalapeños, which gives a similar overall level of heat. If you want less heat, swap the Hungarian wax peppers for sweet red bell peppers to mellow the spice.

The vinegar must be 5% acidity for safe canning. This recipe uses white vinegar to keep the flavors bright and clean, but you could use all or part cider vinegar if you want a slightly softer, more rounded flavor, but just be sure it’s also labeled 5% acidity. The sugar here doesn’t make the pickles “sweet” in the dessert sense. It just takes the sharp edge off the vinegar and rounds out the flavor.

Calcium chloride (sold as Pickle Crisp or Xtra Crunch) is optional, but it does help keep the green tomatoes and peppers firmer after canning. Back in the day, recipes often used pickling lime, which is much fussier to work with. Calcium chloride is a simple modern swap that does the job without the extra steps.

How to Make Spicy Pickled Green Tomatoes

This is a quick raw pack recipe, so get your canner ready before you begin. The ingredients will be in the jars before you know it.

Prep the vegetables

Core the green tomatoes and cut them into eighths. Slice the hot banana peppers and Anaheims into 1/2-inch rings, and slice the onion.

In a very large bowl, toss together the tomatoes, both types of peppers, onion, and 1 tablespoon of the pickling salt. Let the mixture stand for 20 minutes, then drain well (but don’t rinse).

Make the brine

In a large pot, bring the vinegar, water, sugar, and remaining 1 teaspoon pickling salt to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves.

Fill the jars

If you haven’t already, prepare a boiling water canner and heat jars. Keep jars hot until ready to fill.

To each hot pint jar, add:

• 1/2 teaspoon pickling spice
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1 small garlic clove
• 1/8 tsp pickle crisp (if using, optional)

Using a slotted spoon, pack the drained vegetables into the jar tightly, leaving 1/2-inch headspace.

Ladle the hot brine over the vegetables, maintaining 1/2-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles, wipe rims, apply lids, and adjust bands to fingertip-tight.

Canning Spicy Pickled Green Tomatoes

Place the jars in the water bath canner, making sure they’re sitting on the rack and covered by at least 1 to 2 inches of water. Put the lid on the canner and bring the water up to a full rolling boil. Once the water is boiling hard, start your timer.

Process pint jars in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude (see below). Turn off the heat, remove the canner lid, and let jars stand 5 minutes before removing them to cool.

Serving Ideas

Once the jars have had time to cure, these spicy pickled green tomatoes are ready for just about anything. They’re especially good alongside rich, fatty foods, where the heat and acid help cut through the heaviness. Serve them with grilled sausages, smoked meats, pulled pork, or burgers, tucking the tomato wedges and peppers right into the bun.

They’re also perfect on tacos and nachos in place of pickled jalapeños, or chopped and stirred into chili, bean dishes, and grain bowls for a bright, spicy kick. I love adding a spoonful to scrambled eggs or breakfast burritos for an easy hit of heat and acidity without having to chop fresh peppers.

On a cheese or charcuterie board, those bright peppers and green tomato wedges look gorgeous next to cured meats and sharp cheeses. I put them on my holiday charcuterie board this past year, along with two other types of pickled green tomatoes, and my homemade pickled carrots, pickled hot peppers, green tomato marmalade, pickled pears, cranberry orange marmalade, and Italian green tomato preserves.

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