Easy Candied Jalapenos Recipe (Cowboy Candy)

Cowboy candy, or candied jalapenos, is a spicy, sweet condiment that can seriously kick up your hot dogs, hamburgers, chili, and cornbread and take them to the next level.

Serves: 1 pint Time: 30 min Cookbook: Pioneer Woman Online

Have you ever wondered what a jalapeño would taste like if you pickled it with sugar? Someone in Texas did, and ever since the 1920s, “cowboy candy” has been enjoyed all over the frontier.

Cowboy candy is essentially a pickled jalapeño that’s been candied. Sweet and spicy, candied jalapeños are an unusual treat that is sure to please your taste buds. Whether you eat them straight out of the jar or use them to garnish your dishes, candied jalapeños are super fun to make at home and would make the perfect gift for that spicy food lover in your life.

Our featured “master” for this recipe is the one, the only, Ree Drummond – a.k.a. The Pioneer Woman. Ree’s got a front-row seat when it comes to knowing what cowboys like to eat. Ever since she married Lad, she’s been responsible for feeding her cattle ranching family members and every member of the crew who helps her husband run the ranch.

Jump Ahead:

• ❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
• 🌶️ Ingredients Needed to Make Cowboy Candy
• 🍴 Equipment You’ll Need in the Kitchen
• 🥄 How to Make Cowboy Candy
• ♾️ Variations on Cowboy Cand
• ❓ Cowboy Candy Tips, Tricks, and FAQs

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Fun: This is such a fun condiment to make and have around. You can add it to a wide variety of dishes from hot dogs and hamburgers to cornbread and grits!

Unique: Set this out at a backyard bbq and watch it disappear. Many people have heard of cowboy candy but few have gotten to try it. Show off your candy-making skills by adding this to the table.

Easy: Besides cutting jalapenos, the only work this recipe requires is stirring. Easy peasy.

Ingredients Needed to Make Cowboy Candy

• Jalapeno Peppers: Fresh jalapenos provide a good combination of heat and flavor, but you don’t have to stick with the traditional. Feel free to experiment with other spicy peppers such as habaneros and serranos.
• Sugar: Use plain granulated white sugar for this recipe.
• Apple Cider Vinegar: The vinegar works to brighten up the flavor and is an ingredient you can’t do without for this recipe.
• Salt: Sea salt or kosher is perfect.

Equipment Needed In the Kitchen

3-Quart Saucepan

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Mason Jars (Half-Pint)

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Slotted Spoon

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• Saucepan: A 3-quart saucepan or a large pot is the perfect size for this fun project.
• Mason Jars: Two half pints or one pint-size jar is ideal for storing the batch of cowboy candy. If you don’t have mason jars, any heat-resistant airtight container of a similar size will work.
• Slotted Spoon: You’ll need a slotted spoon so you can remove the candied jalapenos from the syrup while the syrup further reduces.

How to Make Cowboy Candy

This sweet, spicy condiment is super easy to make and even more fun to eat! Once you make one batch, you’ll want to keep this on hand for all of your meals!

Getting Started

First things first! Pull out a pair of food-safe gloves.

When dealing with any sort of spicy pepper, it’s good practice to wear gloves while cutting them to prevent the oils from soaking into your skin. Without gloves, even after you wash your hands, rubbing your eye on accident after handling peppers will give you an experience you won’t forget.

Slice the jalapenos

Remove stems from the jalapenos, then cut the peppers in ¼ inch rounds, leaving the seeds intact.

Candy the jalapeno slices

In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, apple cider vinegar, and salt. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat while stirring often. Allow the sugar to dissolve while stirring the boiling syrup. This takes about 2-4 minutes.

Add jalapenos and bring the mixture back to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until the syrup has reduced a bit and the peppers look shrunken and shiny. This should take 5-7 minutes.

Use a slotted spoon and transfer the peppers to half-pint sized sterile canning jars or a similar heat-proof airtight container.

Reduce the syrup

Bring the liquid in the saucepan back to a full rolling boil and keep it there for around 10 minutes until the syrup has reduced in volume to 1.5 cups.

Remove the leftover syrup from the heat and pour it over the peppers until they are all submerged.

Cool and enjoy

Allow the jars to cool at room temperature prior to closing up. If using mason jars, wipe the rims of the jars with a damp paper towel before screwing on the lids to prevent the syrup from hardening on the edge.

Store in the refrigerator and keep for up to one month.

Variations on Cowboy Candy

Cowboy candy is delish and once we made a batch, we couldn’t get enough of it. Here are some fun twists to this treat.

Spicier Cowboy Candy: Do half and half jalapenos and serranos to make your cowboy candy recipe even spicier. For an additional spicy kick, add a dried cayenne pepper or two to the sugar mixture while it boils. Remove them and proceed with the rest of the recipe as written.

Less Spicy Cowboy Candy: Instead of hot peppers, use banana peppers to make cowboy candy and follow the recipe as written.

Savory Cowboy Candy: To make the jalapenos a bit more savory than sweet, add a teaspoon of pickling spice, celery seed, and garlic powder to the salt and sugar mixture while it boils.

Cowboy Candy Tips, Tricks, and FAQs

More Candy Recipes

We love the candying process! In addition to this candied jalapeno recipe, we’ve made these recipes and encourage you to try them, too!

• Candied Ginger – A perfect combination of sweet and spicy slices of ginger. Easy to make and better than grocery store candied ginger.
• Ginger Chews – A chewy combination of sweet honey with a bit of heat from the ginger. A favorite recipe for candy-making during the winter.
• Candied Pumpkin – Sweet pumpkin slices dunked in cinnamon sugar. We could eat an entire jar of this!

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