Food and Recipes Recipes Southern Hot-Pepper Vinegar Be the first to rate & review! We have a feeling that this Southern Hot-Pepper Vinegar is going to be a new pantry staple. By Southern Living Test Kitchen Southern Living Test Kitchen The Southern Living Test Kitchen has been publishing recipes since 1970, four years after the first issue of Southern Living Magazine appeared on newsstands. The Southern Living Test Kitchen team includes a team of professionals with deep expertise in recipe development, from pastry chefs and grilling experts to nutritionists and dietitians. Together, the team tests and retests, produces, styles, and photographs thousands of recipes each year in the state-of-the-art test kitchen facility located in Birmingham, Alabama. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Published on May 18, 2021 Print Rate It Share Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: Victor Protasio; Food Styling: Rishon Hanners; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis Active Time: 5 mins Cool Time: 3 hrs Chill Time: 8 hrs Total Time: 11 hrs 5 mins Yield: 2 ½ cups Jump to recipe Only requiring 6 ingredients—one of them being water—this pepper vinegar recipe couldn't be easier to execute. In this recipe, a variety of peppers marinate in and infuse white vinegar with a welcome kick of spice. This vinegar is the perfect finishing touch to add to a whole slew of dishes—just a dash on top will go a long way. Use the vinegar to brighten a stew, collard greens, field peas, or oysters. The pepper vinegar is hot but not over the top, so it imparts a nice background heat to whatever you add it to. After sitting overnight, this vinegar develops a lot of flavor—and it's only going to taste better and get hotter in a few days' time. A pepper-picking tip: Most green peppers are harvested early and are less ripe (and less expensive) than other colors like red, yellow, and orange. In this recipe, you can use whatever peppers you like; this mix is on the milder side, but serrano chiles, tabasco red peppers, or Thai chiles would be great here, too, depending on your tolerance for heat. Consider this a basic infusion formula that you can add to or tweak at your leisure. Ingredients 5 small jalapeño chiles (3 oz. total) 5 medium-size red Fresno chiles (3 5/8 oz. total) 1 medium-size banana wax pepper (2 ¾ oz.) 2 ¼ cups white vinegar ½ cup water 2 large garlic cloves, smashed Directions Split jalapeños, Fresno chiles, and wax pepper lengthwise. Place in a 1-quart canning jar, glass bottle, or medium-size airtight container. Bring white vinegar, water, and garlic cloves to a boil in a small saucepan over high. Remove and discard garlic cloves; immediately pour vinegar mixture over peppers. Let cool completely, about 3 hours. Cover with lid, and chill at least 8 hours or up to 12 hours before using Rate it Print