Check out my 5 Ways to preserve fresh chilli so you can make the most of your chilli harvest.
If you haven’t yet planted chilli in your backyard or container gardens, make a note to next spring! I have had success with jalapeno and habanero, both generating an ample crop. With an ample harvest, it’s handy to have several recipes up your sleeve to preserve them for winter months.
If you haven’t planted chilli before, I highly recommend it. I planted from seed this year and all seeds germinated, so I had around 25 plants — MORE than enough. 2-3 plants for a small household will be plenty.
The wonderful thing about chilli of course, is that you can eat them fresh or preserve them, so no chilli need to be wasted.
In this blog I will share how I freeze chilli, pickle chilli in brine, dehydrate, make chilli oil and chilli paste.
1. Freezing Whole Chilli
Too many chilli and not enough time? If time is not on your side, I’d recommend freezing them whole (or with the tops cut off). They freeze extremely well, and easy to prepare once frozen. They will lose their crunch, but perfect for a ‘free flow’ approach when you can take as little or as many out of the zip-lock bag as required. These are perfect for stir-fries, casseroles or even making a Homemade Chilli Relish later when you have time as you can cook the from frozen.
2. Infused Chilli Oil
I’ve blogged previously about making Chilli Oil so follow the link for more detail. You can infuse chilli in different types of oil for different purposes: olive oil (which is best in its unheated state for salads and marinades) and in sunflower/ canola oil (for use in cooking to higher temperatures). Either way, it adds zing to the tastebuds whichever way you want to disguise it.
3. Chilli Flakes
I have a dehydrator, so this makes the job very easy. I have tried using an oven but it must be on VERY low. So back to the dehydrator approach – literally wash and pat dry the chilli, cut into fine slithers or rounds of a similar size and dehydrate on low overnight. While it seems a lot of effort, and indeed they will shrink, it does make reaching for a jar of dried chilli flakes – your own, homegrown, home dried – quite appealing. You’ll need to check on them regularly to ensure the moisture is completely out of them, then place in a plastic bag and crush, or preserve them as dried chilli chunks.
It’s important to store in an airtight container straight away otherwise the moisture in the air will make them rubbery.
4. Chilli in Brine
I tried two options: (a) preserving whole and (b) preserving chunks. While the first is visually gorgeous and wonderful for a present, each jar won’t physically hold a whole heap. Cutting the chilli up however allows you to pack more into the jar.
If you have an abundance of chilli in your garden and want to preserve for practical reasons, I’d recommend the ‘chilli chunks in brine’ approach, purely due to the volume it holds.
- Whole Chilli: jar took 15
- Chilli Chunks: jar took 40
Check out my Chilli in Brine recipe.
5. Preserved Chilli in Oil
This process works by finely chopping chilli, sprinkling them with salt and and sauteing in oil until soft. You may choose to throw in a couple of cloves of garlic and/or finely chopped onion but still make chilli the hero. You can either use a stick blender and blitz the cooked chilli into a paste or leave it in chunks. Spoon into sterilised jars and seal.
So I hope you are inspired to ‘SOC’ (save our chilli) and get preserving.
Enjoy, for months to come!
