Is it sweet or is it spicy? Both!

What is Cowboy Candy you ask? Why only the most delicious home-preserved topping you will ever experience! It is the perfect combination of sweet and spicy and pairs with tacos, hot dogs, burgers, tuna salad, pizza, and more! It is extremely simple to preserve and can be made from homegrown or store-bought peppers.

We first discovered this condiment a few years ago and I’ve made sure we have at least one jar left on the pantry shelf since. It is extremely easy to put together and definitely worth the little bit of effort.

Is Cowboy Candy really that simple?

The first thing you need is jalapeños! Go figure! You can use store-bought or homegrown peppers for this project. It is definitely gratifying to be able to put up your own peppers, but there is absolutely no shame in using store-bought peppers to make these! This is the first year I’ve grown enough to preserve and I’ve been making it for at least 4 years. *The jalapenos need to be fresh, not previously cooked or frozen.

The other ingredients include typical pickling ingredients like vinegar, salt, and spices (turmeric, mustard seed, and cayenne), and this recipe also includes sugar. It is candy after all!

One of the awesome parts of this recipe is that you just need a water bath canner, there is no pressure canning involved. Water bath canning just means you cover the jars with a least an inch of water and boil with a lid on. (Psst! You actually don’t have to have a canner to do this. Any jar that is tall enough to cover the jars with an inch of water and still has room to boil will work!)

You can slice your jalapenos in coins, dice them, or even bland them up into really small pieces, like a relish. I’ve made my Cowboy Candy all three ways we love it regardless of how it is prepared. I use a mandolin to slice my jalapenos into even rings. I haven’t used this tool yet, but it is on my list and I’ve heard wondering reviews from others making this same recipe. The Kitchen Aid food processor attachment with a dicer blade is supposed to be a wonderful tool to make evenly diced pieces for cowboy candy.

Now, let’s get to that recipe! This recipe makes 4 pint jars. For the market, I sell mine in half-pint jars and I usually triple the recipe. I prefer to go ahead and get them all knocked out at once rather than make them in small batches. But this recipe is perfect for bringing in a few pounds at a time from the garden.