Allow me to present my all new strawberry Tabasco pepper jelly, y'all!! It's oh soooo sweet with a little bit of yum-delicious heat. And it's pourable, spreadable and party sharing-friendly, too. But, you may just want to keep enough on hand to spoil yourself straight food silly every homemade pepper jelly craving now and then. Yep and yay...
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The Strawberry Tabasco Pepper Jelly Recipe Story....
Last year, Mark and I went to Avery Island, to a Tabasco factory tour. I didn't write about it much back then because we didn't stay as long as we'd planned.
You see, we went right before the 4th of July weekend, when Mark had some time off of work. We went on like a Thursday morning, heading out of our driveway about 2 hours after the time we thought that the bumper-to-bumper Baton Rouge morning traffic would end.
Well, y'all, were we ever wrong!!! Yep!! Passing through Baton Rouge an hour into our trip was a stop-and-go nightmare. For like two hours, we moved about 2 to 5 feet down I-12 at a snail's pace, only for Mark to have to stop for 30 seconds to 1 minute, and then drive forward again.
Ya'll, it was pure staycation torture for both of us!! After the first 30 minutes, both of our backs started to hurt, and after we finally made it through Baton Rouge 2 long, miserable hours later, we were both cranky, hungry, and hurting.
So, we rode the lighter traffic out another hour. Then, we stopped to eat pho at a groovy little restaurant in Lafayette. Satiated and filled with the pho glow, we arrived at Avery Island another hour later, tired but hopeful.
Well, I'm sorry to say that neither one of us could appreciate the beauty of the Tabasco Factory grounds that day. So, we popped into a few tour stops, then spent the rest of our short time there at the Tabasco Country Store.
We bought one of the store's Tabasco pepper starter plants that day. And I promised not to touch it if Mark promised to grow it to adulthood. Yep. So, I didn't, and he did, and now a year and a half later, we have a thriving adult Tabasco pepper plant.
So thriving, in fact, that it's sitting in my living room right now, as it's still slap stupid cold in south Louisiana right now. Mark brought it in so it wouldn't perish in the snow a few weeks ago.
And from the very first time that I saw a pepper on the plant, I have been wanting to make this recipe. Yep. It's only natural, you see, because I live in the midst of like 10 strawberry fields, and strawberry is my very favorite berry. Since my beloved plant is still loaded with peppers this late in December, I thought that it's finally time to pair the two together into something I thought - and now know - that I would love soooo much.
And that is how strawberry Tabasco pepper jelly was born, and now I'll tell you why I'm going to make it over and over and over again...
Strawberry Tabasco Pepper Jelly Starts off Sweet, Then Finishes South Louisiana Sassified...Yep...
You get a rush of strawberry sweetness on your tongue when you first bite into a dollop of this strawberry Tabasco pepper jelly over cream cheese and toasted gluten free English muffin squares. Or crackers. Then, you notice the strawberry and green bell pepper 'match-made-in-canning-heaven' taste melding delightfully upon your palate.
By your second or third bite, the heat starts to rise off of the very back of your tongue. Upon this blessed culinary occurrence, all of the high and low flavor notes of the strawberry Tabasco pepper jelly come together into one multi-dimensional flavor pop after another. Yep. It's unlike anything I've ever had, and I have to say that this recipe turned out even better than I thought it would. So, now I'm super happy to give it to y'all, too. Share with those you want to experience the kind of sweet heat that grows more blissfully addictive every time you eat it. And see y'all on the yum side...
Strawberry Tabasco Pepper Jelly
Ingredients
- 3 to 5 Tabasco peppers, seeded and chopped,**see notes for safety precaution***
- 1 ½ cups frozen strawberries
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 ½ cups chopped green bell pepper
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 1 ½ 1.75-ounce packets Sure-Jell
- 5 cups sugar
Instructions
- Pour the strawberries, the Tabasco peppers, the vinegar, and the lemon juice into blender or food processor. Pulse until well-combined.
- Pour the mixture into a medium-sized pot over a high fire. Add the green bell peppers and Sure-Jell a little at a time until well-incorporated.
- Stir sugar into the mixture.
- When mixture comes to a boil, stir constantly for 3 minutes.
- Remove from heat.
- Ladle the strawberry Tabasco pepper jelly into hot jars, then use a damp cloth to wipe away residue. Fit jar with lid and seal as tightly as you can.
- Place the jars in a boiling water canner, then process according to the manufacturer's directions.
- Let jars cool for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight. Note: This is a fluid, pourable pepper jelly that does not fully harden, but stays spreadable even throughout refrigeration.
- Press the center of each jar. If the lid does not move up and down, you can store the jars in a cool, dry place like your pantry for up to 1 year. If the lid moves up and down, you must store the jars in your refrigerator, and use each jar of jelly within 2 months.
Notes
Gina says
Do you mean 1 1/2 boxes of a 1.75 oz box?
Lyn Corinne Liner says
Yes. I updated the recipe. Thanks for letting me know! 😊