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Canned Bell Peppers Recipe

Marinated Canned Bell Peppers have always been a favorite of mine, especially with mashed potatoes; classic. This is another canning recipe so you can make these now and enjoy them all winter long or at least for a couple of months if you are really obsessed with them.

Learn how to make marinated red bell peppers. They’re great side dish along mashed potatoes and good to nibble on straight too.

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This is my brother in law’s Mom’s recipe. I tried it a year ago at a party, jotted down the recipe, and then misplaced it. I’m still working on getting organized (if my husband reads this, he’ll probably roll his eyes. You see, he’s very organized and I’m, well, I’m working on it).

P.S. Wait at least 1 week before opening a can and eating it to give the flavors a chance to meld and infuse into the bell peppers. When properly canned, these peppers will keep up to a year at room temp.

Ingredients for Marinated Canned Bell Peppers:

5-6 lbs Red Bell Peppers, seeded and sliced
6 1/2 cups (1 1/2 liters) tomato juice (I used my mom’s homemade juice)
1/2 cup extra light olive oil
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 Tbsp sea salt (use iodine free salt)
1/2 cup white vinegar

Home Canning Tools:

Learn how to make marinated red bell peppers. They’re great side dish along mashed potatoes and good to nibble on straight too.

Cleaning/Sterilizing Your Jars:

Preheat oven to 215˚F.
1. Wash all of your jars and lids with soap and warm water.

2. Place jars in the oven on the bottom rack for 20 minutes or until completely dry. Boil lids in a small pot to sterilize them.

Making the Syrup:

1. In a large pot or dutch oven, combine 6 1/2 cups tomato juice, 1/2 cup olive oil, 3/4 cup sugar, 3 Tbsp salt, and 1/2 cup vinegar. Bring syrup to a boil and simmer 10 min

marinated-bell-peppers

Making the Canned Bell Peppers:

1. In the meantime, slice your bell peppers into 1/2″ wide strips and add them to your pot. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until easy to poke through the skin side (20 -25 min). As your peppers soften, they will be covered with the liquid, just be patient and give it a stir every once in a while.

marinated-bell-peppers-1

2. Transfer your piping hot bell peppers to your jars using a canning funnel (it makes the job so much cleaner and easier). I filled the jar with mostly peppers and then filled in the spaces with syrup. Fill the jars to the top with 1/4-inch of space left at the top.

Marinated Bell Peppers-10

3. Screw the lids on enough to keep a tight seal in place but don’t over-tighten them since air bubbles need to be able to escape.

4. Place packed cans into the canning pot and cover with 1-2 inches of water. Bring to a boil and process 15 minutes. Remove from the pot with jar lifter and leave at room temperature undisturbed for 12-24 hours. You may hear a pop when the jars fully seal. After 24 hours, check that the seal has formed by pushing down on the center of the lid – it should not move at all. If the seal does not form, refrigerate marinated peppers and enjoy within 3 months.

Current Canning Guidelines:

We updated the recipe in 2019 to reflect current canning guidelines which recommend boiling rather than the oven canning method. Get up to date on the most recent canning guidelines here. It’s a great resource to answer frequently asked canning questions.

Learn how to make marinated red bell peppers. They’re great side dish along mashed potatoes and good to nibble on straight too.

Recipe Tips: Wait at least 1 week before opening the canned bell peppers and enjoying to give the flavors a chance to meld and marinate. These properly canned peppers will keep up to a year at room temp. Yeah yeah!!

Are you canning anything this year?

Popular Canning Recipes:

Marinated Canned Bell Peppers Recipe

5 from 10 votes
Author: Natasha of NatashasKitchen.com
Learn how to make marinated red bell peppers. They’re great side dish along mashed potatoes and good to nibble on straight too.
Marinated bell peppers have always been a favorite of mine, especially with mashed potatoes. Classic. This is a canning recipe. Wait at least 1 week before opening a can and eating it to give the flavors a chance to meld and marinate. The peppers will last up to a year at room temp.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients 

Servings: 0 makes 8 pint size jars
  • 5-6 lbs Red Bell Peppers, seeded and sliced
  • 6 1/2 cups 1 1/2 liters tomato juice (I used my mom's homemade juice)
  • 1/2 cup extra light olive oil
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3 Tbsp sea salt, use iodine free salt
  • 1/2 cup white vinegar

Instructions

Cleaning/Sterilizing Your Jars:

  • Preheat oven to 215˚F. Wash all of your jars and lids with soap and warm water. Place jars in the oven on the bottom rack for 20 minutes or until completely dry. Boil your lids.

Making the Syrup:

  • In a large pot or dutch oven, combine 6 1/2 cups tomato juice, 1/2 cup olive oil, 3/4 cup sugar, 3 Tbsp salt, and 1/2 cup vinegar. Bring syrup to a boil and simmer 10 min.

Making the Canned Bell Peppers:

  • In the mean time, slice your bell peppers into 1/2" wide strips and add them to your pot. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until easy to poke through the skin side (20 -25 min). As your peppers soften, they will be covered with the liquid, just be patient and give it a stir every once in awhile.
  • Transfer your piping hot bell peppers to your jars using a canning funnel (we bought this at Walmart and it makes the job so much cleaner and easier). We add mostly peppers and then fill in the spaces with syrup. Fill the jars to the top with 1/4-inch of space left at the top.
  • Screw the lids on enough to keep the seal in place but don't overtighten them since air bubbles need to be able to escape.
  • Place packed cans into the canning pot and cover with 1-2 inches of water. Bring to a boil and process 15 minutes. Remove from the pot with jar lifter and leave at room temperature undisturbed for 12-24 hours. You may hear a pop when the jars fully seal. After 24 hours, check that the seal has formed by pushing down on the center of the lid - it should not move at all. If the seal does not form, refrigerate marinated peppers and enjoy within 3 months.

Notes

Tip: Wait at least 1 week before opening a can and eating it to give the flavors a chance to meld and marinate.
Course: Condiments, Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Canned Bell Peppers
Skill Level: Easy/Medium
Cost to Make: $
Natasha's Kitchen Cookbook

Signs of Spoiled Canned Food:

With any type of canning, we follow this advice: “When in doubt, throw it out”
Discard and do not eat or taste any canned food if you notice any of the following:

  • the jar is leaking, bulging, or swollen
  • the jar looks damaged, cracked, or abnormal
  • the jar spurts foam or liquid upon opening
  • the canned food is discolored, moldy, mushy, slimy, or smells bad

Natasha Kravchuk

Welcome to my kitchen! I am Natasha, the creator behind Natasha's Kitchen (established in 2009), and I share family-friendly, authentic recipes. I am a New York Times Best-Selling cookbook author and a trusted video personality in the culinary world. My husband, Vadim, and I run this blog together, ensuring every recipe we share is thoroughly tested and approved. Our mission is to provide you with delicious, reliable recipes you can count on. Thanks for stopping by! I am so happy you are here.

Read more posts by Natasha

5 from 10 votes (2 ratings without comment)

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Recipe Rating




Comments

  • c.k.
    August 29, 2014

    can I use apple cider instead of white vinegar? I’m using a different lid (the one that Ukrainians have), is it necessary to turn the jars up-side-down? My mother-in-law does that but do you think it’s necessary? Thanks a lot!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      August 29, 2014

      I’m not sure about the difference in the lid but we have always turned them upside down to help with the sealing process.

      Reply

      • c.k.
        January 28, 2015

        Privet Natasha! I love this recipe! I used apple cider vinegar instead of white vinegar. Thanks a lot! Will preserve more this year!

        Reply

  • alex
    August 21, 2014

    Hi! Love this recipe. Would like to know how big your jars are, and how many you use on this amount?

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      August 21, 2014

      Alex, this recipe made eight 1 pint jars and thank you for a great feedback :).

      Reply

  • katie
    March 3, 2014

    So i made these last week. and i used half v8 half tomato juice and it turned out DELICIOUS!!! The juice is so good! Hubby didnt even wait for a whole week to open a jar, so we ate all the peppers and the juice is just good on anything, mashed potatoes, rice, noodles..ANYTHING!!!!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      March 3, 2014

      Thank you Katie for such a great review and its good to know that v8 juice can be used. Enjoy! :).

      Reply

  • Katie
    February 25, 2014

    Hi Natasha, by the way my daughters name is Natasha too. I was wondering if I could use V8 juice instead of tomato juice?

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      February 26, 2014

      I think that would work well. Let me know how you like it!

      Reply

  • Jen
    October 28, 2013

    Looks simple to make and I’m going to try it but can you recommend what I would use the marinade for? May give as gifts too but want suggestions on how to use it.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      October 29, 2013

      Do you mean what to eat the marinated peppers with? Mashed potatoes, rice, or anything really! 🙂 Or just eat them as is 🙂

      Reply

  • Daria C.
    October 22, 2013

    Hi Natasha,
    I made your peppers & I’m hoping they’re going to be as tasty as the marinate tasted. I had two tomato bushes that came rather late and were not as sweet so I made sauce from them. At the same time I came across your recipe and figured perfect time to try. I did not have as many peppers as your recipe called for so I had some marinate juice left over. I did not want to waist it so I shred some carrots that I had on hand and cooked them in that same juice, they seemed very tasty when I tried them so I hope they will taste even better after canning. I Love your recipes, thank you for the inspirations!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      October 22, 2013

      I hope you love these!! They are a nice little treat 🙂

      Reply

  • Sarah Z.
    October 16, 2013

    Hi Natasha,
    I made this peppers today, but I didn’t go through the whole process of putting the cans in the oven. My family is big enough that we will eat it in no time 🙂 By the way, as soon as I put the peppers in the can, and they get to room temperature, should I transfer the to the fridge and wait a week before eating them.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      October 16, 2013

      It will taste best if you give them a week to marinate to let the flavors penetrate the peppers. Enjoy!

      Reply

  • Anne
    October 5, 2013

    I love your site. We started with a link to the recipes all Russians grew up with. Your comment about the water bath– I have canned for years. I started with a water bath, and often use the steamer option. But I firmly believe that oven canning works fine. Especially when you start with hot food in clean jars. Russia-Vladivostok 2003-2005

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      October 5, 2013

      Thank you so much for writing in. It also makes sense to me that if your food is boiling hot when you put it in the oven, that it will reach the correct temperature in the oven. Thanks again!

      Reply

  • Julia
    September 27, 2013

    I want to try this one! How many jars do u get from 5-6lb bell peppers?

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 27, 2013

      It yields 6 pint sized jars 🙂

      Reply

  • Yuliya
    September 22, 2013

    I got really into canning this summer too. I’ve done pickles, tomatoes and salmon tushonka. Also, 4 different salads. I did zucchini salad, beets salad, cabbage salad, and rice with vegetables salad. We’re all ready for the winter 🙂

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 22, 2013

      Wow! That’s amazing! You definitely beat me in canning this year 🙂 Great job!

      Reply

      • Yuliya
        September 23, 2013

        It’s all in season right now so why not do it while its cheap. Also, when you make any dish and don’t have time or ingredients for a salad, you just open a can and have it ready. I got the idea and motivation from my trip to Ukraine.

        Reply

        • Natasha
          natashaskitchen
          September 23, 2013

          I totally agree with you you Yulia 🙂

          Reply

    • angela
      September 7, 2014

      Hi Yuliya! If its not a secret, Id love to hear your salmon tushonka, ive tried a meat one, but im in love with salmon and would love to try that. -Thank you!

      Reply

  • Vitalina
    September 21, 2013

    This looks yummy. Do you think I could use the small mini peppers for this recipe? But I would leave the seeds in them, would that work?

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 21, 2013

      That should work just fine as well :).

      Reply

  • Tom
    September 18, 2013

    The look great. I’ve got an over-abundance of red bell peppers from the garden this year, so this would be perfect for something different to do with them.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 18, 2013

      I wish we had an over-abundance. My mom’s are struggling this year 🙁

      Reply

  • yaffa
    September 18, 2013

    How is your Mom preparing the tomato juice at home?

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 18, 2013

      She is in Ukraine right now so I won’t be able to ask her for a couple more weeks. I’m not sure I’ll make it in time for this season, but I’ll see what I can do 🙂

      Reply

  • Olga
    September 17, 2013

    I love marinated veggies. As soon as I open a jar, it will be gone in a day or so. I eat it as a side dish and can’t help indulging in them as a snack all day:). This recipe looks delicious.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 20, 2013

      Same here! I can’t help but much on these peppers once the can is opened 🙂

      Reply

  • Olena@iFOODreal
    September 17, 2013

    Bell peppers marinated in tomato juice are my fave! My mom also makes vinegar/sugar/salt marinade, I love that one too. But in tomato juice is the bomb dot com. LOL. I just love that saying of yours.
    I think husband and wife have to be opposites, otherwise they would kill each other or not?!:) Tricky question I’ll never find out the answer to, hopefully.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 17, 2013

      ha ha your comment made me laugh. I’m so happy my husbands personality is not the same as mine. I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t get along. lol.

      Reply

  • Jennie @themessybakerblog
    September 17, 2013

    I don’t know if I could wait an entire week before cracking open a jar. These sound wonderful. Pinned!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 17, 2013

      I couldn’t wait either, had one open in just a few days :).

      Reply

  • Oksana
    September 17, 2013

    Brilliant. Natasha, thank you for posting such scrumptious recipes. Could you tell me how does your mom make her tomato juice? Or will that be another post?

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 17, 2013

      You are welcome Oksana :). My mom is in Ukraine until next month, so I don’t know if I can get the recipe in time.

      Reply

  • Mom's Dish
    September 17, 2013

    This is almost identical to the recipe I use. Love it, definitely a staple in our family. It’s hard to find a deal on bell peppers to do a lot of canning.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 17, 2013

      I bought my bell peppers at Cash & Carry, cheaper than anywhere else I looked. I was hoping to use peppers from mom’s garden, but they seem to go bad before turning red.

      Reply

      • Mom's Dish
        September 17, 2013

        Oh thanks. I have cash & carry close by. I’ll check it out

        Reply

        • Natasha
          natashaskitchen
          September 17, 2013

          Yes I believe it was $3.66 for 6 bell peppers and I couldn’t find a better deal anywhere else. I did take a look at your recipe and I bet they taste very similar. 🙂

          Reply

  • Natalya
    September 17, 2013

    Can u please write yours mom tomato juice recipe ? Thanks a lot for great job… I tryed sooooooo many recipes from your site and it was delicious. Thanks

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 17, 2013

      You are welcome Natalya :). Mom is in Ukraine till next month, so I might not get the recipe in time.

      Reply

  • Sarah | The Sugar Hit
    September 16, 2013

    YUMMM, these would be perfect alongside basically any leftovers. GORGEOUS.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 17, 2013

      Thank you Sarah, I can’t agree with you more :).

      Reply

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