These 2 ingredient candied jalapenos add big flavor to salads, sandwiches, and more. The sweet and heat together are pure magic. The best part is that this super easy recipe for cowboy candy takes almost no effort to make.
If you want to add a little bit of spice to your life, you are in the right place. This 2 ingredient recipe for cowboy candy is so easy to make. It just requires a little bit of patience while time and the refrigerator do their work.
Have you ever made cowboy candy? Most of the recipes out there start with fresh jalapenos and pickle them in a sweet brine.
While a recipe like that might be really useful at the end of summer, this isn’t the time of year when we have jalapenos growing like crazy in the backyard. Though we are looking forward to that time, because we love a good sausage stuffed jalapeno or bacon and shrimp jalapeno popper.
Canning isn’t a skill I have honed in yet. Luckily, my parents and brother have, and they were generous enough to give us a few jars of pickled jalapenos.
Now we eat most of them on things like nachos and chili. But I saved a jar to make some easy candied jalapenos because they make such a fun treat when served on a cream cheese topped cracker.
If you aren’t so sure about a sweet jalapeno, think of it like hot pepper jelly or peach habanero jelly. The sugar helps to take the bite out of the heat, and the two flavors really do play quite nicely together.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
There is no canning involved. You start with a jar of already pickled jalapenos instead.
You can use homemade pickled jalapenos or pick up a jar at the grocery store. Either way works, and they will be delicious.
It takes just a few minutes to prep the cowboy candy. Then all you have to do is let it sit in the refrigerator for a few days and shake it every once in a while if you think about it.
You don’t have to fuss with fresh jalapeno peppers. That means you get to skip steps like washing them, cutting them, and accidentally touching your eye with hot pepper juice, etc.
This recipe makes one jar, so you aren’t storing a ton at a time. Luckily, they are really easy to make, so you can make a small amount regularly rather than a bunch at once.
Are candied jalapenos spicy?
They certainly can be! Like most things involving jalapenos it depends on how hot your peppers are. However, the sugar tames the heat a bit so the flavors balance out well.
How to Serve Cowboy Candy
Our absolute favorite way to enjoy candied jalapenos is on a buttery cracker and some cream cheese. There is just something about that combination that gets us every time.
In fact, they almost never last long enough to be used in other ways. What can I say? We know what we like!
However, they would be great in baked beans. Or try them on soup, in sandwiches, or even on nachos.
They are wonderful in salads too. They add great flare to southwest flavors like those in a cowboy chopped salad.
You can chop them up and add them to dips or put some on your hot dog or hamburger for an instant upgrade. Anywhere you would use a sweet pickle but want a little heat, a candied jalapeno can satisfy both of those flavors.
I have even read that the syrup is good on ice cream. I haven’t tried it, but I can imagine it would be kind of good.
Ok. Well, I could go on and on about these. But I will stop so you can get to making some!
Easy Cowboy Candy
Ingredients
- 1 pint pickled jalapenos
- ½ cup granulated sugar
Instructions
- Pour about half of the liquid out of the jar of pickled jalapenos.1 pint pickled jalapenos
- Add sugar to the jar. Put a lid on the jar and shake it until most of the sugar is dissolved.½ cup granulated sugar
- If all of the jalapeno rings aren't submerged in liquid, add a little bit more sugar or vinegar so that they are all under the liquid level.
- Refrigerate for at least 4 days, shaking every once in a while if you think about it.
- Enjoy!