Spicy Pear Preserves with Peppers

These spicy pear preserves are a delicious, savory topping for vegetables or grilled meats. Similar to hot pepper jelly, but this recipe doesn’t use pectin. Combine the preserves with cream cheese or pair with cheese on a charcuterie board for the appetizer course.

If you’re a fan of hot pepper jelly and fruit preserves, you must try these spicy pear preserves made with fresh pears, red bell pepper and jalapeño pepper.

My mom created this recipe after receiving a bountiful garden harvest of pears and peppers. The combo hits the right spicy-savory-sweet notes.

The pear preserves are cooked for several hours over low heat until a thick syrup forms. The longer you cook the pears, the more they will break down and thicken. But you’ll still be left with big chunks of pears and pepper in a thick syrup.

Unlike my Hot Pepper Jelly Recipe, these preserves do not contain pectin, so it won’t set like jelly. The finished preserves will be thick and chunky. They are spreadable enough to be used to make this easy cream cheese appetizer if you’re looking to change things up from the norm.

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❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe

This recipe uses only 5 ingredients, and it basically cooks itself. Aside from some chopping, you just have to watch the pot a bit and stir occasionally to prevent sticking. If you’ve made my Homemade Cinnamon Applesauce, the cooking process is pretty similar.

This is a really easy recipe to can using a water bath canner. You’ll end up with six half-pint jars of spicy pear preserves that will last a year or more in the pantry when properly sealed.

Want to see a brief overview of the process before diving into the recipe? Watch my web story on how to make Jalapeño Pear Preserves.

🌶 Ingredients

• Pears – Use firm, ripe pears that have been peeled, cored and chopped. Good types to use include Bosc, Anjou or Bartlett pears, or use a variety of pears.
• Sugar – Use white granulated sugar for this recipe.
• Lemon Juice – When canning, always use bottled lemon juice to ensure proper acidity for preserving.
• Bell Pepper – We like to use red bell peppers for their pretty color, but you could also use orange, red or green.
• Jalapeño Pepper – A chopped jalapeño provides a slight amount of heat to these sweet preserves. You can add more chopped jalapeño or a hotter variety of pepper if you want a spicier spread.

See recipe card for quantities.

🍐 How to Make Spicy Pear Preserves

Read on for the step-by-step process for cooking the preserves and canning them so they can be stored in the pantry.

Preparing the Preserves

• Peel core and chop pears to make 8 cups. It’s fine if the pears are a little underripe and firm, as they will soften as they cook.
• Place the pears in a large bowl and add the sugar, stirring until the fruit pieces are coated.
• Cover and let sit for at least 8 hours, or overnight, in the refrigerator.
• Remove the fruit from the refrigerator and add to the Dutch oven, along with the lemon juice.

• Cook over medium-high until the pear mixture comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low. At this point, you may want to taste the mixture to see if it’s sweet enough. You can add more sugar, as preferred.
• Cook, covered, on medium-low for an hour, stirring occasionally.
• After an hour, add the diced bell pepper and jalapeño pepper to the Dutch oven.

• Continue cooking on low, covered, for 1½ to 2 more hours until the mixture has darkened and is thick and syrupy with a gel-like consistency. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.

Canning Pear Preserves

• Prepare a water bath canner with a rack. Make sure there’s enough water to cover the filled jars by 1 to 2 inches.
• Ladle the hot mixture into into hot, sterlized jars, allowing ½ inch headspace. Run a chopstick, small spatula or debubbling tool around the inside of each jar to remove any air bubbles.
• Wipe down jar rims with a clean, wet cloth before applying lids and rings, tightening to fingertip tight.

• Place jars on a rack in a water bath canner and process in boiling water, covered, for 10 minutes. (If you live in a high-altitude, adjust processing time according to this chart.)
• Turn off the canner, uncover and let jars sit for 5 minutes.
• Use a jar lifter to transfer jars to a cooling rack or a baking sheet lined with towels.
• Allow jars to sit for 24 hours before moving them. You should hear the lids pop as they seal.

• After 24 hours, check that the jars are sealed by pressing the middle of the lid with your finger. If the lid moves or springs back, it is not sealed. You can attempt to reprocess any unsealed jars or store the preserves in the refrigerator.

💭  Top tip: Canning guidelines used to recommend placing jar lids in simmering water before using them. But newer lids don’t need to be heated first to ensure a proper seal. Most just need to be washed first. Check the the manufacturer’s instructions for the lids you’re using.

High Altitude Canning Adjustments

If you live at a high altitude, increase processing time in the water bath canner by the appropriate amount:  

• 1001-3000 feet above sea level – increase by 5 minutes
• 3001-6000 feet above sea level – increase by 10 minutes
• 6,001- 8,000 feet above sea level increase by 15 minutes
• 8,001- 10,000 feet above sea level increase by 20 minutes

📖 Substitutions & Variations

You can make adjustments to this recipe to suit your taste preferances.

• Use more jalapeño peppers or a spicier variety of pepper to make hotter preserves.
• For a sweeter batch of preserves, add more sugar to taste. Some pear preserve recipes call for as much as 4 cups sugar per 8 cups of fruit.
• Add other seasonings, such as ground ginger, allspice, cinnamon and nutmeg for spiced pear and pepper preserves.
• Substitute apples for the pears in this recipe to make spicy apple preserves .

Storage

Store properly sealed jars of pear preserves in the pantry for up to a year.

Store opened jars in the refrigerator and use within a month.

Equipment

Here’s the equipment you’ll need to make a batch of spicy pear preserves.

• cutting board
• paring knife
• large, non-reactive bowl
• 6 half-pint jars with rings and NEW lids
• water bath canner with rack
• jar lifter – I recommend this canning essentials kit
• funnel
• ladle
• large measuring cup
• Dutch oven or large stockpot
• gloves (for handling hot peppers)

How to Serve Spicy Pear Preserves

Spicy Pear Preserves are a great condiment to keep on hand.

I like to add a spoonful to beans and other cooked vegetables, just as I would pepper jelly.

Serve spicy pear preserves with cheese on a charcuterie or use it on a Brie and Ham Panini. These preserves are also good on toast, homemade biscuits and grilled meat, especially pork.

If you need a super quick and easy appetizer, spoon some preserves over a block of cream cheese and serve with crackers.

What’s the difference between jelly, jam and preserves?

• Jelly is typically made using fruit juice and pectin. The end product is usually clear with a smooth consistency.
• Jam is made by using crushed fruit or pureed fruit, combined with sugar, acid and sometimes pectin. This homemade strawberry jam is a great example.
• Preserves are made with large pieces of fruit or even whole fruit, in the case of bereries, combined with sugar. Pectin can also be used in preserves, but isn’t always necessary. Preserves have large pieces of fruit in them and a thick syrup.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Easy Canning Recipes

Try these other delicious and simple home canning recipes.

• Hot Pepper Jelly
• Homemade Strawberry Jam
• Overnight Refrigerator Pickles
• Homemade Lemon Curd
• 14-Day Sweet Pickles
• Watermelon Rind Pickles

Pin This! Spicy Pear Preserves with Jalapeño

Printable Recipe Card

Spicy Pear Preserves with Peppers

Sweet and spicy pear preserves with big chunks of fruit and two kinds of peppers. Serve with cheese, vegetables or meat. A great addition to a charcuterie board.

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Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Prep Time 25 minutes mins

Cook Time 3 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

Soaking Time 8 hours hrs

Course condiments, Preserves

Cuisine American

Servings 48 servings (2 Tablespoons each)

Calories 40 kcal

Equipment

• Dutch oven
• 6 half pint canning jars with new lids and rings
• water bath canner with rack
• paring knife
• 8-cup measuring cup
• large nonreactive bowl
• funnel
• ladle
• jar lifter

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 8 cups pears peeled, cored and chopped
• 1½ cups granulated sugar
• 2 Tablespoons bottled lemon juice
• ½ cup red bell pepper finely chopped
• 1 jalapeño pepper finely chopped

Instructions

 

Preparing the Preserves

• Place the pears in a large bowl and add the sugar, stirring until the fruit pieces are covered.
• Cover and let sit for at least 8 hours, or overnight, in the refrigerator.
• Remove the fruit from the refrigerator and add to the Dutch oven, along with the lemon juice.
• Cook over medium-high heat until the fruit mixture comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add more sugar, if necessary. Cook, covered, for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
• After 1 hour, add the diced bell pepper and jalapeño pepper to the Dutch oven.
• Continue cooking on low, covered, for 1½ to 2 more hours until the mixture has darkened and is thick and syrupy. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.

Water Bath Canning Method

• Ladle into hot, sterlized jars, allowing ½ inch of headspace. Run a chopstick, small spatula or debubbling tool around the inside of each jar to remove any air bubbles.
• Wipe down jar rims with a clean wet cloth before applying lids and rings, tightening to fingertip tight.
• Place jars on a rack in a water bath canner and process (covered) for 10 minutes. (If you live in a high-altitude, adjust processing time according to instructions in the Notes section.)
• Turn off the canner, uncover and let jars sit for 5 minutes.
• Use a jar lifter to transfer jars to a cooling rack or a baking sheet lined with towels.
• Allow jars to sit for 24 hours before moving them. You should hear the lids pop as they seal.
• After 24 hours, check that the jars are sealed by pressing the middle of the lid with your finger. If the lid moves or springs back, it is not sealed. You can attempt to reprocess any unsealed jars or store the preserves in the refrigerator.

Notes

Variations & Adjustments

• Adjust the spiciness and sweetness of these preserves by adding more hot peppers (or using a different variety) and adding more sugar. Some pear preserve recipes call for as much as 4 cups of sugar per 8 cups of fruit.
• Season with cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg or allspice to make spiced preserves.
• Substitute apples for the pears in this recipe to make spicy apple preserves.

 

High Altitude Canning Adjustments

If you live at a high altitude, increase processing time in the water bath canner by the appropriate amount:  

• 1001-3000 feet above sea level – increase by 5 minutes
• 3001-6000 feet above sea level – increase by 10 minutes
• 6,001- 8,000 feet above sea level increase by 15 minutes
• 8,001- 10,000 feet above sea level increase by 20 minutes

 

Storage

Store properly sealed jars of pear preserves in the pantry for up to a year.

Store opened jars of preserves in the refrigerator and use within a month.

Nutrition

Calories: 40kcalCarbohydrates: 10gProtein: 0.1gFat: 0.1gSaturated Fat: 0.01gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.03gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.02gSodium: 0.4mgPotassium: 36mgFiber: 1gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 58IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 3mgIron: 0.1mg

Keyword canning, condiment, pears, peppers, spicy, sweet

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