Super Simple Lacto-Fermented Peppers

Peppers are the sweet hearts of summer. They love the heat, add yummy flavor (and nutrition) to summer favorites like gazpacho, salsa, and stuffed peppers. They’re also full of vitamin C.

But you can only eat so many of them fresh before you need to preserve them. Thankfully, you can preserve them and make them even more nutritious (and delicious) through the process of lacto-fermentation.

Like many lacto-fermented recipes, the process for fermenting peppers is super simple. You can add all sorts of fun spices like cumin and cayenne to give it a southwestern flare, but I actually like to do them plain, in just a salt brine.

How to Use Them

Once they are fermented you can add them plain to all sorts of dishes. Any raw salad that you might add bell peppers to would welcome these simple lacto-fermented sweet peppers.

Add them to a taco salad. Use them in a fresh salsa. Whiz them up in an extra tangy gazpacho. Add them to a grain or bean salad. Top a bowl of beans with them along with cultured cream. Use them to top cooked Italian or other sausages.

Or enjoy them straight from the jar if you’re a real pepper lover.

Recipe

This is a guide to making your own recipe easily and flexibly. Use whatever amount of peppers you have coming in from the garden or piled up from the farmer’s market. So long as you always use the same ratio of salt to water in the brine, you can make this recipe in any amount and with whatever additions you like.

Ingredients

• Sweet Peppers
• Sea Salt
• Filtered Water
• Seasonings: Spices like cumin or cayenne, peeled garlic, sliced onion, herbs like cilantro or parsley, etc.
• Quart, Half Gallon, or Gallon Jars

Directions

1. First make a brine from 3 tablespoons of fine-grained sea salt and one quart of filtered water. (If you are using a larger vessel (half or one gallon), double or triple the brine amount.) Stir well to dissolve the salt in water.
2. Prepare your peppers. Rinse them with water and remove stems and cores. Cut them into thin strips or 1/2 - 1 inch squares.
3. Place a bit of seasonings, if using, at the bottom of your vessel. Fill the jar about half way with peppers. Add in a bit more seasonings, if using. Fill the rest of your vessel with the chopped peppers, leaving 1-2 inches of headspace.
4. Pour brine over peppers and seasonings until covered. Weight down your peppers using a smaller lid, clean rock, or plastic bag filled with water. Be sure that the peppers remain under the brine.
5. Allow to ferment at room temperature (65 - 80 degrees) for several days, burping jars daily as necessary to release pent up gases. Move to cold storage. Should keep for several months.

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