I’m obsessed with this pickled peppers recipe and find myself adding them to everything! They only take 20 minutes to prep and last in the fridge for a month.

I’m convinced these pickled peppers make just about anything taste better. When I’m putting together a dish, I’m always surprised at how much a hint of tanginess (from lemon or vinegar) can take the flavor from simply okay to absolutely excellent. These are my secret for adding crunch and that perfect hint of tanginess to everything from taco recipes and sandwiches to my favorite salad recipes, homemade pizza, and so much more!

For the photos, I’ve made a batch of sweet pickled peppers, but this recipe is easily adaptable to all sorts of peppers (even the hottest you can find). It truly depends on what you’re looking for! Feel free to experiment with different peppers or a combination of them to achieve the spice level you love.

Key Ingredients

• Peppers: I love pickled sweet peppers, but this recipe works with any variety of peppers. It depends on what you are looking for. For sweet peppers, we love using mini peppers (like what I used to make these sweet pepper poppers). They are thinner than regular bell peppers, which makes for a better texture in the end. You can use 100% sweet peppers or mix in some hotter varieties, such as banana peppers, cherry peppers, jalapeños, serrano peppers, or even hotter options like Fresno peppers.
• Vinegar: We keep the brine for these peppers simple with regular distilled vinegar (5% acidity). It gives the pickles a clean, classic flavor, allowing the sweetness of the peppers and the garlic to come through (it’s also inexpensive!). Feel free to substitute with rice wine vinegar or white wine vinegar if you prefer.
• Salt and Sugar: These are essential for balancing the brine. Without salt or sugar, our brine would taste too intensely like plain vinegar (we take this approach for most of the pickle recipes on Inspired Taste). For salt, I use sea salt or pickling salt (it’s best to avoid table salt here, as the added iodine can interfere with the pickling process). For the sugar, I use plain granulated sugar as my go-to. You can substitute brown sugar or honey, but this may cause your brine to appear slightly cloudy.
• Garlic and Spices: For a classic flavor, we love adding sliced garlic to the jars (you can mince it, but be prepared for a slightly more intense garlicky flavor in your brine!). Then, for the spices, we keep it simple with an allspice berry (yep, one is enough) and whole peppercorns.
• Optional Chile Pepper: When I use 100% sweet peppers, I like adding a hint of heat with a small dried chile (chile de Arbol is perfect). This is optional and won’t make the pickles spicy. They taste more warm than anything else. For more heat, increase to 2 or 3, or mix in some fresh hot peppers instead.

How to Make Pickled Peppers

These peppers get better over time. Pack your peppers into a jar, then pour the hot brine over them. Transfer them to the fridge once they’ve cooled to room temperature. As they sit overnight, they transform into incredibly crunchy, tangy peppers and continue to improve with each passing day, as the garlic has more time to infuse our brine with its flavor. I can’t wait for you to try them!

More Quick Pickle Recipes

Easy Pickled Peppers

• PREP
  20 mins
  
• TOTAL
  20 mins
  

These crunchy, quick pickled peppers are a great snack, excellent on meat and cheese boards, added to sandwiches and wraps, scattered over cheese pizza, or used in any recipe where you would typically use bell peppers. They keep their crunch but take on a pickled, bright flavor, adding a nice pop of flavor to just about anything!

Note: Just like other quick pickles (like our pickled carrots), these peppers are ready after a night in the fridge, but they continue to improve as they sit in the brine. They really light up around day 3!

Makes One 1-quart jar, 8 Servings

You Will Need

1 pound mini sweet peppers

2 cloves garlic, finely sliced

1 dried chile de arbol, optional

16 ounces (470ml) distilled vinegar, 5% acidity

1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt or pickling salt

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 allspice berry

5 whole peppercorns

Directions

1Prepare the peppers: Cut the tops off of the peppers and scrape or tap out the seeds and most of the white membrane. Slice into rings. Place the pepper rings into a clean 1-quart jar.

2Add the chile and garlic: Place the sliced garlic and chile de arbol (optional) around the peppers in the jar.

3Make the vinegar brine: In a small saucepan, combine the vinegar, salt, sugar, allspice berry, and peppercorns. Bring to a simmer and cook until the salt and sugar dissolve.

4Pour the brine into the jar: Pour the vinegar brine over the peppers. Make sure the brine completely covers all the peppers. Secure the lid on the jar until it’s “finger-tight” (meaning snug but not overly cranked).

5Cool and refrigerate: Set the jar aside on your counter and let it cool completely to room temperature. Once cooled, transfer the jar to your refrigerator. For the best flavor, refrigerate pickled peppers overnight before enjoying them. If you can wait, they get even better after 2 to 3 days! These quick pickled peppers will last, covered in their brine, in the fridge for up to 1 month.

Adam and Joanne’s Tips

• The jar: We use a 1-quart wide-mouth mason jar (32 ounces or 946ml).
• Peppers: We developed this recipe for sweet peppers (the mini, colorful peppers often sold in bags). The chile de arbol adds a little heat, but for more, feel free to use 2 to 3 of them or swap a portion of the sweet peppers for hotter peppers, such as jalapeños, Fresno, or serrano peppers.
• Allspice berries: These taste like a combination of cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg. We found whole allspice berries less common in the grocery spice aisle, but we recommend buying a “pickling spice blend” instead. McCormick’s “Mixed Pickling Spice” contains allspice berries, which we purchased and picked out 1 berry for this recipe. We also use it for making sauerkraut.
• Canning: These pickled peppers have been specifically designed for the refrigerator and are meant to be kept in the fridge at all times. However, if you’re experienced in canning, you could adapt them for long-term shelf stability. This would involve using sanitized jars, new lids, and a pressure canner.
• The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. Calculating how much salt is in the peppers is difficult, so we have included all of the brine in the calculations.

Nutrition Per Serving
Serving Size
1/8 of the jar (about 2 ounces)
/
Calories
42
/
Total Fat
0.2g
/
Saturated Fat
0g
/
Cholesterol
0mg
/
Sodium
449.3mg
/
Carbohydrate
7.1g
/
Dietary Fiber
1.4g
/
Total Sugars
5.6g
/
Protein
0.7g

AUTHOR:

Joanne Gallagher

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Vegan Picadillo is a delicious lentil stew with peppers, green olives, tomatoes, and just a hint of chocolate. And this tasty lentil picadillo recipe is a tasty meatless main dish whether or not you’re vegan!

PIN the Vegan Picadillo to try it later!

Vegan Picadillo (with Lentils, Peppers, and Green Olives) is a recipe I first made with my nephew Jake when he cooked with me for the blog for many years. And from the first bite this was one of Jake’s favorites out of all the recipes we tried together. 

I loved the sound of the inspiring stew recipe with lentils, sweet bell peppers, green olives, onion, garlic, chile powder and a hint of cocoa powder. Then when we tried the recipe Jake and I kicked it up a little, adding oregano, some canned tomatoes, a bit of Green Tabasco Sauce (affiliate link) and extra green olives. We ate this with a generous shake of green Tabasco, and the Vegan Picadillo was a satisfying meatless dish that we both loved.

And recently I made this again and took new pictures, which show off the recipe a lot better! And this time I added a little green olive juice to the Picadillo for even more flavor, plus I had the idea of garnishing the stew with sliced green olives, which probably appeals to all the green olive fans like myself!

What ingredients do you need for this recipe?

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe with ingredient amounts.)

What is Picadillo?

The word “picadillo” means to mince, referring to small pieces of meat that usually make up the bulk of this dish, and of course in this Vegan Picadillo the meat is replaced with lentils. Picadillo is a traditional dish all over Latin America where it’s usually made with beef and includes things like raisins, tomatoes, and olives.  Read more about Picadillo to find out what recipe variations are used in different countries.

Is the Vegan Picadillo recipe low in carbs?

Lentils do have some carbs of course, but they’re also a good source of fiber, and this delicious Picadillo made with lentils only has about 14 net carbs per serving and it has 8 grams of protein.

Is this Vegan Lentil Picadillo gluten-free?

This delicious Picadillo recipe is gluten-free and dairy-free.

How to Make Vegan Picadillo (with Lentils, Peppers, and Green Olives):

(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

1. Rinse lentils and pick out any broken ones.
2. Then simmer with garlic, salt, and water until lentils are soft. Drain over a pan to catch the liquid.
3. While lentils cook, chop the onions, red pepper, and green olives.  
4. Brown onions in a little olive oil in a pot that’s large enough to hold all the stew.
5. Add the minced garlic, diced red pepper, ground Ancho chile and Dried Oregano and cook a few minutes more.
6. Then add diced tomatoes with juice, tomato sauce, cocoa powder, Monkfruit Sweetener, and diced green olives and simmer about 10 minutes.
7. Add the cooked lentils, 1 cup (or more) of the lentil cooking water and simmer 20-25 minutes on low heat.
8. Add the Green Tabasco Sauce and 1-2 T green olive juice and stir.
9. Serve the Vegan Picadillo hot. I loved this with some sliced green olives for garnish, so pretty!
10. You can top the Picadillo with a dollop of Greek yogurt or sour cream if you don’t care whether it’s vegan.

More Meatless Recipes with Lentils:

Weekend Food Prep:

This Vegan Picadillo recipe has been added to a category called Weekend Food Prep to help you find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!

Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Lentils have some carbs but they also have a lot of fiber, so if you check the nutritional information you might find this is lower in carbs than you think, although too high in carbs for Keto. Vegan Picadillo is loaded with low-glycemic ingredients, and it would be approved for any phase of the original South Beach Diet. Remember that serving size is limited for the South Beach Diet Phase One. 

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Soups and Stew Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index  to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This Vegan Picadillo recipe with lentils was first posted in 2012. The recipe was updated with better photos in 2017 and last updated with more information in 2025.

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