Hot Pepper Butter (Mustard)
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Hot Pepper Butter is a sweet, tangy, and spicy mustard spread made with Hungarian peppers, yellow mustard, apple cider vinegar, and plenty of sugar. Despite the name, there’s no butter in it, though. Think of it more like a thick sweet-and-spicy pepper mustard that’s ridiculously good with pretzels, sandwiches, burgers, and just about anything that could use a little kick.
I’ve been making this recipe for years after first hearing about it at a flea market near my parents. Every time I make a batch, people seem to come out of the woodwork asking for a jar.
I’ve learned one thing from handing it out over the years: if I give you hot pepper butter, I want my jar back. I’m happy to support the hot mustard addiction. I’m just not funding a new mason jar collection every fall.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Sweet, tangy, and spicy
- Great way to use Hungarian peppers
- Thick, spreadable mustard consistency
- Delicious with pretzels
- Great on sandwiches and burgers
- Makes a large batch for sharing
Ingredient Notes
See the recipe card at the bottom of the post for all ingredients and quantities.
Hungarian Peppers – these are my go-to for this recipe. Their heat can vary quite a bit, so taste a small piece before making the entire batch if you want an idea of how spicy the finished pepper butter will be. I remove the stems and seeds, but keep the membranes (for the spice) in the pepper.
Tip: Wear gloves while handling hot peppers. These peppers will leave your hands burning for hours.
Yellow Mustard – Plain prepared yellow mustard provides the classic tangy mustard flavor. I always just use the store brand.
Apple Cider Vinegar – The vinegar adds acidity and balances all of that sugar.
Granulated Sugar – There is quite a bit of sugar in this recipe, but that’s what creates the signature sweet-hot flavor.
Cooked ClearJel– The cook-type Clear Jel thickens the mixture into a spreadable consistency that gives hot pepper butter its name.
Important: The cook-type Clear Jel is approved for canning, but I don’t want to mislead you and say that I know for a fact this is safe for canning since it’s not a scientifically tested recipe. I will say I have canned the hot pepper butter recipe with cook-style ClearJel without an issue many times over the years.
How to Make Hot Pepper Butter
Step 1: Remove the stems and seeds from the Hungarian peppers. Add them to a food processor and process until they reach your preferred size. I prefer mine very fine.
Step 2: Whisk together the flour and sugar in a large stockpot. Add half of the yellow mustard and whisk until combined.
Step 3: Add the remaining mustard, chopped peppers, apple cider vinegar, water, and salt. Place over medium heat and bring the mixture to a boil.
Step 4: Once it begins boiling, stir constantly. The mixture can scorch easily as it thickens. Let cook until it reaches your preferred thickness. Mine cooked about 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer to clean containers and refrigerate or can.
Tips for the Best Hot Pepper Butter
- Wear gloves because hot pepper oils can stay on your skin much longer than you’d expect!
- Taste your peppers first! Pepper heat varies from batch to batch.
- Mix the flour/cooked ClearJel with sugar first. This helps make lumps much less likely.
- Add the mustard gradually. Whisk half the mustard into the flour mixture until smooth before adding the rest of the liquid ingredients.
- Stir the mixture constantly once the pepper butter comes up to a boil. The bottom can scorch quickly.
- Use a large pot. This recipe makes 10 pints of hot pepper butter, so there’s a lot of mixture and space is needed in your pan.
How to Store and Freeze
Store homemade hot pepper butter in clean airtight containers in the refrigerator.
You can also jar the mustard up in clean, sterilized pint jars. Can them in a water bath canner for 15 minutes and allow them to cool over the next 24 hours at room temperature. There are more details for that in the recipe card down below.
I like to lay out a towel and place the hot jars on top of the towel. Then drape a second towel over the top of the jars. Store the sealed jars on the shelf until they’re ready to be consumed. Once you open the jar, it must be refrigerated, or the jar didn’t seal properly after the 24 hours are up.
The canned hot pepper butter mustard will last 12 – 18 months or even longer.
Recipe FAQs
You can use another pepper for a refrigerated version, but remember that the heat and flavor will change.
Yes! If you don’t want to can this hot pepper butter, I would recommend making this into a smaller batch. You can start with 7-8 hot Hungarian peppers, 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon Clear Jel, 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, 1 cup yellow mustard, 1 cup apple cider vinegar, 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons water, 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt to make 2 1/2 pints of hot pepper spread.
Burgers, hot dogs, crackers, pretzels, chicken, turkey sandwiches, sausage, Bratwurst, etc.
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Hot Pepper Butter
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Ingredients
- 30 Hot Hungarian peppers
- 1 1/4 cups cook-style Clear Jel, not instant
- 6 cups granulated sugar
- 4 cups yellow mustard
- 4 cups apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Remove the seeds from the Hungarian peppers. Place them in a food processor and process until they are chopped to the size you like. I like mine very, very small, so I just pulverized mine. Set aside.
- In a large stockpot, add the Clear Jel and sugar. Whisk until combined.
- Add in about half of the mustard and whisk until everything is completely incorporated and there are no lumps from the Clear Jel.
- Add in the remaining mustard, peppers, vinegar, water, and salt. Mix with a spatula and everything is combined. Place over medium heat and stir occasionally.
- Once the hot pepper butter comes up to a boil, stir constantly, as it will burn easily. Let it cook to your desired thickness. I cook mine for about 15 to 20 minutes until it becomes quite thick.
- Place your clean pint jars and lids into the water bath canner to sterilize them. You can also place the lids in a small pot of water instead so they're easier to pull out.
- Remove one jar at a time and ladle in your hot pepper butter.
- Once the jars are all filled, wipe each rim clean with a damp paper towel and pull a lid out of the canner. Tighten the lid on with a band.
- Once all the jars are filled, place them in the water bath. Make sure the water covers the tops of the pints by at least 1 inch.
- Once the water comes up to a boil in the water bath canner, process for 15 minutes.
- Remove the jars from the water bath canner and place them on a towel. Place a second towel over the top of the jars and let them cool for 24 hours.
- Check to make sure the lids are sealed and place them in a cool, dark shelf area. Store open or unsealed jars of hot pepper butter in the refrigerator.
Notes
Nutrition Info
(Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.)
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This Hot Pepper Butter (Mustard) was originally posted September 23, 2014 but has been updated with new images and new information.
When I am ready to use it add 16 oz cream cheese and make it as a dip
How do you think this would be if made with jalapenos instead? It sounds delicious, and I have more jalapenos than I know what to do with this year!
Hi Bethany! This recipe will work great with jalapenos. The butter will be a little spicier and greener but still delicious!