Jalapeno juice might just take the limelight off pickle juice. How can you make it and is it a good idea to drink it?
Jalapeno juice is similar to pickle juice. The important thing is to heat all the ingredients. This helps stabilize the brine’s acidity to preserve and flavor the jalapenos. You can drink juice from pickled jalapenos but not too much because it is high in sodium.
So, how do you make jalapeno juice, and is there a way to avoid high sodium levels? Discover the answers below!
How to Make or Extract Jalapeno Juice
Jalapeno juice isn’t a bunch of jalapenos that are pressed in a juicer. Jalapeno juice is jalapeno brine. This is the brine used to pickle jalapenos and is most usually the juice left after the jalapenos have been pickled.
Are you wondering about using leftover pickle juice for your jalapenos? I’ve got you covered! Check out my guide that explores this topic in detail. It discusses the pros and cons of repurposing pickle juice. It’s definitely worth a read!
Pickling juice is available online or in grocery stores sometimes so if you want to make jalapeno pickles, you no longer have to make one. But if you want to make your own jalapeno juice or jalapeno brine, you always can.
We did our research and here’s what you can do:
First, you’ll need your ingredients and these are vinegar, water, sugar, salt, and your preferred seasoning like dill, garlic, etc.
Your vinegar can be white vinegar or apple cider vinegar. Most recipes use either. Add all the ingredients to a pot or saucepan.
The most important thing here is to heat the ingredients. You can either heat them in medium heat or bring them to a boil. This will stabilize the acidity of the solution, and preserve the jalapenos.
After heating, you can either add the jalapenos (sliced or halved) to the pot and heat them in the solution, or you can add the solution when the salt and sugar have fully melted and heated, into jars with the jalapenos.
Cool the jars for an hour before locking them in. Refrigerate for at least 24 hours. You can store them in the fridge and they will keep for up to 6 months.
Here are a couple of recipes you can check out:
Quick Pickled Jalapenos
Easy Homemade Pickled Jalapenos
Would you like to become a pro at converting jalapeno measurements for various recipes? Take a look at my guide for all the solutions you need. It’s packed with valuable insights and detailed conversions for fresh, canned, diced, and chopped jalapenos.
What Can You Use Instead of Jalapeno Juice?
If you don’t have jalapeno juice or jalapeno brine on hand and don’t want to make one, you can also use pickle juice. Pickle juice won’t taste exactly the same as jalapeno juice (pickle juice is not spicy), but it’s the closest thing to jalapeno juice because they are pickled.
Their pickling ingredients, procedure, resulting solution, and even the duration are similar. Compared to the other suggestions we have below, pickle juice would also be the closest.
Other alternatives to jalapeno juice would be lime juice or vinegar with salt and pepper flakes or a little bit of chili.
Can You Drink Jalapeno Juice?
The most basic ingredients for pickle juice are vinegar, water, salt, and sugar. Most people like their brine or juice with the classic seasonings or flavorings such as garlic, dill, mustard seeds, or turmeric seeds (source: Southern Living).
Some people do drink the juice of jalapeno pickles because they find it tasty, especially with its heat. If you’re fine with the ingredients and you want to give it a try, you always can. It will always be down to your preference.
Is Jalapeno Juice Good For You?
There are people who drink jalapeno juice to curb their hunger pangs and take them in shot glasses. Others drink it because they like it. But the sodium content of pickle brine isn’t something to get excited about.
A 4-ounce serving of pickle juice has a whopping 3,508 mg of sodium. That’s 146% of your daily allowance for sodium (source: Nutritionix). Consuming about half a cup of pickle juice will more than cover your sodium limit for the day.
So, is this alarming? Yes, it is.
The reason why pickle brine has high sodium levels is that it is added with salt. Vegetables also contain natural sodium in them. But the high sodium content is mostly due to salt because it is essential in the brining process (source: WebMD).
Sodium is important in the body. But too much sodium from the diet can lead to not only high blood pressure, but also increase the risk of damage to kidneys, blood vessels, heart, and brain (source: Journal of the American College of Cardiology).
Some people’s stomachs are sensitive to too much salt and the slightest spice. These can also irritate the esophagus.
If you want to try jalapeno juice but are not a fan of the heat, try pickle juice first. And if you want to try pickle juice but are still uncertain, there’s actually a sports drink made with pickle juice. We know!
It has less sodium and fewer calories to boot too!
So, instead of drinking it straight up, how about adding the jalapeno juice to different cooking methods and dishes?
Jalapeno juice can be added to pickled eggs, chicken or turkey brine, potato salad, or to a fresh bowl of fresh fruits (especially tropical fruits) (source: Rockin W Homestead). You can also add them to salad dressings or to mayonnaise to give it a little kick (source: Fuss Free Flavours).
Traditional pickles may be more popular than jalapeno pickles, but the latter is not far off the list. Many people love to pickle jalapenos.
Online, you can find some health gurus, coaches, and enthusiasts alike adding jalapeno juice to their smoothies or juices. But we still recommend not adding too much as it is really high in sodium content.
Jalapeno juice is fine to drink, just don’t have too much. We hope this article helped as a guide!
If you’re curious about creative ideas for leftover jalapeno juice, I suggest checking out our other article. It shares unique ideas that could inspire you!
