Purple Jalapeño Pepper

If you are looking for a pepper to grow at home that is beautiful, delicious, and versatile, look no further than the purple jalapeño. Purple jalapeños are a relatively common ornamental variety, but they can also be used in the same way as any other jalapeño — in salsas, sauteed, jalapeño poppers, and more. It has the same range of spice as regular green jalapeños, so it will be noticeably spicy but not mind-blowingly so.

These peppers start out green, mature into a deep, dark purple color, and eventually mature further into a red pepper. Throughout the season, your pepper plant will, at times, have peppers at each stage of maturity, making it a beautiful splash of color to your garden.

Taste

Purple jalapeños have similar characteristics to regular green jalapeños but are perhaps slightly sweeter.

Uses

Use purple jalapeños in the same ways that you use regular green or red jalapeños! I love including diced jalapeños in my sauteed veggies with eggs, grilling them, blending them into salsas and sauces, and more. You can also dry purple jalapeños and then rehydrate them for later use, or grind them into powder or flakes.

How to get purple jalapeños

Purple jalapeños are not common across the United States, so you likely will not find them in your local grocery store or in commercially produced foods like hot sauces or spices.

Seeds to grow purple jalapeños at home

Growing your own peppers is the easiest way for most people to try purple jalapeños. Jalapeños love warmth and sunshine, so if you live somewhere with a short growing season, you will want to start these inside about 6-8 weeks before your local last frost date. Search for purple jalapeño seeds on Amazon or specialty online stores like Pepper Joe’s.