Maybe you made a batch at the end of jalapeño season, or someone handed you a jar. Either way, you’ve got cowboy candy. Now what? It’s good on a lot more than crackers. Cowboy candy refers to candied jalapeño peppers: sliced jalapeños preserved in a syrup made with sugar, vinegar, and spices like turmeric, garlic powder, and cayenne. Below, the uses are sorted by what you do with the jar: pile it on, serve it as a snack, or cook and bake with it.
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What cowboy candy brings to a dish
Think of it as being like a pepper jam but with larger pieces of pepper. The recipe’s sweetness cuts the heat enough to make it enjoyable for those who have limited tolerance for spicy foods, and the vinegar adds enough tang that it never tastes like dessert.
You get three things in every spoonful: sugar, acid and jalapeño heat. So it works almost anywhere you’d use relish, pickled jalapeños or pepper jelly. And don’t pour off the syrup. It carries the same sweet heat, and you’ll want it later.
Want to make your own? Our cowboy candy recipe will lead you through it, and our extra-spiced cowboy candy takes the spice blend further.
Pile it on
- Hot dogs: The traditional green relish made with cucumbers is one of the most popular toppings for hot dogs. Cowboy candy is like relish plus heat. It pairs well with mustard and onions, too. Use it alongside ketchup and relish, or in place of them if you don’t want too much stuff on your hot dog. If it’s too chunky for you, blend it to get something more spreadable and relish-like.
- Burgers: Both relish and ketchup are popular in burgers for the sweetness, acidity and moisture they provide. The downside is that they offer no heat. Cowboy candy gives your burger all three plus a manageable level of spiciness.
- Pulled pork: Here’s one of our favorite cowboy candy uses. Pulled pork is typically pretty sweet already. If you want it even sweeter or you want some heat, cowboy candy can be the perfect condiment, and the jalapeño heat cuts through the fattiness.
- Tacos: Think of cowboy candy as being similar to pickled jalapeños, which you’ll find on tables at many taquerias. Cowboy candy works the same way, except you get a lot of sweetness to go with the acidity and heat.
- Pizza: If you like pineapple on pizza, you might also like cowboy candy on your pizza. It brings the same kind of juicy sweetness and goes nicely with the salty, smoky flavor of ham, especially since it brings a spicy jalapeño kick to go with the sugar.
Serve it as a snack
With cream cheese
Many people enjoy combinations of sweet and savory flavors, and the contrast is even more enjoyable with a little heat. The mix of savory cream cheese with the sweet, jam-like cowboy candy is similar to pepper jelly and cream cheese, which is a popular pairing. Serve cowboy candy and cream cheese on toast, pitas, or crackers. Our hot pepper jelly uses work for cowboy candy, too.
On a cheese board
Set out a small bowl next to cheeses, crackers and fruit. A sharp cheddar or a salty aged cheese will stand up to the sugar.
In a sandwich
Layer a few slices into a sandwich with ham, salami or another salty cured meat. The sweet heat plays off the salt the same way it does with ham on pizza.
Cook and bake with it
In barbecue sauce
Want something to add to the sweetness of a homemade barbecue sauce while also making it a little hotter? Cowboy candy can give your barbecue sauce the spicy edge it needs to avoid blandness. Our candied jalapeño barbecue sauce uses a full cup of it, syrup included, and it’ll get you started.
In cornbread
Jalapeño peppers and cornbread go together. If you like a sweeter cornbread or like to spread jam or honey on your cornbread, candied jalapeños might be for you. Try our jalapeño cornbread with chopped, drained cowboy candy in place of the fresh jalapeño. That’s our adaptation; the recipe is written for fresh.
In cakes and candy
Cowboy candy shows up in more of our desserts than you’d guess. Our spiced pineapple upside-down cake calls for a tablespoon of candied red jalapeños. The spiced peach cake suggests tucking some among the peach slices, and the jalapeño lemon drizzle cake and slightly spiced clementine cake both use them as a topping. They’re also one of the suggested mix-ins for our chipotle chocolate rocky road.
Use the syrup as a glaze
The syrup is a sauce in its own right. Spoon some into barbecue sauce, as our recipe does, or brush it over ham, pork chops or chicken just before they come off the heat. Watch it closely once it’s on, because sugar burns fast.
Cowboy candy or pickled jalapeños?
Which one should you use? Both bring tang and jalapeño heat. The difference is sugar. Pickled jalapeños are sour and sharp, and that lets them cut through rich tacos, nachos and enchiladas. Cowboy candy is sweet first, so it’s better where you’d otherwise use relish, jam or a sweet glaze. If a dish is already sweet, like pulled pork or barbecue sauce, cowboy candy adds to it. If it’s salty and rich and you want contrast, go pickled.
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Related reading
- Jalapeño And Lemon Popsicles: Plenty of tart-sweetness here and the bright bite of jalapeños works incredibly well with it.
- Pickled Jalapeños: Another popular way to eat this common chili!
- Jalapeño And Blackberry Slush Drink: A potent mix of rich berry flavor and heat. Got cowboy candy? The recipe says you can swap it for the fresh jalapeño.