Copycat recipe
Hot Cherry Pepper Relish
Cherry pepper relish is the one topping that changes a sub more than the meat does. It brings heat, acid and oil in a single spoonful, which is why a plain turkey sub with relish beats an elaborate one without it.
Jarred versions are usually swimming in brine and taste of nothing but vinegar. Making it yourself takes fifteen minutes of chopping and gives you control over the two things that matter: how hot it is, and how wet it is.
Ingredients
Peppers
- 300g jarred hot cherry peppers, drained
- 100g jarred sweet roasted red peppers, drained — this is the balance, not a filler
The dressing
- 80ml olive oil
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 3 garlic cloves, very finely minced
- 1½ tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp fine salt
- ½ tsp coarse black pepper
- 1 tsp granulated sugar — not for sweetness, to round the vinegar off
Method
Decide your heat before you chop
The seeds and white pith carry most of the heat. Leave everything in for a relish that genuinely bites, halve the peppers and scrape half of them for something most people can eat freely. This is the only decision in the recipe you cannot reverse later.
Chop, do not blend
Hand-chop everything to roughly 3–4mm. A food processor turns cherry peppers into a wet purée in about two seconds, and a purée slides straight off a sub. Texture is what makes it stay put.
Dry the peppers
Tip the chopped peppers into a sieve and press gently, then spread on kitchen paper for five minutes. Skipping this is why homemade relish makes bread soggy — you are removing brine so you can replace it with oil.
Dress and combine
Whisk the oil, vinegar, garlic, oregano, salt, pepper and sugar together, then fold through the peppers. It will look under-dressed for about a minute and then settle as the peppers release.
Wait three days
It is edible immediately and considerably better on day three. Raw garlic needs that long to stop tasting raw and to spread through the oil. Refrigerate in a jar with the oil covering the surface.
Notes & troubleshooting
- The sweet red pepper is not optional if you want this to taste like a shop version. Straight hot peppers are one-dimensional.
- Use a jar with a narrow neck so the oil layer sits deeper over the peppers and keeps them longer.
- If it seems too hot on day one, stir in another 50g of chopped sweet peppers rather than more oil.
- Lift it out with a fork, not a spoon, so the excess oil drains back into the jar.
- Keeps a month refrigerated. Let it sit ten minutes at room temperature before using — cold olive oil is thick and clumps.
Questions
Can I use fresh cherry peppers?
Yes, but roast and peel them first and add an extra tablespoon of vinegar, since you lose the acidity the jar brine was providing. Fresh gives a cleaner flavour and takes about forty minutes longer.
How hot is this actually?
With the seeds in, hot enough that a heaped spoonful on a sub is a commitment. Deseeded, it sits somewhere around a mild pickled jalapeño — present but comfortable.
Why sugar in a hot relish?
One teaspoon across 400ml is not detectable as sweetness. It takes the hard edge off red wine vinegar, which otherwise dominates everything on a cold sub.
Can I can or preserve this properly?
Not with this recipe. It contains fresh garlic in oil and is designed for refrigerated storage over a few weeks. Shelf-stable preserving needs a tested, acidified formula, which this is not.
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