No you do not need to use jalapenos - or any hot pepper for that matter. You can leave out all peppers or you can sub sweet peppers for hot peppers or others varieties of hot peppers for the jalapenos. You just need to keep the amounts the same.

But if you leave out the peppers or reduce the amounts you still can NOT increase the amounts of any other ingredients. They must remain the same.

I've found lots of approved recipes

This comment set off an alarm in my head since there are NOT "lots of approved recipes for salsas". They are quite limited in number in fact and only limited research has been done on salsa canning safety.

This is because of the borderline pH of salsa and the low-acid ingredients used in making it. Also because it is eaten fresh from the jar without further cooking after opening. So tread carefully when it comes to canning salsa.

You'll find a great deal of salsa safety info at NCHFP to review before using recipes from unapproved sources.

Dave

Thanks Dave! I guess when I say "lots" it seems like quite a few to me. The NCHFP, the Ball books, and one publication from the Pacific Northwest extension agency. I guess that's not so many, after all, but almost all the recipes want jalapenos. Maybe that's what I meant.

I have thoroughly enjoyed browsing this forum for the past few days. Hope to become a regular, even if I'm only lurking. But I'm sure I'll come up with another question or two or seven. :-)

I'm another "don't like hot" type person. I'm married to someone that loves hot!

If I make salsa, I don't add many hot peppers, and like Dave said, you can substitute one pepper for another and it does not matter. You may find putting no hot peppers gives a bland taste, I usually add some, but substitute part for sweet (I love peppers, just don't like hot)

BTW- the Ball complete book has 14 different salsa recipes, though only 9 of them are tomato based, and one of those 9 uses green tomatoes, not ripe ones. They all call for Jalepenos or other hot peppers.

Another BTW- jalapenos aren't very hot peppers, and if you clean out the seeds and white membrane (called the plecenta) you remove the part that is the hottest.

Friends know my husband loves hot, hot salsa. Just had a call from another one who asked if I wanted some. She said it turned out a bit too hot for her family . . .

Lots of diff jals to choose from if you can grow your own. Biker Billy is my fav hot jal and Tam is very mild.

Half yellow pepper

THanks Cheyanna, but this post is 14 years old, so probably resolved.

However, in the case anyone is interested, the peppers don't have to go in the whole batch. I'm a heat wuss, my husband loves the stuff, the hotter the better. I make "sissy" salsa with just a slice of chili of choice for me and "serious" salsa with lots of chilies for him, I make sure I keep them separate so I can label them!

Annie

You can absolutely swap them out. Substituting sweet bell peppers or mild Anaheim chiles for the jalapenos works perfectly to keep the flavor without any of the heat you want to avoid.