BEST Dill Pickle Relish
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An easy, wonderfully versatile and utterly deeeeelicious homemade dill pickle relish recipe! Canning instructions are included so you can enjoy this relish all year long!
It’s relish like this that makes eating a sandwich or hot dog just that much better. It also adds a wonderful dimension to your pasta and potato salads. Last Summer I posted my recipe for Sweet Pickle Relish and here is the more savory version with a more pronounced dill flavor. It’s so easy to make and comes with instructions for canning so you can enjoy it all the year long.
Pickle Relish Recipe
Let’s get started!
We’re going to use regular cucumbers. They’re much cheaper than English cucumbers (the ones that come shrink-wrapped) or pickling cucumbers and taste exactly the same. I prefer to peel them since the peel is fairly tough. We’re also going to remove the seeds.
So peel the cucumbers and thinly slice them lengthwise. Slice them into strips, discarding the inner strip of seeds. Then very finely dice the cucumbers.
Very finely dice the onions, garlic and red bell pepper. You can use a food processor, just don’t let the onions and bell pepper get mushy. I prefer to just do it by hand.
Note: There are no green bell peppers shown in the pictures and they weren’t added to this particular batch, but they belong in it. Okay, now that that’s clear, let’s move on.
Place the diced vegetables in a large bowl along with the salt. Cover with water and let it sit for at least 6 hours or overnight.
(Ignore the fact that some of the cucumber peels are on. The second batch I made I peeled the cucumbers and the result was better.)
Put the sugar, vinegar and spices in a large stock pot and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to a low boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
Drain the cucumber mixture in a colander, thoroughly rinse, and drain again.
Add the mixture to the stock pot. Return to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Discard the bay leaves.
Ladle the hot relish into the hot sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 inch of headspace. Wipe the rims of the jars clean and seal tightly with the lids. Process the jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
Ah, the masterpiece is done!
Best eaten at least a week later after the flavors have had time to meld and the vinegar mellows out a bit. In addition, the relish needs to sit to give it time to absorb some of the liquid and to thicken.
It’s so satisfying to see the end result of your labors – and you can enjoy this relish all the year long!
For more pickled vegetable recipes be sure to try my:
- Giardiniera
- Corn Relish
- Sweet Pickle Relish
- Branston Pickle
- Pickled Red Onions
- Pickled Pepperoncini Peppers
- Sweet Pepper and Onion Relish
- English Pickled Onions
- Pickled Banana Peppers
- Pickled Okra
- Pickled Green Beans
- Pickled Asparagus
- Pickled Turnips
- Pickled Peppers
- Pickled Beets
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BEST Dill Pickle Relish
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2½ lbs cucumbers (weighed prior to peeling and seeding),peeled, center row of seeds removed, and finely diced
- 1 large yellow onion ,finely diced
- 1 small red bell pepper ,finely diced
- 1 small green bell pepper ,finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic ,finely minced
- ¼ cup kosher or pickling salt (neither of these have additives which is important to avoid when canning)
- 3 cups white vinegar
- 1/2 cup sugar (optional or use less according to taste)
- 2 teaspoons dill seeds
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds
- 2 teaspoons celery seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 2 bay leaves
Instructions
- Place the diced cucumbers, onion, bell pepper, and garlic in a large mixing bowl. Combine with the salt and pour water over the mixture until covered. Let sit for at least 6 hours or overnight.Drain the cucumber mixture in a colander, rinse thoroughly with water, and drain again.
- In a large stock pot, add the sugar, vinegar, and spices and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the drained cucumber mixture and return to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Discard the bay leaves.
- Ladle the hot relish into hot sterile jars, leaving ¼ inch of headspace. Wipe the rims of the jars clean and seal tightly with the lids.Process the jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
- Sealed jars will store in a cool, dark place for a year. If the seal is broken, the relish will keep in the fridge for at least a month. Makes roughly 4 pints (you can use pint-sized or half pint jars). Best eaten at least a week later after the flavors have had time to meld and the vinegar mellows out a bit. In addition, the relish needs to sit to give it time to absorb some of the liquid and to thicken.
Nutrition
Originally published on The Daring Gourmet February 15, 2014
Hi, I’m Kimberly Killebrew and welcome to Daring Gourmet where you'll find delicious originals, revitalized classics, and simply downright good eats from around the world! Originally from Germany, later raised in England, world-traveled, and now living in the U.S., from my globally-influenced kitchen I invite you to tour the world through your taste buds!
Can’t wait to try this. So in the directions, are you saying it’s ok to eliminate the sugar if wanted? Or do you still have to add a little?
Hi Mary, yes, it’s perfectly fine to eliminate the sugar entirely if you prefer.
Hi . how many cumumbers do you think I wound need for the recipe as I have no way to weight the cukes?Anne BlairA
Hi Anne, that’s hard to say since it would depend on the size of the cucumbers. Are you getting them from your garden? If so, I’d take a look at their size and when you go to the grocery store grab some of comparable size and weigh them, then you’ll know how many of your own cucumbers you’ll need.
Could we dispense with the cooking and use kosher dill pickles, onion and red pepper?
Hi Sarah, I haven’t tried that before but theoretically it seems like it should work and a shortcut worth trying.
I have been searching for this recipe. I used to make it a lot and always used my Dads but somehow lost it along the road. I think this morning I have read about 100 different recipes and then finally I found your’s. This is so close to Dads recipe. A couple differences but so close. Just finished chopping and shredding (one of the differences) a few cucumbers and they are chilling out in their salt bath. Tomorrow there will be relish on my dinner plate somewhere lol. Thank you so much for posting this :)
That’s wonderful, Tina, I hope you found what you’re looking for – let us know how it turns out!
So I made it yesterday and there was about a 1/2 a jam jar left over. Put it in the fridge and OMG it is amazing even without sitting for a week. It was so good went to the garden and pulled 3 giant Zucchini and made a couple minor changes to the recipe and right now I have 12 jars of Zucchini Relish popping away on my counter. SO happy to have found this recipe. Thanks Again.
Yahooo! I’m thrilled to hear that, Tina, thanks for letting us know! Nice move with the zucchini, too, it makes a great substitute and is the perfect way to use up all that extra squash.
If you like sweet relish, you’ll probably like this recipe. If, on the other hand, you were looking for dill relish, this IS NOT the recipe for you. I saw the sugar and wondered. I read the comments, including the one by the author that says, “this dill pickle relish is far less sweet. I’d say it’s not even as sweet as most brands of store-bought dill pickle relish.” I don’t know what store-bought dill relish she’s eaten, but this is straight up sweet relish with a little dill flavor. I even reduced the sugar a little and added extra dill and garlic.
Unfortunately, I made a double batch. So now I have to try to unload 8 pints of sweet relish, as no one in my family will touch the stuff. What a sad waste of time, energy and ingredients.
I want to make sure and note that if you like sweet relish, this is perfectly good. It’s just not “Dill Pickle Relish”. What an enormous bummer. :-(
Hi April, I’m sorry it’s sweeter than you like it. Dill pickle relish and sugar are not mutually exclusive and there are many variations of it. And of course personal preferences vary, which is why I suggest to anyone who is unsure to use less to begin with and you can always add more after tasting it.
Hi April. I just tried this recipe and greatly reduced the sugar but I agree, it is still way too sweet and does not taste like store-bought dill relish. Have you found a different recipe that you like? Every dill relish recipe I find contains sugar!
Kimberly, I appreciate the recipe, it just doesn’t suit my taste. I’m wondering if you think any of the other ingredients are adding to the sweetness? Looking at a store-bought jar of relish, there are very few ingredients. Pickles (who knows what this means, exactly), salt, vinegar, garlic and then all the junk we’re trying to avoid like preservatives and food coloring. I would appreciate any input you might have!
Hi Katie, the sugar is the only ingredient contributing to the sweetness (aside from a tiny bit from the red bell pepper) and, as noted in the recipe, adding sugar is completely optional – if you want a more sour dill pickle relish simply omit the sugar.
Homemade relish really can’t be compared to store-bought relish because, among all the other junk ingredients, the manufacturers add the ever cryptic “natural flavors” which, within the many FDA loopholes, doesn’t mean a thing – in fact it can mean anything. So whatever they’re packing into their list of “natural flavors” is largely impacting the flavor. And I would imagine that whatever those ingredients and chemicals are, are contributing to the store-bought sourly taste you’re trying to achieve.
Thanks Kimberly! Yeah, I don’t trust those “natural flavors” either. We’ll still use the relish batch I made with your recipe. We like it, just not what I was expecting. Maybe I’ll try it again with no sugar. Thanks again!
Sorry, I haven’t looked for another recipe. This year I just made refrigerator dill pickles instead and we love them so much I’ve thought about maybe just turning some of them into relish.
I still have 2 jars of this stuff I haven’t been able to unload, so I’ve been reluctant to add more relish to the shelf. You know how it is.
Hi Kimberly,
I use a lot of dill relish an usually buy it by the gallon. So, I thought I would make it by the gallon. Is that possible? I haven’t checked to see if I can hot water bath a gallon in my pan, but if I can, how long do you think I would I need to bath it? Also, what is the purpose of the turmeric? Is it mainly for color?
Hi Pam! From what I understand, no research has been done using half gallon or gallon canning jars (do those even exist?) and so there are no official guidelines for water bath times those quantities, only for half pints, pints and quarts. Yes, the turmeric is mostly for color (to a smaller extent flavor) – it’s a natural and effective alternative to the yellow food coloring most store-bought relish uses.
Is the weight for before or after dukes are seeded and peeled?
Hi Joann, it’s meant to be before they’re peeled and seeded but I’ll often go just a tad over the weight.
Need prepared weight or volume measurements.
As cucumbers ripen, the seed heart gets larger and the surrounding area get smaller. It would help to have final weight or volume after prep. Same for the peppers and onions.
The last batch I made ended up with not enough veg in proportion to liquid.
Sorry… I am anal and scientifically inclined by nature
Can I let the veggies soak for less time? With sweet pickles I let them sit for about two hours.
Recommendations vary from anything to 2 hours to overnight. Removing water from the cucumbers is critical (that’s the purpose of soaking them in the salt water) to not dilute the pH level so the relish is safe for canning, and it’s also what helps keep the relish crunchy. I prefer to meet the recommendations halfway and aim for at least 6 hours.