Sweet Pickle Relish
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The absolute BEST sweet pickle relish recipe! Enjoy this on your hot dogs, sandwiches, wraps, or mixed in with your favorite potato and pasta salads!
Be sure to also try our popular Dill Pickle Relish!
Nothing fancy, just a humble homemade sweet pickle relish. But it’s downright good. In fact, it’s the best I’ve ever had. It adds a wonderful dimension to your sandwiches, hot dogs, pasta and potato salads. So easy to make with instructions for canning so you can enjoy it all the year long.
This Summer I canned up a storm!
I have a variety of goodies I want to share with you, and we’ll start with this one. This relish is simple to make. You can use a food processor to chop the vegetables, but that can often result in a more mushy texture. I prefer to chop them by hand, or by knife rather. ;)
Sweet Pickle Relish Recipe
Let’s get started!
Peel the cucumbers and thinly slice them lengthwise. Slice them into strips, discarding the inner strip of seeds. Very finely dice the cucumbers.
Very finely dice the onions. You can use a food processor, just don’t let the onions get mushy.
Very finely dice the red bell peppers.
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.
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. Ignore the metal tea gadget in the picture. I was originally going to let it simmer with the allspices berries inside so they could be easily removed afterwards, but that’s pretty pointless. The 4 allspices berries are plenty easy to fish out later on, or just leave them in, like I ended up doing. They look cool in the bottles!
Return to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Discard the bay leaf.
Ladle the hot relish into the 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.
Sealed jars will keep in a cool, dark place for at one year. If the seal has broken, the relish will keep in the fridge for one month.
Sweet Pickle Relish
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 lbs cucumbers , peeled, center row of seeds removed, and finely diced
- 1 large sweet onion , such as Vidalia or Walla Walla
- 1 large red bell pepper , finely diced
- 1/4 cup kosher or pickling salt , neither of these have additives which is important for canning
- 3 cups white granulated sugar
- 2 cups cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon brown mustard seeds
- 2 teaspoons celery seeds
- 4 whole allspice berries
- 1 bay leaf
Instructions
- Place the diced cucumbers, onion, and red bell pepper 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.Ladle the hot relish into sterile 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. Carefully remove the jars and let them sit undisturbed for 24 hours.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 a month.This makes about 4 pints.Let the relish sit for at least a week or two before using to give the flavors time to meld.
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!
