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!
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.
For more pickled favorites try my:
- Dill Pickle Relish
- Corn Relish
- Branston Pickle
- Pickled Red Onions
- Pickled Pepperoncini Peppers
- English Pickled Onions
- Pickled Beets
- Pickled Green Beans
- Pickled Carrots
- Pickled Jalapenos
- Pickled Okra
- Pickled Banana Peppers
- Bread and Butter Pickles
- Pickled Turnips
- Pickled Asparagus
- Refrigerator Pickles
- Giardiniera
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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.
Originally published on The Daring Gourmet September 5, 2013
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!
Really, there is no way for 2.5 pounds of cucumbers plus an onion and pepper to make up 4 pints of relish. Use a water displacement process to make the measurements … after removing the cucumber skins and seeds, I think you’d be lucky for this recipe to make three pints!
Is it OK to use yellow mustard seed instead of brown? Or will it change the taste too much?
Hi Susan, that’s perfectly fine.
Do you know if you can sub in honey or coconut sugar for the white sugar? Thanks for any info you have.
Hi how many cups is 2.5 pounds of cucumbers? I’m currently making this recipe but mine only made 3 pints, and lots of liquid…I used our garden cucumbers, five of them, about 6-8 inches long.
Can I leave the bay leaf out? I don’t have any, and I would like to try it out right away.
Hi Jeanetta, yes, that’s no problem!
hello,
can green peppers be added to this relish?
I liked this recipe doing it again pushed for time
can I chop some of it tonight and the rest of it tomorrow
I had a fail with this recipe. It made 6 1/2 pints instead of 4 and the relish is too full of liquid. Can someone tell me what I did wrong?
Hi Lynn, did you salt the diced cucumbers and let them sit for at least 6 hours before draining and did you remove the center seeded part of the cucumbers? Also, it’s normal for the relish to be runny at first, it will thicken up more over time.