This Sweet Pepper and Onion Relish recipe is my copycat version of Harry & David’s popular treat.  It’s delightful mixed with cream cheese and spread on crackers or used as a glaze for pork and chicken. And it makes a fabulous gift!
I always enjoy receiving homemade gifts.  When someone takes the time to make something for you, whether it’s a simple plate of cookies or some elaborate craft, it says a lot.  It makes you feel all the more unique, special, appreciated and loved.  Cooking happens to be one of my biggest passions, and so naturally I particularly enjoy making gifts for people that are edible. This Sweet Pepper and Onion Relish makes the perfect gift and has always been a hit with everyone.
If you’ve ever tried the popular Harry and David Sweet Pepper and Onion Relish you know how delicious it is. It’s also quite pricey and you get such a small amount – which is pure torture because you want enough of it so that you can eating it without worrying about running out! Well this homemade version solves that problem. It yields 12 half pint jars and at a fraction of the cost! And I promise you, it tastes AMAZING!
Slather this relish on chicken or pork before baking for a marvelous glaze or mix it with cream cheese and serve it with crackers – it’s fabulous!
Sweet Pepper and Onion Relish Recipe
Let’s get started!
Combine all the ingredients, except for the pectin, in a large stock pot.
Bring it to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and simmer, uncovered, for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Â Now it’s time to add the pectin. Â You won’t need much because most of the liquid will have evaporated by now.
Add the pectin (I used and recommend Ball’s Realfruit Classic Pectin), bring the mixture to a rapid boil and boil for 1 minute. Â Remove from the heat.
Immediately ladle the hot relish into hot sterilized canning jars with sealable canning lids.
Process in a water bath canner with the water covering the top of the jars by least 3 inches and process for 20 minutes.
Remove the jars from the canner and let them rest for 24 hours undisturbed before moving. Â This Sweet Pepper & Onion Relish will keep up to a year.
This recipe makes about a dozen 1/2 pint jars. Â For the ones you want to give away as gifts, just tie a ribbon around them with a little label. Â Are they cute or what?
Enjoy this relish mixed with cream cheese and spread on crackers, as a glaze for chicken or pork, or however else your imagination inspires!
For more delicious homemade relishes be sure to try our:
Sweet Pepper and Onion Relish (Harry and David Copycat)
Ingredients
- 6 cups skinned, seeded and diced tomatoes , first blanch the tomatoes in boiling water for 30 seconds for easy peeling (a few of our readers have reported success using canned tomatoes: use five 28 ounce cans of diced tomatoes)
- 6 cups seeded and diced red bell peppers
- 4 cups diced yellow onion
- 4 jalapenos , seeded and diced
- 2 cups white vinegar
- 1 1/2 cups cider vinegar
- 5 cups granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 1 tablespoon cayenne
- 4 tablespoons powdered pectin , I use and recommend Ball's Classic Realfruit Pectin
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients, except for the pectin, in a large stock pot. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, uncovered, stirring occasionally. Add more cayenne to taste if desired. Add the pectin and quickly bring to a boil for 1 minute. ***See NOTE below.Remove from heat and ladle the hot mixture into hot, sterilized canning jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
- Process the jars in a water bath canner with the water at least three inches above the jars, for 20 minutes. Remove the jars and let them sit undisturbed for 24 hours. Store in a dark, cool place. This relish will keep for up to a year.Makes about 6 pints or 12 half pint jars.
Notes
Originally published on The Daring Gourmet November 21, 2013
Beth says
Why do you say it will keep “up to a year”? I always thought that home canned goods were good for a bit longer than that?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Beth! That’s simply USDA language. Yes, canned goods generally do keep longer than that, though the quality of taste can be compromised.
Joann says
I used 1 package or 3 oz of RealFruit Pectin by Ball. I also added 2 more cups of sugar, as I wanted a sweeter, less tart, flavor. The consistency is runny, but usable. Now the question is did the relish not set up because of the brand of pectin or the amount used. There are only 3 reviews of the RealFruit Pectin on the Ball website and all 3 are very negative about the achieved results. Using a substitution ratio of 1T liquid to 2 t of powder, I should have used only 4.5 T of liquid pectin. I added 6 T and as I said, it is still runny. I am going to try Certo brand the next time and see if it makes a difference. If anyone does that soon, would you please post your results. Regardless of consistency, the flavor is great. Thanks, Kimberly.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Joann, Ball is the only one I’ve used for this recipe and it always works for me (I use it for my jams as well). I haven’t experimented much with liquid pectin or other brands so I’m afraid I can’t offer much info there in terms of a comparison of results. Yes, any feedback on varying results depending on brand and type of pectin would be much appreciated from anyone!
Joann says
Thanks. I saw that after I posted my question. Since I cannot use products with dextrose, I am going to try with the liquid. I’ll post my results. J
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I haven’t made this with liquid pectin before, let us know how much you used to get the right consistency. Thanks, Joann!
Joann says
Are you using liquid or powdered pectin?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Joann, in the recipe box I include a link to the pectin I use and recommend: Ball’s RealFruit Classic Pectin. It’s powdered.
Anonymous says
Very interesting fine, Kimberly today. When I printed out your recipe on 7/3/14, for some reason, the recipe calls for 1 tbs. pectin and I noticed today, your recipe now says 3 tbs. That would totally explain why ours was runny. do you remember changing it at some point?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I do! Read through the previous comments for an explanation. Also note, depending on the elevation where you live, the simmering process may cause the liquid to evaporate more or less, so you may need to tweak the amount of pectin you use accordingly.
Greg says
I followed your recipe with great success. Many smiling faces. Thanks!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Wonderful, Greg, so glad you enjoyed it and I appreciate the feedback!
Anonymous says
Sorry for all the comments but as for the plate test, you do that before you put in the jars and it should not runny? I would hate to go through all the work and money and it be a wreck! Guess you can always add more, not remove it. Thanks again, appreciative all your helpful hints and who knows, maybe it is helping others.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
No problem at all! This thread will be helpful to anyone reading it. Yes, perform the plate test right after you’ve added the pectin and rapidly boil the mixture for a minute. Turn the heat off and dab a little spoonful onto a cool plate. Wait for about 2 minutes and then check the texture. Keep in mind it’s a relish and you don’t want it to be thick like jam. But it shouldn’t be watery either. If it’s still too watery add a little more pectin and boil for another minute. It can be tricky though because it can take pectin a full 24-48 hours to set properly and you don’t want to end up with a really firm texture. Let us know how it goes!
Anonymous says
Thanks, Kimberly. Not sure we would redo what we already made but we are going to make more soon so hopefully we will do a better job. Appreciate your helpful feedback :)
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I’ve increased the pectin amount on the recipe. The feedback I’ve gotten is split down the middle in terms of pectin amount. For me, the mixture always cooks down and a lot of the liquid evaporates, requiring less pectin. But there can be quite a bit of variation depending on the kind of tomatoes used. I like to err on the side of too liquidy because it’s an easy fix. When I was developing this recipe I used too much pectin the firs time and it was a wreck! Next time try it with the adjusted pectin amount and do the “plate test” before canning it to see if it needs a little more pectin.
Anonymous says
When we made it using canned diced tomatoes, we drained them and measured to 6 cups. No blanching. We had more of the relish then indicated in your recipe so we thought we may have done something wrong. We used pectin and it was new and ours was watery as well. Maybe there is a knack to using pectin. It has gotten a little thicker but still is so delicious. We plan on making again so maybe we will use more pectin and see how we make out.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Is it still watery? It can take a full 24-48 hours for pectin to set properly. Shake one of the jars and see if it’s runny. If it is, you can still “rescue” them by opening the jars (you’ll need to use new lids but as long as the rims aren’t bent you can reuse those), pour everything back into a pot, bring back to a boil and stir in more pectin. Then can again. You can do a test first: Put a small spoonful on a plate and wait a couple of minutes. Is it set or still running all over the plate? I’ve never made it with canned tomatoes so I honestly don’t know how that would impact the final results, but anything will set properly with enough pectin!
Mlink says
Mine was very watery even after the whole cook time. Will it thicken when it cools from the pectin?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Mlink! It will get thicker, but if it was “very” watery after the cooking time and you added the pectin, then something went wrong. In blanching the tomatoes and squeezing out the seeds a good amount of water will also have been discarded. Important too is that the pectin isn’t expired and that it’s brought to a full boil, but only for a minute. If something went wrong and it’s too watery, you can add more pectin and boil it briefly. Be careful with the pectin though because it will get thicker as it cools and you don’t want it to end up like thick jello.
melanie says
Do u cook the tomatoes first to peel and seed them?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Melanie! Yes, they’re much easier to peel if you blanch them first. I’ve added that note in the recipe. Simply put the whole tomatoes in boiling water for about 30 seconds and remove them. They’ll be very easy to peel that way.
Melanie says
I have been making this recipe exactly this way since 2014 and everybody loves it. One jar mixed with a brick of softened cream cheese makes a killer dip!
Thanks for posting:)
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
That’s so awesome, Melanie, thank you!
Melanie says
Sorry that should say 1/2 jar mixed with 1 brick cream cheese. I was wondering if I could make this recipe in the 4 oz jars? I think they would look cute as a gift with the recipe attached for the dip and a bag of gourmet nacho chips?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Melanie, absolutely, you can use any size jar you like. Processing time will be the same for smaller sizes.
Russell M. Czinder says
“score” the tomatoes first, s’even easier.
Lyn Sheely says
Mase these but we used canned, diced tomatoes which we drained. Turned out fabulous. Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe. We look forward to making more.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Canned tomatoes work great, too, Lyn. So happy you enjoyed it and thank you for the feedback!
Jennifer says
Any particular type of tomato you would recommend?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Jennifer! I use Roma’s because they’re more fleshy and less watery.
Chris says
These look amazing. Great photos
The Daring Gourmet says
Hi, Chris, thanks so much for visiting and for the compliment. Just paid a visit to your site and it’s lovely. I’m going to pop by again later when I have a little more time. Have a wonderful weekend!
jesusan says
This sounds like fun. A suggestion, if I might: when I was making jams/jellies/preserves, etc. that were processed in a hot water bath, the instructions I had said to stand them up top down for 10 minutes or so before turning right side up. This will help with creating the vacuum that seals the jars thoroughly. That was many years ago, but it still makes sense to me.
jesusan says
The instruction about having them upside down is for when you take them out of the water bath… :-)
Anonymous says
I saw a presentation on canning tomatoes on the program “The Chef and the Farmer” and my friend cans some items suitable for water bath canning in the same manner. But if i understand correctly, this is only done if your sterilized jars are fresh out of boiling water therefore very hot and the product you are caning is still boiling hot. You would also want lids in hot water ready to use immediately and jar rings are ready to apply. I am not a food scientist or recommending this method but just passing on what I have seen (as I remember it) and heard about the method since you asked. I made this recipe once and it was good so making it again today with addition of double jalapenos.
The Daring Gourmet says
That makes sense, Susan, and sound advice never comes with an expiration date – thank you!
Anonymous says
I was taught to can by southern farm lady. She did the upside down method when reusing the lids on store bought ham and jelly jars