This is classic Sweet Pickle Relish made with garden-fresh cucumbers. We love it on hot dogs, hamburgers, mixed into mayo for ham and tuna fish sandwiches, etc. This recipe makes exactly 4 pints of relish, which is not enough to get us through the year. Only four jars fit in my canner, so I try to make two batches every summer. The last thing you want is to resort to buying commercially prepared relish when you run out. There’s just no comparison!

If you have a glut of zucchini, you can substitute the cucumber with the zucchini, and you might not even notice a difference, except that you’ll have to cook the veg in the brine for much longer, until the zucchini becomes really, really soft and begins to appear translucent.

Print Recipe

Sweet Pickle Relish

Servings: 4 pints

Ingredients

Vegetables

• 12 cucumbers
• 2 medium onions
• 2 medium green bell peppers
• 2 medium red bell peppers
• 3 jalapeños (optional)
• 1/2 cup canning salt

Brine

• 2 cups sugar
• 2 T prepared horseradish
• 2 T ground nutmeg
• 1 T turmeric
• 1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar

Instructions

• Sterilize your jars – Fill your water bath, and add the empty jars.  Boil for 10 minutes to sterilize the jars.  Add your tongs, ladle, and strainer to the boiling water to sterilize as well.
• Prep veg (small dice) – Peel, deseed, and chop the cucumber – you need 4 quarts of chopped cucumber. Skin and chop the onion. Destem and deseed the peppers, and chop – you need 2 quarts of of chopped onions and peppers.
• Soak the veg – Combine the chopped veg in a large bowl, sprinkle with the salt, and cover with cold water. Let stand for 2 hours. Rinse and drain thoroughly.
• Make the brine – Combine the sugar, spices, and vinegar in a large saucepot. Bring to a boil. Add the vegetables and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Pack the jars – Using a slotted spoon, pack the hot relish into sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.
• Process – Process 10 minutes in a boiling-water bath. Let rest for 5 minutes off the heat before removing the jars from the water.

PREP NOTE: The number of cucumbers, peppers, and onions is just an estimate. The important thing is that you measure the cut vegetables so that you have exactly 4 quarts of diced cucumbers and 2 quarts of peppers and onions, combined. I just fill quart jars until I have enough. If you do this, you’ll get exactly 4 pints of Sweet Pickle Relish. OK, well maybe not exactly. You might have a bit left over for the fridge!