A Delicious Sweet Pickle Relish Recipe for Summer (2024)

Warm weather and grilling season is upon us! So add this sweet pickle relish recipe to your arsenal of homemade condiments like ketchup, mustard, and mayo.

When the grill gets fired up, youneedto have a good lineup of condiments. Ketchup,mustard, and mayoare a must,but when I was growing up, you could never EVER forget the relish. Sweet Pickle Relish to be exact.

Cucumbers are quite easy to grow, so if you have them in your garden this year, making relishis a great way to preserve the harvest. This sweet pickle relish recipe can make a small batch of refrigerator sweet pickle relish, or with just a few more steps it can be canned as a great way to preserve your pickle harvest and ensure you have homemade relish throughout the year.

Selecting Cucumbers for DIY Relish

Cucumbers labeled “pickling cucumbers” will be crisper than other varieties, so they are perfect for using in relish.

Pick cucumbers that are dark green, firm, and full of nobby little warts. Overripe cucumbers will have yellow or white areas on the skin and warts will be almost all gone. These overripe cucumbers will have developed larger seeds, which isn’t the most desirable for relish, and they will not be as crisp, resulting in mushy relish.

Homemade Sweet PickleRelish Recipe

(yields about one quartof Sweet Pickle Relish)

Ingredients

For the Veggies

• 1lb pickling cucumbers, diced
• ½ cup diced red bell pepper
• 1 cup diced sweet onion
• 1tsp salt (find unrefined sea salt here)

For the Brine

• 2cups apple cider vinegar (find organic raw apple cider vinegar here)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2Tbsp sugar (find organic cane sugar here)
• 1tsp mustard seeds (find organic mustard seeds here)
• ½ tsp coriander seeds (find organic coriander seeds here)
• ¼ tsp turmeric (find organic turmeric here)
• ⅛ tsp ground ginger (find organic ground ginger here)

Preparing the Cucumbers & Veggies

1. Begin making your sweet pickle relish recipe by dicing the veggies. (How finely you dice your veggies will depend on how fine you like your relish. Keep them chunky or mince them – whatever you prefer.)
2. After dicing your cucumbers and other veggies to your preferred size, you willsalt them to draw out the moisture. To do this, placethe veggies in a colander over a bowl and mix them with a little salt.
3. Leave veggiesfor at least 30 minutes or up to 3 hours. This will keep your cucumbers crisp as they soak in the brine.
4. After letting your veggies set with the salt, rinse them to remove any excess salt. Don’t worry about getting all the salt off because itwill also help flavor the relish.
5. Pat veggies dry to remove as much moisture as you can.

Preparing the Brine

1. In a mediumsaucepan (large if you plan on canning your relish), combine all the brine ingredients. Bring them to a simmer over medium heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes to reduce the mixture slightly.
2. If you will be storing your relish immediately in the refrigerator, pack your rinsed and patted-dry veggies into clean, warm jars. Carefully pour the hot brine (with the spices) over the veggies you have packed into your jars until they are just barely covered. If necessary, use a knife to move the veggies around and let the brine fill in all the cracks and crevices.
3. Add lids tothe jars and refrigerate overnight before using.
4. Store homemade pickle relish in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 weeks.

Relish For Canning

1. If you arecanning your relish, you will need to transfer your rinsed and patted-dry veggies to the saucepan with your brine. Bring the entire mixture to a boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
2. Pack your hot relish into hot, sterilized half-pint or pint canning jars, leaving ¼ – ½ inch headspace. Cover with fresh lids and hand-tighten the bands.
3. Process your jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
4. Remove the jars from the boiling water bath and leavethem out to cool overnight. In the morning, check your lids for a seal. Refrigerate any jars that have not properly formed a seal, and use them within2-3 weeks.

Enjoying Your Relish

Sure, you know relish is great on aburger, be it cheese-infused, veggie-laden, or even a bean burger. But don’t limit your relish tojust a hamburger or hot dog topping. Try it in deviled eggs, potato salad, macaroni salad, or in homemade tartar sauce too!

Did you make this sweet pickle relish recipe? What did you think?

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