Dill Pickle Relish
Tart, flavorful and a perfect addition to many dishes, Dill Pickle Relish is a fun and practical home canning project.
Summer is a great time for fun fresh food experiments. With the seasonal bounty of healthy fruits and vegetables… well, the opportunities are endless.
And it’s not limited to classic health foods like Tuscan Kale Salad or Seafood Kabobs. Even classic snack and picnic foods can get in the act.
Yes, dip some chips in Tangy Mango Pineapple Salsa. Or top your July 4th or picnic hotdog with today’s homemade Dill Pickle Relish. It’s a handy condiment that adds flavor to so many dishes from egg salad to thousand island dressing!
Yum!
Why You’ll Love This!
Flavorful. Not sure how it happens, but pickle flavors can put a dish over the top in taste. Dill pickle slices on a hamburger? Count me in!
Practical. I used to chop up pickles to make tartar sauce, etc. But it’s much easier to simply spoon out some relish and top a hot dog or stir into mayo for tartar sauce.
Not sweet. I love sweets but not in my pickles—or pickle relish. So this (and my Dill Pickle slices) have no added sugar.
On Canning
This is a canning recipe, and the instructions assume that you are familiar with basic canning principles. If not, you should consult established sources like the University of Georgia’s National Center for Food Preservation or the Food in Jars blog to familiarize yourself first.
When I make a new canning recipe, I always check that it came from a source that is known for safe canning recipes. Besides the above sources, these include sites like Healthy Canning or Ball Canning as well as a number of university websites.
Just because Grandma canned a recipe and didn’t die doesn’t mean she wasn’t just lucky to not pick up any botulism spores.
Today’s recipe comes from the University of Georgia’s National Center for Food Preservation. I have cut the amount in half to make it closer to typical consumption.
Step by Step Overview
Wash and rinse canning jars; keep hot until ready to fill. Prepare lids and rings according to manufacturer’s directions.
Rinse cucumbers until clean. Slice and discard a thin piece from both the stem and blossom ends of cucumbers. Working in batches, cut cucumbers into approximately 1-inch pieces, then pulse in a food processor (or chop by hand) until they are in ¼-inch or slightly smaller pieces. Stop when you have 7 cups of chopped cucumber.
Rinse peppers until clean. Remove the stem, seeds and white membranes from the peppers. Cut into approximately 1-inch pieces then pulse in a food processor (or cut by hand) until they are in ¼-inch or slightly smaller pieces. Measure 1 cup of chopped red pepper.
In a large saucepan, add the cider vinegar, dill seed, garlic and salt. Heat and stir until salt dissolves.
Stir in the chopped peppers and cucumbers, then bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.
Ladle relish into hot pint or half-pint jars leaving ½-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles, adjusting headspace if needed. Liquid should cover the chopped cucumber though a few pieces may float. Wipe jar rims with a damp cloth, then add lid and ring, adjusting to just tight (“finger tip tight”).
At altitudes under 1,000 feet, process in a boiling water canner for 15 minutes. At 1,000 -6000 feet, process for 20 minutes, above that process for 25 minutes. Let cool completely, then check that jars are sealed before storing.
Variations
In terms of variations, never change an established canning recipe. If you do, you risk turning a safe, tested recipe into something dangerous. But if you happen to prefer a sweet relish, here is a sweet pickle relish link from the same canning site.
And if you’re feeling like pickling something but don’t want to can, take a look at my Quick Pickled Cherry Tomatoes or Quick Pickled Scallions. Both are just stored in the refrigerator.
How to Use Up Your Dill Pickle Relish
Yes, there are uses for Dill Pickle Relish besides topping a hot dog, burger or sandwich. (Though those may be the most obvious.)
I mix pickle relish with mayo and a few other ingredients for a delicious Easy Tartar Sauce that’s better than most restaurant tartar sauce.
You can use it instead of chopped pickles in egg salad, potato salad or tuna salad. And finally consider whipping up a batch of thousand island dressing.
Tips & FAQs
When you fill your canning jars, really leave the full ½ inch headspace that’s specified in the recipe. I had a number of jars not seal this time. When I replaced the lids to reprocess, I noticed the contents had expanded a lot and I needed to remove some. I don’t recall having this problem the first time I made this. But a word to the wise…
When you make an acidified recipe, it’s not uncommon to feel that there is a lot of vinegar in relation to the solids. You might even be tempted to pour some off, but don’t since the amount is calculated for safe canning purposes. After I’ve canned it, and have opened a jar, I just scoop out the relish I need with a slotted spoon and let the extra vinegar drain back into the jar.
Make sure that your vinegar is a 5% solution. While in the past virtually all commercial food grade vinegars were, I’ve been reading reports lately of people finding weaker vinegars. The proper concentration is important to provide sufficient acidity for the recipe.
Delicious Hot Dog Recipes
- Baked Corndog Nuggets from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
- Dill Pickle Relish from Art of Natural Living
- Korean Corn Dogs from Creative Cynchronicity
- Sourdough Corn Dogs from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
- Western Bacon Hot Dogs from That Recipe
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Dill Pickle Relish
Ingredients
- 7 cups chopped pickling cucumbers approx. 2.5 pounds pickling cucumbers
- 1 cup chopped red bell pepper
- 2 3/4 cups cider vinegar 5%
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dill seed
- 2 1/2 tablespoons pickling or canning salt
Instructions
- Wash and rinse canning jars; keep hot until ready to fill. Prepare lids and rings according to manufacturer’s directions.
- Rinse cucumbers until clean. Slice and discard a thin piece from both the stem and blossom ends of cucumbers. Working in batches, cut cucumbers into approximately 1-inch pieces, then pulse in a food processor (or chop by hand) until they are in ¼-inch or slightly smaller pieces. Stop when you have 7 cups of chopped cucumber.
- Rinse peppers until clean. Remove the stem, seeds and white membranes from the peppers. Cut into approximately 1-inch pieces then pulse in a food processor (or cut by hand) until they are in ¼-inch or slightly smaller pieces. Measure 1 cup of chopped red pepper.
- In a large saucepan, add the cider vinegar, dill seed, garlic and salt. Heat and stir until salt dissolves. Stir in the chopped peppers and cucumbers, then bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.
- Ladle relish into hot pint or half-pint jars leaving ½-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles, adjusting headspace if needed. Liquid should cover the chopped cucumber though a few pieces may float. Wipe jar rims with a damp cloth, then add lid and ring, adjusting to just tight (“finger tip tight”).
- At altitudes under 1,000 feet, process in a boiling water canner for 15 minutes. At 1,000 -6000 feet, process for 20 minutes, above that process for 25 minutes. Let cool completely, then check that jars are sealed before storing.