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Tasty Tuesdays: Canned Cucumber Relish

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Today, I finally switched over to my fall decorations, so I feel like making caramel corn or one of my fall recipes . . . but I first I want to share my family’s cucumber relish recipe with you. This is the canning time of year as produce is either ripe out of your garden, or it’s really cheap in the stores! Cucumber Relish 

I only can 3 things:  jalapeno salsa, cucumber relish, and applesauce. I’m not a huge canner; but I have to do something with the overabundance of tomatoes we get, we like to go apple picking and make applesauce as a family, and my  mom tells me that relish tastes much better that is homemade.Cucumber Relish

I really wouldn’t know if homemade relish tastes better than store bought relish as I don’t like any thing that has been pickled; but my husband likes it, and I grew too many cucumbers one year as well, so I made relish out of them. It took us 5 years to run out of my stash of relish, so I made a batch of it again this year. I had planted my own cucumbers, but they did lousy in part to my terrible work in the garden. So I bought 4 large cucumbers at Aldi, and those cucumbers along with the 3 cucumbers I had were enough for a batch of relish.Cucumber Relish--Creative K Kids

This recipe is my grandma’s recipe. My mom grew up on a farm, and they had a huge garden and canned tons of food so that they wouldn’t starve in the winter. So although I am not an expert canner, I call my mom anytime I have a question.

Cucumber relish is relatively easy to make; in fact, it is much easier to make than jalapeno salsa. The recipe makes about 6 pints of relish. I already had chopped and frozen some red and green peppers, and I had all the other ingredients on hand,  so for me the out-of-pocket cost for the 6 pints was $2.00. If you are in a farming community where you are able to receive extra produce for free or you grow your own produce, the cost is even cheaper (and the taste is supposedly much better!)

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Canned Cucumber Relish
Ingredients
Evening ingredients:
  • 3 quarts ground up cucumbers peeled
  • 4 onions diced
  • 2 red sweet peppers chopped
  • 2 green peppers chopped
  • 1 hot pepper chopped
  • 1/4 c. salt
Morning ingredients:
  • 2 cups cider vinegar
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 teaspoon curry powder
  • 2 teaspoons mustard seed
Instructions
In the evening, prepare the vegetables:
  1. In my food processor, I chopped all my vegetables and put them in a big stockpot (around 6 quarts). You can also shred the cucumbers if you do not have a food chopper/processor.
  2. Add enough water to cover the vegetables.
  3. Add the salt and stir.
  4. Let this mixture stand overnight.
The following morning:
  1. Drain the vegetables.
  2. Add vinegar, sugar, curry powder, and mustard seed.
  3. Cook for 15 minutes at simmering boil.
  4. After cooking, you can add green food coloring to look more like store-bought relish, if desired. If you want to avoid food coloring and be all-natural, that is fine too--it just will not be such a bright green color.
Recipe Notes

Add the relish to hot, clean canning jars. Screw on the lids. Put in a water canner with boiling water for at least 10 minutes. Remove from hot water. The inner seals should "pop" so that you know they are sealed. This relish will stay good for years as long as the seal is not broken!

 

 

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Comments

  1. Stephanie @ From the Burbs to the Boonies says

    September 17, 2013 at 3:46 pm

    This sounds good. I only have one successful cucumber plant this year – only one – but that bad boy produces 10 to 12 cucumbers EVERY WEEK. I have had a bowl of marinated cucumbers continually in my frig for 6 weeks, I think. So, I’m curious, can this be made for the frig where it would last a few weeks? I’m not yet ready for canning, but I do like frig cooking. Thanks!

    • Creative K Kids says

      September 17, 2013 at 4:13 pm

      I know that when I open the jar, I have it in my refrigerator for a few months at least–it has that cider vinegar that keeps it from spoiling. I think it is canned because most people do not want 6 jars in their refrigerator. So you could make it and keep it all in your frig if you have the room–and you might go through it quicker than me, or just cut the recipe in half and put it in quart jars.

        • Creative K Kids says

          September 17, 2013 at 4:57 pm

          Well, when you think how the old-timers would make pints/quarts of relish and pickles at a time and put them in their cellars, you can see why they would can (plus they didn’t have nice big refrigerators like we do today.) My grandma got rid of hundreds of canning jars probably 10 years ago–I took probably a dozen quarts and a dozen pints, but she had so many up in her attic from her canning days. But an open can of my relish has been in my frig for sometimes practically forever! Tell me how it goes!

    • Creative K Kids says

      September 17, 2013 at 8:40 pm

      Since I don’t like it–I’m not completely sure, but I think it’s about the same since pickles are just pickled cucumbers, and it’s the vinegar, etc. that pickles the cucumbers/relish. So it might not be your cup of tea :). I’ve never had corn relish–I’ll have to try it. I might like it too.

  3. Missy Homemaker says

    September 17, 2013 at 8:55 pm

    We’re not huge relish fans here. I would really like to can more food. When I was young, my mom canned every year. It stopped when they started their business, but she’s back at it now mostly with tomatoes. I love the idea of being more self-sufficient.

    • Creative K Kids says

      September 17, 2013 at 9:31 pm

      I’m not either–I make it mainly for when we grill out for our guests. My mom says it tastes way better, and I think it is cheaper as well! I would like to can more as well, but I would have to buy most of the produce. My mom and grandma had their produce right from their garden.

    • Creative K Kids says

      September 18, 2013 at 1:09 pm

      It really is easy–and with pints, you don’t need a water boiling canner–you just need a pot that is at least 1 1/2″ deeper than the cans as the water needs to be boiling 1″ above the top of the cans. It is sometimes hard to find a tall enough pot for the quarts, hence getting the water boiling canner. They are reasonable on Amazon–I got mine from a garage sale!

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Tammy Doiel (Creative K Kids) is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
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