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6 Comments | Jill Winger |    Last Updated: September 19, 2020

Easy Homemade Dill Relish Recipe

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dill relish recipe

I did it again.

I PROMISED myself I wouldn’t let my pickling cucumbers turn into monsters this year.

And then I did.

In my defense, I was checking the plants regularly… one day the cucumbers were the size of my pinky finger, and the next day, they suddenly resembled a baseball bat.

How does that even happen?

Regardless, foot-long pickling cucumbers aren’t super desirable for making homemade pickles… mostly because they yield a less-then-crunchy pickle, which no one appreciates.

I fed the biggest cukes to the pigs (who didn’t mind the mushiness one bit) and brought the rest into the house.

dill relish recipe

Considering I had enough small cucumbers to put up all the pickles my heart desired, I decided to switch things up with the big ones.

So relish, it is.

Historically, I haven’t been a big relish fan, but I decided to live on the wild side this year.

17 pints of homemade relish later?

I pleased to report that I’m digging it.

(And no, I’m not just saying that for the sake of the blog post!)

Thus far, I’ve been putting it on brats and hot dogs, and also mixed it into some chicken salad I made the other day.

dill relish recipe

Is 17 pints of dill relish a wee bit overboard? Perhaps. But I’m planning to use it as an easy mix-in for potato salad and tuna, as well as offering it at the eleventy-billion BBQs we have each summer, so I’m not one bit worried about using it up.

I’m pretty picky about the canning recipes I add to my repertoire each year (let’s face it– even the Ball Blue Book has some clunkers…), but this little gem of a dill relish recipe (with a few of my own modifications) has officially earned a spot.

dill relish recipe

Homemade Dill Relish Recipe

Based on the recipe from the Ball Blue Book 

Yield: 7 pints

  • 8 pounds pickling cucumbers (big or small)
  • 1/2 cup non-iodized salt (I like this one)
  • 2 teaspoons turmeric (where to purchase)
  • 2 medium onions, finely diced
  • 1/3 cup organic sugar (like this one)
  • 2 tablespoons dill seed (where to purchase)
  • 1 tablespoon mustard seed (where to purchase)
  • 4 bay leaves
  • 4 cups white vinegar

Instructions: 

Wash the cucumbers and peel if desired (I peeled about half of each one– I didn’t mind leaving some of the peel on for color/texture, I just didn’t want the peels to be overwhelming.)

Finely chop the cucumbers– I used the blade of my food processor, but I was careful to not overprocess and end up with cucumber puree.

Put the chopped cucumbers in a large bowl and mix in the salt and turmeric. Pour water over the cucumbers until they are completely covered and let them soak for 2-3 hours.

dill relish recipe

After the soaking period is complete, drain the cucumbers and rinse them under cool water. I used a fine-mesh sieve for this.

Placed the drained cucumbers in a stockpot and add in the chopped onions, sugar, dill, mustard seed, bay leaves, and white vinegar.

Bring this mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

At this point, I like to taste the relish to check the flavor balance and adjust accordingly. Add more sugar if you feel the vinegar is too strong.

Remove the bay leaves.

Ladle the relish into hot pint jars with 1/4″ headspace. Affix lids and rims, then process pints in a hot water bath canner for 15 minutes. (Altitude Note: Add an additional one minute of processing time for every 1000 feet you’re above sea level.)

Homemade Dill Relish Notes

  • You can put your relish into 1/2 pint jars if you wish– I would still process it for the full time.
  • You have 100% liberty to adjust the sweetness, herbs and spices of this recipe without jeopardizing the safety of the canning technique.
  • I think honey would work as a sweetener in this recipe as well, I just haven’t tried it.
  • If you don’t want to can this, you can eat this dill relish fresh, too. The vinegar should mellow a bit after it has a chance to sit in the fridge.
  • To freeze your homemade dill relish, simple ladle it into freezer-safe containers instead of canning jars after the simmering step. Although I can’t vouch for the crispness of the cucumbers after they’ve been frozen and thawed.

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dill relish recipe

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Easy Homemade Dill Relish Recipe

  • Author: The Prairie Homestead
  • Prep Time: 3 hours
  • Cook Time: 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 3 hours 15 minutes
  • Yield: 7 pints 1x
  • Category: Canning

Ingredients

  • 8 pounds pickling cucumbers (big or small!)
  • 1/2 cup non-iodized salt (I like this one)
  • 2 teaspoons tumeric
  • 2 medium onions, finely diced
  • 1/3 cup organic sugar
  • 2 tablespoons dill seed
  • 1 tablespoon mustard seed
  • 4 bay leaves
  • 4 cups white vinegar

Instructions

Wash the cucumbers and peel if desired (I peeled about half of each one– I didn’t mind leaving some of the peel on for color/texture, I just didn’t want the peels to be overwhelming.)

Finely chop the cucumbers– I used the blade of my food processor, but I was careful to not overprocess and end up with cucumber puree.

Put the chopped cucumbers in a large bowl and mix in the salt and turmeric. Pour water over the cucumbers until they are completely covered and let them soak for 2-3 hours.

After the soaking period is complete, drain the cucumbers and rinse them under cool water. I used a fine-mesh sieve for this.

Placed the drain cucumbers in a stockpot and add in the chopped onions, sugar, dill, mustard seed, bay leaves, and white vinegar.

Bring this mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

At this point, I like to taste the relish to check the flavor balance and adjust accordingly. Add more sugar if you feel the vinegar is too strong.

Remove the bay leaves.

Ladle the relish into hot pint jars with 1/4″ headspace. Affix lids and rims, then process pints in a hot water bath canner for 15 minutes. (Altitude Note: Add an additional one minute of processing time for every 1000 feet you’re above sea level.)

Notes

  • You can put your relish into 1/2 pint jars if you wish– I would still process it for the full time.
  • You have 100% liberty to adjust the sweetness, herbs and spices of this recipe without jeopardizing the safety of the canning technique.
  • I think honey would work as a sweetener in this recipe as well, I just haven’t tried it. I like using this honey in my preserving.
  • If you don’t want to can this, you can eat it fresh, too. The vinegar should mellow a bit after it has a chance to sit in the fridge.
  • To freeze your homemade dill relish, simple ladle it into freezer-safe containers instead of canning jars after the simmering step. However, I can’t vouch for the crispness of the cucumbers after they’ve been frozen and thawed.

Other Pickling Recipes You Might Like:

  • How to Ferment Pickles
  • Dilly Green Beans Recipe (Lacto-Fermented)
  • How to Make Quick Pickles from Any Vegetable
  • 5 Tricks for the Crunchiest Homemade Pickles

Homemade Dill Relish Recipe

6 Comments | Preserving the Harvest

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Reader Interactions

6 Comments

  1. Terryn says

    September 15, 2020 at 9:13 am

    Do you use whole or ground mustard?

    reply to comment
  2. Owl says

    September 16, 2020 at 2:26 pm

    This is great, thank you! Try a teaspoon in your smushed egg sandwiches, it’s just perfect!

    reply to comment
  3. Gayle says

    September 16, 2020 at 2:53 pm

    Do you think this recipe would work using green tomatoes? I have alot of them. I already used all my cucumbers.

    reply to comment
  4. Kristy says

    September 16, 2020 at 7:21 pm

    I love dill relish and tried the recipe in the Ball canning book years ago. I was kind of disappointed – it didn’t taste as good as I thought it should. I love that Heinz dill relish. LOL. Maybe I’ll have to try again. What changes did you make to it?

    reply to comment
  5. Suzanne Alotta says

    September 17, 2020 at 2:18 pm

    Do you have a recipe for sweet relish? Thanks.

    reply to comment
  6. Brentlee Smith says

    September 20, 2020 at 2:50 pm

    I can’t wait to try this! Sounds delicious, thanks for sharing!

    reply to comment

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