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.
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.
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.
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.
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.)
Try my favorite lids for canning, learn more about FOR JARS lids here: http://theprairiehomestead.com/forjars (use code PURPOSE10 for 10% off)
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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Easy Homemade Dill Relish Recipe
- 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.)
Try my favorite lids for canning, learn more about FOR JARS lids here: http://theprairiehomestead.com/forjars (use code PURPOSE10 for 10% off)
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
Do you use whole or ground mustard?
The recipe says what to use: mustard seed!
Add relish to Mayo or miracle whip and a little mustard
Tarter sauce…yum…..
This is great, thank you! Try a teaspoon in your smushed egg sandwiches, it’s just perfect!
Do you think this recipe would work using green tomatoes? I have alot of them. I already used all my cucumbers.
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?
Do you have a recipe for sweet relish? Thanks.
I can’t wait to try this! Sounds delicious, thanks for sharing!
Would this recipe work using Zucchini? I’ve canned about 14 1/2 pints of sweet zucchini relish but can’t find a dill relish for Zuch.
Did you ever find the zucchini dill relish recipe you were looking for?
It doesn’t look like any of commentor’s questions have been answered at all. But, I have a question that may not get answered. I’ve grown bush white cukes. Good for relish, any one know?
I have found that the white or light skin colored cucumbers do not pickles very well. They are a much softer then canning cucumbers and get VERY mushy!
That is what I just made sweet relish with on 8-6-22. It tastes dpelish! I just began the dill relish recipe today. Waiting the two hours now. Looks fine. Using mostly straight eights with this one, though. That is what is ready. I am making dill slices from more bush cukes later this week. None of my cukes are soft. Fresh picked yesterday from my garden.
One more bit of advice: To slice all those cucumbers, use your mandolin! Saves a LOT of hand-work!!!!!
I thought about using apple cider vinegar, because it is more nutritious. Well, I’m glad I didn’t because the white vinegar let’s the colors of the relish shine that otherwise would’ve been cloudy.
Why doesn’t my relish turn green?
Depends on the pickles you use. Also if there are too many air bubbles or too much headspace in your canning jars, the canned food can begin to oxidize and darken. Fortunately, this discoloration is generally not a sign of spoilage if the canning jars have been properly sealed.
Love this recipe!! I don’t can much but I wanted to try this. So so easy and delicious all my friends want a jar. So I might have to just make it again lol
I am unable to find dill seed in town, can I sub diil weed?
You can, but the taste will much much milder. You could add dill weed plus another slightly better alternative like fennel, caraway or anise seeds or even celery seeds. The combo of dill weed and one of those other seeds might be a good swap for you.
Can you fresh dill instead of dill seed.
They are completely different in taste. You can try it and see what happens and if you like the flavor. Adjusting spices is safe in canning recipes.
Why does it have sugar in it? I do not like sweet pickles at all and am dumbfounded that all homemade seems to include sugar and store bought, including organic, does not – what function does the sugar do?
The sugar adds a mild sweetness that softens the tang/sourness of dill pickles. You can search for a safe canning recipe for dill relish that might not include sugar by searching these resources: https://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2020/07/the-best-canning-resources.html
The recipe says 8lbs and I did not weight before processing/preparing. How many cups of chopped cukes is in a batch in case I chopped enough to double the recipe. I half peeled and removed the seeds from mine before pulsing in the food processor now I have no idea
According to a quick google search, 1 pound (2 medium cucumbers) = 4 cups sliced
I hope that helps!
The recipe doesn’t specify what type of onions to use. What do you suggest?