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Homemade Sweet Pickle Relish – made with fresh from the garden cucumbers. Delicious served on hot dogs, deviled eggs or in all your summer salads.
We’ve got cucumbers … lots and lots of cucumbers.  I eat them everyday for lunch with no complaints!  I need to make pickles but thought Homemade Sweet Pickle Relish might be a nice change.  My husband planted about 4 different varieties of cucumbers so I can’t even tell you what kind they are, other than the good kind!
Aside from a little chopping, relish is super simple to cook and a real treat to eat.  Lightly sweet relish reminds me of my Mom’s Bread & Butter Pickles and that’s a good thing!
Dice the fresh vegetables and place all together in a large pot. Â Combine cider vinegar, sugar, salt, mustard seeds and celery seeds and cook for about 10 minutes.
This is an amazing relish great served on hot dogs or mixed into deviled eggs. Â In fact these are some of the best deviled eggs I’ve ever had. Â The fresh relish really took them to a whole new level of deliciousness!
Invited to a summer picnic? Take a jar of this relish as a hostess gift and I bet you get invited back year after year 🙂
Homemade Sweet Pickle Relish
Ingredients
- 4 cups unpeeled, finely diced cucumber (seeds removed from larger cucumbers)
- 2 large onions diced
- 1 green bell pepper finely diced
- 1 red bell pepper finely diced
- ¼ cup kosher salt (not a typo)
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon celery seeds
- 1 tablespoon mustard seeds
Instructions
- If using large cucumbers, cut in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds with a spoon. Discard the seeds.
- Combine the diced cucumbers, onions and peppers in a large stock pot. Sprinkle the ¼ cup kosher salt over the vegetable. Fill the pot with ice cold water enough to cover the diced vegetables. Set the mixture aside to rest for 2 hours.
- Line a fine mesh sieve with cheesecloth and add the vegetables. Allow them to drain for 10 minutes, then gather the ends of the cheesecloth together and twist to form a bundle. Squeeze a little tighter to press out the liquid, allowing it to drain. Don't smash the vegetables but gently extract as much liquid as possible.
- While the vegetables are draining, combine the vinegar, sugar, celery and mustard seeds in the large pot.
- Bring the mixture to a boil and add the vegetables.
- Stir and bring it back to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Using a slotted spoon, place the hot relish in glass jars with lids. Spoon additional brine over the vegetable if needed to cover. If preserving, process according to standard canning procedures.
- If not canning, cool the jars then store the jars of relish in the refrigerator. This relish will keep for several weeks if refrigerated.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Don’t forget to PIN!
Pickle relish seems like summer to me! Â Are you getting ready to go back to school? Â Planning any late summer vacations? Â I can’t believe how quickly it has flown by. Â I hope you are able to squeeze in a few backyard BBQ’s before we drag out the pumpkins. Â Thanks so much for stopping by!
Tricia
John
You mention canning but what headspace and how long to water bath?
Tricia Buice
Hi John. You can try leaving 1/2-inch headspace and process in the hot water bath for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat then leave the jars in the water for another 5 minutes. Enjoy!
Shannon
I haven’t made this yet but would love too! Do you know how many jars this makes and what size jars?
Tricia Buice
Thanks for the great question Shannon. This recipe makes 3 pints of relish. So you would need 3 pint sized jars or 6 smaller jars. Enjoy!
Soñya
This sounds good, I’m gonna omit the mustard seed and add red pepper flakes for that spicy sweet relish. Thanks for sharing.
Tricia Buice
Thank you Soñya!
Sandy
I made this pickle relish today as I’m getting loads of cucumbers from my garden. I did half recipe as a trial. OMG, soooo good. I’ll be doing a double recipe.
When I drained the ground veggies, I rinsed them well. Perfect salt level for us.
Thank you for sharing this relish recipe.
Tricia Buice
Thanks Sandy! So glad you enjoyed the relish and how lucky you are to have so many cucumbers!
Tina
Absolutely love this recipe, I even use monkfruit sweetner instead of sugar to make it sugar free for and diabetics.
Tricia Buice
That sounds terrific Tina! Thank you for the tip. We really appreciate the feedback.
Cedar Levret
I have made this for the last two years now and it has been a huge hit not just in my family but to all of my friends. Thanks to your recipe I have something that I am asked for every single year now to make sure I have. These friends will not buy from the store anymore they count on me to have the best relish in the world. Thank you for helping me find a recipe that I can actually do and canned up makes me feel important and needed as well . Love this basic and simple recipe
Tricia Buice
Thank you Cedar! How awesome. I’m thrilled this recipe has brought you joy. We truly appreciate you taking the time to comment. Bravo!
Wendy
Hi! This looks awesome, I’m wondering if you know who many pound of cucumbers you need for this recipe or how many? Thank you
Tricia Buice
I Wendy. It’s really hard to say how many as cucumbers vary greatly in size. If using small to medium I would start with at least 4 cucumbers. Enjoy!
Mickey
Thanks so very much.
Mickey Williams
Tricia Buice
Thank you Mickey!
Joshua
Hi, I am unable to get celery seeds (or even Dill Seeds, a substitute) . Anyone have any idea as to what I could use instead, or if the recipe would still be good w/o it?
Tricia Buice
Hi Joshua. If you can get celery salt use half the amount and reduce the salt equally. Otherwise you can use celery leaves cut from the top of celery stalks. I’m sure these will still be good. Enjoy!
Tonya
Hi Tricia! What about mustard seeds? What is a good substitution for that? I like the suggestion of celery salt, as I do not like the bite of celery seeds. Hoping for something similar for mustard seeds. Thanks!
Tricia Buice
Hi Tonya. You can use a little bit of dried mustard or caraway seeds. Enjoy!
Ed
You can get them from Amazon a lot cheaper.
Katharina Myers
I am making this for the firs time, it sounds so tasty. I was wondering, do you rinse the vegetables after they soak in the salt water?
Thanks,
Katie
Tricia Buice
Hi Katharina. I do not rinse the vegetables after soaking, but you can if you wish. Enjoy!
Nancy B
I doubled the recipe and used one red pepper, one green, one yellow and one orange which resulted in a beautifully coloured relish. My husband also likes to spice things up so I added a jalapeño pepper as well. Yummy!!
Tricia Buice
Thanks for the feedback Nancy! Sounds like this relish is gorgeous in vibrant colors. Thanks for trying the recipe and for taking the time to comment. Have a great summer!
Carol
Hi Tricia, I made this relish a few years ago and loved it. I just washed a batch of cukes and since it’s been awhile I have a couple questions. My cukes are only about
3 1/2″ long, they are crisp but not juicy, is that ok or should I get some larger ones at the farmers market tomorrow? I was wondering also if the 4 c. measurement is before the pickles are diced or after the pickles are diced? I am assuming I measure after they are diced for accuracy as it would be hard to measure whole cukes. One other thing, can I double the recipe with success?
Tricia Buice
Hi Carol – sorry if my recipe wasn’t clear. You need 4 cups of diced cucumbers. Cut large cucumbers in half and scrape out the seeds with a spoon. Don’t peel the cucumbers, just dice and measure. I use whatever size cucumbers I have on hand. No need to buy more unless you want to double the recipe – which is fine, too. Enjoy and thanks for the great questions!
Jennifer @ Seasons and Suppers
Beautiful relish and such a perfect way to preserve summer 🙂
Tricia Buice
Thanks Jennifer 🙂
John/Kitchen Riffs
Never even thought of making my own pickle relish. But I should — we have cucumbers coming out of our ears. OK, not really, but you know what I mean. 🙂 This looks awesome — thanks so much.
Tricia Buice
I keep asking myself why it took so long to make this! Love it 🙂
Susan
I have lots and lots of baby cukes on the vine waiting to grow up. I can’t wait to try this recipe when they do, Tricia. Pinning to my canning and preserving board!
Tricia Buice
I hope you get the opportunity to make this Susan – it is so tasty!
Toni | BoulderLocavore
I love this Tricia! It looks so fresh and flavorful. So much better than the watery version at the store. Beautiful dice on all the veg!
Tricia Buice
Thanks so much Toni! It is so good and really does taste fresh.
Gerlinde @ Sunnycovechef
Anything homemade is so much better and your relish looks great. My mother canned all time.
Tricia Buice
My mother did too Gerlinde. I wish I had more time to do it! Have a great week.
Betty
I have not canned one thing this entire summer, and I just have a few days of summer vacation left! My two cucumber plants have been prolific though, and I just may be able to squeeze in a batch of this before reporting back to work next week. How does the summer fly by so fast?
Tricia Buice
I can’t believe summer is almost over Betty. I bet you will be busy getting all those things done you wish you had finished. I feel the same way each and every weekend! There is never enough time 🙂 Have a great week and best wishes for a wonderful school year!
sue|theviewfromgreatisland
This looks so colorful and fresh, I think I’d end up with a 2 to 1 ratio of relish to hot dog!
Tricia Buice
Good plan Sue! I can’t believe how much better homemade is compared to store bought (or maybe I can!) Thanks!
Monica
You even make relish mesmerizingly beautiful! : ) It looks wonderful, all the better with your own homegrown cucumbers.
Tricia Buice
Thank you so much Monica!
Mandy
Divine!
🙂 Mandy xo
Tricia Buice
Thanks Mandy 🙂
cheri
Hi Tricia, isn’t amazing that even condiments tastes better homemade and with fresh ingredients. Looks like once again you took it to a new level.
Tricia Buice
Thanks so much Cheri – it does have an amazingly fresh taste – and it’s good on everything!~
Becky Green
This looks SO GOOD, Tricia!!!! Love all the color! 😉
Tricia Buice
Thanks Becky!
Monique
I am MARKETING tomorrow..
I want to make this..I make our relish..but this is so different!
Thank you!
Tricia Buice
Thank you Monique. Hope you love it!
Larry
I’m not a fan of sweet pickle relish, but yours looks delicious.
Tricia Buice
Thanks Larry – it tastes a lot like Bread & Butter pickles. Happy travels!
Chris Scheuer
I’ll take mine right out of the jar. I see you have a spoon waiting for me. It looks fabulous!
Tricia Buice
Thanks Chris – it is really good on everything!
Angie@Angie's Recipes
So colourful and fresh!
Tricia Buice
Thanks Angie 🙂