With the abundance of home grown zucchini right now, I’m taking this opportunity to share with you another great recipe. Zucchini is such a versatile vegetable, you can literally make anything with it. Not only is it great for making this mouth watering zucchini relish, you can even make jam with it. Check out this recipe for amazing jam.
I like to use this relish as a condiment, not only for hot dogs and burgers, but also as an added ingredient in cold salads like potato salad, macaroni salad, even egg, tuna, chicken and ham salads.
This mouth watering zucchini relish, really gives a nice zing to whatever you put it in. So if you’re thinking that there’s no way you would ever use this many jars, once you taste it, you will change your mind.
Preparing Vegetables
Since most vegetables contain a good bit of water in them, you are going to need to prepare your vegetables a few hours ahead of time, to drain the excess moisture. Doing so will ensure that your relish does not end up having too much liquid in it or tasting watered down.
It is best to get them prepared the night before you plan to make this recipe. You may also do this the morning of, but it will make for a long day since it needs to sit a while.
Start by cutting your zucchini in half, and remove the seeds if you’re using large ones. Next, using your food grater, grate the zucchini into a large bowl. You will need to measure out 10 cups, firmly packed. Then finely chop 3 cups of onions and 4 red bell peppers. Adding them to the bowl of your pre-measured, grated zucchini. Add in the 5 TBsp of salt and mix well. Cover and let stand over night at room temperature.
Gather Equipment
Even though this recipe is made from non-acidic vegetables, it is marked safe for water bath canning, because of the vinegar in it. Listed below, are the items needed.
- Water bath canner with jar rack
- 9 pint jars with lids and screw bands
- large heavy bottomed stock pot
- food grater, knife and cutting board
- funnel and large spoon
- headspace spatula
- jar lifting tool
- tea towel
Getting started
Once you’re ready to start making this mouth watering zucchini relish, the process goes pretty quick. Start by transferring your vegetables into a strainer to rinse the salt off of them and drain well.
Next, lay your tea towel out, spoon your vegetables into the towel, roll up and squeeze out the excess moisture. Add your vegetables into the stock pot.
Now you can add the remaining ingredients and stir until mixed well. Bring mixture to a boil then turn the heat down and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Once you have completed this, you can start filling your jars. Process in a water bath canner for 15 minutes. You can find the complete recipe below. Happy Canning!
Mouth Watering Zucchini Relish
Ingredients
- 10 cups grated zucchini
- 3 cups onion, finely chopped
- 4 med red bell beppers, finely chopped
- 5 TBsp salt
- 3 cups sugar
- 1 tsp tumeric
- 1 tsp dry mustard
- 3 cups Apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp celery seed
Directions
- Add zucchini, onions, peppers and salt to a large bowl. Mix well, cover and let stand at room temperature, over night.
- Wash jars, lids and screw bands in hot soapy water. Place jars on a cookie sheet into a 190 degrees oven. Place lids in a small saucepan, over a low heat. Do not boil.
- Prepare canner, filling half full with water, and set over a low heat.
- Transfer vegetables into a strainer and rinse and drain well. Using a tea towel, remove excess liquid.
- Add vegetables to stock pot. and add remaining ingredients. Mix well.
- Bring relish to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes, stirring often.
- Fill jars one at a time. Remove air bubbles with the spatula and adjust headspace to 1/2 inch. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar and add screw band to fingertip tight.
- Place jars in the jar rack and lower into canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Cover, bring to a boil and process both 8-ounce and pint jars for 15 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes then move the jars to a towel covered counter. Cool and store.
Quick Tips
You can use a food processor to quicken the time for grating and chopping your vegetables.
I usually prepare an extra jar in case there’s a little bit left over in the pot. You can refrigerate it for up to 6 weeks.
If you don’t have time to make this now, grate your vegetables and store them in the freezer. Once thawed, drain well. No need to let them stand over night, then add 1 1/2 TBsp salt to your pot when cooking the relish.
Substitute the red bell peppers with green bell peppers like I did in the picture above. It does change the flavor a little bit.
Substitute the tumeric, dry mustard, pepper and celery seed for 1/4 cup of pickling spice.
Be sure to save this recipe to refer back to. Let me know what you think below, I would love to hear from you!