Dill Pickle Relish Recipe: Simple and Classic

Name: Dill Relish for Canning
Prep time: 70 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 100 min
Ingredients: 8 pounds cucumbers (about 16 medium cucuumbers); ½ cup diced yellow onion; 1 medium diced jalapeno; ½ cup pickling salt; 2 teaspoons turmeric; 4 cups water; 4 cups white vinegar; 1 tablespoon sugar; 1 tablespoon dill seed; 1 tablespoon fresh dill

All those overwhelming cucumbers in your garden that were so fun at first? I know. I know. Let’s turn them (eight pounds of them!) into the best dill pickle relish you’ve ever had. And then we’ll can it so you can enjoy it all year long. Take that, evil cucumber empire.

Sometimes I like canning because it feels lovely and productive and I don’t want to waste produce. But this cucumber recipe is one I make every single year because I love the end result so well.

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My grandmother was a big baker, quilter, canner, and all the rest. I did not appreciate it at the time because I thought I was going to be a lawyer. (I was, in fact, a secretary and then a housewife.) Anyway. Years after she died, I wished I had learned from her when I could. I do have one old gardening book of hers, out of which came a handwritten recipe for relish.

It read:

Sweet relish, 6 pints

Prepare cucumbers and onions and cover with vinegar. Add sugar to taste.

Pour into hot jars and cool.

So that “recipe” was a no-go.

I searched high and low for a recipe without weird ingredients and that wasn’t too sweet or too oniony. It could not be found, so I made some simple tweaks to the Ball Blue Book recipe to suit my tastes.

Ingredients and Tools You’ll Need

The turmeric seems strange, but I would not recommend leaving it out. I have done this recipe without it, and there is a difference in taste. The sugar is not necessary for preservative purposes, but it does improve the flavor. This relish is not sweet, but the sugar definitely adds something extra. The onions, jalapeño, and dill seed can be reduced if you do not like them. But the salt and vinegar cannot be altered as they are essential to preserving the relish.

cucumbers, pickles, dill, vinegar, salt, and turmeric on wooden board

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Equipment

Water Bath Canner
food processor
Cheesecloth

Ingredients

8 pounds cucumbers about 16 medium cucuumbers
½ cup diced yellow onion
1 medium diced jalapeno
½ cup pickling salt
2 teaspoons turmeric
4 cups water
4 cups white vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon dill seed
1 tablespoon fresh dill

If you’d like to double or triple this recipe, you can make adjustments in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

How to Make Dill Pickle Relish

Step One: Prep The Veggies

Peel the cucumbers (fully or halfway) and remove the seedy center. Roughly chop them into quarters or eighths. Place them in a food processor and pulse to chop. You want them chopped but not pureed. Depending on the size of your food processor, you may want to work in many batches. (You can also dice the onion and jalapeno now, then cover them separately and set them aside so you don’t need to take out your cutting board later.)

Step Two: Soak Cucumbers In Salt And Turmeric

Place the cucumbers in a large bowl and sprinkle with the salt and turmeric. Pour the water on top and stir. Allow the mixture to sit, covered, at room temperature for 1-2 hours.

turmeric and salt in bowl with chopped cucumbers.

Step Three: Rinse And Drain

Place chopped cucumbers in a cheesecloth lined bowl and rinse. Lift the cheesecloth and gently squeeze to drain. You can also leave this in the fridge overnight and continue in the morning.

Step Four: Add The Remaining Ingredients And Cook

Place the cucumbers, diced jalapeño, diced onion, vinegar, sugar, dill weed, and dill seed in a saucepan and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until the mixture has thickened slightly and has changed from green to yellow-green.

Step Five: Process In Waterbath Canner

Ladle hot relish into hot jars, leaving ¼ inch headspace. Twist lids fingertip tight and process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes. Cool until sealed and store in a dark place for up to 1 year.

lids simmering in saucepan, and lid applied to filled jar.

Storing & How to Use Up Dill Relish

Like most home-canned recipes, this will keep well in a cool, dark place for a year

You can use sweet relish for any of these too!

Use as a spread on sandwiches or burgers.
Add it on top of hot dogs.
Mix it into tuna salad for extra flavor.
Add it to potato salad to give it a tangy taste.
Stir it into egg salad.
Use it in the filling for deviled eggs.
Mix with mayonnaise to make tartar sauce for fish
Mix it into a cold pasta salad.
Blend it into coleslaw.

Questions and Troubleshooting

What kind of cucumbers are best for homemade relish?

You can use pickling or regular cucumbers for this dill relish. Since you are chopping them up, the size doesn’t matter. One consideration is that you will need to remove any seeds. Smaller pickling cucumbers will have few, if any seeds, so they will make things easier. If you don’t have any, regular cucumbers will work fine–you’ll just have to de-seed them. Whatever you choose, make sure it’s unwaxed.

Do you need pickling salt for relish?

Pickling salt doesn’t have any anti-caking chemicals that can cause cloudiness. So it’s not essential, but it will give you a nicer-looking finished product.

Can I leave out the hot pepper or the onion?

The onions, jalapeño, and dill seed can be reduced if you do not like them.

Can I reduce the vinegar in relish?

No, the salt and vinegar cannot be altered as they are essential to preserving the relish.

three jars of dill pickle relish on wooden board.

More Recipes for Cucumber Season

When cucumbers are ready to be picked, they’re ready. Use them up!

Small batch refrigerator pickles are good for those first and last smaller harvests.
A favorite summer lunch, chicken cucumber salad uses just a few cukes.
But my favorite is old fashioned cucumber salad, a simple blend of vinegar, salt, and sugar.

A Pretty Recipe for You

Click on the image below, and you can print this version to put in your canning binder.