Zucchini Relish Recipe for Topping Burgers and More 10

Remember Del Monte hamburger relish? Talk about a blast from the past. A couple of years ago I discovered a fabulous relish recipe, made from zucchini, that tastes just like the Del Monte version. Now mind you, I can’t grow zucchini here. No, really. But I wanted to share the recipe anyway.

You might have already seen my alternative version of this recipe, made with watermelon rind. (You do what you’ve gotta do!) But in light of the fact that lots of people are still harvesting zucchini, I thought I’d share the original version.

Important: This is not scary. It takes about an hour to make 3 pints of relish. If you know how to operate a stove and chop veggies, you’re good to go.

Zucchini Relish Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 cups chopped zucchini
• 2 cups chopped onion
• 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups vinegar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground turmeric
• 2 teaspoons mustard seed
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• pinch ground nutmeg

A shortcut to start you off: If you have a food processor you can just toss roughly chopped zucchini, onions, and peppers into the bowl of the processor and pulse until they’re a good size. I like mine in about 1/8 – 1/4″ pieces. If you don’t have a food processor, just chop them finely by hand.

Combine zucchini, onion, peppers, and salt in a large bowl, stirring well. Chill overnight. Place in a colander to drain; rinse thoroughly and drain again. Transfer to a large stock pot and add remaining ingredients; bring just to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes. At this point, the relish is done. You can just put it in jars and then in the refrigerator to use right away or give as gifts.

If you’d like your relish to be shelf stable, you’ll need to process it. Ladle hot relish into sterilized jars, leaving 1/4-in. head space. Wipe rims with a damp cloth (to assure a good seal), screw sterilized lids on, and process for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath. (Click through for a complete tutorial on water bath canning if you’ve never done it before.) 

Want to learn to make more of your own pantry staples? 

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