A simple and easy recipe for canning homemade Dill Pickle Relish. This tangy dill relish recipe is perfect for anyone new to canning. Enjoy it on burgers, hot dogs, in potato or chicken salad.
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When I am craving relish, I want dill relish; not some candy sweet relish. Cucumbers and a ton of sugar? Who thought that up?!
THIS dill pickle relish is tangy, packed with flavor, and tastes amazing on burgers, hot dogs, and in potato salad.
What is Relish Made Of?
This dill relish has fresh cucumbers, onion, pickling salt, onion, red pepper, turmeric, and dill seed. There is a little bit of sugar in here (much less than the original recipe calls for), but feel free to leave it out if you’d like. I find it brightens up the other flavors without making it sweet.
It is important to use pickling salt in this recipe as regular salt has anti-caking agents in there which can impact the appearance of your relish.
What kind of cucumbers should you use for this dill relish? The basic answer is whatever you have on hand! I used a mix of slicing cucumbers and pickling cukes as that is what I grow in my garden.
Cucumbers from the store tend to have a wax coating on them which impacts their pickling ability. It is best to use homegrown or farmer’s market cukes in this recipe.
Try a few tablespoons of the finished relish in Chicken Salad With Dill or Instant Pot Potato Salad.
Canning Supplies for Dill Pickle Relish
Check out this in-depth post for a complete list of canning supplies.
For canning relish, you’ll want:
- Water bath canner
- Jars – I recommend 8 oz jam jars unless you REALLY love relish and need it in bigger quantities
- New lids and rings
- Canning funnel
- Saucepan (I used my dutch oven)
- Ladle
- Food processor (optional, but highly recommended)
- Strainer
- Mixing spoon
- Knife
- Cutting board
How To Make Dill Relish
I’ll walk you through the process here in photos because it really helps, especially if you’re new to canning. At the bottom of the post, you’ll also find a printable and detailed recipe card.
Wash cucumbers using a vegetable scrub brush. Cut the cuke butts off, slice them into 8 sections. Cut the seeds out of each section. Cut into 1-2 inch chunks.
In a food processor, pulse (use “pulse” instead of “on”, or else you’ll end up with cucumber sauce) the cuke chunks in batches until the pieces look “relishy”. (That is probably a real term).
Put the cucumber pieces in a bowl, sprinkle with salt and turmeric, and then pour the water over it. Cover, and let stand for 2 hours.
After 2 hours, put the cukes in a colander, and rinse thoroughly. Let drain and squeeze the cucumbers to release excess water.
In your food processor, chop the onion and pepper, or dice by hand. Add to a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
Add the cukes, sugar, dill seed to the onion/peppers. Pour the vinegar over everything, and bring to a boil (this will create a liquid called brine). Reduce the heat, and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pro tip: It’s a good idea to start your water in the canner at this point.
Ladle the hot relish into your jars. Top with the hot brine (excess liquid from the pot). Leave 1/4 inch of headspace (the amount of space between the top of the food in the jar and the top of the jar).
Wipe the rim with a clean damp towel, and place your sanitized lid on top. Secure the ring.
Place the jars in the water bath canner, and put the lid on. Process for 15 minutes.
Remove the canner from the burner when the time is up. Let sit for 5 minutes, then remove the jars and place them on a thick towel. Let the jars cool completely, check the seal, and store for up to one year in a cool dark location.
Dill Pickle Relish Pro Tips/Recipe Notes:
- For this recipe I have you leave the peels on. It adds more depth to the finished recipe. If your cucumber skins are tough, peel a few strips off (tiger stripes) to reduce the toughness.
- If you would prefer to use fresh dill for this recipe, substitute the dill seed with 8 heads of fresh dill.
- You can use zucchini instead of the cucumbers if you’re knee-deep in zukes right now. Processing time remains the same.
- Leave the bowl of cucumbers, salt, turmeric, and water at room temperature during the brining process. This time is important for drawing out extra moisture from the cucumbers. Cold temps will slow that process.
- Wait one week after canning before opening to give the flavors a chance to meld.
- Upon opening, store the jar in the fridge for up to four weeks.
- If you don’t have enough jars to fill the canner, consider Canning Water in a few jars to stock your emergency drinking water supplies.
- Store sealed jars in a cool dark place for up to 12 months.
More Simple Canning Recipes You’ll Love
Dill Pickle Relish – {Canning Relish}
Ingredients
- 9 pounds pickling cucumbers {to yield ~7-8 cups of chopped cucumber}
- 1/2 cup pickling salt
- 2 tsp turmeric
- 4 cups water
- 3 cups white vinegar
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1.5 cups diced white onion
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp dill seed
- 1/4 cup red pepper {fresh}
Equipment
Instructions
- Wash cucumbers using a vegetable scrub brush.9 pounds pickling cucumbers
- Cut the ends of the cucumber off, slice into 8 sections.
- Cut the seeds out of each section. Cut into 1-2 inch chunks.
- In a food processor, pulse the cuke chunks in batches.
- Put the chopped cucumber in a bowl, sprinkle with salt and turmeric, and then pour the water over it. Cover, and let stand at room temperature for 2 hours.1/2 cup pickling salt, 2 tsp turmeric, 4 cups water
- After 2 hours, put the chopped cucumber in a colander, and rinse thoroughly.
- Let drain and squeeze the cukes to release excess water
- In a food processor, dice the onion and pepper (or dice by hand). Add to a heavy-bottomed saucepan.1.5 cups diced white onion, 1/4 cup red pepper
- Add the chopped cucumber, sugar, dill seed to the onion/peppers.1 tbsp sugar, 2 tbsp dill seed
- Pour both vinegars over everything, and bring to a boil.3 cups white vinegar, 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- Reduce the heat, and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Prepare water bath canner by filling it with water, so that there will be at least 1 inch of water over the tops of the jars.
- Wash and clean your jars. Fill with hot water or keep them warm in a clean dishwasher or oven.
- Wash your lids and set aside in clean place.
- Place a lid on the canner and set it on the stove with the burner set to high.
- Ladle the hot relish into your jars. Top with the hot brine (excess liquid from the saucepan). Leave 1/4 inch of headspace (the amount of space between the top of the food in the jar and the top of the jar).
- Using a wet clean rag, wipe the rim to make sure there isn't any residue on there.
- Place a clean lid on the jar and then a ring. Tighten the ring to fingertip tight.
- Using canning tongs, add jars to the boiling water, and put the canner lid on. Pro tip: you must have at least 1 inch of water over the tops of the jars for safe canning.
- Process pints and half-pints for 15 minutes.
- Remove the canner from heat, and let sit for 5 minutes.
- Remove the jars using canning tongs and place them on towels on the counter undisturbed for 12-24 hours.
- After everything has cooled, check the seal by pushing down on the middle of the lid. If it doesn't give way, it's sealed. If the lid bows a little bit, put that in the fridge and use it within 3 weeks.
- Wait one week after canning before enjoying the relish. It will give the flavors time to meld.
- Label the sealed jars, and store in a cool dark place for up to a year.
Notes
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Hi, I’m new to your site. Ive never made relish before so I’m trying to find a good recipe. Yours sounds great, but I’ve seen on other dill relish recipes that they add the diced onion with the cucumbers when you let sit in the salt for two hours. Do you know why they would do this? Does it help keep the onion crisp as well? Also they add the turmeric in when cooking the brine. Doesn’t the turmeric just get washed away when you rinse the cucumbers after the salt soak, Or does it soak in? Thank you!
Hi Britney! The cucumber doesn’t really stay crisp in the relish-making process, so I can’t say why someone would add onion while salting the cucumbers. It could very well be.
The turmeric is more for color and a tiny bit of flavor. It would be more concentrated if you add it to the brine. If you’re a big turmeric fan, it would definitely work to make it part of the brine. I find it overwhelming unless added with the cucumbers.
Why onion? No commercial dill relish has onion – – – I’m so trying to recreate just dill relish – at least yours is not chock full of sugar too which I can’t understand why it is in dill pickle relish.
Personal preference/taste. You’re welcome to leave the onion out, but recreating commercially available foods has never been my goal. I know my nana’s dill relish always had onion in it. 😊
Please explain the red pepper. Have red bell, red chili, red sweet pepper
When you say red pepper,is it a hot pepper or what?.
Chef’s choice! Use what you prefer. Red chili will result in a spicy relish which I would love but maybe not all future guests who I serve this to would enjoy. I typically just use red bell.
I tried your recipe yesterday and I LOVE it! The taste it has ( I tried a spoonful or 2, lol) is THE BEST! But….. I would like a recipe for SWEET relish. I tried one from another site and it didn’t turn out so good. It only made 2 pints of actual relish and the rest was just “juice”. Can you convert the “Dill” recipe to “Sweet”? Thank you so much for sharing with us.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Ruby!
Truth time: I think sweet relish is super gross. I’m not a sweet and savory person so this is a “me” thing and not a knock on sweet relish. I checked online with Ball’s recipes and it would appear that sweet and dill relish recipes are similar for all the ingredients except no turmeric or dill + adding sugar. It appears that the sugar is almost 1/2 cup per pint which seems excessive.
I’d recommend taking my dill recipe, remove the dill and turmeric and start with 1 cup of sugar for the whole batch. And then add additional sugar 1/4 cup at a time, tasting as you go to see how you like it.
Thank you so much for your help. I’ll definitely try tweeking those ingredients. Thank for your efforts if researching the answer for me.
My pleasure! 🙂
I really enjoyed this recipe! I’m never happy with the texture of my home-canned dill pickles. This solves the texture problem and still lets me have the delicious taste of dill pickles on sandwiches and burgers. Thanks!
So glad you enjoyed it, Lindsey. And I totally feel you on the pickles; I have YET to find a recipe that gives me the texture I like. Instead, I make fridge pickles and those stay perfectly crispy.
Do you know if this recipe is gluten free?
It is
I made this and find it a bit bitter- how long do you leave it till trying?
Hi April, in the recipes notes I recommend: “wait one week after canning before opening to give the flavors a chance to meld.”
How long did you wait to try it?