Savory Relish

WORK IN PROGRESS

Found a similar recipe — horribly written — on another site. They called it “Million Dollar Relish” or something. Apparently it was $1,000,001 to write it well. This is great on hot dogs and bratwurst.

Updated 23 August 2025.

Savory Relish

Prep Time1 day
Cook Time1 hour

Equipment

  • 12 ½-pint canning jars and rings (wide mouth or regular, your choice)
  • 12 lids (size to match the jars…duh)
  • Canner
  • Jar Lifter
  • Magnetic ring/lid lifter
  • Clean towels

Ingredients

The Prep

  • 2000 grams cucumbers, plain or "pickling", seeded and diced
  • 600 grams onion, white or red…or a mix
  • ¾ green bell pepper, ribs and seeds removed, diced
  • ¾ red bell pepper, ribs and seeds removed, diced
  • 3 jalapeno peppers, ribs and seeds removed, diced (or more)
  • 720 grams hot water
  • 180 grams pickling or kosher salt

The Cook

  • 360 grams white vinegar
  • ¾ teaspoon celery seed
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • teaspoons mustard seed
  • 200 grams sugar, granulated or bakers
  • ½ tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes

The Slurry

  • teaspoons corn starch
  • 3 tablespoons cold water

Instructions

The Prep

  • Put the cucumbers, red and green bell peppers, and onions in a colander and let drain.
  • Once drained, put into a large bowl with the jalapeno peppers, add the water and salt, and mix. Cover with a dish towel and let sit overnight.

The Slurry

  • Add the corn-starch to the cold water, mix with a fork, and set aside

The Cook

  • Drain the vegetables well, rinse, drain again, rinse again.
  • Add the relish to a large-enough pot and add the vinegar, the celery seed, the turmeric, the mustard seed, the sugar, and the red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.
  • When the relish has been simmering for about 30 minutes, check and adjust the seasonings. Might want to add black pepper. Or more peppers. Your call.
  • Add the corn-starch slurry and stir in well with a fork. Allow to thicken. This could take another 30-40 minutes. MEANWHILE….

The Canning

  • …Meanwhile, turn your oven to 250℉.
  • Fill your canner with enough water to cover the jars and put on high heat to bring to a boil.
  • Wash and rinse well the jars. Put the jars rim up on a sheet pan and pop into the heated oven for 10 minutes.
  • Turn oven down to 200℉.
  • Add the rings and lids to a saucepan, cover with water, and put in the oven.
  • Fill each jar with the relish to within ½" of the top, wipe the edge, add a hot lid, add a ring.
  • Add as many jars as will fit in your canner in a batch and boil for 5-8 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool.

Notes

The latest time we did it we used pint jars and got 5.  I suppose it all depends on the cucumbers and how much water content they’ve got and how much they cook down.