Canning Zucchini Relish

Update 7.2.21

Canning Zucchini Relish

I LOVE canned Zucchini Relish! It is sooo yummy and sweet! I love it on hamburgers and hot dogs. I even add it to tuna or a bit on a salad. I don't can it too often, because it makes a ton and lasts for years!

You're going to need a bunch of zucchini! If you don't grow some yourself, there's usually someone you know that has a garden exploding!

zucchini plant

The first thing I did was shred 14-16 cups of zucchini. Then put them in a brine solution. Which is basically salt water. I put all of the zucchini in a large bowl and put enough water in to cover it.

Then I added about 1 T. of pickling salt per cup of zucchini. Let it sit in the brine solution overnight. This keeps the zucchini firm and helps it hold it's color.

Zucchini sitting in brine solution overnight

In the morning, I got out all of my canning supplies. You'll need jars and lids, with the cap to screw onto the jar. You'll need a large stock pan for the water bath.

Put the lids in a pot with water covering all of the lids. Let that just get to boiling and turn off. Fill the large stock pot with water and get that to boiling, then turn it off. It helps to get all these things heated up and ready to go.

lids in a pan of hot water

You can hand wash the jars and rings or just run them in the dishwasher so they are nice and hot. Once the water is hot in the water bath, you can put the jars in there to keep them hot.

Now, it's time to rinse the zucchini. I dumped it into a colander and rinsed and rinsed until I felt most of the salt water was rinsed off.

Rinsed Zucchini

You will need another stock pot to cook the syrup in. Add all the ingredients and bring it to a boil. It needs to simmer for 30 minutes.

2 ¼ c. vinegar
1 tsp. Ground nutmeg
2 tsp. Celery Seed
6 cups sugar (man that’s going to be sweet!)
2 tsp. Turmeric

cooking syrup for zucchini relish

It boiled and it simmered. Then after the 30 minutes I added 1 T. Dried mustard.

Next, I added 1 T. cornstarch mixed with a bit of water and let it cook it a bit more until it started to thicken some.

Then add the zucchini.

Cooking Zucchini in syrup

Simmer for another 10 minutes, then it's ready for canning.

Ready to can zucchini relish

Get a warm jar out. Fill with relish, and leave ¼ inch gap. Wipe the rim off.

wiping rim of jar before sealing zucchini relish

Put the seal on with ring and set it in the water bath. They need to boil in the water bath for 10 minutes.

Place filled jars into water bath

Sooo good! Can't wait to enjoy this yumminess!!

Canned Zucchini Relish

Here is the recipe all together if you’d like to try it!

Canning ~ Zucchini Relish

{Original with the onion and peppers, otherwise you can just use 15-16 cups of shredded zucchini}
10 cups unpeeled, shredded zucchini
4 cups onion, shredded
1 red sweet pepper, shredded
1 green pepper, shredded
2 1/2 c. vinegar
1 tsp. Ground nutmeg
2 tsp. Celery Seed
4 c. Sugar
2 tsp. Turmeric
1 T. Dried mustard
1 T. Cornstarch (mixed with a bit of water)
Zucchini, onion and peppers in brine mix.  Let stand overnight. Then drain and rinse.

Bring next 5 ingredients to a boil. Then simmer for 30 minutes. Add mustard. Mix a small amount of water with cornstarch and add to mixture. Cook until thickened. Add vegetables and simmer for 10 minutes. Can using water bath method.

Have you ever canned zucchini relish?

What’s your favorite item to can in the summer?

Blessings!!
Lori

Canning Zucchini Relish

14 comments

  1. Replies
    1. Oooo it is!! I just finished another batch of it! Thanks for reading!!

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  2. Not really sure why your plants did that. Last year we had a real lousy garden. This year, it is better. Hubby put in peat moss, our small composite soil, and fertilizer - he said it neded nitrogen. I never canned anything, but always wanted to, but never knew how. I didnt grow up with anyone canning, heck my mom didnt even know how to garden. But she did buy a lot of can vegetables - YUK. I was afraid I would give myself botulism. Maybe I will try the relish -- better not have all of us eat the first jar, in case of botulism. Oh, and dont throw out the old plants - use them in a compost pile. I agree zucchini has a weird spelling. LOL

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    1. Hi! I'm so glad you stopped by! My mom never canned or anything either. I just decided to try it and it's really not that hard, just takes some time. Go for it!! You could start with canning some jam, that is super easy!! I bought myself the Blue Ball Canning Book. That has step by step instructions, easy to understand. I never really liked can veggies either. I need to start composting. I know that would help the soil. Oh well, everything else it doing great!
      Blessings,
      Lori

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  3. I have a super easy recipe for Squash Relish that was given to me by a coworker. I have made tons of it this year and it turned out great. It also seems to be a little less work than the recipe you have. I hope you enjoy it. You can use all zucchini squash or a combination of yellow squash and zucchini. I made all of mine with both yellow and zucchini. Enjoy!

    6-7 large zucchini and/or yellow squash
    2 green peppers
    1 red pepper
    4 large yellow onions
    1/4 cup kosher salt
    3 cups sugar
    3 cups cider or white vinegar
    3 tsp tumeric
    2 tsp celery seeds

    Grate the zucchini/squash and coarsely cop all the other vegetables. Sprinkle salt over all and cover with ice in the sink. Let stand about an hour and then drain and rinse slightly. Mix other ingredients together in a non-reactive pot and bring to a boil. Add all the vegetables and cook about 5 minutes. Once bubbling, pour into prepared jars, seal the jars and water-bath for 10 minutes.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Cherri! That is a super easy recipe! I'll try that if I get some more zucchini. Thanks for stopping by and reading!!
      Blessings,
      Lori

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  4. Lori that looks delicious. I've always wanted to try canning but I haven't taken that step yet! This may be one of the first recipes I try!

    I also wanted to let you know I nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award, to learn more about it check out my post at: http://twenty63.blogspot.com/2012/07/who-me.html

    I'm one of your newest followers!
    Dawn :)

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    Replies
    1. Hi Dawn! I know that canning looks like its hard, but it really isn't . Just time consuming. Thanks for the nomination! I've received that award before! :) I'm so glad you stopped by! Thanks for following!

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  5. Thank you for stopping by my blog this morning, Lori! I appreciate your nice comments. You are not going to believe this, but Porkchop (that's my hubby) and I were just talking about making Zucchini relish and I had been given the task of finding a recipe today. Weird, huh? Looks like we'll be using yours!! :)

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    Replies
    1. Hi Susan! I'm so glad you stopped by :D That really is weird, but good!! And that zucchini relish is DELISH! I'm sure I didn't make enough for the year, but it will have to do! I hope you enjoy it!

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  6. Lori, it looks like the squash bugs got your zucchini plants. Best to just dig them up and throw them into the trash. Don't compost, as the pests overwinter, and begin their destruction all over again in the spring. When squash bugs attack and you destroy the plants, treat the soil with a pesticide and replant. Zucchini grows quite quickly. Hope this helps.

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    Replies
    1. Really?? Thank you!! I will definitely remember this for next year! I did just throw them out. But I will need to treat the soil next year. Thank you! Thank you!

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  7. Lori,
    This looks so yummy. I would have never thought you could can zucchini.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Vanessa! I love zucchini relish, I won't eat any other kind... :)

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