It’s what to do with all your Summer zucchini! This Zucchini Mustard Relish is perfect on hamburgers or hot dogs or enjoy with sausage.
My sister introduced me to this relish. It’s a great way to use up your bumper summer crop of zucchini! So if you have lots of zucchini to use up, this is for you. It uses up a lot of zucchini and reduces it to a few lovely jars of preserves to be enjoyed over the winter.
Zucchini is combined with onions, red peppers, chili pepper flakes (for a touch of heat), vinegar and mustard, for a relish that is perfect with sausage, pork or on hot dogs or hamburgers. (We love it with sausage, especially!)
Cook’s Notes for Zucchini Mustard Relish
This is a super easy relish, with just a bit of chopping to do, but honestly, I find chopping very therapeutic. After that, it’s a quick cook and in to the jars. If you’re starting out with a particularly large zucchini (the one I used was about 5 lbs.!), you’ll probably want to remove some of the seeds. Otherwise, with a normal sized one, you’re good to leave them in. You can also chop the zucchini by hand, if you don’t have a processor.
Zucchini Mustard Relish
Ingredients
- 3 lb. zucchini cut into 1-inch chunks
- 3 medium onions chopped
- 2 medium sweet red peppers diced
- 1/4 cup pickling salt
- 2 1/2 cups white sugar
- 1 1/2 cups cider vinegar
- 2 1/2 tsp. dry mustard
- 1 tsp. celery seeds
- 1/2 tsp. mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp. turmeric
- 1/2 tsp. hot chili pepper flakes
- 1 Tbsp. cornstarch
- 1 Tbsp. water
Instructions
- In food processor, process zucchini, a few pieces at a time, until mostly small pieces with a few larger pieces. Transfer to a large bowl. Add onions, red peppers and salt. Stir to blend. Let stand for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Drain well, rinse and drain again, pressing out moisture.
- In large heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, vinegar, mustard, celery seeds, turmeric and hot pepper flakes. Bring to boil. Add drained vegetables. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring often, until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.
- Mix cornstarch with water and stir into relish. Simmer, stirring, until spoon pulled across bottom leaves trail that fills in slowly, about 5 minutes.
- Pack into four 2-cup canning jars, leaving 1/2-inch (1 cm) headspace. Remove any air bubbles, wipe rims and seal. Boil in boiling water canner for 15 minutes to process for longer storage or refrigerate and use up within a month or so.
Barbara says
I have made 2 batches of this already this summer. I like to dip pretzels in it, and my husband likes it mixed in with his scrambled eggs. Yummy!
Jennifer says
So glad you’re enjoying it, Barbara. I haven’t made a batch yet this summer, but it’s on the agenda :)
Sophie says
Even though we don’t garden, we’ve got zucchini comin out of our ears! Gifts from friends :) This sounds perfect for sausage (or sandwiches, or anything!). My mother has all the canning supplies, and since we haven’t canned our usual tomatoes this year, I think we should try this instead. Delicious!
Jennifer M says
Same here Sophie. I was gifted a monster zucchini. I cut 3 lbs. worth out of it and still had some left! This stuff is addictive. We can’t eat sausage anymore without a bit of mustard pickle on the side. Hope you get a chance to try it.