Sweet Pepper Relish for Canning

What sweet pepper relish is

Sweet pepper relish is a cooked condiment of finely chopped peppers and onions in a sweet-and-sour vinegar brine. It is spoonable, glossy, and a little crunchy, and it is meant for hot dogs, burgers, sandwiches, deviled eggs, and cheese boards.

Is pepper relish the same as pepper jelly? No. Relish keeps the vegetables in small pieces and is thickened by cooking down the brine. Pepper jelly is made from strained pepper juice or purée set with pectin into a gel. If you want that style, see our jalapeno jelly with Sure-Jell or habanero jelly without pectin; this article is about relish.

Ingredients and what each one does

Peppers. Red, yellow, orange, and green bell peppers are classic. Red, yellow, and orange are sweeter, while green gives a sharper, slightly grassy flavor.
Onions. Add savory depth and balance the sugar.
Vinegar. Provides the tang and, just as importantly, the acidity that makes a canned relish safe. Use vinegar labeled 5% acidity.
Sugar. Balances the vinegar and helps with texture and flavor.
Salt. Use canning or pickling salt. Table salt may cloud the brine.
Spices. Mustard seed, celery seed, and a little turmeric (for color) are common. Crushed red pepper adds warmth.

Safe substitutions, and what not to change

Canned relish is an acidified food, and the proportion of vinegar to vegetables is what protects you. In general:

You can usually swap one kind of pepper for another in the same total quantity. Replacing some sweet peppers with hot ones for a spicy relish is a common change in tested recipes; keep the total pepper amount the same.
Do not add extra vegetables beyond what the tested recipe calls for, and do not cut the vinegar or switch to a vinegar below 5%.
Do not add thickeners such as flour or cornstarch to a relish you plan to can. Cooking down the brine is how relish thickens.
Sugar can be adjusted a bit for taste in some recipes, but follow your source’s guidance, since sugar affects texture and not just sweetness.
Spices can usually be changed, but keep amounts modest and do not add oil, large quantities of garlic, or other low-acid ingredients to jars intended for the shelf.

When in doubt, use a tested recipe. The National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP) and the Ball canning books both publish pepper relish recipes with exact quantities and processing times. A published recipe you find online that does not list a source or a tested process is a good candidate for the refrigerator rather than the pantry.

How to make sweet pepper relish

This is the general method; amounts and timing come from your tested recipe.

Prep the vegetables. Wash, core, and seed the peppers and peel the onions. Chop finely, either by hand or with short pulses in a food processor. Pulse in small batches so you get tiny pieces, not purée.
Optional salt and drain. Some recipes toss the vegetables with salt for an hour and drain them well. This draws out water and makes a thicker, less watery relish. Only do this if your recipe tells you to, and follow its rinsing instructions.
Make the brine. Combine vinegar, sugar, salt, and spices in a large non-reactive pot (stainless steel or enameled, not aluminum or cast iron). Bring to a boil.
Cook. Add the vegetables, return to a boil, then simmer, stirring often, until the peppers are tender and the liquid has reduced to a light syrup that coats the vegetables. Many recipes simmer about 30 minutes.
Taste. Cool a spoonful and adjust flavor only in ways your recipe permits.

Canning the relish

Prepare a boiling water canner and keep clean jars hot.
Ladle hot relish into hot jars, leaving the headspace your recipe specifies (commonly 1/2 inch for relishes).
Remove air bubbles, wipe rims, add new lids, and tighten bands fingertip-tight.
Process in the boiling water canner for the time in your tested recipe, adjusted for altitude. Pint processing times for pepper relishes are commonly in the range of 10 minutes at low elevation, but your recipe is the authority.
Cool jars undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours, check seals, remove bands, wipe jars, and label.

Store sealed jars in a cool, dark place. Quality is typically best within a year. Refrigerate after opening.

Refrigerator version

If you only want a jar or two, skip the canner. Make the relish as above, cool it, and spoon it into clean jars in the refrigerator. Refrigerator relishes are not shelf-stable, so keep them cold and plan to use them within a few weeks. This version is also the right place to experiment with spicier mixes, herbs, or a different sugar level.

Turning pickles into sweet relish

If you have a jar of dill or sweet pickles, you can chop them, drain them, and fold in a little sugar, onion, and mustard seed for a quick refrigerator relish. This is a fridge-only shortcut. Do not try to can it as a shelf-stable relish unless you follow a tested cucumber relish recipe, because the pickle brine you start with is not a measured, tested one.

Other ways to preserve sweet peppers

Relish is only one option for a bumper crop of bell peppers:

Freezing. Wash, remove stems and seeds, slice or dice, and freeze in a single layer before packing in bags. Frozen peppers are best for cooked dishes because they soften.
Pickling. Sweet peppers can be pickled in a tested brine; see banana pepper canning for the same principles in a related recipe.
Roasting and pressure canning. Roasted peppers are low-acid and require a tested pressure-canning method, as in canning pimento peppers.
Dehydrating. Dried pepper pieces store compactly and rehydrate in soups and stews; see dehydrated or freeze dried for how the methods compare.

How to use pepper relish

Spoon it on hot dogs, bratwurst, and burgers; stir it into tuna, egg, or potato salad; spread it on sandwiches or pair it with cream cheese and crackers. A hot version works well on grilled meats and tacos or mixed into a sauce for a quick sweet-and-spicy kick.

Troubleshooting

Watery relish: vegetables were not drained, or the relish was not cooked down enough. Next time, drain well if the recipe allows it and simmer until syrupy.
Mushy relish: vegetables were processed too finely or overcooked.
Floating vegetables: common in relishes and usually settles; it is a cosmetic issue.
Cloudy brine: table salt or hard water may be the cause.
Unsealed jar: refrigerate and use soon, or reprocess following your recipe’s guidance.