Question about canning a sweet zucchini relish

I found a recipe for Zucchini Relish at allrecipes.com/Recipe/Sweet-Zucchini-Relish/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=zucchini&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Recipe&soid=sr_results_p2i9. One person mentioned not using a water-bath canner because of the lower acidity. Well, that scared me. The recipe says to cover the jars with 2 inches of water and then processing for 30 minutes in a water-bath canner. Would that work OK? I don't want to kill anybody!

I do have a pressure canner. Would it be better to can the zucchini relish in the pressure canner? At what pressure and for how long?

Or....do you have a recipe for a good sweet relish for hotdogs, hamburgers, brats, etc that I can use zucchini in? We have a huge over-abundance and I need to get it used up. There's only so many loaves of zucchini bread and so many zucchini muffins I can fit in my freezer!

Thank you.

Never mind. Somebody on a food board I go to answered my question.

Glad you got some help, Pam. I never did anything with zucchini except stir fry with yellow squash and onions in the skillet. I always wanted to try bread, but never had a surplus of it. Somehow I think this relish you are talking about would be tasty on cabbage or collards. :nod:

Thank you. Every year I say I'm not going to plant many zucchini and squash plants. And every year, I plant about eight of them. They are very prolific, so I'm always trying to find recipes to use them. I think you're right about the relish being good on cabbage (never tried collards). 

We use Vlasic sweet relish for burgers, dogs, brats, tuna salad, macaroni salad, etc.  The last couple jars we bought seem to be very watery....all liquid in the jar with a few bits of relish. Trying to drain it to use it in cold salads is a bit of a joke. I thought I'd try this recipe; it seems to be a real winner on allrecipes. If it works out, then I'll save the recipe. And I can always make more; we'll have enough zucchini, I'm afraid.

Good luck with the relish. I forgot to mention that the cooked mixture of the squashes freezes well. I just cook it crisp tender so freezing it doesn't make it soggy.

Oh, it is good! Rick dipped a clean spoon into the kettle while it was cooking, just for a taste. He told me not to lose the recipe. Good stuff!

It looks like relish....

i made that exact same recipe the year before last, due to planting way too many zucchini seeds. that sweet zucchini relish tastes just like sweet pickle relish -- incredibly good!

i grated part of the rest of my zucchini and froze it in zipper bags (in measured portions), to use in a recipe for zucchini nut (bundt) cake that i like a lot. i don't add the homemade caramel into the bottom of the bundt pan though, because it always sticks and won't come out. i just bake the cake without the caramel, then make the caramel and drizzle over the top of it.

Winchester said:

Thank you. Every year I say I'm not going to plant many zucchini and squash plants. And every year, I plant about eight of them. They are very prolific, so I'm always trying to find recipes to use them. I think you're right about the relish being good on cabbage (never tried collards). 

We use Vlasic sweet relish for burgers, dogs, brats, tuna salad, macaroni salad, etc.  The last couple jars we bought seem to be very watery....all liquid in the jar with a few bits of relish. Trying to drain it to use it in cold salads is a bit of a joke. I thought I'd try this recipe; it seems to be a real winner on allrecipes. If it works out, then I'll save the recipe. And I can always make more; we'll have enough zucchini, I'm afraid.

Click to expand...

You can made a sort of pate out of them that almost tastes like liver pate.

I did not know that, Judy. Thanks!

Oh don't they look pretty!! I still have a few zucchini to use up. But I need to get to pickles first so I don't know that I'll try relish yet.  

Oh and BTW... My 2 zucchini plants have left me with a 10 zucchini breads in my freezer. 

We were up in the garden last night. Picked some squash and zucchini, some corn and more peppers. We have tomatoes coming, but only a couple are ripening at one time. I can't do much with 2 or 3 tomatoes. I've been slicing a tomato every night for dinner....they sure are good.

Mooch, I really do need to make some bread. My problem is that I'm afraid that, once I make it and stick it in the freezer, we wouldn't get it out and use it. I don't know what I'd do with 10 loaves of bread!

I'm considering just shredding zucchini and packaging it up in 2-cup containers and freezing it that way. I'm also thinking about another batch of sweet relish.

Have you decided on what kind of pickles you're doing this year?

See I made the breads because I knew if I froze it shredded I'd forget it.  I've frozen extra pie filling and forgotten it.  I also found a pound cake from 2013 when I cleaned out the freezer to put those breads away.    I was thinking I'd give some away; but then I realized I didn't do a good job removing seeds from some of the bigger zucchini so now I don't want to share.  The breads taste fine; but I found a couple tougher seeds.  Oops...  

I am definitely doing the Bread & Butter pickles with the recipe you sent me last year.  They were such a hit.  Every time someone has tried them they absolutely rave over them.  I had to send my in-laws home with a copy of the recipe because FIL was really nuts about them.  We about cleared out the whole last jar of them in 2 days!  

I'm also going to try the lime pickles and another bread & butter recipe that doesn't use cinnamon.  I might try dill; but that's pushing it.    I really want to pickle the mariachi peppers.  I've already talked to my Dad about it and I know he wants some.  That kind of thing is right up his alley. 

Please let me know how pickling the mariachi peppers go. I think I'd like that, too.