Green Tomato Relish Recipe (Can or Freeze) ⋆ 100 Days of Real Food
If you’re big into canning, this Green Tomato Relish is a must try. I’ve broken down the steps and tips to make the process easier for beginners. This recipe is from Ashley Eller and Farm Girl Fare, and it’s one of my favorites using green tomatoes!
I’ve been waiting all year to have fresh red tomatoes in my backyard, but this green tomato relish recipe is SO incredibly delicious that I didn’t even think twice about plucking some off the vines before they could even ripen.
Green Tomato Relish Recipe for Canning or Freezing
Due to all the chopping and simmering this recipe will require several hours of your time from start to finish, which isn’t a common theme with my recipes so I wanted to be sure to point that out. If you aren’t into the “canning” thing you can easily shave off some time by simply freezing the end results. Either way you won’t regret it… yum!
Also, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that I was introduced to this recipe at my canning class with Ashley Eller earlier this year. Thank you Ashley!
A Delicious Homemade Sauce, Dip, or Condiment
I occasionally get obsessed with certain recipes, and my friends. This is one of them! I don’t think it’s a secret that I am also slightly obsessed with the crock-pot refried bean recipe and let me tell you those beans are suddenly reinvented when topped with this relish! (In addition to the standard melted cheese and sour cream of course). Not that I haven’t been caught just eating this relish by the spoonful. 🙂 Can you tell I am smitten?
We use homemade green tomato relish on all kinds of meals, not just burgers (or beans). It’s great as a salsa style dip with veggie chips, as a topping for most meats (especially pork), and as an extra addition to vegetable dishes. It even tastes good with eggs!
If anything, I’m trying to find what this green tomato relish doesn’t taste good on.
No Sugar Relish
It might be hard to believe that a relish recipe with no sugar tastes so good, but I wasn’t going to sacrifice quality or add refined sugar to this recipe. Thankfully there’s no compromises here; the apple and bell peppers add sweetness without no sugar for a delicious relish that our whole family loves.
Chunky Green Tomato Relish
This relish recipe is already pretty chunky but if you want chunkier relish, skip the blender step and leave your relish as-is. You could also divide the relish and blend half for a mixture of chunk and smooth relish.
For a smoother relish puree the mixture instead of dicing it.
Recipe for Canning Green Tomatoes: The Basics
If you are new to canning be sure to check out my honey strawberry jam tutorial for some detailed instructions, but in short you will need:
- Canning pot with or without a rack (a dish towel can also be used to separate jars from bottom)
- Canning jars with either new or reusable lids (we like the freezable kind with no “shoulders”)
- Canning utensils including a jar lifter, funnel, bubble remover/headspace tool, and magnetic lid lifter
- Clean dish towels
- Sterilized tongs and ladle
- A digital or analog scale
- Optional: Thermometer and dissolvable canning labels (I love these labels…no more peeling off old masking tape!)
Also, please note it’s imperative that the rules of canning are always followed to a “T” in order to prevent spoilage or harmful bacteria in your end product!
