Don't let those green tomatoes go to waste! Make them into a delicious green tomato relish.
This relish is a savory relish perfect for eating with meat or smoked sausages.
Why make this relish
If you grow tomatoes, you will always have a handful of green tomatoes at the end of the season. The question is, what do you do with those green tomatoes?
Green tomatoes will sometimes ripen and you'll have a delicious red tomato, but sometimes you may have too many green tomatoes to try to ripen.
What to do when you have a surplus of green tomatoes? Make green tomato relish.
This is a recipe passed down through the generations from my mom's family. It came from mom's grandmother who made this back in the early 1900s! In those days, nothing went to waste!
This is similar to a southern relish called chow chow relish. Although, my relish does not have any cabbage in it and the seasonings are different. But both do use green tomatoes!
You will find this relish to be highly seasoned with savory spices and it's perfect for eating with pork, meatloaf, smoked sausages and wild game meat.
Once you've made the relish, preserve the relish in canning jars and process in a hot water bath.
If you are new to canning, you'll want to read Water Bath Canning before you begin.
Key ingredients
- Green tomatoes - 7 pounds - about 20 medium tomatoes
- Bell peppers - 4 green and one red. The red gives the relish a little pop of color
- Tart apples - We pick the apples from our trees. Most of our apples don't become sweet until after we have a frost.
- Onions
- Pickling spice
- Spices - ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground allspice, ground cloves, ground turmeric and ground mace
- Pickling salt
- Sugar
- White vinegar - with 5% acidity
Step by step directions
- Core and quarter green tomatoes and add to a food processor
- Puree until finely minced
- Peel and core apples and process in food processor
- Core peppers and add to food processor
- Peel and quarter onions and finely mince in food processor
- Place everything in a heavy bottomed large stock pot
- Add seasonings
- Place pickling spice on several layers of cheesecloth
- Wrap and tie with a string
- Add pickling spice packet to pot
- Stir in pickling salt, vinegar and sugar
- Heat over medium heat until mixture begins to simmer
- Simmer for 30 minutes and then remove spice packet. Discard spice packet.
Steps to can the relish
- While the relish is still hot, ladle into clean canning jars leaving ½ inch headspace
- Wipe rims with a clean cloth
- Add clean lid and ring
- Place in a water bath canner with hot water
- Place lid on canner and bring to a boil
- Boil pint jars for 15 minutes, adding additional time for your elevation (see below)
- Once time is finished, turn off heat and remove lid to canner
- Keep jars in hot water for an additional 5 minutes to help avoid syphoning of the liquid from the jars
- Remove jars and place on a cooling rack
- Allow jars to fully cool for at least 12 hours before touching
- Check seals, remove rings and wash jars
- Label and store in a cool, dark pantry
Adjust processing times for your elevation
It is crucial to add additional processing time for your elevation. Please use the chart below to determine the amount of time needed.
| Altitude Feet | Increase Processing Time |
|---|---|
| 1,001- 3,000 3,001- 6,000 6,001- 8,000 8,001-10,000 | 5 minutes 10 minutes 15 minutes 20 minutes |
Recipe and canning tips
- This recipe makes a large amount of relish yielding between 28-30 cups. You can halve the recipe if desired.
- A food processor makes cutting all the veggies easy. If you don't have a food processor, you can hand chop everything. Cut into a very small mince.
- It's good to have a bit of texture left with all the veggies
- Be certain to use pickling salt, not table salt
- The flavors of the relish continue to develop after the relish cools
- Use clean canning jars that have been washed in hot soapy water and rinsed well
- Wash your canning lids well. The lids do not need to be boiled prior to using.
- Keep everything clean when canning
- If a jar didn't seal, you can refrigerate and use right away
Recipe Faqs
As long as the relish is processed correctly with a seal to each jar, the relish will last for several years. Please be certain to inspect each jar before using. The relish may darken slightly after one year.
Use pint or half pint jars to can the green tomato relish. I even made a few jars with quarter pint.
Don't can larger than pint sizes.
A Note on Home Canned Food
Improperly home canned food can carry the risk of causing botulism. If eaten, this can cause a serious form of food poisoning that can lead to paralysis or death. Please follow safety procedures and inspect your food before consuming.
- Always inspect your home canned food before eating
- If in doubt, throw it out!!! The FDA recommends throwing out the food and the jar.
- Do not taste if in doubt!
- Throw it out if -
- the can is bulging, leaking or swollen
- the container looks damaged or abnormal
- the container spurts liquid or foam when opened
- the food is moldy, discolored or smells bad
- the seal is no longer intact when you examine the food
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear about it! Leave a comment below and snap a picture and tag me on Instagram @beyondthechickencoop
Be certain to check out all my canning recipes.
Listen to the podcast episode on making green tomato relish.
Green Tomato Relish
Equipment
- Large Canning Pot
- Canning Jars - 16 oz
- Canning Jars 8 ounce
- Measuring Spoons
Ingredients
- 7 pounds green tomatoes
- 3 pounds tart apples
- 4 medium onions
- 4 green bell peppers
- 1 red bell pepper
- 4 cups sugar
- 4 cups white vinegar (5% acidity)
- ½ cup pickling salt
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon ground allspice
- 1 tablespoon ground nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon ground mace
- 1 tablespoon ground cloves
- 1 tablespoon ground turmeric
- ¼ cup pickling spice
Instructions
Relish
- Core and quarter green tomatoes and add to a food processor. Puree until finely minced7 pounds green tomatoes
- Peel and core apples and process in food processor3 pounds tart apples
- Core peppers and add to food processor4 green bell peppers, 1 red bell pepper
- Peel and quarter onions and finely mince in food processor. Place in a large stockpot.4 medium onions
- Add seasonings (except pickling spice)½ cup pickling salt, 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, 1 tablespoon ground allspice, 1 tablespoon ground nutmeg, 1 tablespoon ground mace, 1 tablespoon ground cloves, 1 tablespoon ground turmeric
- Wrap pickling spice in several layers of cheesecloth. Tie to secure and add to pot.¼ cup pickling spice
- Add sugar and vinegar4 cups sugar, 4 cups white vinegar
- Heat over medium heat until mixture begins to simmer
- Simmer for 30 minutes and then remove spice packet. Discard spice packet.
To Can
- While the relish is still hot, ladle into clean canning jars leaving ½ inch headspace
- Wipe rims with a clean cloth
- Add clean lid and ring
- Place in a water bath canner with hot water
- Place lid on canner and bring to a boil
- Boil pint jars for 15 minutes, adding additional time for your elevation (see chart below)
- Once time is finished, turn off heat and remove lid to canner
- Keep jars in hot water for an additional 5 minutes to help avoid syphoning of the liquid from the jars
- Remove jars and place on a cooling rack
- Allow jars to fully cool for at least 12 hours before touching
- Check seals, remove rings and wash jars. Label and store in a cool, dark pantry
Notes
- Weight given for tomatoes and apples are amount needed after they've been cored. You can weigh them before coring and peeling to get an estimate of how much you'll need.
- This recipe makes a large amount of relish yielding between 28-30 cups. You can halve the recipe if desired.
- A food processor makes cutting all the veggies easy. If you don't have a food processor, you can hand chop everything. Cut into a very small mince.
- It's good to have a bit of texture left with all the veggies
- Be certain to use pickling salt, not table salt
- The flavors of the relish continue to develop after the relish cools
- Use clean canning jars that have been washed in hot soapy water and rinsed well
- Wash your canning lids well. The lids do not need to be boiled prior to using.
- Keep everything clean when canning
- If a jar didn't seal, you can refrigerate and use right away
- Always adjust processing times for your elevation:
- 1,001- 3,000 ft. - add 5 minutes
- 3,001- 6,000 ft. - add 10 minutes
- 6,001- 8,000 ft. - add 15 minutes
- 8,001-10,000 ft. - add 20 minutes
Nutritional Disclaimer:
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and should only be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. To obtain the most precise nutritional information in a provided recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the exact ingredients you are using when preparing the recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Batbara says
It was a wow with flavors I added a little chili flakes and also did not use green bell peppers used different colors which made it a little prettier in my opinion
The clove was very strong I think I would use less.
Everyone who tasted it so far was so impressed. But I’m not sure what I would put it on any suggestions
Kathy says
Thanks so much for your feedback! The colored peppers would look beautiful in the relish. We always eat this with a meat dish and just serve it on the side as a condiment. I love with pork chops or meatloaf. Try a bit the next time you have one of those and see what you think!
Kathy 🙂
Rachel says
Are the weights measured before or after chopping?
Kathy says
Hi Rachel,
That is the weight you'll be adding without the cores. There is very little removed so if you weigh before, you'll be pretty close.
Kathy
Rachel says
Okay. I made it yesterday before you responded so I weighed before prep. But yes very little was discarded. But for clarity you should add that to the recipe, even if in the end notes. Turned out well. I halved the recipe and yielded 6 @ 500mls. Can definitely see it pairing well with domestic and wild meat. Thanks 😊
Kathy says
Will do! Thank you for your suggestion. I will clarify in my recipe. 🙂
Valentina says
Wow, what a delicious blend of flavors. I love the apples with the tomatillos. I'm seriously craving this -- with sausages! 🙂 ~Valentina
Kathy says
It is really delicious! The green tomatoes are different than tomatillos, although they have some similar characteristics.
David @ Spiced says
Ah, I'm familiar with chow chow even though I've never actually made it myself. This is a fun recipe for all of those leftover green tomatoes. The growing season is so short here that we finally stopped trying to grow 'regular size' tomatoes. We mainly go with cherry tomatoes. Every year, we'd get a few larger tomatoes but most of them stayed green on the vine. We made some fried green tomatoes, but still. I like the idea of making green tomato relish - that would be fantastic in the middle of the winter!
Kathy says
Some years we have difficulty getting our tomatoes to ripen. We often start them under plastic that covers the tomatoes until the temperatures warm up.
Dawn says
I love all the warming spices in this tomato relish! What a yummy condiment to have on hand, and I bet it adds so much flavour to whatever it's put on!
Kathy says
It really does add a lot of flavor!