Paraben Free Classic Relish
Bright, tangy, and loaded with crisp vegetables, this homemade relish is the kind of condiment that makes everything it touches taste better — from hot dogs to grain bowls to a humble cheese sandwich. The process is straightforward: salt the vegetables, rinse and press them dry, then simmer everything in a simple brine of white distilled vinegar, sugar, and warm spices like mustard seed, celery seed, and turmeric. That golden hue and gently sweet heat come entirely from real, whole ingredients you can see and name. For anyone navigating paraben sensitivities, store-bought condiments can be a minefield of preservatives and additives hiding in plain sight on the label — making a batch from scratch is the cleanest workaround there is. Packing it into sterilized glass jars keeps things tidy and fridge-ready for weeks. Once you taste how much better this is than anything from a squeeze bottle, going back feels impossible.
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Learn more →Ingredients
16 servings
- 4 cups english cucumbers, finely chopped (about 3 medium cucumbers)
- 1 cup yellow onion, finely chopped (about 1 medium onion)
- ½ cup green bell pepper, finely chopped
- ½ cup red bell pepper, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp kosher salt
- 1 cup white distilled vinegar
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp mustard seed
- ½ tsp celery seed
- ¼ tsp ground turmeric
Instructions
- 1
Combine the chopped cucumbers, onion, and both bell peppers in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle the kosher salt over the vegetables and toss to coat. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour, until the vegetables have released a significant amount of liquid.
- 2
Transfer the salted vegetables to a colander and rinse thoroughly under cold running water. Press firmly with your hands or the back of a spoon to squeeze out as much liquid as possible — the vegetables should feel noticeably drier.
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