Tomato Relish

Every summer a time comes when your garden or favorite farm stand overflows with tomatoes. When you’re looking for something delicious to do with the bounty, try making and canning this tart, warmly spiced tomato relish. Filled with fresh tomatoes, bell peppers, onion and spices, it’s a fantastic condiment for sandwiches, egg dishes, meat or fish.

This tomato relish recipe makes a whopping 10 pints, so plan to put up or give away a lot—it makes a wonderful homemade food gift any time of the year.

What’s the difference between tomato relish and chutney?

Chutney and relish are pretty similar, but there are some differences. Chutney usually leans a bit sweeter and is commonly made with fruit, such as mangoes, peaches, apples and plums (and yes, tomatoes). Sometimes it also includes dried fruits, such as raisins or shredded coconut.

Although relish often contains sugar, it is usually more vinegary and tangy in its flavor profile. Ingredients for relish are typically grated or finely chopped, whereas the ingredients for chutney are more chunky. A recipe for tomato relish doesn’t too closely resemble ketchup, which generally includes pureed fruit or vegetables, vinegar and spices.

Tomato Relish Ingredients

• Tomatoes: Flavorful sun- or vine-ripened tomatoes, especially heirloom varieties, are crucial for making this relish. If you use regular tomatoes from the grocery store or if the fruits are out of season, the flavor won’t be as pronounced and the relish may become watery.
• Sweet onions: For best results, use sweet onions like Vidalias. If you can’t find sweet ones, regular yellow or white onions will do.
• Bell peppers: For variety, we call for red and green bell peppers, but you can also use yellow or orange peppers for any or all of the peppers.
• Mustard seed: When ground up and mixed with vinegar, these seeds become prepared mustard. They add a bit of heat and a hint of bitter pungency when used as a spice.
• Celery seed: Celery seed tastes just like fresh celery but stronger. The flavor pairs beautifully with tomato.
• Vinegar: This tomato relish recipe calls for standard distilled white vinegar. Because maintaining the proper pH is essential for safety in canning recipes, use a different vinegar only if it has the same percentage of acidity as distilled white.
• Brown sugar: Brown sugar’s molasses flavor melds well with the warm spices in the recipe, but if you don’t have brown sugar, you can use white sugar instead.
• Canning salt: Check the pickling and preserving section at your grocery store for coarse canning salt, which often comes in 4-pound boxes. Unlike many table salts, canning salt doesn’t contain any preservatives, and the grains dissolve easily in brines and other liquids.
• Powdered spices: The beauty of this recipe for tomato relish is in its spices, which include ginger, cinnamon, allspice, cloves and nutmeg. Make sure yours are fresh and aromatic.

Directions

Step 1: Skin the tomatoes

In a large saucepan, bring 8 cups water to a boil. Meanwhile, prepare an ice water bath in a large metal bowl. Add the tomatoes, a few at a time, to the boiling water and boil them for 30 seconds. Scoop out the tomatoes with a large slotted spoon or a strainer and immediately place them in the ice water bath. Repeat with the remaining tomatoes. Drain the tomatoes, pat them dry and peel them.

Editor’s Tip: Cooking something briefly in boiling water is called blanching. For this recipe, we blanch the tomatoes to loosen their skins. To make peeling easier, before boiling turn each tomato upside down and use the point of a sharp knife to draw a small “X” across the dimple in the bottom of the fruit. Each side of the X should be about 1/2-inch long, but precision isn’t super important. When the skin is loose after blanching, pulling it off should be easy, starting at the X you made.

Step 2: Put everything in a pot

Finely chop the tomatoes and add them to a stockpot. Add the onions and peppers. Place the mustard and celery seeds in the center of a double thickness of cheesecloth. Bring up the corners of the cloth to form a little bag, and tie the top with kitchen twine or string. Add the bag and the remaining ingredients to the pot.

Editor’s Tip: If you don’t mind having seeds in the relish, skip the spice bag and add the mustard and celery seeds directly to the pot.

Step 3: Cook the relish

Bring the pot to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 60 to 75 minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring occasionally. Discard the spice bag.

Step 4: Can the relish

Carefully ladle the relish into hot, sterilized pint jars, leaving 1/2-inch of headspace at the top of each jar. Slide a narrow tool, such as a butter knife or small spatula, around the inside edge of the jar to remove bubbles. Wipe the rims of the jars and put on the lids, screwing the rings on finger tight. Then, process in a boiling-water canner for 20 minutes.

Editor’s Tip: After gently removing the jars from the water bath, let them cool and then check the seals on the jars. Any that didn’t seal should be kept in the fridge and used within a week.

How to Use Tomato Relish

• On sandwiches: Tomato relish can be used instead of ketchup, pickle relish or both. Try it on any of our best hamburger recipes, mix it with mayo and slather it on a ham sandwich, or add it to breakfast sandwiches or wraps. Is a hot dog a sandwich? Whether or not you think it is, it’s a perfect base for some tomato relish!
• In fish dishes: The zippy flavor of tomato relish nicely complements fish, so try this recipe atop a baked fish such as lemony parsley baked cod or as part of the tartar sauce served with oven-fried fish and chips.
• Alongside cheese or charcuterie: Because it’s acidic, spicy and sweet, this relish goes well with soft mellow cheeses, sharp aged cheddar and sliced meats. Don’t hesitate to add it to your favorite charcuterie boards.

Tomato Relish Variations

• Make it spicy: If you like heat, add minced fresh chiles, such as jalapenos or other spicy peppers, to the relish.
• Swap the seasonings: This recipe for tomato relish includes many spices, and you can tailor them to your preferences. For instance, if you don’t like ginger, you could use more of the other spices instead. Adding some black pepper would be a nice touch.

How to Store Tomato Relish

Because it’s canned, once you’ve checked the seals on the jars, you can store tomato relish on a shelf. It’s best to keep canned goods out of direct sunlight and in a cool place like a pantry. The USDA says that homemade canned goods should be eaten within a year. If using the tomato relish right away, it should be refrigerated. Once opened, it will last for up to a week.

Can you freeze tomato relish?

You can freeze tomato relish instead of canning it, but the texture may be different when it thaws. If you own a vacuum sealer, making sealed bags of relish is the best way to prepare it for freezing. If not, you can package it in freezer-safe bags and squeeze out as much air as possible.

Tomato Relish Tips

Do you need to peel tomatoes for tomato relish?

Peeling tomatoes before turning them into sauces or condiments is standard practice. But if you mostly plan to use your tomato relish on sandwiches or burgers, you may not notice the textural difference if you don’t peel them.

Can I modify this tomato relish recipe?

It’s important to note that while we offer minor tweaks in our Variations section, you should modify canning recipes only by changing the spices or swapping similar types of vegetables for each other (such as red and green bell peppers). Maintaining the proper pH, salt and water content is essential in canning recipes.