Vidalia Onion Relish
Vidalia Onion Relish
Every year I make at least a few batches of this relish recipe. I used Vidalia onions, but any sweet onion will work. I just prefer the flavor of Vidalia onions.
The relish itself has a nice balance of sour and sweet, with plenty of onion flavor. I use it on sandwiches, in potato and pasta salads and as an appetizer with cheese and crusty breads. It also makes a great gift.
As you cook it down, the onions get quite tender, but actually crisp back up a little as the liquid cooks off. Don’t shortcut on the cooking time.
Vidalia Onion Relish
6 qts. ground Vidalia sweet onions (14 to 16 med. onions)
1/2 c. canning salt
1 qt. cider vinegar
2 t. turmeric
1T. pickling spice
2 T. minced sweet pepper, any color
4 1/2 c. sugar
Grind enough Vidalia onions to yield 6 quarts. Add 1/2 c. salt and let stand thirty minutes. Squeeze juice from onion‑salt mixture and discard juice. Sterilize canning jars. To onions, add vinegar, sugar, spices, and pepper. Bring to boil and cook for thirty minutes, stirring often. Pack both onions and cooking liquid to cover in hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rims. Adjust lids. Process 10 minutes in a boiling water bath. Yield: About 8 pints or 16 half-pints.
Source: So Easy To Preserve
Relish and Pickle Making
Vidalia Onion Relish
We had a great time making onion relish in class the other night and tasting several different pickles. This was the last of my canning series at Wildwood. We covered how to make sweet pickles, dill pickles and crock pickles. For the hands-on part of the program we made a batch of the Vidalia Onion Relish from So Easy To Preserve. We sampled some with bread and cheese. Here are a couple of pictures from the class – the recipe follows.
Filling the jars
In the canner
Vidalia Onion Relish
6 qts. ground Vidalia sweet onions (14 to 16 med. onions)
½ c. canning salt
1 qt. cider vinegar
1 t. turmeric
1 t. pickling spice
1 t. pimento, chopped
4 ½ c. sugar
Grind enough Vidalia onions to yield 1 1/2 gallons. Add 1/2 c. salt and let stand thirty minutes. Squeeze juice from onion salt mixture and discard juice. Wash canning jars. To onions, add vinegar, sugar, spices, and pimento. Bring to boil and cook for thirty minutes, stirring often. Pack both onions and cooking liquid to cover in hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rims. Adjust lids. Process 10 minutes in a boiling water bath. Yield: About 8 pints.
Source: So Easy To Preserve
Note: I always make this relish in half pint jars and process for 10 minutes. I will get about 16 jars that way.
