I love love love to can. If I loved cleaning as much as I love canning, my house would sparkle. It would look like all of those pictures on Pinterest where everything is neat and organized with cute little labels. So far, the only thing in the house with cute little labels is all of m canning projects.
My new favorite canning project is this chow-chow. It’s fantastic on hot dogs ( perfect for the 4th of July!) and it uses lots of produce from the garden. I’m happy to report that my supply of cabbage is at a manageable level now. Thanks to this recipe, I am now down to 5 heads of cabbage in the fridge.
Not only is this relish delicious, but just look how pretty it is in the jar!! I’m thinking Christmas presents on this one. I can see it now, A cute little label, an adorable ribbon, voila! Gift.
This recipe is adaptable, too. Feel free to swap out a bell pepper or two for extra hot peppers, or green tomatoes for red ones. Use what you’ve got. It’ll be delicious. Happy Canning!!
P.S. If you have never done any canning before, stop by your local extension office for some free info or check the local library for information before you start!
Ingredients
- 1 medium head cabbage cored
- 1 ½ pounds onions peeled & quartered ( about 6)
- 5 green bell peppers seeded and stemmed
- 4 red bell peppers seeded and stemmed
- 4 large sweet banana peppers seeded and stemmed
- 5 jalapenos seeded and stemmed
- 4 c . cored green or under ripe tomatoes 2lbs
- ¼ c . pickling salt
- 2 T prepared mustard
- 6 c . 5% acid strength cider vinegar
- 2 ½ c . sugar
- 1 ½ t . ground turmeric
- 1 t . ground ginger
- 2 T mustard seeds
- 1 T pickling spice
Instructions
- Put all the veggies through a food processor until finely chopped. In a large bowl or crock, mix veggies with the salt until well combined. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 12-18 hours. Drain.
- Tie the pickling spices in a piece of cheesecloth. Combine the pickling spices, mustard, vinegar and remaining spices in a large pot. Simmer, uncovered for 20 minutes. Add the veggies and simmer for another 10 minutes. Remove pickling spices. Ladle mixture into hot, sterilized pint jars leaving ½ inch of headspace. Wipe the rim and screw on prepared lids and rings. Process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes. Start counting processing time when the water in the canner returns to a boil. Remove jars and let them cool completely. Check seals and store for up to a year. Serve on top of hot dogs, eggs, or hamburgers!
well this is a great Chow Chow recipe, my family put this up every year – our ratio of veggies are a bit higher to cabbage than yours, but as I always say, it comes down to taste and if it taste as good as it reads then I know I will like it, and I do like the sound of this one, just the right balance – yes, I like to can when I have the time – gonna add it to my “to to list” as it sounds like it would be so good with not just dogs, but veggies as well…
Thats what I love about some of these old timey recipes, they are adaptable to whatever you have in the garden. Bumper crop of cabbage? Add more cabbage. Huge amounts of green tomatoes? Add more of those. You gotta love our resourceful ancestors. They were so…well…resourceful.
A pleasure as always Drick.Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
HOW MANY PINTS DOES THE CHOW-CHOW MAKE???
Hi Nancy!
It makes about 8 pints! Enjoy!
Would it work if some of the ingredients were roughly chopped? I remember our chow chow as being more chunky. Maybe I’m thinking of something else? Looks yummy. On my “to do” list!
Chop them however you like. It will all work out just fine! Thanks!
Hello Jodiemo! This recipe sounds delish and my family loves chow chow. I was wondering how spicy this recipe is. Although, I love spice my hubby does not as much. Thank for you sharing this recipe, I can’t wait to try it!! Also, I wondering…I don’t have a canner, so I can just use my stock pot for the water bath?