Radish Relish
Summer is here and the farmers market is overflowing with bounty. One of the best deals for us New Yorkers is radishes. They’re only $1 a bunch! We pay a premium for farm fresh food, seeing that we live on an island and everything is imported. At least that’s how I like to think about it!
I made this recipe a few years ago and it has quickly become a favorite. When the word ‘hot dog’ is mentioned, the radish relish is quick to follow. This relish is perfect for hot dogs, hamburgers, or anything you want to add a little sweet spicy kick to. I included processing instructions for those of you that are canners, if not you can make this big batch for the next BBQ you host or attend. This recipe is great because it’s essentially a pickle, so it will keep in the fridge for a long time (a few weeks). I also love this recipe because the food processor does most of the work.
Radish Relish Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 to 5 bunches radishes (a little over 2 pounds)
- 1 large onion
- 2 cloves peeled garlic
- 2 cups vinegar
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 tbsp salt (use pickling salt if you intend on processing)
- 1 tbsp whole coriander
- 1 tbsp cumin seed
- 1 tbsp mustard seed
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 inch length of fresh ginger, peeled and grated (Avoid the temptation of putting the ginger in the food processor, it makes it look ‘hairy’. No kidding.)
Instructions
- Clean and rinse radishes.
- Place radishes, garlic and onion in food processor to finely chop.
- In a large pot, combine vinegar, sugar, salt, coriander, cumin, mustard seed, black pepper and ginger. Let come to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar.
- Add radish mixture and bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes.
- Let cool and place in container to store in fridge. Or if you want to can this, leave 1/4 inch head space and water bath process for 20 minutes. If you are new to canning, one of my favorite canning blogs is Food in Jars. She has lots of great educational content for new canners, plus an amazing book.
Cook up a hot dog and enjoy!
We just made this with VERY woody radishes, and it turned out great! So nice not to have to throw them in the compost.
That’s so fantastic. I (Will) love using it this time of the year on almost everything I grill.
Lovely and intending to try this tomorrow with the next round of CSA radishes. One note though- processing and canning radishes for shelf storage is not safe or recommended by any national canning guidelines. As a root vegetable, their skins harbor bacteria. This will be a strictly fridge pickle only for us!
We’ve been enjoying this recipe for years. You do have to finely chop the radishes and heat throughly to make sure the vinegar fully saturates the radish and removes all bacteria while heating. I have canning cookbooks going back to the 40s where radishes have been preserved in vinegar. You could peel the radishes if you have concerns about the skins. This is the guideline I follow from the national canning guidelines: “There must be a minimum, uniform level of acid throughout the mixed product to prevent the growth of botulinum bacteria.” Hence, the reason for chopping finely and heating.
You know, I’ve been thinking about this and it doesn’t make any sense. I see other root veggies pickled all the time (essentially what this relish is). I see pickled carrots, beets, etc. All root veggies.
How long would you say the relish will last if canned?
I’d say a year if it’s climate controlled and kept in a cool, dry place.
We have a bumper crop of radishes coming up and love relish on out hot dogs so I’ll be trying this for sure! One question, 2lb radishes weighed w/ their greens or 2lb topped radishes? I appreciate the weight measurements as bunch sizes can really vary, but I wasn’t sure what you intended there. Thanks for the recipe and (in advance —presumptuous me!) the clarification!
Hi there! Sending gratitude from the vaguely sunny climes of Little ole England! Thank you so much for sharing this absolute gem of a recipe!
I stumbled upon your page whilst frantically looking for some way of getting creative with the unexpected or planned for glut of radishes, following a slight “mishap” with an open packet of French breakfast radish seeds and an overactive startle response, resulting in a gazillion miniscule radish seeds being dumped directly into the salad bed….. we tried (we really did!) to remove as many seeds as possible, in the end though, it was just mind-bogglingly difficult, so we just mixed up the seedy soil and spread it out. No neat rows for us that year!
I love sowing radishes because they require little to no input save watering and gentle thinning if necessary and they are, without fail the fastest reward for early labours in the veg patch! There is nothing quite like pulling up a radish, the first tangible proof that we havent forgotten everything about growing veg over the winter months!
However…With the enormous resulting glut of radishes mounting in the fridge, daily, and my abject horror at the thought of putting them in the compost bin, I decided to seek out a way of preserving them instead.
Your recipe was the first (and only!) One I bothered with, and honestly, I wouldn’t want to bother with any others!
This relish is absolutely delicious!
I’ve come back here numerous times to remind myself if the quantities/measurements and have given away a multitude of jars after processing them, and the feedback us unanimously positive.
Another food that the relish compliments beautifully is spiced kofta kebabs, Greek/Turkish/Cypriot/ Middle Eastern spiced lamb mince kebabs on flatbread with fresh salad veg, tzatziki and this relish adorning the meat and veg…. the subtle sharp sweetness and the fragrant spice mix really works well to lift up the rich, spiced meat, fresh veg and warm, grilled flatbread.
Those who have tried this recipe will understand this: it has surprised loads of people that they loved the flavour of this relish when they are ardent dislikes of radishes! I do not know what happens to them, chemically speaking, in that jam pan, but the radishes going in, taste completely different to the finished product!
Again, thank you! Now I’m off to knock up the first 2020 batch of radish relish…… mmm!!!
Lulu xxxxx