Corn Relish

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Similar to Southern chow chow relish, my easy corn relish recipe is bursting with flavor and vegetables, like bell peppers, onion, tomatoes, and corn (of course). It’s tart, sweet, and oh so delicious.

Although it may be considered antiquated and unnecessary by some, I personally love to can things! I can’t help but think about the old days, how efficient houses ran back then, out of necessity. Women would tend to their gardens all summer long not as a hobby but knowing that how that garden fared would determine how their family fared over the winter months. Eating fresh vegetables during the summer with a constant eye on canning, dehydrating, and various other methods of “putting up” food for the winter. How much a woman canned really made all the difference in whether or not her family went hungry. With that in mind, it’s hard not to have a reverence and appreciation for canning today.

Why Make Relish?

Relish was an easy way to save vegetables and the combinations were limitless. This corn relish recipe is a little similar to a relish called “End Of The Garden Relish” or chow chow, where you pretty much took everything that was left in the garden and combined it together. However, chow chow’s main vegetable is cabbage, while this time we’re focusing on corn. I customized this recipe for my own tastes and you can do that, too. Just know that as you add or take away you will end up with more or less in terms of quantity to can.

This time around, I’m pickling corn, bell pepper, tomatoes, and onion in a pickling liquid that’s bursting with flavor. It includes vinegar, turmeric, ground mustard, celery seed, sugar, and salt. This is a really easy relish recipe to make, I promise. And the reward is multiple jars of corn relish to keep you and your family happy for a long time. 

You Absolutely Can Can!

Now for those of you who say “I wish I could can” I want you to know that you ABSOLUTELY can! Canning is simple as can be, so don’t be intimidated by it. Folks have been doing it for countless generations and there is absolutely no reason why you can’t, too. You don’t even need any special equipment, other than the jars and lids. I don’t even own a canner, I just use a big old pot lined with a dish towel to keep my jars from clinking together while they are boiling. I did a full tutorial on this a year or so ago with step-by-step photos and even a little video to start it out so click here to go visit that and can away!

Recipe Ingredients

  • Bell peppers
  • Tomatoes
  • Vidalia onions
  • Vinegar
  • Frozen corn
  • Spices: ground turmeric, ground mustard, and celery seed.
  • Salt 
  • Sugar

How to Make Corn Relish

chop up bell peppers and onions

Chop up your onion and bell peppers.

chop up and add your tomatoes

Add your tomatoes.

add your corn, water and stir it up

Add in your corn and water.

Now you’re gonna need a R-E-A-L-L-Y big pot! 

add in sugar salt and vinegar

And your sugar, salt, and vinegar.

I know you are thinking this is a lot of salt but keep the number of vegetables in perspective and it really isn’t. You do need the salt, honest. It won’t taste salty when you are done.

add your spices

Add your spices.

stir your corn relish on the stove top

Stir that up as best you can.

First, you’re going to bring it to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring often. Then reduce the heat to medium and keep stirring every now and then, for about 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.

You are going to think “wow, this is not nearly enough liquid” but as your vegetables start cooking up it will generate a whole lot more.

corn relish cooking

Here it is stirred up after it has cooked for a little bit.

jar of corn relish

Can according to directions found here.

Enjoy your garden all year long with this yummy sweet corn relish.

Storage

When canned and stored in a cool, dry place, your corn relish will last for up to one year. Once opened, the relish will last in the fridge for up to 2 months.

Recipe Notes

  • Here are some variations to make this corn relish recipe work for you:
    • Use white vinegar, white wine vinegar, or apple cider vinegar.
    • Add red bell peppers or green bell peppers, and yellow onion or sweet onion.
    • Add other vegetables you might have on hand, like celery or cucumber.
    • Use different spices, like ground allspice, mustard seeds, crushed red pepper flakes, coriander seeds, or ground cumin.
    • Add 1 minced jalapeno pepper or serrano pepper for some spice!
  • You want to use coarse salt like pickle salt or kosher salt, not iodized table salt.

Recipe FAQs

Should I use fresh or frozen corn?

Of course, you can use fresh corn kernels but I gotta tell ya, if I’m going to go to the trouble of shucking and preparing fresh corn, I’m gonna eat every last bite of it fried. I recently put up 80 ears of corn and ended up with enough for about 5 meals. That’s a lot of work for just a few meals! Fresh corn is a precious thing and since we’re canning this you won’t be able to tell much difference so let’s keep it easy, alrighty?

Do the tomatoes need to be ripe?

They don’t have to be ripe, but if they are that is alright. You can even use green tomatoes if you like.

Where did corn relish originate?

It’s believed that traditional corn relish originated in the South and in particular in Louisiana. 

How do you serve corn relish?

When it comes to ways to serve corn relish, the options are basically endless:

Check out these other relish recipes:

Asian Relish (Achar)

Green Tomato Relish

How To Make Squash Relish

Candied Dill Pickles

How To Make Kimchi At Home

Sweet Pickles

Corn Relish

Similar to Southern chow chow relish, my easy corn relish recipe is bursting with flavor and vegetables, like bell pepper, onion, tomato, and corn.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Course: Appetizer, Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: corn, relish
Servings: 12 pints

Ingredients

  • 3 32-ounce packages frozen whole kernel corn
  • 4 cups chopped bell peppers
  • 2 cups chopped Vidalia onions
  • 4 cups chopped red tomatoes
  • 5 cups vinegar
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1/4 cup kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon turmeric
  • 1 tablespoon celery seed
  • 1/2 tablespoon ground mustard or dry mustard powder

Instructions

  • Combine all vegetables in a large pot. Add vinegar, sugar, salt, turmeric, celery seed, and mustard. Heat to a boil, stirring often. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring every now and then to ensure even cooking.
    3 32-ounce packages frozen whole kernel corn, 4 cups chopped bell peppers, 2 cups chopped Vidalia onions, 4 cups chopped red tomatoes, 5 cups vinegar, 2 cups sugar, 1/4 cup kosher salt, 1 tablespoon turmeric, 1 tablespoon celery seed, 1/2 tablespoon ground mustard or dry mustard powder
  • Seal in hot, sterilized canning jars according to directions that can be found in my canning tutorial. Try to get an equal amount of liquid in each jar. You need a good bit of liquid to cover the vegetables but you strain that out when you serve them. Process for 10 minutes in boiling water for pint size, and 5 for half pints.
Tried this recipe?Mention @southernplate or tag #southernplate!

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137 Comments

  1. For the last few years my sons and I have been trying to grow most of our own vegetables. Some vegies have been less prolific then we expected, but we have an abundace of corn. Yeah! I will be making this today with the corn I froze last fall. I love your site!

  2. The relish looks delicious.The picture and instructions are great.
    I used to help make it when I was a kid. Only we had to cut the corn off the cob. I could’t remember what spices went in it. Can’t wait to try the receipe.

  3. I would like to make this corn relish, but is the vinegar used just plain apple cider vinegar. There are several kinds out there, so I wasn’t sure. Thanks.

  4. Hi, tried this recipe while I was visiting with my sister in Wv after she had a minor surgery. We needed something to do, so this was the “to do” we wanted. I can say that the recipe is delicious but it is sour! or tart! whichever way you want to describe it. I was wondering if maybe more sugar can be added to cut the tartness and how much more could be added. I do not want to ruin a good thing but it is a bit more than I can take. I have had chow chow and I have a wonderful recipe for green tomato relish and neither of them are tart like this. Thanks for any help with this. I want to try it again soon. I used frozen corn since we did not have fresh.

  5. Question, My grandma used to make Chow Chow, I guess it was a tomatoe relish, we always put it on black eyed peas. Do you have a recipe for that. Wish I had paid more attention.

    1. Southern cooking is the best and I recently bought your cookbook,
      ‘Southern Plate.’ I plan on trying many of your recipies. BTW, do you
      have a really easy, good, recipe for rice pudding? I can’t find one.
      Thanks Christy.

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