Chow Chow Recipe (Southern Relish)
Transform any meal with a spoonful of this chow chow recipe, a classic Southern relish that’s a flavorful combination of tart, sweet, crunchy, and spicy.
If you have never heard about chow chow relish before, you’re in for a treat! This is a classic Southern condiment that people often called the end-of-season relish. Did your granny make this? If yes she would likely get all the leftover vegetables from her garden, like green tomatoes, under-developed bell peppers, onions, and cabbage, and make a big batch of chow chow relish. It made sure nothing was ever wasted, which was so important back in those days.
Using four main veggies: onions, cabbage, green tomatoes, and green and red bell peppers. But just like they did back then, you can use whatever veggies you want that you don’t want to waste. Our veggies are pickled in a tart, sweet, and flavorful combination of white vinegar, sugar, salt, mustard seed, celery seed, and turmeric.
The instructions are thankfully pretty simple. All we have to do is finely chop up our vegetables, let them soak in salt overnight, and then bring the remaining ingredients to a boil the following day. Then it’s just a matter of canning the relish. This is such an easy chow chow relish recipe to follow and I just know you’re gonna love how tasty it is! The combination of flavors is irresistible.
Now let’s get to this recipe so I can enjoy a big bowl of red beans with chow chow and cornbread.
Recipe Ingredients
- Onion
- Cabbage
- Green tomatoes
- Red and green bell pepper
- Coarse salt
- Granulated sugar
- Mustard seed
- Celery seed
- Turmeric
- White vinegar
- Water
How to Make Chow Chow Relish
Chop vegetables finely using a food processor or grinder.
Place the chopped vegetables in a porcelain or glass container and sprinkle with the salt.
Cover and let them stand overnight.
Place the vegetables in a large colander and rinse very well under cold running water. Divide into smaller batches if necessary.
Drain thoroughly and place in a large stockpot.
Combine the remaining ingredients…
Then pour over chopped vegetables. Heat to boiling and then boil for 4 minutes.
Ladle into clean pint jars that have been sterilized in boiling water.
Seal with sterilized lids according to manufacturer instructions.
Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Here’s my canning tutorial for more info.
Now enjoy your homemade chow chow relish with some beans and cornbread. YUM!
Storage
When canned properly and stored in a cool, dry place, the green tomato chow chow will last up to one year.
Recipe Notes
- If you like, substitute the white vinegar for apple cider vinegar.
- For extra heat, add a sliced cayenne pepper or jalapeno pepper to the veggies (remember to wash your hands thoroughly afterward).
- Other pickling spices you might like to add to this recipe for chow chow relish (a teaspoon each) include ground ginger, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, ground allspice, a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes, and dry mustard (or yellow mustard powder).
- If you don’t have access to green tomatoes, normal tomatoes will work in a pinch.
- You want to use pickling salt or kosher salt, not iodized table salt.
Recipe FAQs
What is chow chow?
Chow chow is a pickled relish condiment made from a variety of vegetables. Its origins are traced back to the South as a way to use up ingredients in the pantry. There’s no traditional chow chow recipe and it can vary from region to region, but the main ingredient is typically green cabbage. You can eat it by itself or add it as a main dish topping for extra flavor.
Chow chow is also a common recipe in the Pennslyvania Dutch area and in Britain where they call it Piccalilli. Amish chow chow recipe ingredients are very similar, but they often use different vegetables like green beans, lima beans, cauliflower, and corn kernels.
What does chow chow taste like?
Chow Chow tastes like a pickled relish, so it’s both sweet and sour thanks to the combination of sugar and vinegar.
How do you serve chow chow?
Southern chow chow goes well with so many Southern dishes. Here are some serving suggestions:
- Serve it as a Southern side dish with cornbread and a main dish like Southern fried catfish or Southern fried chicken.
- As I mentioned, it’s so good with red beans and cornbread or pinto beans and ham.
- Add it as a topping to sandwiches like pulled pork sandwiches, burgers, and hot dogs.
- Pour it over cream cheese and serve alongside crackers.
- Add it to your next charcuterie board.
- Stir the chow chow into deviled eggs or potato salad.
Check out these other Southern specialties:
Hush Puppies Recipe, Southern-Style
Southern-Style Fried Okra Recipe
Southern Biscuit Recipe (3 Ingredients Only)
Oven-Baked Mac and Cheese (Southern Plate Favorite)
Ingredients
- 12 medium onions 4 cups
- 1 medium head cabbage 4 cups
- 10 green tomatoes 4 cups
- 12 green bell peppers
- 6 sweet red bell peppers
- ½ cup coarse salt
- 6 cups granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp mustard seed
- 1 tbsp celery seed
- 1 ½ tsp turmeric
- 4 cups white vinegar
- 2 cups water
Instructions
- Chop vegetables finely using a food processor or grinder. Place the chopped vegetables in a porcelain or glass container and sprinkle with the salt. Cover and let them stand overnight.12 medium onions, 1 medium head cabbage, 10 green tomatoes, 12 green bell peppers, 6 sweet red bell peppers, ½ cup coarse salt
- Place the vegetables in a large colander and rinse very well under cold running water. Divide into smaller batches if necessary.
- Drain thoroughly and place in a large stockpot. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over chopped vegetables. Heat to boiling and then boil for 4 minutes.6 cups granulated sugar, 2 tbsp mustard seed, 1 tbsp celery seed, 1 ½ tsp turmeric, 4 cups white vinegar, 2 cups water
- Ladle into clean pint jars that have been sterilized in boiling water. Seal with sterilized lids according to manufacturer instructions. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
Nutrition
Everything that is past is either a learning experience to grow on,
a beautiful memory to reflect on, or a motivating factor to act upon.
– Denis Waitley.
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Do you bake a Key Lime cake? I would like your reciepe. Thank you sandy smith
I have so enjoyed reading all these stories about chow-chow , you could almost publish a book!!!
I love chow-chow on hot dogs. Delish!
What great comments to read about chow chow! Me and my husband were born and raised in Augusta, Georgia. We have our home in Midvile, Georgia. I can chow chow, dixie relish and pear relish every year! Great stuff to eat! Sometimes I add jalopeno peppers and banana peppers to my chow chow! I grow the cabbage, peppers and green tomatoes in my garden! We love it!
So this is what chow chow is…My grandmother always had it on the table when we would eat ANY meal at their house. I was young and didn’t know what it was but knew that I did not want any of it.
I love chow-chow. Never attempted anything like this, but will have to on this one! Thank you for your wonderful story!
Thank you, Joyce, for posting your grandma’s chow chow recipe. I have good memories of MY grandma’s chow chow too. She always had a big garden, no matter where they lived. She got up at 4;30 every morning, made coffee, then went to her garden to work in the cool of the morning, hoeing weeds and watering, and picking any ripe veggies. She lived to be 87 and was found one morning in her garden, where she had suffered a stroke. She lived for 9 more months. She was doing what she loved best when the Lord called her home. She was a hard working grandma, and she canned and quilted and never really sat around doing nothing, except when she watched her soap operas. She loved to holler about what “that old sorry gal” was doing to that nice girl. Thanks Joyce, for bringing back some good memories. It was a wonderful post.
Barbara