Easy Sweet Corn Relish

5 from 5 vote

Sweet Corn Relish is really easy to put together. You will never use store-bought again once you make it yourself! The relish comes together with tomatoes, green peppers and red onions (plus the wonderful spices). Just one bite of this sweet corn relish and you will want to put it on every thing all summer long!

Prep Time10

Cook Time5

Resting Time1

Course: Condiment

Cuisine: American

Keyword: corn, gluten-free, relish, vegan

Servings: quart jar, or divide between 2 1-pint jars

Calories: 358kcal

Author: Lora

Ingredients

2 cups corn kernels cut from 2-4 ears, depending on how large the corn ears are
1/2 cup plum tomatoes cut in small pieces (or 12 ripe cherry tomatoes, cut into 1/8-inch-thick slices)
½ cup finely diced red onion
½ cup finely diced green bell pepper
1 clove garlic peeled and ends cut off (I made a version also using freshly chopped garlic, either way is fine)
¾ cup unseasoned rice vinegar
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar use up to 1/4 cup if you prefer sweeter relish
2 teaspoons ground mustard
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon ground turmeric

Instructions

If you’re using fresh corn, bring a pot of water to high heat and boil the corn. Blanch the corn for about a minute and drain in a colander.
Let the corn cool and slice off the kernels. I had leftover grilled corn on hand and sliced the kernels off the ear.
Place the corn kernels, tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, jalapeño, and garlic in a 1-quart jar, or divide between 2 1-pint jars, and set aside.
If you blanched fresh corn, in the same pot you used for the corn, combine the vinegar, 1/4 cup water, sugar, mustard and cumin seeds, salt, pepper, and turmeric. Bring to a low simmer over medium heat.
Cook until the vinegar mixture heats up (if you are using sugar, until the sugar dissolved), about 3 minutes. Pour the liquid over the corn mixture and let cool.
Refrigerate the relish for at least one day to develop the flavor.

Notes

Will last for 4-6 weeks refrigerated (I did not can mine, just stored in the fridge). I did not like how it tasted after 6 week mark, but if yours still is flavorful, enjoy it after 6 weeks. Deb (Smitten Kitchen)says to store up to 1 year in the fridge. I did not store mine for 1 year, so can't say how it would taste.
For the sugar: the original recipe calls for 1/4 cup of sugar for the sweet corn relish. Smitten Kitchen lowered sugar to 1 tablespoon. You could make the relish recipe with sugar, if you’re not following a strict no sugar diet. Make it as sweet or less sweet as you like. I have made this without sugar and it was sweetened from the natural sweetness of the corn.
Thinking about storing this in your pantry? If you aren't keeping the relish in your refrigerator, sterilize canning jars before canning, and process the relish-filled jars in a hot water bath for 15 minutes after canning. *Follow USDA canning instructions to do it completely safe.

Nutrition