Here we are in the dead of winter and I’m catching up by posting my tangy and sweet zucchini pickles recipe.
Zucchini Pickles, you say?
Yes!
As you probably know, zucchini has a very mild flavor, which makes it a perfect candidate for a pickle.
If you have a garden and have planted zucchini, you may have more zucchini than planned for the vegetable. If you planted multiple zucchini in your garden, you learn to be creative in your use of the prolific plant.
People most often think of zucchini as a vegetable side, noodles, bread, coffee cake, muffins, fritters, and even a casserole like my sausage zucchini bake. Still this past year, I was scrambling to be creative in my use. You see, I had planted 5 zucchini/summer squash plants!
Not a typo…5 plants…yes, I know…insanity!
But my abundance of zucchini and squash forced me to look for new ways to use my bounty. I started to wonder if you could use zucchini to make pickles. The only thing I was concerned about was that the texture might be off after the pickling and canning process. After some research, I found that zucchini is often used to make pickles. Score!!
Note that these pickles are not crunchy, though I may experiment with low-heat pickling to see if I can up the crunch on next year’s batch of pickles.
These pickles go perfectly with a burger, sandwich, snack, or even potato salad! If you slice slightly on the diagonal, you’ll end up with a longer pickle slice that gives you great coverage on your burger or sandwich.
Without further adieu, here is my tangy and sweet zucchini pickles recipe. Enjoy!
Tangy & Sweet Zucchini Pickles Recipe
Ingredients
- 20 cups sliced zucchini (diagonal, 1/4-inch)
- 1/2 cup pickling salt
- cold water
- 6 cups white vinegar
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 4 tsp. mustard seeds
- 2 tsp. celery seeds
- 2 tsp. ground turmeric
Instructions
- In a glass or stainless steel bowl, layer zucchini slices with pickling salt.
- Pour cold water over the top and let them stand at room temperature for 2 hours.
- Drain zucchini and rinse with cold water, drain.
- In a stockpot, combine vinegar, sugar, mustard seeds, celery seeds, and turmeric.
- Bring mixture to boil over medium-high heat, string. Reduce heat and boil gently for 5 minutes.
- Stir in zucchini, remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 1 hour.
- Prepare the canner and return stockpot with zucchini to a boil.
- Pack sterilized jars with zucchini, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace.
- Pour extra liquid into jars and remove air bubbles with a skewer or knife.
- Wipe the rims, place lids on the jars, and screw the rings onto the jars until finger-tight.
- Process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat, remove the canner lid, and let stand for 5 minutes before removing the jars from the canner.
Nutrition
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