Sweet ‘n’ Spicy Canned Corn Relish brings a perfect pop of sweet heat to your backyard barbecue. Serve this colorful relish as a dip with chips, with shrimp, on tacos and nachos, burgers, hot dogs, or on your favorite grilled meat.

Not to sound corny, but if you love this sweet vegetable we have corn recipes you’re going to love too! Check out this easy Cotija Corn Salad, similar in flavor to Mexican street corn, or Elotes. Making chili? Then, you’ve got to try our Best Cast Iron Southern Cornbread. It’s moist, holds together beautifully, and it holds all the butter you can possibly slather!

Sweet ‘n’ Spicy Canned Corn Relish

The sweetness of fresh summer corn shines in this versatile canned relish. Do you like a little heat with your sweet or maybe a bit more firepower? Chopped jalapenos bring the heat and mingle with the sweet corn to get the party started. Once you’ve made a batch, you’ll be surprised at how much flavor is packed into every jar.

Helpful Items For This Recipe

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Canning pot with rack

Jar lifter

Jam and Jelly Jars 8 oz.

If you’ve never made a homemade relish before, this homemade sweet corn relish is for you. Most relish recipes require a fair amount of chopping and are very time-consuming. However, this vibrant relish contains mostly corn which automatically cuts the prep time by two thirds!

Prepping the ingredients is a breeze, but canning the relish is even easier. I promise.

Hello everyone, it’s Bernice from Dishnthekitchen.com and I’m sharing this recipe today from my busy canning kitchen! Summer produce is at its prime and I love sharing the best ways to preserve it with my readers.

Every year I preserve enough tomato sauce, or Passata, to last us through the winter. It contains so much Roma tomato flavor we can enjoy it over spaghetti on its own. What a great 5-minute meal!

Another family canning favorite (and top recipe on the blog) are these Pickled Carrots with Dill and Garlic. It’s crazy to think that I’ve been making these for over 20 years!

Choosing the Freshest Ingredients

Choosing the freshest ingredients for this relish is the best way to ensure your finished product is the best it can be. Select fresh corn with bright green ears and plump yellow kernels. Peel the ears down slightly and break the skin of a kernel with your fingernail. If juice doesn’t come squirting out, don’t use this corn (of course you should buy the cob your fingernail has been in!).

While choosing the turmeric and peppers (sweet red and jalapeno) look for smooth unblemished skin. They should be firm and have no soft spots or wrinkles.

Finally, choose firm garlic cloves with no blemishes or green sprouts.

How to Cut Corn Kernels from the Cob

There are many ways to cut corn kernels off of a fresh cob of corn. Begin by shucking off the husks and hair (the sticky annoying filaments at the top end of the ear of corn). Next, place a bundt cake pan on a table or in the sink. It needs to be low enough so you are comfortable.

Rest the pointy tip of the cob into the center hole of the bundt pan. Place the knife alongside the stem and cut in a downward motion along the side of the corn. The kernels should fall into the bowl but don’t be too alarmed if some escape! Do you have a helpful hint for cutting corn kernels off the cob?

Preparing the Vegetables

Now that the corn is ready and waiting, the next step in making this relish is cutting the peppers, onions, garlic, and turmeric. This is a great chance to practice your knife skills.

Begin by coring and seeding the red bell peppers and the jalapenos (wear gloves to prevent burning). Next, slice them into long, even strips. Note that the width of the strips determines the size of the final diced pepper. Finally, slice the strips crosswise to get square dices of pepper.

For the sweet red peppers, try to keep the size around 1/4 inch while the jalapenos should be half of that. Onions can be similar in size to the red peppers while garlic and turmeric should be finely minced. If you are using fresh garlic scapes, slice them into small rounds the same size as the diced red peppers.

How to Make Corn Relish

Once all the vegetables have been prepped, it’s easy sailing to the end of the recipe. The next step is adding the brine to the vegetables. Since this is a sweet relish, I’ve included a fair amount of sugar to make a sweet brine. Feel free to reduce the amount of sugar up to a half if you prefer a less sweet brine.

Making the brine is as simple as measuring and adding the ingredients to the pot of vegetables. Heat over medium-high to allow the relish to come to a boil stirring and reduce heat to medium-low to get a gentle simmer as you ready the canning equipment.

Get the High Altitude Water Bath Canning Chart Below

How to Can Corn Relish

Fill the hot water bath canner 2/3 full with hot water. Cover, and bring to a rolling boil.
Meanwhile, place jars upside down in a tray of water and leaving them in a 225 F oven for at least 10 minutes.
Place lids, rings, funnel and measuring cup in a large saucepan of water. Heat and simmer. You can add any other equipment that needs sterilizing here.
Add the corn, other chopped ingredients, and brine ingredients to a large pot or Dutch Oven. Heat and bring to a boil and let simmer while you get your canning ready.
Take two hot jars out of the oven, fill them, and top up with a bit of hot vinegar brine. Leave about 1 cm of headspace.
Tap the jars on the countertop to remove any air bubbles and add more vinegar if needed. Quickly top with a lid and fasten the ring just slightly, not too tightly.
Place each filled jar in the rack of the canner, then lower it into the boiling water.
You may need to remove water to prevent overflowing as the water boils or you may need to add boiling water to ensure the jars are covered with at least an inch of water at all times. It’s a good idea to keep a kettle of boiling water on while hot water canning.
Process for 15 minutes or more, depending on your elevation. Here in Calgary, Alberta, I processed the half-pints (250 ml) jars for 25 minutes at a rolling boil.
Remove from boiling water and allow them to cool on a towel-lined counter. Do not disturb for 12 hours.

How to Store the Canned Relish

Once the jars have cooled, inspect each lid to ensure it is depressed and sealed well. If one or two jars haven’t sealed, store them in the fridge and use within a month. Store the relish in a cool dark spot, like a basement or cellar. The canned corn relish will last for a year or slightly more when stored properly.

As always with any home canning, if the jar becomes unsealed or if the contents change color, do not consume. Additionally, if there is any fermentation, effervescence, strange odor, or mold present do not consume. Safety first…when in doubt, throw it out!

So Many Ways to Enjoy Canned Corn Relish

You have 9 beautiful jars of sweet ‘n’ spicy corn relish…now what? This relish is so tasty, it’s just great to eat as a side condiment or as a dip but it’s also fun to get creative with this relish! There are so many ways to use this relish.

As a topping for nachos or on pizza
In a pulled pork sandwich
In a taco
Baked into a frittata or Dutch oven pancake
Mixed with queso for a delicious dip
Placed on top of grilled meats
Mixed in with shrimp, ceviche style!
On burgers and hot dogs
Baked into a casserole
Give it away so others can enjoy it!

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