Easy Homemade Corn Relish

Homemade Corn Relish with an Electric Pressure Cooker

If you grow corn in your garden or love to stock up at the farmers market, I have the perfect recipe for all that extra corn.

This is our family’s sweet corn relish, and it is one of those recipes I look forward to making every single summer.

It is sweet, tangy, and full of fresh corn and colorful peppers. You can spoon it over tacos, hot dogs, burgers, or grilled chicken. Anywhere you would reach for a pickle relish, this works even better.

The best part is that you can can it to keep on the pantry shelf, pop it in the refrigerator for the next few weeks, or freeze it for later. One batch gives you jars of summer flavor to enjoy all the way through winter.

When making Corn Relish or any corn dish, I have found that using my pressure cooker/Instant Pot is the best option. Using the pressure cooker cuts the work in half & makes preserving fresh vegetables quick and easy, cooking 4 minutes under pressure. I have tried every way possible to remove corn from the cob I have found the Corn Zipper the best ever even better than a paring knife.

Why You’ll Love This Sweet Corn Relish Recipe

• Uses fresh summer corn at its best so nothing from your garden goes to waste
• The Instant Pot cooks the corn in just 4 minutes and cuts your prep time in half
• Sweet, tangy flavor that works on tacos, burgers, hot dogs, grilled chicken, and more
• Makes a beautiful homemade gift tucked into little mason jars for the holidays
• Easy to make as a small batch if you only have a few ears, or double it for a big harvest

Find all my top 5 canning recipes here: 5 Basic Garden Canning Recipes.

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A Family Tradition Worth Keeping

My Aunt Lois, my mother’s sister, was always a big influence in my life regarding homemaking, crafts, and cooking. My Aunt Lois was always the one with something going on in the kitchen. Every Sunday, our family drove to Ashtabula, Ohio, for dinner at my grandmother’s house.

Lois would be there with her vegetable garden in full swing and mason jars lined up on the counter from whatever she had just put up.

Her corn relish was one of my favorites at those Sunday dinners. I could never find a store-bought version I liked, so a few years ago I dug out her old handwritten recipe and decided to give it a try.

I updated it by cooking the corn in my Instant Pot, and it cut the work in half. Jim’s uncle grows corn on Red Wagon Farm, so I always buy a full crate when it comes in and get to work.

Now I make this every summer without fail. It is one of those recipes that feels like home every single time you open a jar.

Memories of My Aunt Lois

In the winter, when the gardens were cleaned up and the vegetables put up, then her time was spent on crafts. When we would visit, Aunt Lois always had a fun seasonal craft for the kids. My love for crafting started during these visits and has stayed with me all my life.

Lois was a special needs teacher in Ashtabula, Ohio, long before the word special needs ever was used. Using Crafts and cooking was a way to educate and expand the minds of her disabled children. When my sister and I would visit her, teaching continued for us as she taught us fun crafts and cooking. She could make any craft activity in simple steps, so we could make the most beautiful DIY projects.

I remember one special project when my best friend Linda visited Aunt Lois, and we made pillows in the shape of frogs. Aunt Lois took us to pick out our own fabric and stuffing, and we learned to make a pattern out of brown paper bags. We cut our fabric, sewed the frogs, and stuffed them into pillows on our summer trip.

At dinner meals, Aunt Lois always had fresh garden canned goods as side dishes. My favorite was watermelon rind pickles; however, I’ve never been able to master that recipe. One of my other favorites that Aunt Lois served at many a fall meal was her corn relish. I always loved corn relish, but I have never been satisfied with any that was store-bought.

Jim’s uncle, being a vegetable farmer and corn being one of their biggest crops, I decided last year I was going to give corn relish a try. I looked through a lot of the old recipes that I had written down when I visited Aunt Lois, and I found her corn relish recipe. I was so happy to find a recipe that had some family history and was an old favorite of mine from childhood.

What Is Corn Relish?

Corn relish is a sweet and tangy condiment made from fresh corn kernels, bell peppers, onions, and a vinegar-sugar brine.

Think of it like pickle relish, but made with corn instead of cucumbers. It is sweet, a little crisp, and full of flavor.

It has been a staple in home kitchens for generations, especially in the Midwest where fresh corn comes in by the crate every August. Canning corn relish is one of the best ways I know to hold onto that summer flavor all year long.

Ingredients You’ll Need

Here is everything you need to make a batch. The brine ingredients are simple pantry staples you probably already have on hand.

• 8 ears of corn
• 1 cup of water
• 1/2 small head of cabbage, chopped fine
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 green peppers, chopped
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 2 cups white vinegar
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon mustard seeds
• 1 tablespoon celery seeds
• 1 teaspoon turmeric

This is Aunt Lois’s original family recipe. The brown sugar gives it a richer, deeper sweetness than white sugar, and the cabbage adds a little extra crunch that makes it stand out from any store-bought version.

Equipment Needed

You do not need a lot of special equipment for this, just a few basics.

• Ball Canning Jars
• Instant Pot or electric pressure cooker
• Large Canning pot ( here is an entire set of what you will need)
• Lids & Rims for your Jars
• Corn Zipper
• Corn Zipper for removing kernels from the cob
• Large mixing bowl
• Cutting board and knife
• Jar lifter and canning funnel (optional but really helpful)

How to Make Sweet Corn Relish for Canning

Before I begin this recipe, I sterilize my glass jars in the dishwasher on the sterilize setting. This way they are clean and ready when it is time to fill them

1. Cook the corn. I start by putting the husked ears of corn in the Instant Pot with about 1 cup of water and setting it for 4 minutes.
2. Chop and prep while the corn cooks. While the corn is cooking, I chop the other ingredients that need to go into the relish. I also get a large canning pot full of water started on the stove so it is coming to a boil for the water bath.
3. Mix the ingredients and cut the corn. Next, I mix all the chopped ingredients together and set them aside. I remove the corn kernels from the cob using a sharp kitchen knife. I have tried many gadgets over the years, and none of them work as well as just taking my time with a good knife.
4. Combine and fill the jars. When the corn kernels are off the cob, I mix them in with the rest of the ingredients and fill the sterilized mason jars, leaving about an inch of room at the top.
5. Sterilize, seal, and water bath. I sterilize my glass jars in the dishwasher on the sterilize setting. The lids and rings I boil in a small pot of water for five minutes. Make sure the top rim and edge of each jar are wiped clean before sealing with the lid and ring. Water bath for 30 minutes.

Freezing Fresh Corn

At the same time that I make my Aunt’s corn relish, I also freeze a bumper crop of corn in our freezer for our children. Our kids love Uncle Dick’s corn and especially our youngest son, Joey. I always purchase an entire crate of corn from Uncle Dick’s farm, Red Wagon Farm, and process corn to be frozen.

Again, I cook the ears of corn in the pressure cooker for 4 to 6 minutes. When the corn is done, I let it cool and remove the kernels from the cob. I put the cooked kernels into Sandwich Ziplock freezer bags and put in the freezer at least a dozen ears of corn.

Variations to Try

• Toss in 1 or 2 seeded jalapeños if your family likes a little heat
• Use white vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar for a sharper, cleaner brine
• Add 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes for heat without the extra chopping
• Frozen corn works fine in the off-season. Just thaw it completely and drain well before you mix it in.
• Leave out the sugar if you want a more savory, vinegar-forward relish

Ways to Use Your Corn Relish

This is one of those things you will find yourself reaching for constantly once you have a jar open in the refrigerator.

We spoon it over tacos and nachos, put it on hot dogs and brats at cookouts, and serve it right alongside grilled chicken or pulled pork. Jim loves it stirred into pasta salad for extra crunch and flavor.

Anywhere you would normally use a sweet pickle relish, this sweet corn relish works even better.

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How to Store Homemade Corn Relish

Canned: Properly sealed jars will keep in a cool, dark pantry for up to 1 year. Once you open a jar, keep it in the refrigerator and use it within 2 weeks.

Refrigerator: If you are not canning, store the relish in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.

Freezer: Spoon it into freezer-safe containers or zip bags and freeze for up to 6 months. Thaw it overnight in the refrigerator before you use it.

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Frequently Asked Questions

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Update as of 8-18-2016:  I have two versions of corn relish; the above post is my Aunt Lois’s family version.  We also made a second batch from BettyCrocker.com, and we like this version better.  So give both a try and see which one you like.

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