Green Tomato Hot Dog Relish

Fire up the coals and get some sausages on the grill so you can enjoy this Green Tomato Hot Dog Relish! Get the recipe below.

Top your sausage!

Who doesn’t love a hot dog? They were a staple in my house when growing up and I can remember getting excited when I saw the hot dog jar pulled out of the cupboard. All I needed was a squirt of ketchup and I was happy. These days they are reserved for the summer months, when the sun is high in the sky and the BBQ coals are hot! But because I eat them a lot less often I’m sure to make sure I add the best toppings when I do! Ketchup is, of course, still one of my favourite things to drizzle over a hot dog. But, after trying “Chicago-style relish” in the US last year I’ve been keen to experiment and add more exciting condiments to my hot dogs. The result is this green tomato relish.

First up, what actually is a hot dog relish? In short – it’s pretty much any vegetable based hot dog topping. The preferred hot dog relish differs from city to city and country to country and I always love trying these regional variations when I go on holiday. (Iceland do some of the best hot dogs by the way!) One thing that hot dog relishes have in common is that they are usually finely chopped vegetables that have been prepared with vinegar, sugar and salt, though sometimes they will be mayonnaise based.

What I love about adding any relish to a hot dog is that each bite if packed full of flavour and this green tomato relish is no exception. It’s quite “classic” in that its made with a base of tomatoes, onion, green pepper and celery. These are finely diced before being mixed with salt and left to sit. This draws the moisture out of the vegetables making them crisp and intensifying their flavour! The vegetables are then cooked down with sugar, vinegar and spices to make a sticky, sweet condiment that you will want to spoon over everything you eat.

This recipe will make enough to fill most of a 500ml jar which will last me and my other half most of the summer. It’s easy to scale the recipe up or down depending on your needs. I haven’t tested just how long it will last but my latest jar has been in my fridge for a month or two now and is still delicious!

The recipe

Green Tomato Hot Dog Relish

This sweet relish is made from green tomatoes. It's perfect for adding to hot dogs or burgers, straight off of the grill.

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Prep Time 1 hr 30 mins

Cook Time 30 mins

Total Time 2 hrs

Course Condiment

Cuisine American

Servings 500 millilitre jar

Equipment

• 500 millilitre jar

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 750 grams green tomatoes
• 0.5 large white onion
• 1 green bell pepper
• 2 sticks celery
• 15 grams salt
• 100 grams light brown sugar
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 2 cloves
• 125 millilitres cider vinegar

Instructions

 

• Finely chop the tomatoes, onion, green pepper and celery then add them to a large bowl.
• Stir the salt through the vegetables and then leave them to sit for an hour: in this time you will see the juices come out of the vegetables.
• Carefully drain the liquid from the vegetables and add them to a large saucepan along with the light brown sugar, mustard seeds, cloves and vinegar.
• Place the saucepan over a medium heat and bring to a boil.
• Once you've reached a boil turn the heat down slightly and leave to simmer for 20 minutes.
• Whilst the relish is cooking, sterilise your jar (see note 1).
• Once the liquids have reduced down and you have a chunky, sticky relish you are ready to put it into your jar: if you can easily locate the cloves, remove these first.
• Spoon the relish into the jar carefully trying to make sure to avoid air bubbles or leaving residue around the rim of the jar.
• Screw the lid on well and leave to cool: as the relish cools it will seal the jar, listen out for the "pop" to know the sealing process is complete.
• Enjoy on your favourite hot dogs or burgers all summer long!

Notes

There are a couple of different methods you can use to sterilise your jar. If I'm in a rush I will use a food-safe, chemical steriliser but the best method is to simply wash the jar with hot, soapy water and rinse (but don't dry) them. Next, place the jars into your oven for 10 minutes on a low temperature (160C/320F/gas mark 3) or until they are dry. 

Because this relish goes into the jar hot it is important that you don't sterilise the jar too early as you also want the jar to be hot. If you were to add hot relish to a cold jar you would risk it cracking. 

Keyword celery, cider vinegar, cloves, green pepper, green tomatoes, light brown sugar, mustard seeds, salt, white onion

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Which hot dog?

So you’ve made your hot dog relish. But what hot dog are you going to stuff in your bun? This relish will work on pretty much any type of sausage you choose – pork, beef, chicken or turkey. But it also works well on veggie or vegan dogs! My absolute favourite vegan hot dog is the Taifun Organic Weiner Frankfurter. They are HUGE which is why you see them really hanging out of the bun in my photos but the texture and flavour is spot on. They cook quickly either in a griddle pan or BBQ, brushed lightly with oil. You can thank me later!