Pear Relish Recipe - Sweet & Savory | ~ Texas Homesteader ~ (2024)

by Texas Homesteader ~

Check out my simple Pear Relish recipe. Sweet & savory come together beautifully! I’ve even included optional water-bath canning instructions.

(Note: Some links in this post will take you to other related articles for further information. But links preceded with * are affiliate links. If you click and buy something I could receive a tiny commission.)

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I’ve heard that pear relish is delicious but… I dunno. I mean sweet pears coupled with savory onions & bell peppers? And jalapenos? And MUSTARD? Hummmmm, I don’t know…

Sweet & Savory Tastes Combine For Pear Relish

I’ve never been a fan of sweet & savory tastes together. But RancherMan asked me to get the recipe from a friend. So I did. The instructions she sent were kind of vague and the recipe seemed to make quite a lot.

What if all that food & work were wasted because, well… (see pears vs peppers & onions argument above!)

So I made a small batch just to check it out. After sampling the results we found it delicious! Then RancherMan asked me to make it again, this time a full batch #ifyouplease! This pear relish is surprisingly delicious.

What To Do With An Abundant Pear Harvest

A little background: I was recently blessed enough to receive an invitation from a neighbor to harvest from their huge pear tree.

RancherMan & I took a few paper feed bags and loaded up about 75 lbs – just from what we could reach from the ground!

There are many things I’m anxious to do with these fresh pears!

Pear Preserves

Pears in Vanilla Syrup

Pear Cake

But with this many pears I’m able to try new recipes too.

Questioning Pear Relish Ingredients

Fast forward a few days later & a friend was talking about how her family loved pear relish. I mentioned it to RancherMan who said it sounded interesting & I should make some.

Although I was skeptical we’d like it, I asked her to send her recipe. She emailed it but like I said, the instructions were vague. I tweaked the recipe (as I guess I always do LOL)

But I was concerned about the hodge podge list of odd combination ingredients. Pears and onions? And MUSTARD?

Asking A Friend About Pear Relish Ingredients

I was speaking with another friend at church & I mentioned the pear relish & its odd ingredients and her eyes sparkled. “Oh I love pear relish” she exclaimed.

I said “Yeah, but is pear relish supposed to have mustard in it??” She said her pear relish always had mustard included, so I figured I’d move ahead with this recipe.

What Are Pear Relish Ingredients?

In looking over the recipe for pear relish I found pretty simple ingredients:

Fresh Pears

Onions

Red & Green Bell Peppers

White Vinegar

Prepared Mustard

Sugar

Fresh Jalapenos

I had some jalapenos and red & green bell peppers in the garden. The garden onions weren’t quite ready so I bought them instead.

How To Peel, Chop & Grate Lots Of Fresh Vegetables At One Time

RancherMan & I used our *apple peeler/corer to quickly peel some pears. It’ll peel a pear in seconds.

Then I quartered and cored the pears. I seeded my bell peppers and peeled my onion and pulled out my grandmother’s vintage food chopper.

This bad boy has been helping to feed families for decades! I still feel my grandmother’s presence when I’m using her kitchen tools. (contented smile)

With a few cranks of the handle we ground it all together and the grated veggies went right into a large stock pot.

How To Cook Fresh Pear Relish

Into the grated vegetables I stirred in the sugar, vinegar and mustard and put the pot on the stove. Not knowing how long it needed to simmer I stood there stirring. (I’d been warned it could stick to the bottom if not stirred frequently.)

I ended up simmering the relish for 20 minutes. It reduced quite a bit and the liquid became syrupy.

We decided to preserve the relish in ½ pint jars. That way we wouldn’t have to open & use up a larger jar.

How To Water-Bath Can Pear Relish

I had already sanitized four ½ -pint jars by washing them. When water-bath canning I often place the clean jars in my canner rack and let them heat up with the water.

This step also assures the jars are good & hot to receive the hot ingredients.

You remember in science class what happens when hot substances get poured into cool glass jars? Yeah, I didn’t want that to happen! LOL

Can You Just Turn Jars Upside Down To Seal?

The old recipe’s instructions said to just put the lids & rings on the filled jars & turn the jars upside down.

It went on to say to leave them for about 10 minutes and then turn them right-side up again. That was supposed to seal the jars.

Although that’s fine for refrigerator storage, it’s no longer a recommended way to safely seal canning jars to be shelf stable.

So I water-bath canned my jars of pear relish for 20 minutes instead. Your processing time may be different depending upon your altitude.

Since there are variables to canning such as altitude and equipment, for your specific circ*mstances be sure to consult your canner’s manual and also make sure you read and understand the USDA’s recommendations on safe canning and follow their directions closely – food safety is important!

How To Use Pear Relish In Savory Dishes?

Here’s how we’ll use this fresh pear relish:

A dollop on top of black-eyed peas or beans

An ingredient in homemade Thousand Island Salad Dressing.

Relish for homemade Egg Salad Sandwich Spread

Ingredient For Deviled Eggs

Topping on hot dogs

Anywhere regular pickle relish would be used

Below is the recipe in the smaller quantity I initially made. But I’ve included the full batch recipe below as well.

Trust me – go for the full batch! LOL.

Homemade Sweet/Savory Pear Relish Recipes

(Smaller Batch recipe first, larger batch below that one)

SMALL BATCH PEAR RELISH RECIPE – (4) 1/2-Pint Jars

FULL BATCH PEAR RELISH RECIPE – (8) 1/2-Pint Jars

~TxH~

This post categorized in

Tagged in

Fresh Pear Delights:

• Pear Sauce (like applesauce but with pears)
• Pears Canned In Vanilla Syrup
• Sweet-n-Savory Pear Relish
• Pear Cake
• Fresh Pear Preserves

Other Favorite Condiments

Sauces/Dressings

• Homemade Mayonnaise
• Baconnaise – Bacon-Flavored Mayonnaise
• Fast Food: Basic Mix-n-Pour BBQ Sauce
• Honey-Sweetened, Smoky BBQ Sauce
• BBQ Rub & Beer-Based Mop Sauce Recipe
• Thousand Island Salad Dressing
• 1-Minute Creamy Salad Dressing Filled With Probiotics
• Creamy Hatch Chile Sauce
• Quick Garlic/Herb Sauce Using Fresh Herbs

Relishes/Dairy

• Sweet/Savory Pear Relish
• Fresh Pico de Gallo
• Homemade Cottage Cheese
• MYO Healthier Sour Cream Substitute

Flavorings/Seasonings

• Fresh Herb & Olive Oil HERB BOMBS
• MYO Pinto Bean Seasoning Mix

Kitchen Shortcuts & Misc

• Instant Pot Boiled Eggs WITHOUT The Shells
• Oats Can Substitute Easily For Bread Crumbs
• How to Make Self-Rising Flour Using All-Purpose

…and MUCH more

See ALL Our Delicious Recipes!

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