You need to know how to make mustard pickles because this is one of the BEST condiments we've ever had. This recipe came from my husband's Great Grandma and I've updated it to make sure it follows safe canning but still has the amazing flavor from her original recipe.
When my father-in-law found out I was a canner, he started talking about how much he loved Great-Grandma's mustard pickles and hadn't had them in years (sadly, she passed from the family long before I met and married my husband). I'd never heard of mustard pickle relish before and thought the recipe was long lost as no one had made it in years. It was one of those family recipes that were the stuff of legends it seemed.
Until my husband's grandma was going through her recipe books and found a copy of it from decades past. She no longer canned but passed it along to me. Honestly, as I scanned the ingredients for the mustard pickles I wasn't sure what to expect by the finished product, but man, one spoonful and I was hooked.
It quickly became a yearly staple and makes the best (and easiest) potato salad. All you have to do is add it to eggs, mayo and your potatoes and you're done. No chopping up pickles or onions, score! Wondering what to eat with mustard pickles beside potato salad, a few of our favorites are on hamburgers, hot dogs, and sandwiches… or by the spoonful.
A few important notes, I used the Ball mustard pickle recipe to calculate the vinegar and amount of ClearJel to update this recipe for canning safety. The original recipe called flour but flour, cornstarch, tapioca, or any other thickener aside from ClearJel are no longer approved or considered safe canning ingredients. Because I don't have a way of testing safe viscosity when canning a recipe at home, I always use a tested source for acidity and viscosity (aka thickener) ratios.
Great Grandma's Mustard Pickles Recipes
Plan ahead as you'll need to soak the cucumbers and onions in a saltwater bath for a minimum of a few hours or overnight in the fridge. This helps keep the cucumbers crunchy (click here for 7 tips for Crunchy Pickles Every Time)
- Place cucumbers and onions in a large stainless steel or glass bowl.
- Mix 1 cup of pickling/canning salt with 8 cups of cold water (double this as needed if doing a larger batch of pickles). Pour over top of cucumbers and onions, add more cold water if necessary to cover the tops of the cucumbers. Use a clean plate and place on top of the cucumbers to keep them under the surface of the ice salt water.
- Fill a pint-sized Mason jar with water (use a lid) and set it on top of the plate to act as a weight. Let soak for 1 to 2 hours on the counter or put the bowl in the fridge overnight or for 12 hours.
- After soaking cucumbers and onions, pour out saltwater and rinse thoroughly with cold water and allow cucumbers to drain.
- Prepare a water bath canner and begin warming the water.
- In a large stainless steel pot, combine sugar, dry mustard and turmeric, celery salt, and ClearJel®, then pour in a ½ cup of water, whisking until combined and smooth. Pour in vinegar and bring to a full boil while stirring.
- Once it’s reached a full boil, lower heat to a simmer and stir until it thickens up, then add the cucumbers and the onions and bring to a boil. When it reaches a boil with the vegetables added, keep at a low boil and cook for 15 minutes, stirring as needed.
- In jars just washed in hot soapy water and rinsed, pack the relish/pickle mixture to a ½ inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and add more product if needed to keep the ½ inch headspace. Clean the rim, put on lid and bands, and screw down to fingertip tight. Place the filled jar into your water bath canner. Make sure at least 1 inch of water covers the top of the jars.
- Bring water to a full boil, once water is boiling, process pints for 10 minutes.
- Turn off heat, remove the lid, and let jars sit in canner for 5 minutes. Then remove from canner and let cool and seal on a folded towel.
Mustard Pickle Recipe Notes/Adaptations:
You may safely sub in zucchini in place of cucumbers in this recipe per Ball Book of Complete Home Canning.
You can use either apple cider or white vinegar, just make sure it says 5% acidity (no homemade apple cider vinegar for canning recipes)
If you don't have ClearJel (you can click here to order it) you can omit it (but don't add any other type of thickener), the relish will be a little bit runnier, but the flavor will still be fantastic.
Want ALL of my best-preserving recipes
This recipe is one of many in my new book, Everything Worth Preserving,
Discover the 9 home food preservation methods to safely store delicious food for year-round eating with Melissa’s step-by-step tutorials, recipes, and easy-to-use charts. Get ready to learn everything you need to know about cold storage (aka freezer), water bath/steam canning, pressure canning, dehydrating, fermenting, freeze-drying, root cellar, infusion, and salt/curing!
Pre-Order now for $29 USD!
More great pickling and preserving recipes
- Old-fashioned Saltwater Brined Fermented Pickles
- Best Pickled Asparagus Recipe
- Easy Refrigerator Bread & Butter Pickle Recipe
- How to Preserve Zucchini
How to Make Mustard Pickles – Great-Grandma's Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 cups washed and diced pickling cucumbers
- 2 cups diced onion
- 1 cup canning/pickling salt
- 8 cups water or enough to cover the cucumbers and onions for the salt water soak
- 4 cups vinegar you can use apple cider or white vinegar but make sure it's 5% acidity
- 4 Tablespoons sugar You can increase to 1 cup sugar if you prefer a sweeter flavor
- 2 Tablespoons ClearJel® optional, but produces a thicker relish
- 6 Tablespoons dry mustard
- 2 Tablespoons dry turmeric
- 2 teaspoons celery salt you can use regular salt, but the celery salt adds to the flavor
- ½ cup water
Instructions
- Place cucumbers and onions in a large stainless steel or glass bowl.
- Mix 1 cup of pickling/canning salt with 8 cups of cold water (double this as needed if doing a larger batch of pickles). Pour over top of cucumbers and onions, add more cold water if necessary to cover the tops of the cucumbers. Use a clean plate and place on top of the cucumbers to keep them under the surface of the ice salt water.
- Fill a pint sized Mason jar with water (use a lid) and set it on top of the plate to act as a weight. Let soak for 1 to 2 hours on the counter or put the bowl in the fridge overnight or for 12 hours.
- After soaking cucumbers and onions, pour out salt water and rinse thoroughly with cold water and allow cucumbers to drain.
- Prepare water bath canner and begin warming the water.
- In a large stainless steel pot, combine sugar, dry mustard and turmeric, celery salt, and ClearJel®, then pour in a ½ cup of water, whisking until combined and smooth. Pour in vinegar and bring to a full boil while stirring.
- Once it’s reached a full boil, lower heat to a simmer and stir until it thickens up, then add the cucumbers and the onions and bring to a boil. When it reaches a boil with the vegetables added, keep at a low boil and cook for 5 minutes, stir as needed.
- In jars just washed in hot soapy water and rinsed, pack the relish/pickle mixture to a ½ inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and add more product if needed to keep the ½ inch headspace. Clean the rim, put on lid and bands, and screw down to finger tip tight. Place filled jar into your water bath canner. Make sure at least 1 inch of water covers the top of the jars.
- Bring water to a full boil, once water is boiling, process pints for 10 minutes.
- Turn off heat, remove lid, and let jars sit in canner for 5 minutes. Then remove from canner and let cool and seal on a folded towel.
Video
Notes
Now you know how to make mustard pickles with Great-Grandma's recipe. Have you ever made these before or had them?
Hi again, Melissa,
I enjoyed reading your recipe for mustard pickles. They are old friends of mine. These were a staple when I was growing up, and even after I started a family (4 boys). I’m 72 and Gram Little, my maternal gram born in 1898, use to make these as did my mom and later so did I. These were an end of the season pickle which was made with the “hiders” as gram called them. Those were the cucumbers which were missed and grew too large for regular table use or pickles. You know, the ones like fireplace logs and more white than green. Gram would wash them, remove the seeds and cube them into about 1-inch pieces, skins and all but the stem end. Her brine was very similar to what you posted. As for processing, she and mom used pint and quart Ball jars with the glass lids, rubber seals and locking bales. I used the traditional 2 piece lids…cover and ring. They were processed in a water bath for 15 min for pints and 20 minutes for quarts. I’m glad you found the recipe and can enjoy this old-time treat. 🙂
I love this recipe it sounds so good. Thank you for sharing. Jim I’d love to know what the difference is in the brine your grams used 🙂 thanks in advance
My gram made mustard pickles in a crock. She also use cauliflower pieces and pearl onions along with the cucumbers. She used tiny whole cucumbers that she grew in her garden. Oh so tasty!!!
Have you ever tried a steamer canner? Use it once and you’ll be sold. Cuts canning time more than in half. You put water in the canner till the plate is just cover, about 2 1/2 inches. Put your jars in canner, put the lid on, when the temp reaches the green area you start timing. It is amazing. Love the recipes you share.
Oh Man, I love love love the idea of mustard pickles, in South Africa we call it piccalilli (derived from our British heritage). You must try it with cauliflower florets and green beans as well…
Now that I have the ingredient/spice mix, I’ll definitely be trying this at home thank you!
I always wondered wat makes the flour unsafe? My mom and grandmother still make it with cornstarch, we’ve all survived so far but most jars dont even last a year to be fair lol.
Because they can cause thick spots the heat can’t penetrate through to sufficiently kill the bacteria if it’s present.
Can you use other summer squash for this, like the little yellow patty pan squash. My Zucchini plants are sick this year but I am over run with the other summer squash.
Hi I am trying your recipe. I dont have clear jel, so I just left it out. I mixed all my spices in with the vinegar and they are chunky and not incorporating into the liquid well. I seen you post how its unsafe for flour, is this chunky spices now concidered unsafe because it may cause hot spots like the flour? Thanks.
Do you mean whole spices instead of ground? Which ones are chunky specifically?
I made mustard bean pickles today and followed the recipe but the liquid in the jars is too thin. Is there anything I can do to correct this……like reboiling and resealing?
Did you add the Clearjel?
Hi Melissa,
I just made these pickles and am not thrilled with the taste in the pot. I am Canadian ( Vancouver Island) and our Pickling vinegar is 7%, regular vinegar is 5%. I used 2 cups of pickle and 2 cups of Apple cider vinegar hoping to help lower acidity. It’s still a very strong vinegar and turmeric flavour. Will that mellow over time?If I make it again should I thin pickle vinegar with water?
Also it is very hard to get ClearJel here so I left it out. Lot’s of places don’t ship to Canada and others are really expensive like $28-$78. Any alternatives as I prefer the thicker consistency?
Been following you for a year and have learnt tons in all areas. Love your enthusiasm and willingness to share all.
Thanks so much,
Jan
I’m not sure what you mean by 2 cups of pickle and 2 cups of Apple cider vinegar (I’m guessing a typo). If your vinegar is 7% you can use 1 part water to 4 parts vinegar to make it 5%. This is a stronger vinegar flavored relish as it’s not meant to be eaten by itself but on a sandwich in place of relish and mustard or in a potato/macaroni salad in place of mustard and pickles. I don’t have any other option as a thickener when canning, as none other are approved for safety. You could try opening a jar and mixing some cornstarch with water, bringing the jar to a simmer, then whisking in the cornstarch to thicken it up and then use in your recipe or put in the fridge.
If you shop at any of their stores, you will find clearjel available at all of them. The prices of any that I found on line, were ridiculous and completely out-of-line. I buy mine from our local Amish bulk store. It is $3.50 a pound.
We just finished, these have way too much turmeric and needed more sugar for sure. Hopefully they get better with time..
You can add more sugar if you want it sweeter, they’re meant to be used as a condiment, not independently (so when it’s mixed in with things it won’t taste as strong).
Hi! I’m so excited to try this recipe! I’m curious if I could sub green tomato for onion. Thank you for all of the wonderful information you provide!
Yes, you could safely use green tomatoes for onion, let me know how you like that sub!
It says free and then says 27.00 usd
So count me out. I can’t pay that.
Are you talking about the offer for the fruit canning course? The course is paid but the recipe e-book is completely free.
What is clearjel? Is it the same as surejel as in making jelly?
No Surejel is pectin and Clearjel is a modified cornstarch safe for canning.
Where do I find clearjel. I don’t think I have ever seen it
Cash and carry has it or I get mine on Amazon. https://amzn.to/2F0xr3A
Oh dear. I used Surejelll I stead of Clearjelll. This is why the consistency is not thick enough. It is delicious. I just drained some of the liquid out but are my other three jars unsafe to eat? Should I dispose of them and start over?
The safety is with the acidity (which it’s plenty acidic) so I don’t think using the small amount of Surejell will hurt anything safety-wise, it just won’t be thick.
Made this last year and it has become my go to burger topping. So good and easy to do.
Thank you for this. I have made sweet mustard pickles For many years but I can’t find my recipe. Yours is the closest I have found except yours doesn’t have the red peppers in it that my grandma’s did. My friend put a post on Facebook saying I made the best mustard pickles in the world so I thought I would make some for her as it has been a few years. Now she won’t feel so bad. Thank you again.
I made the mustard pickles. I could not find Clear Jel, so I used Sure Jell. The relish did not thicken. I have found Clear Jel online and ordered some. Is there any way I can thicken the jars I have processed?
Thank you
I made the relish today, and I followed the recipe precisely. My yield was only 3 1/2 pints, and the juice never thickened. I did include ClearJel. What did I do wrong?
Canning yields are approximate due to differing water content depending on harvest time in fresh produce, so the yield isn’t an issue. Did you bring the contents to a full boil once ClearJel was added and simmer per time indicated? The heat is needed to activate the thickening properties. It’s not going to be as thick as a jam or jelly, but should be thicker than water.
I made the mustard relish and LOVE it! Next time though I’ll cut my chunks a little smaller so it will stay on my burgers and I intent to use it as the relish in deviled eggs.
I have a general canning question though, is it possible to use frozen zucchini, prepare it using this recipe and then can the final product?
Thanks so much!
I’m afraid it would be too mushy, I’ve only seen using fresh for pickles and relishes.
Two of my husbands favorite things are yellow mustard and pickles so when I saw this recipe I knew I had to make it! I made a double batch last week and used the first jar yesterday for potato salad, amazing! To the potatoes I added mayo, diced up hard boiled eggs and some smoked paprika, amazing! The only change I’ll be making is to be sure to use clear gel next time to thicken it up a bit. Will be making this annually, thank you for sharing!!
Yay so glad you enjoyed it!
Love mustard pickles. Happy to know for ways to use them. Can’t wait to try your recipe. Will get started today. Mary
Can I use this recipe for yellow cucumbers and peel.
I am at 6000 feet elevation. Do I need to increase the water bath time? Thanks for all the great ideas.
Yes, add an additional 15 minutes to the processing time if 6,000 feet or higher
Good morning from Sequim. I am making your mustard pickles today. If I use half pint jars instead of pint, do I water bath them for the same length of time? Same headspace as well? Also, so many pinterest canning recipes call for flour as the thickening agent. How much clear jel do I use in place of the flour? I’m sure the amount of clear jel is not the same as the flour. Thank you! I hope your air is clearer today!
Process 1/2 pints at same length of time and headspace. I don’t ever advise using Pinterest recipes for canning, ESPECIALLY if they call for flour, that right there tells me it isn’t an updated or safe recipe. You can’t just swap it out, it has to be done based off of a tested recipe that already has the measurements for ClearJel (I did mine off the Ball recipe).
In your video you said to let the cucumbers and onions soak for 1 hour, but your directions say 12 hours. You also only use 1/2c of salt, were you making a half batch?
Great recipe . I just picked onions and cucumbers Canning my first M.P. this year . Thank You
Hi Melissa, In your recipe it calls for celery salt or salt can be used. Since celery salt contains some salt and a lot of salt has already been added during the salt water soak I’m not sure why more salt would need to be added. I thought about using celery seed instead. What are your thoughts about this? Thanks for sharing your recipes and the latest info on safely canning. An old timer that can still learn new things.
Per recipe instructions you rinse the cucumbers after the salt water soak, so while they may absorb some, you don’t have any added salt when making the pickles, which is why we use the celery salt. It’s a relatively small amount so I don’t think the amount of extra salt in the celery vs. regular salt is enough to alter the overall salinity flavor.
Hi Melissa,
I am really excited to try these this summer. I am wondering if it would be possible to swap the sugar for a sugar substitute like stevia, monk fruit or the like? I am familiar with substituting them, just wanted to make sure it wouldn’t affect the actual canning process or safety. Thanks!
Chara
Wondering also about canning zucchini, you mentioned that they are often unsafe to can. What are some of the things that might make them work? I saw a recipe for canning them to replace diced pineapple and wondering if that might work.
You can pickle them or can them in an acidic recipe (I believe Ball has a recipe pairing them with pineapple which would make them acidic for water bath canning).
Total newb to all things canning here. My question is when do you chop up all of your ingredients? Before or after the salt water soak?
I chop them before the salt water soak.
I’ve had a request to make whole mustard pickles. Will this recipe work well? I’ve never made any pickles before!
Do you know if is ok to sub honey for the sugar in this recipe?
I always love to read all of the replies. I learn alot and I especially like to see your comments for the questions. Thank you so much for ALL you do.
Just made these last night. It went well but the mustard sauce was bitter. I am suspecting that it was the turmeric, or possibly the mustard. Any ideas? This was before I put the cucumber/onion mix in. Just bought both the turmeric and the mustard. Is there a brand of turmeric that you would recommend?
I’ve only tasted it after all ingredients were added. It’s a strong mustard flavor as it’s meant to be as a condiment, was it bitter after it was finished?
I made this for the first time last year and didn’t have mustard powder so I used regular brown mustard with mustard seeds in it and I didn’t have Clear Jel so it wasn’t as thick as it should have been but this is amazing and so delicious. I’m waiting for more cucumbers to grow so I can make more and stock up on it. If you haven’t tried this yet you need to.
This recipe is definitely a keeper! I kept the sugar at 4T since I typically use a dill relish in my potato salad, thinking I would see if using this recipe would save me some prep time when making potato salad. I have to say, wow! I chuckled when I read your comment about eating it with a spoon, but I’m right there with you.
I ran out of both ground mustard and turmeric when making the first batch, but otherwise I’d be putting up more than 4 pints today. I am loving this tart, mustard-y relish. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
This is so super tasty! I have a couple of mustard pickle and mustard bean recipes in my mennonite books but they take 3 cups of sugar rather than 3 Tbsp and we find them far too sweet. This is just right. Do you think runner beans such as Kentucky wonder or rattlesnake could be substituted for cucumbers or zucchini with this same brine recipe?
No, beans are denser so you’d need to follow a brine ratio specifically tested for green beans.
Hi Melissa,’
The overall flavor is great but the pickles are much too salty. I know you advise that they should be rinsed and drained but after 6 rinses, soaking in clear water for 2 hours and rinsing again, the cucumber were still very salty. I completed the recipe but it did not help remove the saltiness. I would strongly suggest using 1/4 cup of salt and not a full cup.
There is a hamburger place here called Steak n Shake, and they have discontinued their mustard relish! From your photo, it looks like the SnS relish has twice as much cucumber and onion cut in very small squares, and looks similar to store bought sweet pickle relish – just with mustard as a binder. I was surfing and looking for canning recipes to try to duplicate it, and while yours is the closest, it isn’t quite what I am looking for, I’ve only canned once in my life, and I feel as if I can duplicate their recipe, except I do not know anything about canning. From a safe-canning perspective, does the cut size and quantity (say I doubled it) of the onion and cucumber matter? From a safe-canning perspective, may I omit the sugar altogether? And finally from a safe canning perspective, may I use store bought mustard? LOL, it would, be less expensive for me than buying the mustard seed, turmeric, clear jell and celery salt. I don’t care if using yellow mustard doesn’t quite work, I just don’t want to kill anybody with botulism!
Safety-wise you can’t double or increase the onion and cucumber because that affects the acidity (what keeps it safe), the sugar could be omitted. The store-bought mustard would depend on the ingredients in it (no starches or anti-caking agents) and you would have to add it to the vinegar (you can’t decrease that amount), I have no idea what the final flavor would be like though.
good pickles but too much tumeric for me
Hi Melissa, count I safely substitute cabbage for the cucumbers? My mother in law used to make something similar but used cabbage, and prepared mustard along with some hot peppers and the end result was a mustardy like chow chow with a kick! She has long passed and I never got the recipe from her, reading your recipe gave me the urge to try to make some myself.
No, cabbage isn’t safe to sub into this recipe. Cabbage can be pickled but has different processing times and acidity/brine levels in order to keep it safe.
I can’t wait to try this recipe. I was wondering if it would interfere with the pH balance too much to use prepared yellow mustard in place of the mustard powder?
Have lost my grandmothers recipe. Yours sound comparable. But can I add cauliflower to the mix? Grandma put cauliflower in hers. Also, clear jel makes instant and regular product. Which one do you use. I recently made strawberry jam with the regular clear hel that must be cooked. Plus! Can taste clear help and the 1/2 inch bottom of the jars have a definite white cloudy look. Answers! Thanks
Love your everything. Recipe sounds great. My grandma l,s recipe( that I have lost )uses small pickling onions and cauliflower. Please comment on correct acidity level adding the cauliflower
Do you chop the cucumbers and onions up before or after the salt soak? Thanks 😊
I love your video’s . I can’t wait to see more of them !!!
Will this thicken without clear jell?
Can you use food processer to dice cucumbers and onions. Thanks
Hi! About to try making this for the first time, but noticed that you mentioned letting the cucumbers soak in the salt water for one hour in the video, but on the recipe, it says 12 hours. Which is correct?
Made them today – Delicious! I will have to hunt down Clear jel next time for a thicker relish, but still very tasty!!
Can I leave out the turmeric? Cut it down a lot. I get migraine headaches from it. What can I sub for it?
In the UK it’s ‘Piccalill’ and another version is ‘Chilli-lilli’. My 96 year grandmother, is still making it every year for Christmas. It’s one of my favourite gifts from her.
We in South Africa call it Piccalilli.
It was such a favorite of mine growing up that I asked my Mom for a bottle of Piccalilli for my birthday….I am now 71 years old and it is still a favorite of mine.
In August 2021 I found a recipe How to Make Mustard Pickles – Great – Grandma’s Recipe by Food Preservation, Food Preservation – Canning
I cannot believe my eyes now when I looked at the recipe on my cell phone…….It is your recipe Melissa….the very one you are now telling us about….
I made it twice and it was exactly what I wanted and remembered from over 60 years ago…It is too expensive to buy in the shop.
I am looking at a picture of the 5 bottles I made. I did not can any of the bottles and I did use cornstarch to thicken it.
What an unbelievable coincidence.
I will remember your Grandmas recipe and your your Father-in-law’s love for Mustard Pickles which I share.
Time to make another batch in between making Sauerkraut, Kimchi, Kefir Milk, Apple Cider Vinegar and Fire Cider Vinegar.
Blessings to All from Sunny South Africa.
Frances
Do you have the conversion amounts to use Paloma’s instead of surejell?
I’m excited to try these. I’m thinking of trying it with zuchinni since I don’t have pickling cucumbers although I have regular cucumbers growing- can I also use them? And this is probably a dumb question but do I peel them? So sorry about your father-in- law. Sending my love💕
My grandmother used to can a lot of things and I’m going to try to as well , this recipe looks like a keeper
Thank you for posting this recipe. My mom canned a lot of
these pickles, when I was growing up, but I’ve never found a recipe like hers, but this one of yours is just like hers.
I made the recipe today. I can’t wait to try it now! I followed the recipe exactly. My husband even commented it looked really good! I have a jalapeno mustard I make (which is too spicy for me but my husband loves it) that I have used flour for the thickener. Can you guide me on how to substitute the ClearJel for it? I never knew it wasn’t safe to use flour! Thanks in advance!!
I think I would prefer just plan vinegar/mustard pickles w/out sugar. Is this safe to use with out adding it? I made this last year with the minimum sugar suggested and did not care for the sweet flavor in it..would prefer to not use it.
Too much tumeric, it overpowered the mustard. It needs more sugar and ClearGel.