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Well it’s that time of year again. God has blessed us with an overwhelming amount of squash. You know, the time of year you have squash with ever meal but you still can’t see your kitchen table under all that squash. As homesteader’s through our goal is not to just eat well in the summer but the winter as well. We grow for the whole year not just right now. So how do we preserve all this squash? We make squash pickles!
Over the years I have tried to find a good way to preserve squash. You can just simply freeze it, I know lots of people prefer it that way. We have frozen squash in our freezers too but the problem is, we just NEVER use it! It’s just not the same after it’s been frozen to me.
One day my mother in-law and I were visiting a family friend. They are like minded people, so we started talking about gardening and canning. She asked us if we have ever had squash pickles? We looked at each other and said um no. She then proceeded to tell us about them and how good they were.
Her family has been making and canning them for a very long time! Intrigued we decided the next time we had an abundance of squash we had to try these pickles.
Some time later squash season was upon us. YA’LL when I say these pickles are good. I mean they are GOOD!!! Please give them a try. It is a super easy recipe. The longest part of making these pickles is letting them soak over night.
However they are well worth the wait. Our favorite way to serve them is as a side dish. We will have a protein, some veggies and a big spoon of pickles to go with it. They also are amazing in a big bowl of pinto beans with an extra large slice of cornbread! But you can enjoy them however you please.
This is not an exact approved canning recipe. However The Complete Ball Canning Book does have a very similar recipe! It is called Summer Squash Pickles and it is on page 318. I highly recommend everyone that homesteads has this book! Here is the link for that!
Also I would like to point out! You do not have to follow this recipe exactly as it is written. I normally make these pickles with what I have on hand. If I don’t have that many onions, I just use what I have. If I don’t have heads of garlic, I use powder.
As long as you follow the vinegar, water ratio and processing times. You should feel free to make this recipe to your personal taste.
If you would like to speed the processing time up. I recommend using a food processor with the slicing blade to slice your veggies. If your in the market for one. Here is the one I have.
So without further ado lets get into it.
Old Fashion Squash Pickles
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 Gallons Sliced Squash
- 1/3 Cup Salt
- 6 Onions
- 3 Sweet Peppers
- 5 Cups Sugar
- 2 Heads Garlic
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Celery Seed
- 1 1/2 tsp Turmeric
- 2 Tbsp Mustard Seed
- 2 Cups Water
- 4 Cups White Vinegar
Instructions
- First cut squash, onions, sweet peppers and garlic into desired slices. I use my food processor with the slicing blade. Put into LARGE bowl.
- Then mix salt into sliced veggies, mix well. Then cover with cold water and place in refrigerator over night.
- Next day drain off salt water. Do not rise.
- In large stock pot mix water, white vinegar, sugar, celery seed, mustard seed and turmeric. Bring to a boil.
- Fill pint size jars with veggie mixture.
- Then ladle hot pickling liquid over jars filled with veggies.
- Make sure there are no bubbles in jars using a clean butter knife.
- Wipe rims of jars clean with paper towel dipped in vinegar.
- Place on two piece canning lid till fingertip tight.
- Put jars into water bath canner and completely cover with water.
- Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes. Remove canner lid and wait 5 minutes.
- Remove jars from canner and allow to cool till next day.
- Then remove rings from jars ,clean, date and store!
Comments
One response to “Old Fashion Squash Pickles! How to make and can this heirloom recipe.”
I tried these pickles and they were awesome! Easy recipe! Must try!