I grew up eating slices of Grandma’s sweet and somewhat spicy zucchini pickles. It takes a while, but it’s worth the wait.
| Prep Time: | 2 days 3 hrs 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 45 mins |
| Total Time: | 2 days 4 hrs 15 mins |
| Servings: | 50 |
| Yield: | 10 pints |
Ingredients
- 1 gallon water
- 16 cups peeled and cubed zucchini
- 1 cup pickling lime (calcium hydroxide)
- 1 gallon water
- 2 cups apple cider vinegar
- 8 cups white sugar
- 3 teaspoons pickling spice
- 2 teaspoons salt
Instructions
- Place the zucchini into one gallon water in a large bowl. Stir in the pickling lime, and let stand for 24 hours. Drain and rinse the zucchini a few times, then cover with a fresh gallon water. Let stand for 3 hours, then drain.
- Heat the vinegar, sugar, pickling spice, and salt in a large pot over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Stir in the drained zucchini. Cover and rest the zucchini for 24 hours. Bring the zucchini mixture to a simmer over medium heat for 35 minutes. Allow to cool.
- Sterilize about 10 pint-sized jars and lids in boiling water for at least 5 minutes. Divide and pack the zucchini mixture evenly into the hot, sterilized jars, filling the jars to within 1/4 inch of the top. Run a knife or a thin spatula around the insides of the jars after they have been filled to remove any air bubbles. Wipe the rims of the jars with a moist paper towel to remove any food residue. Top with lids, and screw on rings. Store in the refrigerator.
Reviews
It is almost Feb. 2021 and we are so enjoying the products of last years garden. These pickles are great. What a great way to use up those over large zucchini.
delicious. I used 24 cups of zucchini and I also used the recipe for 1.5 on everything and I ended up with 8 jars of pickles and a little left over syrup. I took the syrup reheated and poured over fresh cucumbers onions and green peppers then I put in the refrigerator Man this was also delicious.
These were as good as the traditional version made with cucumbers. Crispy with a light sweet taste. I made them last year when we had a bumper crop of zucchini and no cucumbers. They are well worth the work if you enjoy sweet pickles. Also, I didn’t change the recipe at all.
I am surprised at how many reviewers had good results with only 2 cups of vinegar. I had a solid mas of sugar/viegar with these proportions. I am afraid to increase the viegar on my own, however. I have read I should only use tried and true recipies to prevent botulism etc.
It is an easy recipe. I did not use the pickling lime but instead cut off the bud end of the zucchini as I had learned that there is a softening agent in the bud end of this vegetable. I will find out if it allows the zucchini to stay firm rather that become mushy. Oh, I added onion slices to the canning jar as it seemed to improve on the flavor of the recipe. We will see when this gets served at Thanksgiving dinner. Linda
I think the recipe should read 2 quarts apple cider vinegar, not 2 cups. Actually, I used 1 quart apple cider vinegar and 1 quart white vinegar. This recipe sounded like the zucchini pickle recipe I got from my mother years ago and made one time 30+ years ago, but I couldn’t find that recipe. But after I mixed up the 2 cups vinegar with the sugar and spices per the recipe, I knew this would not be enough syrup to cover and can the pickles, so I went on another search for my old recipe – and found it! That recipe was almost the same, just some different proportions on the spices, but it did call for 2 quarts of vinegar. So, using 2 quarts of vinegar, the recipe made 10 pints of firmly packed pickles with pickles fully covered in syrup to the tops of the jars — and there was only 1/2 cup of syrup left over. I then sealed and canned for easy storage in the pantry. If you are interested, my old recipe included the 24-hour soaking in pickling lime, then a syrup of 2 quarts vinegar, 9 cups sugar, 1 tsp each of mixed pickling spices, whole cloves, and celery seed, and 1 Tbsp salt. The 24-hour “resting” in the syrup followed by the 35-minute simmering times were exactly the same. I also added a few drops of green food coloring to make the pickles a little brighter and prettier in the jars.
WHAT AN AWESOME AND TASTY RECIPE…..NOBODY CAN BELIEVE IT IS ZUCCHINI.THANK YOU FOR SHARING
I’m fairly new to canning, and definitely to pickling lime. But, shoot howdy, these were easy, although you do need to plan ahead as two steps include letting this sit for 24 hours. I gave them a water bath, as I wanted to store on the shelf. They are VERY delicious and crisp. Pleasantly surprised, and definitely will make these again.
Good pickles and I processed with boiling water bath for 10 minutes. These are crunchy and will be a nice addition for holiday or special meals.
You can process these in boiling water bath for 10 min.
You can definitely can these and store them well-sealed for a couple years. My grandmother used to make them and give us all sealed jars which we stored at room temperature for up to 2 years (maybe more). Once opened, store in the fridge.
These are very good and definitely crunchy. The only thing I do not like is having to store them all in the fridge. Has anyone tried canning them so they can be stored on the shelve with the other canned goods? They take some time to do because of the sitting time but really quite a simple process. If you are over loaded with zucchini this year as we are, give them a try.
Sweet, crunchy and very tasty. Super easy and doesn’t take much time at all but realize the work is spaced out over three days. I used four very large zucchini to get the 16 cups and did not include some of the center with the seeds. DO NOT stick your hand down in the lime water to push down the zucchini chunks or you will have a shriveled hand (personal experience lol). It doesn’t seem like there is enough pickling liquid when you add in the vegetable pieces but during the resting time the liquid will cover the zucchini although I really didn’t have enough liquid to completely cover all the pickles in the 8 pint jars I filled. I put about a half cup of pickles in a container in the refrigerator. I went ahead and sealed the jars to leave on the shelf because I don’t have room to refrigerate all of them. I doubt anyone who will be gifted with these pickles will have any idea that they are zucchini. Very good. This would be a great project with your kids.