CWA Zucchini Pickles

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Ingredients

1kg zucchini
3 onions
20g salt
2 cups raw sugar
3 cups white wine vinegar
1 tbsp mustard seeds
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp dill or celery seeds
*1 red pepper in original recipe but we haven’t included it here

Summary

Surely we are all well and truly smothered in curcubits, whether they be in our veggie boxes, in our gardens or left hopefully on our doorstep.  Recently we were forwarded this old Country Women’s Association zucchini pickle recipe, which made us realise we didn’t have one posted in this collection! Zucchini pickles are so tasty in your ploughman’s lunch or simple sandwich, and it’s easy to make a couple of jars at a time to deal with a steady, continuous zucchini supply.

This CWA recipe is attributed to the Mortlake branch, originally submitted by Jean Edwards. A deliciously tried and tested recipe if ever there was one!

CWA zucchini pickles

Slice your zucchini and onion whichever way you want. A mandolin makes for easy processing (and nice thin rounds) but isn’t essential. Combine in a bowl with salt and leave for at least 3 hours to extract excess water.  Drain and rinse in cold water.

Combine the remaining ingredients in a pan and bring up to heat to dissolve the sugar. Give it a little stir.

Gently place your zucchini in a clean, sterilised jar and carefully fill with your hot liquid. Fill the jar(s) to just below the lid, ensure the lids are on well before sealing them with water bath.

Pop a tea towel or upturned bowl at the bottom of a deep saucepan, add the zucchini jars and cover the jars in cold water.  Bring the water up to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes then turn off the heat and leave to cool in the water.

Once jars are removed from the water bath, check to make sure each lid has sealed itself properly – the lids should be sucked in.  Sealed jars will keep for an unspecified *long time*  –  enjoy them in the off season once the glut is over!

Hints and Tips

Can you use zucchini instead of cucumbers for pickles?
Yes, you absolutely can! You follow exactly the same process as you would for pickling cucumbers, carrots, turnips etc!

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Comments

  2. Great to find a simple and delicious recipe to use up all the zucchini’s provided by my garden. Everyone who has had it just loved it. Yum!

    Reply

    1. Have made that a little clearer, apologies! But yes, you’d water bath the filled jars so they keep!

      Reply

  5. I’ve looked everywhere for the dill/celery seeds but cannot locate any, so I’m going to use pickling spice instead. I’m sure they will be tasty. If anyone who lives in SA knows where I can find them please let me know.

    Reply

    1. Pickling spice works well, it just has a few extra ingredients so it’s a more complex flavour. Fennel seeds or Carraway are a good alternative too!

      Reply

  7. Hi looks like a great recipe – and just wanted to check about the jar lid? Does it go into the boiling water with the jar?
    c

    Reply

    1. Hope you enjoy making this Cate! Just make sure your lids are sterilised along with the jars (you can wash then boil in water/heat in oven, or pop through the dishwasher on a high heat setting). Once the jars are clean and filled, seal tightly with the lid and then submerge all the sealed jars you’ve made with a water bath – this is extra insurance for a long shelf life. Does that help?

      Reply

  9. I have just made 8 jars of pickled zucchini’s, should I store them in the pantry and refrigerate once opened, or do I keep them all in the fridge?
    Thanks in advance.
    PS – I can hardly wait to try them.

    Reply

    1. Yay! Yes with a good water bathing, these will be store perfectly well in the pantry, and you can fridge them once open. We hope you get lots of delicious snacks and lunches out of your pickles – and perhaps a few to give away too!

      Reply

    1. Hi Cath, any jars that have previously been used for food (jams, pickles, condiments) will be right to use in the water bath, they can all withstand the temperature. If you happen to have any that have the dimple in the lid that makes the clicking noise when pressed they are EXTRA good because when the dimple is sucked in (unclickable), you know the jar is correctly sealed.

      Reply

  11. I made the zucchini pickles and i believe were a great success. Thanks for the recipe. The only thing a couple of the jars leaked some of the liquid and now the liquid is below the top of the pickles. Is it safe to keep those jars in the pantry or do they need to go in the fridge?

    Reply

    1. Great to hear they were a success Athena! Yes, for the two that leaked we would keep them in the fridge and eat them first 🙂

      Reply

    1. Ah, yes, we are referring to the Country Women’s Association. Thanks for this suggestion, we’ve edited the recipe to reflect it 🙂

      Reply

      1. A great simple recipe which all my relos (relatives) enjoy, unfortunately. Some like to top their bread and cheese with the pickle which they say is excellent. I personally can eat off a spoon, so I have my own jar in the fridge.

        The celery seed is stocked by some Asian Grocery stores, and I would be dismayed if they were not available at the Adelaide Market.

        Thanks CWA for all the recipes of yours that I have used over the years.

        It is always nice to get a recipe with a bonus lesson in the protocols related to the use of acronyms 🙂

        Reply

  13. I recently have got back into doing pickles and chutneys as we now have established a vegetable garden in our new house. Our last house had too much shade for a very productive vegie patch. Anyway I dug out the CWA Zucchini Pickle recipe and it was fabulous. I did use Apple Cider Vinegar instead of white mainly because a had a big bottle in the pantry. The family have declared they are my best Zucchini Pickles ever.

    Reply