Pickling & Canning Fresh Produce

Whether your veggie garden was a huge success this summer, or you went a little overboard on your last trip to the grocery store, pickling and canning are two tried-and-true methods for stretching the life of your fresh produce, tapping into its versatility, and reducing food waste.

When you pickle any fresh fruit or vegetable, you are preserving their crunch and quality while transforming them into a more shelf-stable product. Peppers and Cucumbers – two veggies with incredible crunch – are perfect for pickling as they become flavorful and crisp toppings for sandwiches, burgers, salads, and more!

Canning is another popular way to preserve fresh ingredients. Canning Tomatoes is a traditional end-of-summer activity where fresh Tomatoes are blended into homemade sauces and salsas that will remain shelf-stable throughout the winter months. Canning large batches of homemade sauces, salsas, and even spreads means your pantry will always have the essentials in stock.

So, what are you waiting for? It’s time to get preserving!

What You’ll Need: Pickling & Canning Supplies

With the right tools, pickling and canning Tomatoes, Peppers, and Cucumbers will be simple, hassle-free, and fun! Here are some pickling and canning supplies you will want to have on hand before you get started:

• Glass mason jars with new lids
• Mason jar rings (also known as screw bands)
• Large stock pot
• Canning rack
• Canning funnel
• Canning jar tongs
• Dish towels

The right supplies make all the difference when it comes to pickling and canning vegetables. Now let’s take a look at the best pickling and canning recipes for you to try this season.

3 Easy Pickling & Canning Recipes

Here are 3 of our favorite pickling and canning recipes to help you stretch the life of all your extra Tomatoes, Peppers, and Cucumbers.

Canned Tomato Basil Sauce

This Canned Tomato Basil Sauce recipe is rustic, simple, and incredibly versatile! A great way to use up all your extra Tomatoes this canning season.

What You’ll Need

• Glass mason jars
• Tomatoes-on-the-Vine
• Fresh basil leaves
• Fresh garlic
• Coarse salt and cracked pepper
• Lemon juice

Find the full recipe here!

Canned Tomato Basil Sauce Recipe Tips

Here are some of our top tips for making the best canned Tomato sauce to fill up your pantry:

• You never want your glass mason jars to hit the bottom of your stock pot during the boiling process because this can easily break them. To stop your mason jars from breaking, simply use a canning rack to separate the jars from the bottom of the pot.
• You should always use new mason jar lids when canning so your jars will seal properly, but feel free to reuse sterilized mason jars and rings!
• Using canning tongs will help you safely remove steaming hot mason jars from the stock pot without dropping the jars.
• A canning funnel will make it easy to transfer the sauce into each individual mason jar. Ensure your canning funnel is also sterilized between recipes.
• If you have extra roasted Tomatoes, you can easily freeze them whole in a freezer-safe container and save them for soups, stews, pizza sauce, and many other Tomato-based recipes you like to make from scratch!

Pickled Mini Sweet Pepper Rings

A mixture of Pickled Mini Sweet Pepper Rings will add incredible color and flavor to quesadillas, salsa, pizza, salads, and so much more.

What You’ll Need

• Glass mason jars
• Mini Sweet Peppers
• Fresh thyme
• White wine vinegar or pickling vinegar
• White sugar
• Salt
• Mustard seeds
• Crushed red pepper flakes
• Coriander seeds
• Black peppercorns
• Fresh garlic
• Bay leaves
• Water

Find the full recipe here!

Pickled Mini Sweet Pepper Rings Recipe Tips

Here are some of our top tips for making the best Pickled Peppers:

• If you don’t have all the individual pickling spices that this recipe calls for, you can easily use pre-mixed pickling spices found at your favorite grocery store.
• While this recipe is for Mini Sweet Peppers sliced into rings, you can also pickle your Mini Sweet Peppers whole if using 1-quart mason jars.
• Sweet Peppers are great for pickling, but so are Shishito Peppers! Try our Pickled Shishito Peppers recipe for a spicier twist on Pickled Peppers.

Pickled Garlic & Dill Cocktail Cucumbers

Pickled Cocktail Cucumbers are incredibly versatile and snackable. Eat them on sandwiches, burgers, charcuterie boards, or straight up.

What You’ll Need

• Glass mason jars
• Cocktail Cucumbers
• Fresh dill
• White wine vinegar or pickling vinegar
• White sugar
• Salt
• Mustard seeds
• Crushed red pepper flakes
• Coriander seeds
• Black peppercorns
• Fresh garlic
• Bay leaves
• Water

Find the full recipe here!

Pickled Garlic & Dill Cocktail Cucumbers Recipe Tips

Here are some of our top tips for making the best Pickled Cucumbers:

• If you don’t have all the individual pickling spices that this recipe calls for, you can easily use pre-mixed pickling spices found at your favorite grocery store.
• While this recipe is for Cocktail Cucumbers, you can pickle all the Cucumber varieties we grow! If pickling Long English Cucumbers, they need to be sliced before pickling. If pickling Mini Cucumbers, they can be pickled whole in large mason jars, or sliced. Cocktail Cucumbers can always be pickled whole!

More Ways to Eat Up Your Extra Produce

While pickling and canning vegetables is a great way to eat them up, we’ve got lots of other ways to make sure your extra Tomatoes, Peppers, and Cucumbers don’t go to waste. Get the most out of your fresh produce!