Chow Chow Recipe
Old-Fashioned Chow Chow Recipe—Tangy, sweet, and spicy, this easy relish recipe makes the most vibrant chow chow slaw, which is delicious on sandwiches and with your favorite Southern dishes!
What is Chow Chow?
This robust relish recipe is an extremely southern dish. It is often served with pulled pork sandwiches, sausages, burgers, and sandwiches and as an accompaniment to cheese and crackers.
I first experienced Chow Chow relish in South Carolina, and it is quite popular there. However, it was originally created in Louisiana where the French word “chou” means cabbage.
Chow chow is a distinct combination of what makes a tangy relish or a perky vinegar-based slaw recipe really delicious… It’s hard to describe, but imagine if sweet relish and sauerkraut had a baby. Although cabbage is the largest ingredient in quantity, the flavor comes from perky, unripe green tomatoes, sweet onion, peppers, and spices.
Chow chow is a great recipe to can in a water bath for later use. You can also keep it in the refrigerator and enjoy it for a couple of weeks—although I doubt it will last that long! It’s great to pull out any time of year when you need to give a dish a little perky dollop of something sweet and tangy!
Ingredients You Need
- Green cabbage – finely chopped
- Unripe green tomatoes – cored and finely chopped
- Sweet onion – peeled and finely chopped
- Bell peppers – green and red, seeded and finely chopped; for extra spice add jalapenos
- Salt – to draw the moisture out from the veggies
- White vinegar – tangy acid essential to quick-pickle the veg
- Light brown sugar – a nice mellow sweetness to balance the vinegar
- Spices – celery seeds, dry mustard or mustard seeds, ground ginger, ground allspice, dried dill, and crushed red pepper flakes
How to Make Chow Chow
Finely chop all the fresh produce. If you prefer, you can chop in a food processor, but make sure not to over-process the veggies. Set out a extra large mixing bowl and add the chopped cabbage and green tomatoes.
Then add onion, bell peppers, and salt. Mix well.
Cover the large bowl, allow the vegetables to season, and soak for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Once the chow chow vegetable blend has had time to soak, drain off the excess liquid.
Set a 6 to 8-quart sauce pot or large saucepan on the stovetop. Add the vinegar, brown sugar, and all herbs and spices.
Get the Complete (Printable) Southern Chow Chow Recipe + Video Below. Enjoy!
Bring the mixture to a boil on medium heat. Then, lower the heat and allow the liquid to simmer for 10 minutes. Carefully pour the chopped vegetables into the simmering liquid.
Stir and simmer for another 10 minutes until the cabbage and peppers are very soft.
Ladle the warm chow chow and liquids into 7-pint jars or 14-cup jars. If canning, leave at least ½ inches of open space below the rims of the jars.
Wipe the lids with a clean, dampened cloth and screw the lids on tight while the chow chow relish is hot to seal.
If not canning, store your chow chow relish in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Easy Canning Instructions
It is not essential for this chow chow recipe, but properly canning will allow you to store the jars without refrigeration for several years. If canning, set a large clean pot of water over the stovetop and bring it to a boil.
Once boiling, gently lower the filled jars of chow chow relish into the boiling water. Ensure they are fully covered by at least 1 inch of water on top. Simmer the jars for 10 minutes.
Use tongs to carefully lift the jars out of the boiling water. Allow them to cool to room temperature. Then label and store the shelf-stable jars at room temperature for 1-5 years. It’s best to store them in a cool, dark place.
Frequently Asked Questions
Use chow chow as a zesty condiment on all of your favorite burgers, hot dogs, and sandwiches. It’s fabulous on everything from cold deli hoagies to hot grilled cheese sandwiches, and everything in between! Try a scoop with a Patty Melt or Gourmet Grilled Cheese… Or keep things *really* southern and pair chow chow relish with a Pimento Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Fried Green Tomatoes. (Yes, that actually exists!)
This tasty condiment is also delicious to serve kind of like a slaw with hearty comfort food main dishes like barbecue Burnt Ends, Pulled Pork, and Fried Chicken.
But that’s not all, folks! This spicy cabbage and pepper relish is good enough to eat with a simple plate of cheese and crackers, or on bagels with cream cheese. Basically, you are going to love chow chow relish on any food you typically would enjoy with pickle relish.
There is a delightful combination of tangy, tart, sweet, and spicy flavors here. The texture is similar to sauerkraut, and there is the same distinct cabbage taste in chow chow. But where sauerkraut leans almost entirely to tangy/sour, this veggie relish has a sweet taste from the brown sugar – plus a nice kick of red pepper heat.
“Relish” refers to any pickled chopped veggies. So yes, Southern chow chow is a type of relish.
If you plan to just refrigerate soon after preparing the chow chow recipe, the relish will keep well for up to 2 weeks.
Chow chow canned in a water bath can last up to 4-5 years at room temperature. However, once it has been opened, the jar must be kept in the fridge and enjoyed within 2 weeks.
If you’d like the chow chow recipe to be a little more spicy, add in diced jalapeno peppers, whole peppercorns, or additional red pepper flakes. If you’d like it to have a more striking color, add 1 teaspoon ground turmeric. Other herbs and spices you can add or swap include garlic cloves, bay leaves, whole cloves (instead of allspice), mustard seeds, and tarragon.
Looking for More Fabulous Condiment Recipes? Be Sure to Try:
- Homemade Catalina Dressing
- Old-Fashioned Tomato Jam
- Pickled Green Tomatoes
- Giardiniera Pickled Vegetables
- Refrigerator Bread and Butter Pickles
Chow Chow Recipe + Video
Video
Ingredients
- 1 small green cabbage finely chopped (8-10 cups)
- 5 unripe green tomatoes cored and finely chopped (6 cups)
- 1 extra-large sweet onion finely chopped (4-5 cups)
- 2 red bell peppers seeded and finely chopped (2 cups)
- 2 green bell peppers seeded and finely chopped (2 cups)
- ½ cup salt
- 4 cups white vinegar
- 2 ½ cups light brown sugar packed
- 1 tablespoon celery seeds
- 1 tablespoon dry mustard
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon dried dill
- ½ -1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
Instructions
- Finely chop all the fresh produce. Set out a very large mixing bowl. Combine the chopped cabbage, green tomatoes, onion, bell peppers, and salt. Mix well. Then cover and allow the vegetables to season and soak for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
- Once the chow chow vegetable blend has had time to soak, drain off the excess liquid.
- Set a 6 to 8-quart sauce pot on the stove top. Add the vinegar, brown sugar, and all herbs and spices. Bring the mixture to a boil. Then lower the heat and allow the liquid to simmer for 10 minutes. Carefully pour the chopped vegetables into the simmering liquid. Stir and simmer another 10 minutes until the cabbage and peppers are very soft.
- Pack the warm chow chow and liquids into 7 pint jars or 14 cup jars. Make sure to leave at least ½ inch of open space on top if canning. Screw the lids on tight while the chow chow is hot.
- If canning, set a large clean pot of water over the stovetop and bring to a boil. Once boiling, gently lower the jars of chow chow into the boiling water making sure they are fully covered by at least 1 inch of water on top. Simmer the jars for 10 minutes. Then use tongs to carefully lift the jars out of the boiling water. Allow them to cool to room temperature. Then label and store at room temperature for at least one year.
- If not canning, store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
This is the best! It’s so delicious and tangy, and super easy to make. Will be saving this recipe to make again, thank you!
My grandma used to make this all of the time but she passed and I couldn’t ask her how to make it. So I tried this one and it was a dead ringer for it! YAY! Thank you!
This is so tangy and super satisfying! I used this in making a chicken sandwich and it turned out so well! I had so much fun with this! I’m keeping this recipe!
I wasnt so sure about this at first, but once I made it and put it on a sandwich, I was hooked! thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe!