Tricolor Sweet Pepper Relish Recipe

This fresh, tangy, and fruity sweet pepper relish livens up a humble hot dog for the start of grilling season.

Updated August 24, 2023

A grilled hot dog topped with pepper relish. — Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel

Why It Works

Three different colored peppers are used for variety.
Steeping the peppers in boiling water for five minutes cooks them just enough.

While I grill year-round, I can't help but get a little giddy as the weather turns warm and the days grow long, triggering a pseudo-official start to "grilling season." I quickly change modes from cooking for two to stocking my fridge and cupboards with sauces, rubs, and plenty of beer for the ensuing crowds.

One thing I always have on hand during summer cookouts is hot dogs, yet I rarely give them more thought than a link, bun, mustard, and ketchup. In gearing up for a fresh season, I thought it would be right to pay a little more attention to this staple of the backyard and come up with an array of toppers to breathe new life into the standard hot dog.

Out of the few sauces I've tried so far, this tricolor sweet pepper relish—which I got from Bon Appetit's new beautiful The Grilling Book—has been my favorite. As the name suggests, this starts with three different colored sweet bell peppers that are finely diced, quickly steeped, then boiled in white wine vinegar, sugar, mustard, and celery seeds before being bottled and chilled. The final relish is a tangy, sweet, fruity, and fresh condiment with a slight bite that livens up the humble hot dog in a way fitting for the brand-new grilling season.

This recipe was originally published as part of the column "Sauced".

May 2013

Recipe Details

Tricolor Sweet Pepper Relish Recipe

Prep 10 mins

Cook 25 mins

Active 15 mins

Total 35 mins

Serves 12 servings

Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

Ingredients

4 cups water
1 large red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into 1/8-inch dice
1 large yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into 1/8-inch dice
1 large orange bell pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into 1/8-inch dice
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/3 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon celery seeds

Directions

Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a small saucepan over high heat. Remove from heat, add in diced peppers and let steep for 5 minutes. Strain peppers through a fine-mesh strainer.
Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel
Add in vinegar, sugar, mustard seeds, salt, and celery seeds into now empty saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar.
Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel
Add peppers and simmer, stirring occasionally, until little liquid remains, 15-20 minutes. Transfer relish to a jar, let cool slightly, then cover and place in refrigerator until completely chilled. Store in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
33	Calories
0g	Fat
8g	Carbs
0g	Protein

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 12
Amount per serving
Calories	33
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g	0%
Saturated Fat 0g	0%
Cholesterol 0mg	0%
Sodium 109mg	5%
Total Carbohydrate 8g	3%
Dietary Fiber 0g	1%
Total Sugars 6g
Protein 0g
Vitamin C 61mg	305%
Calcium 8mg	1%
Iron 0mg	1%
Potassium 67mg	1%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.