Use up those green tomatoes at the end of the season by turning them into delicious cucumbers
Green Tomato Pickles are the perfect addition to a sandwich, burger, charcuterie board or tiller platter. This recipe is also a great way to use up and enjoy those unripe tomatoes at the end of the season.
Green Tomato Cucumber Recipe
This green tomato pickle recipe was adapted from this recipe I found in Nana Ling’s treasured CWA cookbook.
What are green tomatoes?
First you need green tomatoes.
Green tomatoes are just unripened ordinary tomatoes and have a firmer feel and taste quite tart.
You can pick tomatoes before they’re ripe, but most often they’re harvested at the end of the season when the weather is getting cooler and the tomatoes aren’t ripening on the vine.
This pickled green tomato recipe uses 1kg of green tomatoes and you can multiply the amounts depending on how many green tomatoes you have.
If you’re also looking for recipes for ripe tomatoes, you’ll find them in the Tomatoes Collection. The relish and sauce recipes are particularly popular and you can adapt the tomato chutney recipe to use with green tomatoes.
Ingredients for green tomato cucumbers
The full ingredient list for green tomato pickles includes:
- green tomatoes
- onions
- Salt
- water
- malt or apple cider vinegar
- sugar
- flour
- mustard powder
- turmeric
- curry powder
- pimento
- whole cloves.
How to make green tomato pickles
This recipe is prepared in two days:
Day 1 – Soak vegetables in brine overnight
You start making brine by mixing salt and water in a large saucepan and heating until the salt dissolves.
The tomatoes and onions are then cut into roughly 2-3cm x 2-3cm pieces and added to the pot with the brine, covered and left overnight.
2. Day 2 – pickling day
The next day, place the pot on the stove and heat until almost boiling. Remove from heat and strain the brine, reserving about a cup to mix with the dry ingredients.
Sift together the flour and spices, then make a runny paste by adding some of the reserved brine.
Place the vinegar and sugar in a large saucepan and, when hot, slowly add the flour and spice mixture while stirring.
Add the chopped tomatoes and onion.
Bring to almost the boiling point and remove heat just before boiling.
Pour into sterilized jars and seal immediately.
After cooling, put in the fridge.
How to Store and Use Green Tomato Pickles
Okay, how long you let your cucumbers grow before you eat them is simply a matter of taste.
Some people open them after a day or two, while others prefer to wait at least a few weeks.
Cucumbers will keep for months in the fridge.
- 1 kg green tomatoes
- 3 Middle onions
- 1/2 Cup Salt
- 6 cups water
- 3 cups malt or apple cider vinegar
- 3/4 Cup sugar
- 1/3 Cup flour
- 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon curry powder
- 1/4 teaspoon pimento
- 3 whole cloves
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Make a brine by mixing the salt and water in a large saucepan and heating until the salt dissolves. Remove from stove and set aside.
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Cut tomatoes and onions (into 2-3cm x 2-3cm pieces). Place in a saucepan with brine, cover and leave overnight.
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The next day, place the pot on the stove and heat until almost boiling. Remove from heat and strain the brine, reserving about a cup to mix with the dry ingredients.
-
Sift together flour and spices, then make a runny paste by adding some of the reserved brine.
-
Place the vinegar and sugar in a large saucepan and, when hot, slowly add the flour and spice paste while stirring.
-
Add the vegetables. Bring to almost the boiling point and remove heat just before boiling.
-
Pour into sterilized jars and seal immediately.
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After cooling, put in the fridge.
Calories: 42kcal | Carbohydrates: 9G | Protein: 1G | Fat: 0.1G | Saturated Fatty Acids: 0.02G | Polyunsaturated fat: 0.04G | Monounsaturated fatty acids: 0.02G | Sodium: 1894mg | Potassium: 89mg | Fiber: 1G | Sugar: 7G | Vitamin A: 215ie | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 12mg | Iron: 0.3mg