Best Substitutes For Sweet Pickle Relish

Sweet pickle relish is a popular condiment that uses sugar and vinegar to pickle chopped cucumbers. It’s often used as a topping on hot dogs and in many different cold salad dishes.

If you’re out of sweet pickle relish at home, the best substitutes are dill pickle relish, mustard, fresh cucumber, green olives, horseradish, chutney, and kimchi.

Sweet Pickle Relish Substitutes Comparison

What Does Sweet Pickle Relish Taste Like?

Sweet pickle relish is a condiment. It’s made from chopped cucumbers and pickled with a mix of vinegar, sugar, and spices.

Depending on the brand, sweet pickle relish has a sweet and tangy flavor. You’ll also enjoy a hint of acidity from the vinegar in the relish.

While eating sweet pickle relish, you’ll experience both chunky and crunchy bites. This makes it an ideal topping for hot dogs and is often combined with mustard to add sharpness to the flavor profile.

Sweet pickle relish is also an ingredient in other sauces. It’s essential in popular sauces and dressings like Thousand Island dressing and tartar sauce. It also goes great in cold salads.

Sweet Pickle Relish Nutritional Value

Unfortunately, sweet pickle relish does not have nutritional value. There are minimal nutrients in the topping, but it’s often high in carbohydrates and sugar. Pickles and relish often have high sodium content.

If you’re watching fats, you won’t have to worry about using sweet pickle relish. Most brands have less than 0.1 grams per teaspoon.

One tablespoon of sweet pickle relish contains

As you can see, there is minimal nutritional value in sweet pickle relish. Still, it’s a relatively low-calorie and low-fat topping that improves the taste of many dishes.

As long as you’re not watching your salt or sugar intake, you can add as much sweet pickle relish to your hot dog as you want.

Substitutes For Sweet Pickle Relish

If you’re not a fan of the taste or texture of sweet pickle relish, you’re in luck. We’ve found plenty of delicious alternatives that you can use at your next BBQ or dinner.

1. Dill Pickle Relish

If you prefer sour instead of sweet, you can use dill pickle relish in your dishes. Dill pickle relish uses sour dill pickles to give the relish a sour and tangy flavor.

There are also many styles of dill pickles, and you can find relish with garlic, chili, and other flavors. This is a great way to add spice to your dish.

Dill pickle relish is also lower in sugar and a great option for anyone watching their sugar intake.

These are our favorite dishes for dill pickle relish.

• Tuna Salad
• Deviled Eggs
• Potato Salad

2. Mustard

Mustard goes great on anything and is an alternative to sweet pickle relish. It’s made from mustard seed, vinegar, and spices. You can try many mustards, including spicy, dijon, honey, and other flavors.

Most mustards are low in calories and sugar. This makes mustard a healthier option than sweet pickle relish.

You can add mustard to these dishes to liven them up.

• Mustard is a must for hot dogs and sausages.
• You can add mustard to salad dressings to add spice and tang.
• Spread mustard on your favorite sandwich to enjoy a burst of flavor

3. Cucumber

Sweet pickle relish is made from cucumbers. Instead of using the pickled version, add fresh chopped cucumber to your dish.

Cucumbers have a sweet and crisp flavor that pops in your mouth. This makes them ideal for sandwiches, salads, and other dishes.

Cucumber is one of the healthiest options on our list of sweet pickle relish substitutes. There are minimal calories and sugar in chopped cucumber, so feel free to add as much as you want to your meal.

We suggest using chopped cucumber in these dishes.

• Make Tzatziki and add it to your meal, and give it a Mediterranean flavor
• Adding chopped cucumbers to a sandwich adds freshness and crunchiness
• You can use cucumber in your tuna salad to increase the crispiness and freshness

4. Green Olives

While an acquired taste, many people love green olives. As an alternative to sweet pickle relish, green olives give your dish a salty and tangy flavor with a hint of vinegar.

Green olives are healthier than sweet pickle relish and have minimal sugar or carbs. They are also a good source of healthy fats. Some brands of green olives are a great source of antioxidants.

Not sure where to use green olives? Here are three ideas that complement their flavor.

• Green olives go great in potato or macaroni salad
• Create a tapenade with green olives, capers, garlic, and oil to use as a spread
• Olives go great on sandwiches with cured meats and oil-based dressing

5. Horseradish

Horseradish has a strong smell and flavor but is a great option instead of sweet pickle relish. It’s often combined with mustard, mayonnaise, or ketchup to create a creamy and spicy sauce.

By itself, horseradish is low in calories and sugar. Of course, if it’s mixed with mayonnaise or ketchup, it’s not as healthy. Horseradish is also known to have anti-inflammatory properties.

If you love spicy and tangy flavors, horseradish is great with many dishes. Here are some of our favorite ways to use horseradish instead of sweet pickle relish.

• Use horseradish on your favorite subway sandwich
• Horseradish is a fantastic addition to deviled eggs
• Combine horseradish with ketchup to create a tangy sauce for fried fish

6. Chutney

If you love Indian food, you can try replacing sweet pickle relish with chutney. This traditional condiment is a combination of fruit, vegetables, herbs, and spices. The flavor can range from sweet to savory based on the recipe or brand.

You can find a wide range of chutneys, including mango, apple, and tomato. Each type has a unique flavor, and we encourage you to try them all.

While not filled with nutrients, chutney offers some nutritional value depending on which fruits and vegetables were used in the recipe.

If you want to add a complex flavor profile to your dinner, you can try chutney in these dishes.

• Give your next BBQ an ethnic vibe by serving chutney with hotdogs and hamburgers
• Chutney is a good replacement for relish on any sandwich
• Chutney is the perfect marinade for grilled chicken

7. Kimchi

You can add kimchi to your dishes to give them a traditional Korean flare. Kimchi is a salad made from fermented cabbage and vegetables.

It has a distinct sour, spicy, and umami flavor that adds complexity to the flavor profile of any dish.

Kimchi has many health benefits and is a good source of probiotics, antioxidants, and vitamin C. This makes kimchi one of the healthiest options on this list.

If you’re a fan of Asian fusion cuisine, you can use kimchi instead of sweet pickle relish in the dishes below.

• Layer kimchi on grilled hot dogs to give them a spicy kick
• Chopped kimchi in tuna salad transforms your boring sandwich into a dining delight
• Kimchi is a great option for deviled eggs

Popular Recipes That Call for Sweet Pickle Relish

If you’re unsure where to use sweet pickle relish, here are six of our favorite recipes.

• Sweet pickle relish adds sweet and tangy flavors to classic potato salad
• Add sweet pickle relish the next time you cook deviled eggs
• You can improve your tuna salad with sweet pickle relish
• Sweet pickle relish is a key ingredient in Thousand Island dressing
• Relish goes great on top of BBQ hot dogs and hamburgers
• Finally, sweet pickle relish is a main ingredient in tartar sauce

What’s The Best Substitute For Sweet Pickle Relish?

As you can see, there are many substitutes for sweet pickle relish. You can find everything from spicy to sweet alternatives.

We suggest experimenting with these and other toppings to find a combination of flavors that you love the most.

Many of these alternatives go great with sweet pickle relish as well. Don’t hesitate to mix sweet pickle relish, horseradish, and mustard to create the ultimate topping for your BBQ hot dog.

If you’re looking for something sweet to replace relish, mango or apple chutney is your best bet.

If you want to avoid sweets but enjoy the crunchiness of sweet pickle relish, we suggest using chopped cucumber or dill pickle relish instead.

If health is a concern, kimchi is by far the healthiest option on the list.

No matter what topping you choose, we hope you enjoy your meal and create fantastic new recipes for you and your family to enjoy.