I used to have a fantastic coworker named John. He was calm in the face of chaos, had a buoyant sense of humor and knew how not to take things too seriously. And, his wife Amy just happened to be my kitchen soulmate. You’ve got to love a coworker who comes attached to good people.
Amy was the first person to introduce to me tomato jam and now I can’t go back to a life without it. She gifted me a jar last summer, with the recipe attached and I will be forever grateful. I use it in place of ketchup (with turkey burgers), as well as in places where ketchup wouldn’t dare to tread (try it with a soft, stinky cheese. It will change your life).
For those of you who are accustomed to preserving tomatoes, you’ll notice that this recipe does not call for you to peel these tomatoes. That is not a mistake. You see, I’ve made this recipe twice now. The first time, I thought I could improve on things and peeled and seeded the tomatoes prior to cooking them down. However, without those bits, the finished jam was too sweet and entirely without texture. It needs the skin and seeds, to keep things interesting. Don’t take them out.
Ingredients
- 5 pounds tomatoes, finely chopped
- 3 1/2 cups sugar
- 8 tablespoons lime juice
- 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon red chili flakes
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a large, non-reactive pot. Bring to a boil and then reduce temperature to a simmer. Stirring regularly, simmer** the jam until it reduces to a sticky, jammy mess. This will take between 1 and 1 1/2 hours, depending on how high you keep your heat.
- When the jam has cooked down sufficiently, remove from heat and fill jars, leaving 1/4 inch of head space. Wipe rims, apply lids and twist on rings. Process in a boiling water canner for 20 minutes.
- When time is up, remove jars from water bath and allow them to cool. When jars are cool enough to handle, test seals. Store jars in a cool, dark place for up to one year.
Notes
*The finished yield on this recipe varies depending on the kind of tomato you use, the width of your pan and the finished thickness to which you cook it.
2010 yield: 4 1/2 pints; 2011 yield: 3 pints; 2012 yield: 2 1/2 pints
**In my kitchen, the word simmer means to cook just below a boil. There should still be a few bubbles, but it shouldn’t be splashing all over your cooktop. If you cook at lower temperatures, the cooking time will increase.
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This recipe sounds wonderful! I do have one question, though – - – any thoughts on cutting down the amount of sugar? Not only do I tend to like my tomato ‘stuff’ (ketchup, sauce, etc.) a little on the less sweet side, but I also try to stay away from sugar in my diet overall. Thanks!
I only had 2.5 cups and I wouldn’t add more actually. It has a nice sweet start and a spicy finish.
Thanks, Heather! I’m getting ready to make another (full) batch today.
Tried a small (small as in I only had 1 lb of tomatoes & they needed to find a purpose soon) batch of this last night and it is DELICIOUS! Aside from scaling down measurements, the only change I made was using brown sugar. After cooking down, it only filled one half-pint jar, so it’s obviously not going to be stored in the pantry, but rather in the fridge for the short time until it’s devoured.
Can’t wait until I have enough tomatoes to make a full batch so I can truly can some!
This is amazingly delicious! I don’t eat tomatoes, but this honestly transformed them into something totally different — like a mix between super rich BBQ sauce and pepper jelly. Can’t decide whether to give it to friends or horde it all myself, but it’s definitely going in my recipe file.
Hi,
I have my own garden and a huge blackberry patch. I live alone and a lot of stuff goes to waste (my relatives and friends have their own gardens also) so I’m going to make some of this jam–also the blueberry, peach and blackberry jams. But: since I don’t have a food scale and can’t afford to buy one right now, is there another method to determine the 5 lbs?
I also make lots of dilly beans every year–can’t have a sandwich without them! I do have a great recipe for those, from America’s Test Kitchens. Also, the BHG recipe for dill pickles turned out to be the best I ever made last year.
I’m happy that I found your site.
Thanks
Lynn, it’s about 12 cups of chopped tomatoes.
Thanks Marisa!
I am SO glad our garden runneth over in tomatoes this year!!! I was racking my brain to figure out what to do with them all when I stumbled upon your website. First I made the yellow tomato basil jam tediously chopping sweet yellow cherry tomatoes and, after tasting, it was worth every minute of the time spent. This past weekend, I made the tomato jam. My husband tried it on his pepperjack cheese while eating cheese and crackers….we also had it on our grilled burgers that evening. I plan to be very choosey as far as who I gift these delicious gems to! Thank you! I have bookmarked your site and plan to visit often!
This has been in my to-do file for almost 2 years, and I’m so sad that I’ve missed out on two years of this deliciousness! I’m eating it on a grilled cheese sandwich right now – holy yum! Thanks for the recipe!
I have a bunch of grape tomatoes to use and would love to try the tomato jam. Should I still use 5 pounds of them? If I have less, can I adjust the recipe accordingly? Thanks! Can’t wait to try it!
Karen, you can certainly adjust the recipe to use the number of grape tomatoes that you have.
This sounds wonderful. Anyone tried making a sugar free version? Would Splenda brown sugar work or does it need real sugar?
I have a double batch on the stove now. It has been cooking for five hours but my tomatoes were really juicy. I think it has about another hour to go-low and slow. The flavor is really delicious. I think I got carried away with the pepper flakes so if you don’t like heat you might want to adjust that. Thinking it would be delicious on cream cheese with crackers or even added to soups and stews to add a little zip and depth of flavor.
I made a batch of this jam last week, and we really like it. My daughter-in-law calls it “magical.” Anyway, I was wondering how long is it okay to use an open, refrigerated jar of this jam? Thanks!
It keeps in the fridge for many weeks.
I don’t have time to read over 200 comments, so I don’t know if anyone else has mentioned this, but if you really want to change your life – try adding some sweet smoked paprika to the recipe=) heaven!
Ack! I can’t believe I didn’t add some. Granted it has enough heat but we add that stuff to everything usually and it is always awesome! Thanks for the reminder!
I made this jam for the first time last night. I cooked the tomatoes mixture for 1 and a half hours. Maybe I should have cooked it longer, as mine is still a “little bit” runny, not totally a jam, but still thickened. I expect it is still okay to use. Also, I found it to be a bit sweet – with a “candied” tomato feel. I will try it will a cup less sugar next time. But, it is so delicious! Any thoughts?
With a jam like this, cooking times vary depending on the water content of the tomatoes. So it may have needed more time. And you can certainly reduce the amount of sugar if you want.
I just made this tonight and actually laughed out loud when I first tasted it, because it was that good. Quite spicy, though…which I’m attributing to the fact that I got my chili flakes at an Indian food market. Probably quite hot comparatively. Made about 3-3.5 pints; don’t think I’ll be giving any of these jars away!
It’s amazing how much variation there is in the heat of red chili flakes! So glad you like the jam, though!
[...] and star anise jam, a multi-colored plum jam (I bought 40 pounds of plum seconds last Saturday), tomato jam (the yield on this year’s batch was just 2 1/2 pints. It gets smaller every year!) and peach [...]
I’ve started this recipe and am down to the red chili flakes. Is that the same as crushed red pepper? If not I’ve got to get in the car and go to the supermarket.
Thanks in advance, thought I had everything.
Yes, the very same thing.
Hi, I just made this recipe today and it was excellent! I forgot to put in the ginger, but it still tasted great. I’m putting some up to give away as Christmas gifts. I’ll have to get your book, glad I found your blog!
I made this using purple cherry tomatoes from my garden and it was fabulous! As a first time canner I have found so much helpful information on your site. Thank you! Off to make another batch, this time with red tomatoes.
That’s the kind I used also. I think the purple ones are naturally sweeter so I used less sugar and am happy with that!
I made this last night and it is amazing!! I’m so glad I made this recipe. I ended up with 6 half pints and a little left over for the fridge. I will say that I had to cook it down for 3 hours – probably because all of the tomatoes that I had were big boy or another ‘non-roma’ tomato. But I plan to make this again because I want to give them out as gifts and I hate to give away all of this goodness!!
[...] Other great tomato recipes: BBQ Sauce, Ketchup, Tomato Paste, Pizza Sauce, and Tomato Jam [...]
I had an assortment of sungold cherry, yellow pear and black cherry tomatoes, and couldn’t consumer 5 pounds worth, so I tried this. I cooked and cooked, and though it still seemed soupy, I jarred and processed. The jars all sealed properly, but the mixture is not at all jammy. After cooling, when I tip the jars, the contents are still soupy.
Can I open the jars, put back in a pot and cook down some more, then re-process? I am hoping for something more jammy and less like a sweet salsa. Thanks very much for this and other recipes on your site!
Mine came out soupy as well… wondering if that is how it is suppose to be? It’s still yummy though
The cook time on this recipe is approximate. You should cook it to the finished texture described. If it’s still soupy, cook it longer!
If I made this without the chili flakes, would it be like the tomato preserves I remember my Mom making to be eaten on toast? Has anyone tried this?
Having not tried your mom’s tomato preserves, it’s hard to say. But maybe?
Just made 1/2 recipe with a mix of cherry and medium size tomatoes. It has set beautifully and the taste is out of this world. Awesome recipe…thanks.
Made the tomato jam yesterday and loving the flavor but next time I need to cut way back on the chili flakes. Alas, to much heat for my family.
I’m slightly bummed that mine didn’t turn into ‘jam’. Mines still a bit runny
I cooked it for almost 5 hours. It still filled 4 jars though. I love the taste of it. Next time should I just let it keep cooking?
Kristy, I cannot imagine how it’s still runny if you cooked it for almost five hours. Was it bubbling the whole time? Did you stir it regularly? And did you use the full amount of sugar the recipe called for?
I had the same experience when I made this last year – I had to cook for about 6-7 hours but I was using heirloom tomatoes which may have had higher water content. And my patience was rewarded with amazing jam!
I’m about to make a batch today, and am considering either using the crock pot as someone else suggested, or possibly adding some commercial pectin to help the jam set, though cooking it down via patience does really caramelize the sugars.
[...] I change a recipe in some way to adapt it to my needs. This one I kept exactly as is. It’s from Food in Jars, the websit I trust the most for canning. This woman is a canning [...]
Hey there! I’ve made this before, but I’m wondering if it would compromise the canability (that’s a word, right?) to add an onion, finely diced?
Yes. Don’t add onion.
I thought so. Thanks.
Hi Marisa-
What is the reason that onion should not be added? Does it change the PH?
Thanks- love your blog!
Susan
Yes, the onion will change the pH and could push it into an unsafe zone. Onions are very low in acid.
I love this recipe! I have made a ton of batches and given as gifts the past two years! I went paleo eating this year and wondered what the effects would be if I cut out the sugar and used honey and/or maple syrup?
Thanks! We love this on steak and roasts! Mmm!
You could try making it with two cups of honey in place of the sugar (honey is sweeter than sugar, so you need less). The flavor will be different, but I’m sure it will still be good.
[...] Tomato jam! [...]
I was making this last night (second year in a row, it’s so good!) but completely forgot to add lime juice. I didn’t realize my mistake until I put the jars into the canner. Once I did, I just threw them in the fridge and called it a night. Is it okay to re-heat the jam + lime juice now and then re-process?
I made this a couple weeks ago. I didn’t have any lime juice so I substituted apple cider vinegar. We just tried it on our hamburgers and it is delicious! Even my highly skeptical husband ( tomato jam… are you kidding?) had to admit he liked it and ate a second hamburger with it. Thank You for this recipe.
I just finished a batch and the inital taste is AWESOME.
Just have to add that it took much much longer than 1 1/2 hours to get the “sticky, jammy mess”. After the 90 minutes on a “simmer” I still had soup. I pushed up the heat to a light boil and just kept going till I got it reduced. I was using a large variety of smaller tomatoes so not sure if that makes a difference. And in the end I got only 2 pints out of my 5 lbs of tomatoes with a scant 1/2 cup left for the fridge.
I will do this again – probably before the season is done. I truly understand now why the release of commercial bottled ketcup in the late 1800s was such a big deal. Not that it is hard – just time consuming. But this homemade, grown-up version is sooooo much better.
Sheryl, a simmer *is* a light boil. Simmer means a just short of an active boil.
I’ve made probably 4 batches of this recipe now since I started last year and just NOW realized something – your yield says 4 – 5 pints. I have always gotten 4 *half* pints. I know you say yield will vary, but I’ve consistently gotten half of what you predict. If I stopped cooking at 4 pints I’d have barely even started cooking it, and my results wouldn’t be even remotely jammy, more soupy. The texture of my finished jam is sublime, perfectly spreadable with little tiny chunks of tomato in it. I also get a much lower yield when I make red onion relish. This is making me question what in the world is going on in my kitchen now! I’m also wondering if I should process my half pints for less than the 25 minutes that pints are to be processed at?
I made this today, but mistakenly processed my wide-mouth half-pint jars only 10 minutes in the boiling water canner. I was just now looking at the recipe again and see that they should have processed for 20 minutes. My jars all did seal – should I open them and reprocess, or will they be safe having processed for only 10 minutes?
They should be fine.
[...] Tomato Jam from Food in Jars [...]
This tomato jam is to die for! It is the perfect blending of flavors, and the slight heat from the pepper flakes make it all the better. I had to cook mine down for quite a long time. I used locally harvested slicing tomatoes at their peak, and there was quite a bit of water that cooked out. But, in the end, it came out to the perfect color, flavor, and viscosity. Thank you for sharing!!!!!
Hello!
I am, at this very moment, making your recipe for the 4th time this summer. I discovered very quickly I did not have time to play with this all day, so after the first time, I cut them up and let them cook down in a crock pot for, no kidding, about 18 hours until I could get back to them. Doing so allowed me to cut back on the sugar (like in half) while at the same time creating a dense, amazing sweetness that has jarred up really well. That also allows us to double the recipe and just let it cook down like crazy. I currently have 2 crock pots going and we’ll put it in jars tonight, so this batch will cook down for nearly 24 hours. If you have any concerns about safety with that, please let us know, but so far, so good. When we are ready to can, we put it in a big stock pot to get it boiling so we can hot pack it, then we adjust for taste and water bath can it.
We just bought about 12 lbs of seconds from our Amazing Amish Connection at one of the farmer’s markets and we started it last night. They’ve cooked down to half in the crock pot, whom we affectionately refer to as Mrs. Cleaver, and the whole house smells like an Italian restaurant. We’ve been pouring it over fresh chickens to bake down and mixing it with goat cheese for an amazing spread, among many other things.
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe, you are our hero!
Could you put in some garlic powder? I’d also like to be able to switch up the spices a little – using roasted fenugreek, fennel, cumin. Garlic powder wouldn’t change the acidity enough to count would it?
This is my first experience with tomato jam. After two hours it was still very soupy. So, I cranked up the heat a bit and continued to stir often. I then decided to go to my computer to make sure I had followed the instructions. That’s when the trouble started. I became so engrossed in the postings that the time got away. Within about 15-20 minutes my jam had reduced considerably and was starting to stick and burn! ARGHHH! I immediately reduced the heat a bit, and started stirring. Interestingly, it was thick and a beautiful, deep red. I tasted it and thankfully no burnt taste or bitterness. NOTE TO SELF: Stay focused, keep stirring, don’t leave cooking food unattended—duh! I ended up with 3.5 pint jars. I am very pleased with the final product and look forward to doing more canning. Next project: Fig preserves!
For what it’s worth:
1) I adore this recipe, and so did everyone I gave the results to last Christmas (after they got over their suspicion. I finally told people “treat it like fancy ketchup.”)
2) When I’ve made it, I’ve used brown sugar instead of white, and subbed half the lime juice for balsamic vinegar which preserves the acidity of the recipe but deepens the flavor along with the brown sugar.
3) Having made four batches now, I concur with others that I need much more cooking time. A single batch on my electric stove in a deep pot, at 4 or 5 on my burner knob (so medium or just shy of medium heat – a temp where there are very slow bubbles surfacing every so often but there is not a rolling boil and the bottom doesn’t scorch) needs 4-5 hours to cook down to a dark mess and thicken a bit, but even then it’s a bit thin. This time around I added 1.5 T pectin to help beef it up a little, and cooked it another couple of minutes before putting it in jars and water bath canning it.
4) I had no luck with the crock pot. Lid on doesn’t allow reduction of the liquid. Lid off doesn’t get hot enough even on 6 hour high. After the batch on my stove was done and canned (5+ hours) I transferred the batch in the crock onto the stove and needed at least 2 more hours at medium heat. It was still even soupier than the first batch so I added more pectin. It’s canning now.
Could I freeze this in Ziploc bags?
You could, though for freezing, plastic containers would probably be better than bags.
You are completely right – this jam changed my life
I adore it and have slathered it on everything. My favorite was with some simple crackers and herbed goat cheese. Heaven! Took 2+ hours to cook down to the right consistency though because the tomatoes I’m working with have quite a bit of water. I didn’t mind though because it made the house smell so wonderful!
I am going to make jam this weekend. I would like to add onion powder or minced onion and garlic powder. Will this change the ph? Should I can in the pressure cooker if it does make a change?
You should be able to add a small amount of onion and garlic powder without impacting the acidity.
I have made your Tomato Jam 3 times. Love it. Absolutely love it. I do have a question though…is it o.k. to double the recipe that is in your cookbook? I’d like to make more at one time if that is possible. I didn’t know if it would change the cooking time or ruin the recipe to do it. I have a big jam pot and thought I could easily fit a double batch in it. So, is it o.k.?
As long as you have a giant pot, it will be okay to double the batch.
Thank you Marissa. Yesterday, I picked 10+ pounds of potatoes (off of my 3 plants) and made the double batch of jam. It took longer to cook down but, the end result was fabulous. I love your recipe!
Made your yellow tomato basil jam last week… So yummy! Going to try this one next week, but am wondering why the processing time on the other is 10 minutes but this one is 20? Just curious. Also, since I don’t like things too spicy, I plan to cut the pepper flakes in half. Is there a point at which you recommend tasting the jam and then adjusting the amountt of pepper flakes if it needs more? Thank you!
Bobi, this tomato jam came to me from a friend and the 20 minute processing time was her call. It is quite dense, which does make me think that the longer processing time is warranted.
Thank you. It’s fantastic! I tasted the jam about half hour into the simmer and added a few more pepper flakes (started out at half). Simmering time for me was spot on at 1 1/2 hours.
This is a terrific recipe as written. I have made 56 half pints so far. I have two batches worth of tomatoes still on the kitchen counter. I use a mixture of heirlooms and romas from the farmer’s market.
Here is a recipe from American Spoon Food, an outstanding company in Petoskey, Michigan. It makes great use of tomato jam, and is even outstanding in winter, when the only tomato approaching good is a cherry or grape tomato from the supermarket.
http://www.spoon.com/recipe/?p=1297
Last summer I tried canning for the first time. Sweet hot pickles,dill pickles, dilly beans, honey apple ginger jam,tomatoes, Tomato sauce and…tomato jam. Ahhhhhh the tomato jam! I work At a Nursery and the Nursery manager had planted rows and rows of tomatoes in one of the empty fields (hense the first attempt at canning). We had crates and crates of tomatoes well into October. In my research to find out what the h*** to do with them all, I found your website…what?? No peeling, no de seeding? A gift from the fall harvest gods
. We made 34 pints, stopped giving them away by November…” Could I have another jar of that yummy tomato jam?” “oh how about some delicious dilly beans instead, we are getting a little low” trying agilely to block the pantry door where my only remaining 21 pints are kept.
As I dig into my 2012 tomatoes my strategic planning may exclude all other canned tomato products in order to reserve what I need to make enough tomato jam. Hmmmm enough tomato jam, is that possible? Thank you!!!
Wow, I am just making this now. I don’t know what it will tastes like, but it smells awesome!
[...] http://www.foodinjars.com/2010/09/tomato-jam/ [...]
Marisa – thanks for this recipe! I have a question…if I add finely chopped mixture of red/yellow/orange mini peppers (about 2 cups worth) & a few minced serrano peppers, can the rest of the recipe stay the same? Thanks!
Liz, you’d need to add a great deal more lime juice to the recipe to compensate for all those low acid peppers.
Thanks, Marisa! I will add much more lime juice.
I have become a bit concerned regarding mixing in the peppers. I’m thinking not! I’ll stick to Pepper Jelly. Your tomato jam recipe is delicious as is! Thanks again!
[...] for alternate ideas for canning tomatoes. There it was in all its glory – the recipe for tomato jam. At first I thought, “that sounds weird,” but the more I looked at it the more [...]