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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Just made my first batch today! My jars are “bathing” now, as the jars cool will it set up a little more? Or should I dump back in pan and cook longer and/or add pectin?
It will thicken some as the jars cool. However, if you’re unhappy with the texture, you can always cook it longer.
Thanks for great recipes for Juliet tomatoes. The recipe for tomato jam says to finely chop 5 lbs. of tomatoes. Do Juliet tomatoes also need to be finely chopped and if so, what would be the best method since these tomatoes are quite small? I can’t wait to give this recipe a try!
For Juliet tomatoes, I think the easiest thing to do would be to simply cut them into quarters.
Loved this recipe! Had a huge glut of cherry tomatoes and they worked great for this. I chose to cook it in the oven using a casserole dish, uncovered. I put it in about 9pm at about 200 degrees and let it go overnight, and most of the next day as well. It reduced well and kept the mess to a minimum!
I made a half batch of this today and am amazed at how deliciously amazing this is. I tried it off the wooden spoon and then immediately grabbed a piece of soft cheese to plop some on. Wowsers! Thank you for this recipe!
hi, my mom and i are making up some tomato jam right now! and we wanted to know if you included any of the tomato peels in your jam. also, did you ever add pectin if it didn’t gel up? thanks
Yes, leave the peels in. I always specify in the recipe if peeling is necessary. And I never add pectin to this jam. I rely on the process of cooking down to develop the right texture.
I made this recipe last week with my mother in law and we were both surprised at how delicious it was. We cooked it for a long while but the thermometer refused to come up to 220 degrees and it just wasn’t thickening up, so I added a few spoonfuls of low sugar pectin (about 4 tablespoons) and kept cooking until the freezer plate test worked. Worked great! Brought it in to work and people’s expressions of surprise have been so funny – everyone has liked it. I am serving it on saltines with a cream cheese based herbal dip and a dollop of the jam. I can definitely see it being really good on something like a turkey sandwich. Thanks for sharing so freely on your blog!!!
I am new to your site….we live at roughly 4700+ feet in altitude, so for other canning, I’ve always had to add 10 minutes to the processing time. I assume the same is true for your recipes here? Although this recipe is similar, and it only requires 10 minutes processing time. So hmmm. http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_07/spiced_tomato_jam.html
Ariana, if you live above 1,000 feet in elevation, you always have to adjust your processing times. Because I live at sea level, I often forget to remind people of that. Here’s a post I wrote about it: http://www.foodinjars.com/2012/02/canning-101-on-adjusting-for-altitude/
And the processing time on this recipe is 20 minutes because the end product is quite thick. However, since the NCHFP says that could keep it shorter for their recipe, chances are it would be fine to cut this one back as well. I was just being cautious.
[...] was originally inspired by Marisa McClellan’s post at Food in Jars. While reading that recipe earlier this summer, images quickly formed of delicious tomatoes, [...]
I just made a triple batch the other day, I have it in the fridge waiting to finish. My question is, if my jam seems watery should I add pectin ? I cooked it on the stove for a few hours and put it in the crockpot over night, and it still isn’t a jammy consistency. Would adding more sugar be a solution ?
Thanks !
It sounds like it just needs more cooking. You really need to cook it to the point where it’s just under a boil. It should be 205-210 degrees. Little bubbles, stirring frequently, to cook the water out.
Sara, it also thickens a bit upon cooling. I had the same concern!
Delicious! I just finished making a double batch with Juliet tomatoes; I quartered them and chopped some smaller. Consensus: quartering would be plenty sufficient. This jam is subtle but bold, delicate flavors juxtaposed against strong aromatics – in a word, sublime!! Thanks, Marisa … I was so excited to not have to peel ten pounds of Juliet tomatoes with this blessed recipe – and I love your blogs and beautiful photography!!
[...] Jam adapted from Food in Jars 5 pounds good ripe tomatoes, cored and coarsely [...]
Hi there! I can’t wait to try this. I have tons of grape tomatoes that are frozen. How should I prepare them? Defrost and a quick run through a blender? I am not too keen the idea of trying to chop them all up. Thanks!
Hannah, since they’re frozen, they’ll probably break down upon defrosting enough that you can make the jam with them with no additional chopping.
Okay, great! Thanks so much!!! Looking forward to my weekend project.
[...] s1.parentNode.insertBefore(s, s1); })(); My introduction to tomato jam came from the amazing site, Food in Jars. Marisa is an inspiration to this entire community and her recipe is somewhat legendary within [...]
I made this at the reccomendation of my sister-in law. Holy crap is it good. Next time you make chili put about 1/4 of tomato jam in it. Huge difference my best pot of chilit yet.
Love the slight heat at the end. I did the simmering today and will can tomorrow. Thank for a great recipe
I was surprised just how good this recipe is…. I was skeptical on the sound of it, but is turned out awesome. When I was having trouble with it thickening, I just added a little more sugar, and it set up perfect. I am making my second batch right now, the first batch was with the seeds, and skin, the second I used a food mill and am trying to have it turn out like a jelly. I put it on a Wheat Thin Cracker, with cream cheese..YUM. Thanks for the great recipe.
Just made this for the first time using cherry tomatoes, yummy! Can’t wait to use it on meatloaf.
[...] Adapted from Food in Jars [...]
First of all, I love your site (& have put your book on my wish list)!
I have just finished making a batch of your tomato jam. I absolutely love it – I’m already envisioning a round of Brie smothered in the jam baked inside puff pastry… My husband found it too sweet. My ‘long story short’ question is can you reduce the amount of sugar in the jam without messing it up?
You can reduce the sugar a bit, but sugar does play a role in its finished consistency, so you don’t want to pull it back too much.
We are in the process of simmering and we are on hour 4. Just wondering what we can do to speed up the cook down process?! Also would straining the chopped tomatoes before hand help?
It sounds like you’re not cooking it quite high enough. Crank the heat to cook faster.
I’m a huge fan of this recipe. It’s now a pantry staple – thankyou! I’m about to inundated with a pre-frost harvest of green tomatoes here in the midwest. Have you ever adapted it for greens? Is the acidity in green tomatoes different (which would mean I’d need to adjust the acid levels?). Much appreciate any thoughts…(and I’ll let you know how it works out!)
How did it turn out? I just picked a few pounds of green tomatoes before the upcoming frost and have made this jam using red ones. Crossing my fingers that you had good luck!
[...] and plum butter, with the assistance of a handy slow cooker. But, my hands-down favorite was the tomato jam recipe, found by my lovely friend, Traci Greenwood, who happens to be the wife of Executive Chef Bill [...]
Aha, so that’s what we did wrong….we were processing 20 lbs of tomatoes (for various uses) and skinned/seeded them all before we started making jam. Next time we’ll just chop and go! Our jam, despite 2 hrs of simmering, was runny. Also we used honey and sugar (much less than the NY Times/Melissa Clark recipe called for), and I think the honey flavor was too strong.
Thanks! Love this site!
Could I substitute a different sweetener for the sugar? Is it safe to can with less sugar? Also, would it be safe to use fresh hot peppers instead of chili flakes?
No, you can’t use a different sweetener, because you need the chemical reaction that sugar provides. You can safely reduce the sugar, but you don’t want to cut it back too drastically. And if you’re going to use fresh pepper, you can’t use much.
I made tomato jam about 4 weeks ago and love this recipe! However, I did not water bath mine, the lids are sealed and they have been stored in a cool dark place. Would it be safe to water bath them now? I would hate to have to throw it all out, but I would hate to get sick or worse, worse…
Thanks!
I have a bunch of grape tomatoes to preserve. My question is, can this be stored as freezer jam? And if so how long would it last? I have no canning equipment or experience. I did make two batches of freezer strawberry jam this summer, though! Thanks!
i made a batch yesterday and stuck it in the fridge overnight-do i need to bring to room temp or anything before i go ahead with the water bath? thanks!
OMG!!! Just put it in the jars. A bit of heaven. I used my grape tomatoes. I had a moment when it began to darken…I was almost going to grab my stick blender and smooth it out a bit…sooooo glad I didn’t. It is awesome.
Thank you…Thank you.
[...] in Jars: When it comes to my own pantry, I always make sure to have a couple jars of Tomato Jam on hand and Apricot Butter. Both are things that aren’t easy to come by at the grocery store and [...]
[...] Tomato jam with cream cheese on toast is a fabulous way to start your day. Recipe compliments of Food in Jars, my new favorite canning [...]
Can you use fresh lime juice or does it need to be the concentrated juice out of the bottle? thanks for the wonderful recipe!
Normally when it comes to tomatoes, you want to use the bottled juice because of its consistency acidity. However, with this recipe, I’ve includes more than double the amount of lime juice necessary for safety, so you can use fresh and not worry if the fresh lime juice happens to be slightly lower in acidity than the bottled version.
Marissa, is this a recipe that can be doubled or even tripled in the pan? It’s so, so good, but it’s hard to be able to make only four half pints (if I’m lucky!) at a time. I’m wondering also about adding some garlic or onions: we found some onions in the soil (planted by a colleague) when pulling all the tomato plants out.
Thanks!
So I tried the Tomato Jam Recipe – and I made the fatal mistake of running to town for a few items while it cooked……I came home and it had stuck and looked like it was burnt. Tasting it it doesn’t taste burnt but taste really strong and concentrated. So question for everyone is – do I make another batch and incorporate this one into it to “thin it” or do I can this little bit knowing I only use a teaspoon of the stuff on anything…Help!
[...] Tomato Jam [...]
YUM! This recipe is fantastic! I will be making more of this to use up the remaining tomatoes in the garden. I was worried that some of my tomatoes were to ‘orange’ but after cooking the jam is still a deep beautiful red and tastes delicious! I have a new baby so I couldn’t dedicate 1.5 hours of stirring and attention so I reduced my jam in a crock pot with the lid askew (no chance of burning). I left it on low overnight, and will crank it on high for a few more hours this morning so it thickens to my liking. I will also give it one final boil on the stove as an extra food safety measure before canning.
Thanks for the recipe!!
I just made this jam and it’s in jars and one has already “popped”! I got four half pints out of the 5 pounds of tomatoes and I had no problem at all with it thickening – I just followed Marissa’s definition of simmering being at a very low boil. The recipe called for lime juice so I squeezed fresh limes; it did not occur to me that the acidity in bottled lime juice would be different. I had no fresh ginger so I simply left that out and it tastes quite yummy regardless. This was SUPER easy to make and I recommend it for someone who is not used to making jam or canning anything as a first try. I’m going to put this on veggie burgers, and brie or cream cheese as a dip. I’m sure roasted potatoes would enjoy this topping as well….and scrambled eggs. Anything that you would put ketchup on or chili sauce would be good, I’m sure. Thank you for a great recipe!
I usually just top my jams with wax. Would this work on the tomato jam?
Kelly, that method for sealing is not recommended anymore.
Thanks again for the recipe. The jars I shared at the canning swap were a hit. Mentioned you in my post & linked back to the recipe.
http://myediblejourney.com/2012/10/02/canning-swap/
Can you use ground ginger in place of the grated?if so what measurement would you recomend?
Rachel, I actually don’t recommend that swap. The flavor won’t be nearly as intense.
My husband and I are on a quest to reduce the sugar and eliminate the grains in our diet. I wanted to make this, but I couldn’t add that much sugar. So, I used half the recommended amount of sugar, but I did it with a half sugar/half splenda mixture and 1/4 c of honey swirled in near the end. Then I doubled this recipe (WE LOVE TOMATO JAM) otherwise. I added two tbsp of smoked paprika (remember this was a double batch) and subbed half of the lime juice with balsamic vinegar. I initially started the jam on the stove until the liquid was cooked down by 1/4, then it all went in the crock pot on high overnight and on low during the next day. I elevated the crockpot lid with a couple of wooden spoons so it could reduce, retain heat and not spatter.
This is so versatile and delicious…we love it on cooked turkey and chicken, salmon, cheeses, you name it, it’s delish!
Hi,
Just googled tomato jam and found your site. I am a big fan of slow roasting
tomatoes but thought having a jar of jam would be nice, too. I am not a person
who does ‘jam’ so I am unfamiliar with the ‘bathing’ part.
So, if I do not do this process:
How long would a jar last in the fidge?
Can a jar be frozen till ready for use.
Marisa,
Thanks for the wonderful recipe-served it at book club with soft goat cheese, brie and crackers and it was a huge hit. I was very dubious about using this recipe initially but I have several varieties of cherry tomatoes that I needed to use. This was a great site for preserving these tomatoes instead of having them go to waste. Thanks again for the wonderful recipe and site!
[...] Anyway, since no new written post is imminent, I thought I could at least provide you all a few pretty pictures. In keeping with the theme of the last post, here are a few shots of my efforts to keep the harvest. Tomato jam, made primarily from cherry tomatoes, getting ready to be canned. This is a mix of sweet and spicy, though much heavier on the sweet than the spicy. I made two batches—the first was even sweeter than the second. I prefer the second. It’s pretty fantastic on a grilled cheese sandwich. The recipe came from Food In Jars. [...]
Thanks SO much for this recipe. I’ve just learned to can in the last few months. This is BY FAR the best jelly I’ve made! Thanks again!
Thanks for sharing. A few questions from a newbie:
1. What size pot did you use? I am trying to figure out what size I may need to buy.
2. Can you use early girl tomatoes?
1. I tend to use a wide, 8 quart pan to cook this jam in. You want something that is wide, low, and non-reactive (meaning, it’s made from bare cast iron or bare aluminum).
2. You can certain use early girls.
One thing to bear in mind about early girls, though, is their thicker skins (especially if you’re using dry-farmed ones). I split 50/50 momotaros and early girls and I still felt like I was happier fishing out a few skins towards the end.
PS, Marisa, I’m Stephanie’s (grubreport) friend who asked about canning whole tomatoes in pints. Thanks for the advice – worked perfectly!
Hello Fatemeh! Thanks so much for weighing in on the Early Girl issue! And I’m so glad to hear that my advice was helpful!
Hi, I made this recipe a few weeks ago and I love it! Jam, brie, and Arugula sandwiches are delicious. Anyway, I don’t have a food scale, and I picked the last of my tomatoes from my garden, but I am not sure how much it is. About how many cups are in 5lbs? I am using juliet tomatoes (last time I approximated 2 cups per pound).
I typically estimate 2 cups per pound as well.
Thank you so much for this recipe! It is fantastic. I put it in a provolone grilled cheese the other day… yum. Some of the jam oozed out of the sandwich and onto the pan and it got all thick and sticky and caramelized- it was like tomato candy. In a good way!
Thanks again!
I made my first batch last night, and it was amazing! I can’t wait to put it on a grilled cheese, or really just open up a jar and eat it straight. It may be served with brie and crackers tomorrow night too. And perhaps over eggs tomorrow morning…
Had Tomato Jam at the Z Cafe here in Pleasanton, CA it was so good in my sandwich, came home that day and saw all my tomatoes on my plant and now I’ve made 3 batches of it. I keep giving it away so everyone can try it. X-mas gifts here we go. Thanks!!
Am making this for the first time, first time jam ever actually, and am wondering if I simmer covered or uncovered? In the process now so am going to try uncovered but let me know for next time!
Thanks:)
Jam is always cooked uncovered.
[...] adapted slightly from Food in Jars [...]