This tomato jam (use any tomato variety you have on hand!) is one of the most popular recipes I’ve ever published. I can’t even take credit for it, the recipe came to me from a friend! It’s better than the most delicious ketchup you’ve ever tasted. I’ve updated the photos, but the recipe is the same.
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 gave me a jar with the recipe attached, and I am 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 is life changing). I also love serving it with roasted root vegetables like sweet potatoes and carrots.
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.
The first time I made a batch, I thought I could improve on things and peeled and seeded the tomatoes prior to cooking them down. However, without those bits, the finished tomato jam was too sweet and entirely without texture. It needs the skin and seeds. Don’t take them out.
A few things to know about this jam.
Don’t double the batch. This jam doesn’t use any additional pectin and so gets to the proper texture through reduction and sugar concentration. If you increase the batch size, the cooking time will greatly increase and it will be much harder to get to the proper texture before the bottom of the pot begins to burn.
Tomato choice matters. The yield of this jam can vary widely depending on the variety of tomato you use. Meaty tomatoes like paste, Roma, or San Marzano will produce a higher yield. Super watery tomatoes like heirloom slicers will produce a smaller yield. Any tomato can be used, but the yield can vary up to a full depending on your choice.
Wider pots are better. The more surface area you give the jam, the faster and more efficiently it will reduce. Stock pots are designed to prevent evaporation, so they aren’t the best choice for this recipe. A low, wide Dutch oven or soup pot is a better option.
Homemade Tomato Jam for Canning
Ingredients
- 5 pounds fresh tomatoes finely chopped
- 3 1/2 cups sugar
- 8 tablespoons bottled 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, cook at a low boiluntil 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.
Thanks. Much appreciated. I’m attending a canning swap and would rather not make anyone ill. 😉
Marisa, just wondering if the processing time is the same for a half pint jar?
Yes. Processing times never go down for smaller jars. They only go up for larger ones.
I’m really looking forward to making this recipe, but was just wondering do you still process it for 20 minutes if you use 1/2pt jars? I’m on the newer side to canning, but I love it and want to make sure that I don’t mess anything up. Thanks!
Thank you so much for this recipe! It was a struggle while this was cooking to not want to just eat it up! I think I’ll have to make another batch and gift it for Christmas. I’m looking forward to a very snazzy grilled cheese for lunch I think!
Can you chop the tomatoes using a food processer or blender? Can you use commercially prepared key lime juice? Thank you so much. Mimi
It’s best not to use a food processor or blender for this, because they tend to mash and tear the tomatoes. You want to start with chunks, not a puree. It’s fine to use bottled lime juice.
I’m not Marisa but my 2 cents based on last year’s experience is that it works fine in a food processor. I did it this way. I was just careful not to overprocess and I was very happy with the finished product.
Do you really need to process in water bath fro 20 minutes? Thanks Mimi
Because of its density, yes.
Hi-looking forward to making this. Do you think it could be frozen in jars rather than giving a water bath? Perhaps not as long a shelf life? Texture change? Thoughts?
Thank you. Kate
I’ve never frozen it, so I don’t know. I only can it.
This looks delicious! Do you weight for 5 pounds after or before coring? I have five pounds tomatoes AFTER coring and chopping, which seems like a lot. Hmm. Thank you!
When recipes ask for weight, it’s always the starting weight, before you core, peel and chop.
I think that it depends on the wording.
“Five pounds tomatoes, cored and finely chopped”
would mean something different to me than
“Five pounds cored and finely chopped tomatoes”
I would translate the first as meaning “start with five pounds and then core and chop” and the second as “core and chop, then weigh out amount”
It would be clearer if there were measurements for how much chopped tomato you end up (cups or weight) with rather than the starting weight of the tomatoes. How much five pounds of tomatoes ends up to be depends on what kind of tomatoes, what size, how aggressively you trim vs. how I do it, etc. Those differences translate to a different finished product.
That said, this is one of my all time favorite recipes. I made three batches last year and am all set to make the first double batch of the year. Thank you so much for this (and many other recipes!)
I am getting ready to make this for the first time. Do you strain the juice before you cook the batch? Do you strain it at all?
Nope, no need to strain.
“WOW!” Is that my family said about the tomato jam. I made it exactly to your recipe. I cooked it for 1 1/2 hrs. and was a nice “preserve” constancy. I ended up with 5, 1/2 pint jars. After picking 5 lbs from our garden I ended up with a combination of tomatoes ranging from heirloom to cherry, red, yellow & green. I read some where that green (under ripe) tomatoes have more pectin. Next time I will use more green to hopefully cut down on the reduction/cooking time to have more of this tomato treasure.
Again, thanks for this site.
I love the flavor of this recipe, but having trouble with the consistency. I’ve tried it twice now without the ingredients simmering down to a ‘sticky and jammy mess.’ Instead after 1.5 hours simmering the tomatoes maintain a sauce like consistency. Given, after placing a jar in the fridge it became a teeny, tiny bit more jam like but not enough to be spreadable. Again, I love the flavor, I just need it to jam!
Any thoughts?
Jennifer
Jennifer, it sounds like you need to cook it more. Your idea of a simmer might be slightly different from mine, so you might not be cooking it as high as I do. Essentially, with this recipe, you just keep cooking until you reach the desired texture. One and a half hours is just a suggestion.
I was told this was not an approved canning recipe, due to the unknown pH. I canned a 1/2 batch and thought with all that lime juice it’d be safe? This one has me baffled.
I made it with the crockpot and love it! I used up cherry tomatoes and even though I’m not a ketchup fan, this stuff is really good!
Sorry, I didn’t see the post above mine.
I’m an experienced canner, and was not worried till someone brought it up.
Joyce, this recipe is totally fine as far as acidity goes. Tomatoes are acidified at the rate of 1 tablespoon of lemon/lime juice per pint jar. This recipe has 8 tablespoons in it and yields no more than 5 pints. That’s more acid than is required for safety. I don’t know who told you it was unsafe, but it sounds like they’re just trying to make trouble.
Thank you both so much for the input. I miss-worded my post. I was referring to using fresh lemon or lime juice which was said to have a variety (un-stable) of pH levels. The Ag. Dept. stressed on using bottled lemon juice or the dry citric acid that is at a (controlled) constant level of the recommended pH level. If fresh lemon or lime juice is used then use a pressure canner and process at 10 lbs. for 15 minutes (high elevations). I assume that tomato’s are on the cusp of the low acid scale.
I have this on the stove now, which tastes and smells sooooo good. Thank you for your site.
Dorothy
I was reading a post from the Dept of Ag. In the section regarding canning tomato’s they were firm that citric acid or bottled lemon juice be used to be sure that the acid pH level was correct. They were also stressing that it be processed at 240 degrees to kill any possible toxins. I am new to canning! Any input? I just want to keep my family okay. We live in a very hot area and want to store this for the winter.
Thanks…. Dorothy
Dorothy, if you don’t add acid to your tomatoes, they do need to be processed at 240 degrees (ie. in a pressure canner). However, if you properly acidify your tomatoes, they can safely be canned in a boiling water bath canner. Because this jam contains lime juice, it is considered properly acidified and so is perfectly safe as written.
Yummy! Love this slathered over avocado slices with a sprinkle of tangy farm cheese, and sometimes I wrap this up in a tortilla for lunch. Also a wonderful glaze for grilling chicken breasts.
2 more questions….. Can I use powdered ginger, and do you think this would cook down in a crock pot?
You could use powdered ginger, though it won’t give you the kick that you can get from the fresh stuff. And I’m not sure how it would do in a crock pot. It would probably take 4-6 hours to get to a finished consistency. That’s just a guess, though. I’ve always made this one on the stove top so I don’t know for sure.
Do you think that this recipe would work with Splenda instead of sugar?
Probably not. This jam needs the sugar to help it develop its finished consistency.
This recipe was WAY TOO SALTY for me….. 1 teaspoon of salt would probably be more like it……
I find that 1 tablespoon of salt is the right amount for me. However, every palate is different. Sorry that you’re disappointed.
I just came back by because I’m getting ready to make this year’s batch of this. Or I should say, batches, as judging from the popularity of last year’s, one batch simply will NOT be enough. Thanks again for sharing, it’s now one of the top recipes for canning that I have!!!
I had enough tomatoes for 3 batches of jam (this after I made a big pot of marinara sauce), so I got to test what would gel and what wouldn’t, and two different flavor variations.
I had a mix of overripe and underripe tomatoes, so had plenty of juice. I didn’t think to strain it for the first batch but did for the combined 2nd and 3rd, so that last batch jammed up nicely while the first I added a little pectin to it out of worry. I flavored one batch according to this recipe (minus the chili), and the other was spicy with the pepper flakes, horseradish, and mustard seed. I’ll be curious to see which I like more. The sweeter one on bread just now didn’t taste like tomato at all to me, which almost was a disappointment, but I’ve also never had tomato jam before.
I have a batch of this just finishing up and I am about to can it. This stuff is amazing!!!!
We are down to our last jar and I was just looking at this recipe again while making my spreadsheet for preserves for next summer. 🙂 I think this may well have been our favorite preserve last year. So good!
This is amazing on a sandwich with bacon and lettuce. A BLT in the wintertime!!
That sounds really good!
This is the best tomato jam I have had – spicey and sweet! Thank you again for your recipes, I am really enjoying your site!
I have been making tomato jam for a few years. As with most jams, results are variable according to the type of fruit used and–sometimes important to success–its ripeness. That perfectly ripe or overripe fruit of any variety sometimes fails to gel because the pectin is too low. I usually try to use about 25% underripe fruit and that usually insures gelling and decreases the cooking time which also helps preserve that fresh flavor. So, try to think about making your jam early in the season when pectin content is higher even though it’s tempting to use up late season fruit by making jam. (Not that it won’t work with late season…I’m just sayin’.)
I enjoy Tomato Jam made with cherry tomatoes–just cut each one in half rather than chopping and proceed with the recipe. A few underripe ones will help with gelling, as will addition of the lime juice called for in the recipe. Cherry tomatoes are usually very juicy, not like the plum types, and so may take a bit longer cooking. Their skins provide a chew that I really enjoy. I like to add a few very thin slices of lime in addition to the juice.
Seasonings: To me, the salt and the pepper flakes detract from the sweet jammy impression that I love. Suit yourself (as I know you will). I like to use a spice bag with whole cloves and stick cinnamon, which gives a beautiful clarity to the jam. Also try using orange juice plus rind/slices for a different flavor. If you have those short (1″) cinnamon sticks, put one in each jar for flavor and loveliness–nice for gifting.
Can’t believe you’re still with me here! Thanks for reading….
Yes, unripe fruit helps jams “set”! Thanks for reminding me– just picked a few unripe tomatoes from the garden & threw them into the pot!
Making this Tomato Jam a second time. First batch was awesome and almost gone so in the midst of setting up for the next batch. Thanks so much for the recipe. Yummmm
This is amazing on sourdough with leftover turkey and gorgonzola!!
Seriously…WOW! I am processing this delicious recipe right now. I did add a hint of allspice to the mix instead of the ginger and used lemon juice instead of the lime (simply because I didn’t have any ginger or lime juice in the house). And I can’t get enough. Can’t wait to open it up for leftover turkey sandwiches this weekend. Yum. Thank you for sharing.
Have this on the stove right now- tastes amazing!
Whoo….that’s ‘picy! Great recipe 🙂
Quick update on the jam. Forgot to pick up some fresh ginger so I substituted with pickled ginger I had on hand. I think it’s a winner…but, will know for sure in an hour or so. Smells delicious!
Thanks again for sharing.
Marisa,
Just found your site…yum! This is the first year I’ve really gotten serious about preserving food. I can tell I’ll be visiting here often…wonderful!
I’m getting 75 pounds of Romas on Saturday and plan to turn some of them into this jam recipe. I’m thinking it would be a delicious filling for a baked brie for the holidays.
Thanks for the terrific ideas!
Best,
Michelle
This tomato jam is THE BOMB. I made two batches before the local tomatoes went out of season and I fear I don’t have enough put up to last through the winter. This jam makes me smile; will give some as Christmas gifts, but not too many. Thanks so much for this great recipe and a fabulous blog.
I just want to say that I made this a couple of months ago and I am going to have to make more already. It is so good, especially on fish. I just hope I get enough tomatoes from the garden before the season ends! Great on sandwiches, too. I know I should make ketchup for my son instead, but heck, he’s only 8. He’ll be fine with Trader Joe’s. ;D
I was asked to pick my friend’s tomatoes while she was gone. The first picking I basically just ran around giving them all away. The next batch I decided to roast in the oven ( olive oil, dried basil, onions, sea salt and pepper) and we have been eating it as spaghetti sauce….and I made tomato soup from part of it. I had already made two sheet trays which made 8 cups of sauce. Yesterday most of the remaining tomatoes seemed to have reddened up ready to work with. I put them in the oven to roast and then found your recipe for jam, and decided to give it a try as I didn’t want to go through the whole deskinning, and ricing to get out the seeds. It was late, but I just added in some things. I rarely follow recipes, but use them as an inspiration. I didn’t have lime juice but found some sour orange in a bottle. I have no idea why I have that, but I used that, and a little lemon juice, some cinnamon, and the minced ginger ( which is weird , it was the first time I had ever bought a stub of ginger and had not used it and didn’t have a plan for it. I had been at the store and thought “why have I never bought fresh ginger?” ) Anyway, I added in brown sugar and some white sugar. Then I just mixed it up and stuck it in the frig. This morning I melted some cheese toast on homemade bread in the skillet with some olive oil…and then dumped some of this mix on it. Heavenly. I was a little worried about the onions and basil but they are a great addition. Just makes it a little savory. I think I will just go and dump it in the crockpot and let it cook down and see if I can find some jars. I don’t think it will make very much. I will probably just put it in the frig or maybe even just freeze a little jar…Now I am pretty excited to go pick my friend’s tomatoes one more time before she gets back! I will make sure to give her a little jar too!
Do you think it would matter if I diced up the green tomatoes and just added them in as well? There were a few that I could tell were just going to totally split open before they ripened on the vine. I have been making fried green tomatoes with them.
Linda, the concoction you made sounds delicious, but since you didn’t add the lime juice (necessary acid) and added onions, it’s probably not safe for canning. When it comes to canning, it is important to follow recipes.
This recipe was amazing. Thanks for sharing and inspiring!
I had a couple pounds of tomatos gifted to me this week, so decided to try your tomato jam recipe. Yum, it really is life changing!!! Awesome by itself, even better with a little crumble on blue cheese on a water cracker!
Finally got into the tomato jam I’d made about a month ago, and it is AMAZING! May never eat a turkey sandwich without it ever again – thanks so much for sharing this fabulous recipe! Yum, yum, yum.
Just made this tonight. Started with 5 lbs of very ripe cherry toms that I just cut in half. It took about 2 hours to cook down to 3 pints. As someone else said, the color is fabulous. Taste is like an incredibly rich ketchup. I used lemon instead of limes since there’s a ready source of lemons in the neighborhood.
This is excellent! And much easier than tomato sauce or ketchup, since the peels and seeds stay in. I’m glad you cross-referenced the recipe in your tomato post this year, since I’d missed it the first time around. I cut the sugar down to 2 cups (used brown sugar for a deeper flavor), and it was nice and jammy after about an hour. Made 6 half-pints. Thanks for a great addition to my tomato canning season.
3.5 pints in the canner! This stuff is awesome! A tad on the sweet side, and plenty of heat. 🙂 Thank you for the great recipe!!!!!
I’ve made two batches of this jam, and it is really good. On the second batch, cut the sugar by 1/2 cup, and only used 1/2 tsp. chili flakes. Took longer to cook down, about two hours, but the flavor is still great. The tomato mix was about 1/2 Romas, and 1/2 heirlooms, and some from my friends garden that looked like cherry tomatoes on steroids. Will do this again next year. Thanks so much for the great recipes you give us!
Marisa- I just made this and it is absolutely the best thing I have ever canned. I want to just go at it with a spoon. And the color is amazing!
I have to update my above comment. I tasted this again after it has cooled off the next morning, and the result was SUPERB! I served it during supper that day, and my husband, who is not a fan of tomatoes (raw or cooked), loved it, even plain. I also asked my SIL to taste it and see if she can market it. She never liked cooked tomatoes until she tried this tomato jam, and yes she thinks she can market it (she supplies the small stores in this area). So, thanks a bunch for this recipe!
A hint? We took the lid off of our crock pot and let it simmer and have a bit of the fluid evaporated and we got a very thick product. Amazing what the stick blender does for it!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. It was just what I needed to use up the final few tomatoes from this year’s garden – these were small little guys, and I wasn’t looking forward to trying to peel and seed them. It took several hours to reduce down to jam consistency, and my yield was 5 half pints. The taste is amazing, and this will become a regular in my canning repertoire!
Just finished canning a batch of this! Heavenly! We got 4.5 half pints, FYI.
Finally, finally made this stuff. It never “jammed” up for me though. I let it sit for 24 hours in a crock pot and it was still kind of runny. It did turn into a lovely dark red and still had fantastic flavor. I put it in my Vitamix and pureed it. So now I have a wonderful, unique BBQ sauce that will still make great Christmas gifts. I really wanted the jam but I guess I can mix some sauce into whipped cream cheese and make a yummy spread? Thanks, Marisa.
Sorry to hear that it didn’t jam for you! Mixing it into cream cheese sounds delicious!
i’m on hour 3 of simmering this jam (eeps!). i used around 5 pounds of brandywine heirlooms. should i bring the whole thing to a hard boil again or just let it simmer forever until it looks all jammy?
Kyna, I’m afraid I’m replying too late to be helpful. But essentially, the trick with this jam is just to cook the liquid out. So whether you do it at a hard boil or a slow simmer, the end effect should be the same.
Hello main blog person!
I just found this recipe and am going to try it… I had a question, though, about the amount of sugar called for. that seems like a lot! I never use that much sugar in any of my other jam recipes. How sweet is the tomato jam and have you tried using less sugar or pectin? Thanks!
-mothling.
I have not made this jam with less sugar than the recipe calls for. Because this jam doesn’t have any additional pectin, it needs the presence of the sugar to help it set. For more information about reducing sugar, read this post: https://foodinjars.com.s164546.gridserver.com/arugulapesto/2010/12/canning-101-how-to-can-creatively-and-still-be-safe/
New to canning, Uh-Oh???
I have a batch of tomato jam simmering on the stove as I type, but now I’m wondering whether I’m in trouble… or not…
I used 5 lbs of chopped tomatoes. These are heirlooms*, subjected to a dry summer followed by drenching from (2) tropical storms, so I removed a good deal of cracking and scarring. Is the 5 lbs called for in your recipe before or after prep? If before, is my 5 lb batch now too low on acid to be safe and shelf stable?
(*Using Aunt Ruby’s German Green, may not be pretty but they’re what’s in my garden right now and I’m thinking they’ll give a nice ‘smokey’ nuance to the jam.)
Somebody asked me on fb if I had a recipe for tomato jam (I posted on my wall that I was not yet done canning tomatoes. Of course, I did not, but the Q triggered me to search for several. I chose to try this recipe. I was able to make 7 half-pint jars from this recipe. While the taste was not what I expected, it definitely was very good, albeit a bit too salty for me, but then if I will use this for something like a glaze for ham or a roast beef, maybe it will be just fine.
I probably will make some more tomorrow and use more sugar, less salt. Then I can imagine using it on crackers with some cream cheese.
So excited, I made this tonight and the flavor is amazing! In Portland, Or out tomatoes are just now in full swing. I am pretty new to canning. I decreased the water bath time because I used 4 oz jars. This was based on somethings I read on other websites as well as food in jars. The jars sealed, do you think they are safe to store?
Love your website!!!!
Alisa, the rule of thumb is that you don’t reduce the processing time for small jars, you only increase it for larger jars. It takes 10 minutes in a boiling water bath for something to become sterile, and if you didn’t start with sterilized jars, you’ve got to give them that 10 minutes to ensure that any microorganisms are killed. However, if your jars were boiled for at least ten minutes before you filled them, you should be fine.