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.
This looks DELISH. Come August, I will have access to some of the best tomatoes in country, and will be making a batch or two. But a couple of questions . . . I plan to gift several jars, and while I love spicy foods, I wonder if others might find it too “hot?” Also, can this recipe be doubled? Has anyone cooked this using a crockpot? Thank you so much!
I don’t find it too spicy but you can always adjust the spice level down if you’re cooking for folks with sensitive palates. I do not recommend doubling the recipe or cooking it in a crock pot, because this recipe thickens through reduction. If you double it, it’s hard to cook it down sufficiently before the bottom starts to scorch. And a slow cooker doesn’t get it to a high enough temperature to cook down efficiently.
Hello! A friend gave us a jar of your tomato jam at Christmas, and now my husband wants to make it! It isn’t tomato season and he’d like to use our frozen tomatoes from last year’s harvest.
Do we need to thaw the tomatoes then chop up? If we thaw them, do we get rid of the extra liquid? If we chop up the frozen tomatoes, I assume that the cooking time will take longer because of the “extra” liquid from freezing. Any advice would be helpful.
Sounds like a crockpot would work if we keep the cover off for the liquid to escape.
Thank you!
If I were making tomato jam with frozen tomatoes, I would put them in frozen with all the other ingredients (water and all) and start cooking it (you want the acid and flavor that the watery liquid contains). The tomatoes should break down pretty readily as they thaw and cook. Then, use an immersion blender towards the end of cooking to get a texture you like. I don’t recommend a crockpot for this recipe because you need a pretty hard boil to get the right finished texture.
SAFE CANNING QUESTION. Hello, I made your orange tomato jam on Friday. I was hoping to make this one with some heat and saw someone had added chipotle pepper in adobo. I would LOVE that. Would it alter the PH too much to add one pepper with the adobo sauce?
I would not add a chipotle in adobo to that jam without adding some additional acid in the form of vinegar or lemon juice.
It is smelling soooo good as I near the end of the cook.
I reduced the recipe by 1/5 as I only had 4 lbs of tomatoes to use. Took a bit of math but I did reduce the sugar and lime juice accordingly.
I’m wondering if the jam sets at all once it is jarred and sealed??
This preserve doesn’t really set. It gets thicker thanks to evaporation, but you won’t get a true set. Just a thick, spreadable preserve.
Can I use frozen tomatoes?
Yes, though the yield might be a little lower.
What started out a few years ago as a way to use up the stragglers in my garden has turned into a regular item on my rotation. I make multiple batches each year to make sure I have enough to give away and still have a few jars to enjoy myself.
I’m so happy to hear it!