A Simple Recipe for Tomato Jam - California Grown (2024)

FAQs

What is tomato jam made of? ›

Combine tomatoes, sugar, lemon juice, ginger, red pepper flakes, salt, cinnamon, and cumin in a large, heavy-bottomed pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Reduce heat and simmer until mixture reaches a thick, jam-like consistency, about 2 1/2 hours.

Simmer the jam until thickened, about 2 hours.

Reduce the heat to medium and gently boil, stirring occasionally, until thick and jammy, about 2 hours.

Serve with crusty bread for an appetizer your guests will beg you to make again and again. You can also enjoy it as a sandwich spread, toast topping, or even stirred into pasta salad. Need a quick vinaigrette? Blend it with equal parts olive oil and vinegar!

The process requires just 20 minutes of preparation and four basic ingredients: fruit, sugar, salt, and lemon juice (though you can use lime juice, as well). Stone fruits like apricots or peaches are a classic choice, but berries and cherries are equally tasty.

Pectin, naturally found in fruit is vital to make your jam set. With low-pectin fruits like strawberries, help them along by either mixing with pectin-rich fruit like gooseberries or by using jam sugar (with added pectin and citric acid).

How Long Unopened Jams and Jellies Last. According to the USDA, an unopened jar of jam or jelly can be stored in the pantry for up to 12 months. This long shelf-life is due to the sugar content in the product, which acts like a preservative, says Lee.

You need sugar for the kind of gooey, sticky quality we associate with jam; otherwise, all you're producing is a tomato sauce, no matter how different the flavor is from the classic. Once you add that sugar, however, you need acid, because even though tomatoes are plenty acidic, they can't counter all that sugar.

If you are looking for a non-red paste variety, try Italian Gold which is a compact pear shaped tomato that contains higher pectin making it great for canning or freezing. Other popular paste tomato varieties for canning are Hogheart, Granadero, Opalka, Oxheart, and Roman Candle.

Lemon is crucial to balancing those sweet flavors, but it also helps the pectin to firm up the jam. It can be added at the start of the cooking process or towards the end, but what must be taken into account is that adding liquids to the jam mixture will inevitably require the jam to cook for longer.

The jam must then be cooked over high heat in order to evaporate the water as quickly as possible and harness the power of the natural pectin. (Cooking time can vary, depending on a fruit's water content, but once it's at a rolling boil, expect to cook it for at least 40 to 50 minutes.

What is the ratio of sugar to fruit when making jam? ›

Over-ripe or damaged fruit is not ideal - the jam will not set well and is likely to deteriorate rapidly. The amount of sugar you need to make jam depends on the amount of pectin in your chosen fruit, but generally the fruit-to-sugar ratio for traditional jams is 1:1 (ie. 450g/1lb sugar to 450g/1lb fruit).

Tomato jam (or tomato jelly, jamato) is a type of fruit preserve prepared with tomatoes and sugar. Tomato jam. Melba toast topped with goat cheese and tomato jam. Alternative names. Tomato jelly.

Benefits of tomato jam

On the other hand, tomato jam is rich in magnesium and potassium, as well as vitamins B, C and A, which is why it helps protect the immune system, as well as being a great ally in skin and eye care.

The main difference between chutneys and jam is that jam is sweet while chutney is savory. Chutneys can be made with sweet ingredients like fruits, but the fresh or dried spices and vinegar turn the condiment into something zingy and fragrant.

Rinse whatever fruit you want to use, then chop it up and crush it with a spoon. Mix it with lemon juice and butter in a saucepan, then bring it to a boil. Add sugar and let the mixture simmer for 5-20 minutes, until it's syrupy. Ladle the jam into jars, then seal and boil the jars in a large stock pot for 10 minutes.