Tomato Jam Recipes & Kiddie Tomato Theives
We three different tomato jam recipes for you below in the recipe box. You can customize your own spices and make your own original version! These recipes and stories were originally published in 2009. They’re oldies but goodies! We love seeing how much the kids have grown. Sierra isn’t with us anymore but she’s always with us in spirit. Sierra died in 2020.
Tomato Jam Recipes
Explosions of vibrant colored tomatoes are making waves at farmers markets right now. For those lucky gardeners who didn’t get hit with tomato viruses, bugs or late blight, they’re probably tomatoes coming out of their ears.
We’ve had 50/50 luck this year with our tomatoes, which is utterly confusing. Those that did well are putting out tomatoes faster than we can collect and the ones that didn’t do well tanked desperately to a pile of brown dead leaves. Let’s hope we can figure out our tomato plight for next year because having 9 tomato plants die within 2 weeks is the biggest blow to any gardeners ego. It’s definitely humbling.
But for the other 8 plants that did thrive past any diseases, we’ve decided to extend the bounty and make big batches of tomato jam!
Preserving Summer Tomatoes
Tomato jam/jellies/preserves are a delicious, perfectly sweet and versatile. Perfect for Summer’s abundance of tomatoes. It can be used as a spread on crusty bread or sandwiches, as a nice topping on grilled dishes and a perfect accompaniment to just about anything on your table. Tomato jam can be really addicting and before you realize it, you’ll be adding it to so many dishes to remind you of summer’s tomato glory.
So why not treat it like a sweet fruit and make it into a jam, jelly or preserve? Try it. If you love tomatoes, you’ll love this. Promise! And don’t forget the peanut butter and tomato jam sandwich!
Kiddies Stealing Tomatoes – It’s a good thing!
We hosted a big garden party a few weeks ago for Todd’s Aikido Dojo. It was a family affair with children running all about and enjoying the open and secret hiding places in our garden. All was great fun with the bubbles, hide-and-seek games and toys, but when they asked for a plastic bags, we were suspicious, cautious and a little scared.
“Why do you want plastic bags for?” we asked with nervous anxiety. “What are you going to do with the bags?” (we might not have kids of our own, but we know when there’s trouble lurking behind those innocent questions!)
“We’re gonna pick fruit!” they squealed as they grabbed the bags and scurried out the kitchen like a pack of excited puppies. We both looked at each other, puzzled at the “pick fruit” part because most of the fruit we have are growing on trees, which are much taller than the 3-4 feet that they are able to reach.
Oh no, trouble. So we ran behind them, scared to think of what terror they would be inflicting onto our poor fruit trees, our own babies. When we caught up to them in our tomato patch, we were SHOCKED at what we saw! These little critters were picking our cherry tomatoes and eating them like they were candy! “We love this fruit!” they screamed as they were stuffing their adorable faces with plump orange Sun Gold tomatoes and Cherry Red tomatoes.
Kiddie tomato stealers & Sierra Doggie tomato KILLER!
Why was it a shock? It was surprising because first of all, they called tomatoes correctly as “fruit” and they were eating them like they were pieces of chocolate truffles. Before we knew it, they’re cute little faces were dripping with tiny tomatoes seeds and their little hands were red with fresh squished tomato juice.
It proves once again that a fresh tomato off the vine is sweet fruit and is truly Nature’s candy that kids of all ages swoon over. And try these tomato jam recipes in a grilled sandwich!
-Diane & Todd
Three Tomato Jam Recipes
Ingredients
Sweet n' Spicy Tomato Jam Recipe
- 1 lb (454 g) Tomatoes , roughly cut (some varieties may need to be peeled)
- 1/2 cup (110 g) Brown Sugar
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) minced fresh chilies or to personal taste (Serrano, Thai chilies, jalapeno, habanero, etc.)
- 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 ml) ground Cinnamon , preferably Vietnamese Cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 ml) ground Cloves
- 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) White Vinegar , or more depending on how tangy you want it
- 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) fresh Lemon Juice
Tomato Jam w/ Ginger Recipe
- 1 lb (454 g) Tomatoes , roughly cut (some varieties may need to be peeled)
- 1/2 cup (110 g) Brown Sugar
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) grated or finely minced fresh Ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 ml) ground Cinnamon , preferably Vietnamese Cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 ml) ground Cloves
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) Apple Cider Vinegar , or more depending on how tangy you want it
- 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) fresh Lime Juice
Tomato & Thyme Jam Recipe
- 1 lb (454 g) Tomatoes , roughly cut (some varieties may need to be peeled)
- 1/2 cup (110 g) Brown Sugar
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) finely minced fresh Thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 ml) ground Cinnamon , preferably Vietnamese Cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 ml) ground Clove
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) Balsamic Vinegar , or more depending on how tangy you want it
- 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) fresh Lemon juice
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients from your jam of choice in a saucepan, then simmer over med-low heat. Stir occasionally and gently.
- Simmer about 30 minutes, stirring occasional and gently. Cook until the mixture thickens to a jam-like consistency. Timing will vary depending on how watery the tomatoes are.
- Set aside to cool and store in the fridge to keep for a couple weeks. Or for longer term storage, put jam into sterilized jars and can in a water bath (cover lidded canning jars with water about 1" above jars & simmer for about 15 min.)
I have a question –
all the tomato jam/ jelly recipes I have seen use pectin to jell the mixture for canning – yet these recipes (look GREAT by the way) do not?
TY Pam
Hi Pam,
We didn’t need any pectin with our tomatoes. Maybe if you tomatoes which are really watery or if you’d prefer the tomato jam to be more thickly jelled, using pectin would be a good solution. We liked the consistency we were able to get without the pectin, so stuck with that.
Thanks for the sweet compliments!
T & D
Wow, those tomatoes are gorgeous. I hardly see different kind of tomatoes in the Philippines. You have such a great blog with gorgeous photos. Regards, Divina
Better child thieves than greyhounds! When my Stupice tomatoes were just becoming pink, they started disappearing. I blamed it on the local wild bird population. Then one early morning while I stood there gazing out the window waiting for our newly adopted racing greyhound to take care of her business I learned who was stealing my tomatoes afterall! There she was, delicately plucking the under ripe fruit off the staked plant with her long snout in the greenery. Bird netting has stopped her forays, I give her one for dinner every night. Thanks for the recipes, I’m gettin’ out the canning pot.
Our munchkin loves the cherry tomatoes, calling them “teeny teeny maters!” My great grandmother used to make tomato jam, and I’ve forgotten how much I loved it. Thanks for the recipes!
wow, your crop looks absolutely amazing! and those romas are downright cute 🙂
Growing up, we would put sugar on our sliced tomatoes! This jam sounds wonderful. IF my tomatoes turn red before the first frost hits, I will definitely try this recipe. Still being stubborn about buying any tomatoes…but I might just have to break down and visit the farmer’s market. *sigh* Gardening in Wisconsin bites, lol.
A naturally sweet post!
And darling photos.
LL
I’ve never had tomato jam or preserved 🙂 Interesting to find an application where a tomato is treated as it is- a fruit. And its great that the kids got to pick them and gobble them up fresh!
The photos this week are extra AMAZING!
The tomato and thyme jam sounds great. I might try and make some with basil as well.
Like you guys, I had so-so luck with my tomato plants this year. Some were beautiful and some withered and died. Near the end, some of my tomatoes got “sunburned” and looked really ugly, so all I could do was peel them.
What a great use for excess tomatoes. I’m guessing that the jams can be frozen as well as canned.
I’ve never canned before, but your recipes sound delicious and I’ve got lots of tomatoes. Your post makes canning sound easy. I’m hoping I think so too. Thanks.
oh good god.
I love every photograph. I want to dive into those warm tones and just bathe in them.
(hm. that sounds a little weird. but I think you’ll understand.)
I am so envious of your garden and fresh sun ripened tomatoes. These jams look like a great way to keep a little summer for later when you need some sunshine!
I am going with it was a bad year. I had problems with 1/3 of my tomato plants and it was a nasty case of early blight. I finally had to rip the infected ones out because they were starting to infect the healthy ones. Everything I have read keeps mentioning the cause was a cool wet summer here which is prefect nasty disease growing weather.
Like you though the ones that are producing I can’t begin to keep up with. Every night I am grabbing a colander full of tomatoes and shoving them in the fridge. Canning is definitely on the list but right now I am in caprese salad and tart heaven.
What a wonderful coincidence! Love the cute kid pictures. 🙂