🍅🌱 Have you got more ripe tomatoes than you know what to do with? Grandma Sita has a delicious solution! This easy tomato jam is a wonderful way to use up ripe, seasonal tomatoes and turn them into something sweet, rich and full of flavour.
😋 Sweet, fruity and slightly tangy, homemade tomato jam is incredibly versatile. Spread it on toast, serve it with crackers, use it as a dip or pair it with savoury dishes for a delicious sweet-and-savoury contrast. It is a simple recipe that transforms everyday ingredients into something really special.
🍎🍋 This tomato jam combines ripe tomatoes with cooking apples, lemon and sugar. The apples add natural sweetness and help create a lovely jammy texture, while lemon zest and juice bring a little freshness and balance.
♻️ And, of course, Grandma Sita loves recipes that help us make the most of seasonal produce. If your garden is overflowing with tomatoes, your local market has a great harvest or you simply have a few ripe tomatoes that need using, this is a delicious way to give them a second life. So grab those ripe tomatoes and let’s turn them into a delicious homemade tomato jam — less waste, more flavour, the Grandma Sita way!
INGREDIENTS
750 g ripe red tomatoes
250 g cooking apples
1 lemon (approximately 50–60 g)
500 g sugar
METHOD
1. Prepare the fruit and vegetables. Wash the tomatoes and lemon thoroughly. Peel and cut the apples into small pieces. Cut the tomatoes into small pieces. Grate the lemon zest and squeeze the juice.
2. Combine the ingredients. Place the tomatoes, apples, lemon zest, lemon juice and sugar in a large, heavy-based saucepan.
3. Bring to the boil. Heat the mixture over a medium heat, stirring frequently, until it comes to the boil.
4. Cook the tomato jam. Reduce the heat and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until the mixture has thickened and reached a rich, jam-like consistency. Take your time — the mixture needs to cook down so that excess liquid evaporates and the flavours become concentrated.
5. Check the consistency. The tomato jam should be thick enough to spread easily rather than run like a sauce. Remember that it will thicken a little more as it cools.
6. Cool and store. Remove the saucepan from the heat and leave the tomato jam to cool to room temperature. Transfer it to a clean jar, seal and store in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.
7. Serve and enjoy! Spread your homemade tomato jam on toast or crackers, serve it as a dip or pair it with your favourite savoury dishes. A delicious way to make the most of ripe tomatoes — the Grandma Sita way!
🧓🏻💚 Grandma Sita’s tips
- 🍅 Choose ripe tomatoes: This recipe is perfect for tomatoes that are beautifully ripe and full of flavour. Slightly overripe tomatoes can also work well, as long as they are still fresh and free from mould or signs of spoilage.
- 🍎 Use up those cooking apples: Apples that are starting to lose their freshness can be perfect for cooking. Check them carefully, remove any damaged areas and use them while they are still suitable for eating.
- 🍋 Don’t waste the lemon: This recipe uses both the zest and juice, helping you get more from the whole lemon. If you have extra lemon zest, you can freeze it for another recipe.
- 🥄 Be patient: The secret to a lovely tomato jam is allowing the mixture to cook down slowly. Stir regularly, particularly towards the end of cooking, when the jam becomes thicker and can stick more easily to the bottom of the pan.
- 🍅 Store tomatoes wisely: Whole ripe tomatoes are generally best kept at room temperature and away from direct sunlight until they are ready to use. If tomatoes become very ripe and you need to keep them for a little longer, refrigeration can help extend their life.
- ❄️ Freeze ripe tomatoes: If you have more tomatoes than you can use, freezing is another simple option. Tomatoes can be frozen whole, sliced, chopped or puréed. Keep in mind that freezing changes their texture, so thawed tomatoes are best used in cooked dishes rather than salads or sandwiches.
- 🫙 Keep the jam refrigerated: This homemade tomato jam is a refrigerated preserve rather than a shelf-stable preserve. Keep it in the fridge and use it within 10 days, as stated in the recipe.
📗 Did you know?
🍊 So, is tomato jam actually a marmalade? The word marmalade traditionally refers to a fruit preserve made with citrus fruit, especially where the peel is cooked with sugar. Tomato jam is more accurately described as a jam or fruit-and-vegetable preserve, although tomato marmalade is also a name sometimes used for this style of recipe.
🍅 Tomatoes are botanically a fruit. Although we commonly use tomatoes in savoury cooking, botanically they are fruits because they develop from the flower of the tomato plant and contain seeds.
🌎 Tomatoes have travelled a long way. They originated in western South America and were later introduced to Europe, where they gradually became an important ingredient in many Mediterranean cuisines.
🍎 Apples can help create a lovely jammy texture. Cooking apples are naturally rich in pectin, a substance found in many fruits that helps jams and preserves thicken. That makes apples a useful ingredient when creating homemade preserves.
🗑️ A little food-waste fact
🌎 Fruit and vegetables are particularly vulnerable to food loss. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), fruits and vegetables accounted for 25.4% of global food loss in 2023, the highest rate among the commodity groups measured. Their high perishability makes careful storage and timely use especially important.
🍅 That is one reason recipes like tomato jam can be so useful. When you have ripe tomatoes that need using, turning them into a cooked preserve gives them another delicious purpose instead of allowing them to be forgotten.
♻️ Small kitchen habits can make a difference. Plan meals around the fresh ingredients you already have, freeze what you cannot use in time and look for recipes that help you transform ripe or leftover produce into something new.
💚 At Grandma Sita, we believe that reducing food waste starts with looking at ingredients differently. A few ripe tomatoes do not have to be the end of the story — they can be the beginning of something delicious.
♻️ Make the most of tomato season!
🍅🌱 Tomato season is the perfect time to get creative in the kitchen. When tomatoes are plentiful, enjoy them fresh, roast them, blend them into sauces and soups, freeze them for later or turn them into this delicious homemade tomato jam.
🍎🍋 With a few simple ingredients, ripe tomatoes can become a sweet and tangy preserve that lasts longer than the fresh fruit itself. It is a lovely way to enjoy the flavours of summer beyond the harvest. So, before those tomatoes are forgotten in the fruit bowl or garden basket, give them a second chance. Cook, preserve, share and waste less — the Grandma Sita way!