Homemade Green Tomato Jam Recipe

Name: Green Tomato Jam
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 800 min
Ingredients: 3 1/3 pounds (1.5 kilograms) green tomatoes; 1 lemon; 1 pound (450 grams) sugar

Prep: 20 mins

Cook: 60 mins

Inactive time: 12 hrs

Total: 13 hrs 20 mins

Servings: 96 servings

Yield: 3 pints

32 ratings

Write a Review

Add a comment

In the American tradition, green tomatoes are at best fried, and at worse composted. But this ignores their potential. Tomatoes are fruit, after all, and therefore can be made into preserves. Unripe green tomatoes lack the foxy flavor of their mature counterparts but do have a brisk acidity and a vegetal quality that plays nicely as a jam.

This recipe comes from Marzia Brigante, who teaches preserving classes in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. It's simple but can be a real eye-opener. These preserves work well with cheese, as nearly all fruit preserves do, but run just savory enough that they can be used as a condiment like chutney. The fruit is the star here, in all its unsweet glory.

3 1/3 pounds green tomatoes
1 lemon
1 pound sugar

Gather the ingredients.
Wash green tomatoes and pat dry. Remove core. Chop tomatoes into small pieces, removing seeds. Place tomato pieces in a large, nonreactive pot with a heavy bottom.
Zest lemon and keep zest refrigerated in a small bowl with a small amount of lemon juice to keep it hydrated. Add sugar and juice of half the lemon to tomatoes. Toss and leave in refrigerator, covered, to macerate overnight.
By the next morning, tomatoes should have given off a fair amount of liquid. Place pot over medium-high heat, and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally to avoid scorching. Lower heat to a low boil, and cook for about an hour, again stirring occasionally.
When mixture pulls away from pan when stirred, remove from heat. Add lemon zest. With an immersion blender, purée mixture thoroughly. Alternatively, use a regular blender, working in batches.
Pour jam into clean jars, and allow to cool to room temperature. Seal and store in refrigerator for up to three weeks, or in freezer for up to three months.

Tips

The green tomatoes used in this case are unripe standard red tomatoes, like beefsteak. While you could use tomatoes that are green when ripe, like Green Zebra or tomatillos, which are related to tomatoes but a different fruit, the result will be different.
Because the acidity of tomatoes is highly variable, even when unripe, this recipe is not recommended for water bath canning. Keep this fresh and use quickly, or freeze it for the long haul.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
25	Calories
0g	Fat
6g	Carbs
0g	Protein

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 96
Amount per serving
Calories	25
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g	0%
Saturated Fat 0g	0%
Cholesterol 0mg	0%
Sodium 2mg	0%
Total Carbohydrate 6g	2%
Dietary Fiber 0g	1%
Total Sugars 6g
Protein 0g
Vitamin C 8mg	41%
Calcium 4mg	0%
Iron 0mg	1%
Potassium 45mg	1%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.