Summer Tomato Jam bottles up the all the delicious flavor of ripe summer tomatoes so you can enjoy it year-round.

It’s delicious on a cracker with cheese, slathered onto a burger, or by the spoonful!

Do you remember the recipe that made you fall in love with cooking? When my friend Colleen asked me that question, it took me about two seconds to answer. This tomato jam, from The Little House Cookbook, is the first truly spectacular thing I ever made.

I still remember the day my mom and I made it. It was the summer before I started fourth grade and it was probably right around this time of year, when our garden was giving us more tomatoes than we could eat. We picked some tomatoes that were still green and fried them, then we preserved some of the ripest ones by making tomato jam.

I gave a jar of it to my teacher for Christmas that winter. When we came back from break, she told the entire class how amazing it was and how she had already finished the whole jar. Being the super shy kid that I was, I was humiliated. When she pointed out that my face was turning the same color as the jam I wanted to crawl under my desk and disappear.

I won’t lie – I might have cried.

But secretly, I loved that she loved it. I already loved to cook, but that was the moment when I fell in love with cooking for other people. Making something that would make them smile. Or something that would remind them of summer in the middle of a very, very long winter.

Tomatoes probably aren’t the first thing that come to mind when you think about jam, but they work beautifully. It’s sticky and sweet, with a super concentrated tomato flavor. And no, it doesn’t taste a thing like ketchup. It has all of the bright summer tomato flavor that tomatoes you can buy in the winter lack.

Once you taste it, you’ll find a million ways to use this jam. I love it on crackers (with or without a little goat cheese), spread on a grilled cheese sandwich (try it mozzarella and pesto for a wintertime caprese), on burgers. Mixed with a little cumin, it also makes a fantastic chutney-like accompaniment to chicken breast or fish.

Summer Tomato Jam

Yield: 2

Cook Time: 1 hour

If canning makes you nervous, you can also keep this jam in the refrigerator (or freeze it for long term storage).

Ingredients

2 pounds ripe tomatoes
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger (I like roasted ground ginger)
4 half-pint jars, sterilized

Instructions

Add the tomatoes to a blender or food processor. Pulse several times to crush the tomatoes.
Transfer the tomato puree to a medium skillet set over medium heat. Stir in the brown sugar, lemon zest and juice, and ground ginger. Cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture is thick and jammy – this will take about an hour. (To test, dip a cool, metal spoon into the jam. It should slide of the spoon in a thick sheet – not in watery droplets.)
Ladle the jam into the jars. Store in the refrigerator. Alternately, wipe the rims and seal in a hot water bath for 20 minutes. The jam is delicious right away, but tastes even better after a few weeks.

Notes

Adapted from The Little House Cookbook: Frontier Foods from Laura Ingalls Wilder's Classic Stories.

Nutrition Information

Amount Per ServingCalories 504 Total Fat 1g Saturated Fat 0g Cholesterol 0mg Sodium 54mg Fiber 0g Sugar 118g Protein 4g

Comments

Phyllis says
02/19 at 12:44 pm
I made this jam last September with tomatoes from my garden. It’s fantastic! Served it with goat cheese and crackers at a meeting and my friends went crazy for it! If I use 4 ounce jars, should I process for 10 minutes instead of 20, since they’re smaller?
Priscilla says
09/04 at 2:14 pm
I want the recipe for tomato jam please.
Thank you
Gaia says
09/03 at 8:41 am
Interesting comments…nice that the reply’s to questions are right here, following the question. Thanks. Many years ago I made Tomato Jam…I was so impressed with it, it left a lingering memory with me.
While I pickle and preserve other things, I never did the Tom. Jam again..
With a surplus of red tomatoes this year…I WILL MAKE THIS TOMATO JAM RECIPE TODAY… YOUR WEB SITE INSPIRED ME THANKS.
Julie says
08/31 at 5:47 pm
Greetings!
I am going to make your tomato jam. However, I’m curious, is the ground ginger called for in your recipe the fresh ginger or is it the ground dried ginger?
Thanks!
- Lauren Keating says
  09/03 at 10:08 pm
  dried!
Cassie Gibietis says
08/14 at 4:56 pm
I just canned this, and it is DELICIOUS! If you are on the fence about it, get down and make it right now! I used up all my end of season tomatoes and canned four pints. I processed it for 35 minutes to accommodate for using full pints rather than half pints. Thank you for this recipe!
Lisa says
08/12 at 2:42 pm
Tomatoes have taken over the kitchen, so I doubled the recipe. It took a good two hours to cook down to the correct thickness. This was my first experience with tomato jam, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was wonderful straight out of the pot, but even better later on. I can’t wait to try it on grilled cheese! I canned 8 small jars, so there will be plenty!
Nicole says
07/15 at 9:25 pm
Do you have to can it? I never canned before. But would love to try this. How long you think it would last if not canned?
- Lauren Keating says
  08/26 at 8:38 pm
  nope! you can keep it in the refrigerator for about a week.
- Dawn says
  09/03 at 11:05 am
  Or you can put it in freezer bags for longer storage. I’ve done that, also.
Karen Flamard says
01/29 at 11:21 am
I made this jam a few months ago at the end of Jersey tomato season. It lasted a long time and is wonderful as a sandwich spread. I plan on making and canning batches this summer as plan ahead Christmas gifts. I’m sure it will be a big hit!
Jill Roberts @ WellnessGeeky says
12/21 at 9:10 am
I finally got to make this summer tomato jam this past weekend and it was such a hit!! I used your suggestion and used 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger.

« Older Comments