By late summer a good Scottish greenhouse or polytunnel can ripen tomatoes faster than anyone can eat them, and the bowl on the windowsill never seems to empty. This red tomato chutney is a tested recipe that cooks ripe tomatoes down with apple, onion, green pepper and golden raisins into a dark, spiced chutney. A short boiling-water bath at the end seals the jars for the cupboard.
- Makes
- about 3.3 to 3.8 litres (seven or eight 475ml jars)
- Cooking time
- about 1 hour boiling gently, then 10 minutes in a boiling-water bath (15 minutes above about 300m)
- Ready to eat
- after at least a few weeks, ideally around two months
- Keeps
- around a year unopened in a cool, dark cupboard
- In season
- late summer and autumn, while the greenhouse crop ripens
Ingredients
- 2.8 litres ripe tomatoes, skinned and chopped (about 2.7kg)
- 2.8 litres apples, peeled, cored and chopped (about 2.3kg)
- 475ml seedless golden (white) raisins
- 475ml onion, chopped
- 240ml green pepper, chopped
- 900g brown sugar
- 950ml white vinegar, 5% acidity
- 20ml (4 tsp) canning or pickling salt, or table salt (not flake salt)
- 5ml (1 tsp) ground ginger
- 60ml (4 tbsp) whole mixed pickling spice
Measure the chopped tomatoes and apples in a jug after preparing them; the weights are only a guide to how much whole fruit to pick.
Method
- Wash the tomatoes, dip them in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds until the skins split, then plunge them into cold water.
- Slip off the skins, cut out the cores and trim away any bruised or discoloured parts. Chop and measure 2.8 litres.
- Wash, peel and core the apples, remove the seeds, then chop and measure 2.8 litres.
- Tie the pickling spice loosely in a clean white cloth, such as a square of muslin, with string.
- Put everything else in a large pan, add the spice bag and bring to the boil.
- Boil gently, stirring often, until the chutney is thick and has cooked down to about half its starting volume. This takes about an hour.
- Meanwhile, wash jars that hold 475ml or less and keep them hot. Use new lids and prepare them following the maker's instructions.
- Half-fill a deep pan that has a rack in the base with water and heat it to about 82°C, hot but not boiling. This is the water bath.
- Lift out the spice bag. Fill the boiling-hot chutney into the hot jars, leaving about 1.25cm (½ inch) of space below the rim.
- Run a clean knife or skewer through each jar to release trapped air, top up if needed, wipe the rims with a clean damp cloth and put the lids on.
- Lower the jars into the water bath one at a time, keeping them upright. Pour boiling water around them, not onto them, until it is at least 2.5cm (1 inch) over the lids.
- Cover the pan and bring the water to a full boil. Only then start timing: 10 minutes, or 15 minutes if you live above about 300m (1,000ft), as some upland Scottish homes do. If the boil stops, bring it back and start the timing again from the beginning.
- Turn off the heat, take the lid off the pan and wait 5 minutes.
- Lift the jars out without tilting them onto a towel or rack, away from cold surfaces and draughts.
- Leave them undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours, then check every seal: press the middle of each lid. A sealed lid stays curved down slightly; if it springs back up when you let go, that jar hasn't sealed. Either keep an unsealed jar in the fridge and eat it within several days, or reprocess it within 24 hours with a new lid, for the same time.
- Label with the date and store in a cool, dark cupboard to mature.
Choosing tomatoes from a glut
Use firm, ripe tomatoes, free of disease. Bruised or discoloured patches can be trimmed out when you core the fruit, but leave out any tomato that has gone rotten or mouldy.
Late in the season, don't use fruit from plants that have died back or been killed by frost. First frosts arrive at very different times across Scotland, so check the frost dates for your area and pick the last ripe fruit before then. Whatever is still green when the plants finish can go into green tomato chutney instead. For clearing the plants at the end of the season, see the tomato growing guide and the September and October jobs.
For the apples, use fruit picked from the tree rather than windfalls. Dropped apples can carry a mould toxin, patulin, that cooking doesn't destroy and that you can't see, smell or taste. If the apple tree has cropped heavily too, the apple chutney recipe uses up more of it, and the apple growing guide covers when to pick.
Scaling to your harvest
The tomatoes and apples are measured by volume after chopping, so prepare the tomatoes first and see how much you have. If it falls short of 2.8 litres, make the half batch and scale every ingredient together.
| Ingredient | Full batch | Half batch |
|---|---|---|
| Chopped, skinned tomatoes | 2.8 litres (about 2.7kg) | 1.4 litres (about 1.35kg) |
| Chopped apples | 2.8 litres (about 2.3kg) | 1.4 litres (about 1.15kg) |
| Golden raisins | 475ml | 240ml |
| Chopped onion | 475ml | 240ml |
| Chopped green pepper | 240ml | 120ml |
| Brown sugar | 900g | 450g |
| White vinegar (5%) | 950ml | 475ml |
| Salt | 20ml (4 tsp) | 10ml (2 tsp) |
| Ground ginger | 5ml (1 tsp) | 2.5ml (½ tsp) |
| Whole mixed pickling spice | 60ml (4 tbsp) | 30ml (2 tbsp) |
| Makes | about 3.3 to 3.8 litres | about 1.7 to 1.9 litres |
Don't add extra tomatoes to the same vinegar, which weakens the acid, and don't swap other vegetables in, because that changes the acid balance too. The reasons are set out in more detail in mixing fruit and veg in preserves.
Knowing when it's done
The test is volume, not time. Before it comes to the boil, note how high the mixture sits in the pan. The chutney is done when it has thickened and dropped to about half that level. The hour is only a guide: very ripe, juicy tomatoes carry more water and can take longer to cook down.
A big pan of thickening chutney catches easily on the base. Stir often, and more often towards the end. If it starts to stick, turn the heat down rather than adding water, which would change the proportions.
Why the vinegar and sugar stay as written
The vinegar is what keeps this chutney safe at room temperature. Its acid stops harmful bacteria, moulds and yeasts, and it has to reach a minimum, even level right through the mixture to prevent the bacteria that cause botulism. Never cut the vinegar or sugar. Use white or cider vinegar labelled 5% acidity. A vinegar with no stated acidity isn't suitable.
Jars, lids and the water bath
Use jars of 475ml or smaller. The common 500ml jar is slightly too big for the processing time given here. Because the filled jars are boiled for 10 minutes, clean hot jars are enough; sterilising them first does no harm. Discard any cracked or chipped jar. Never reuse lids. Always use new lids with the coating on the inside intact: vinegar corrodes bare metal, and a scratch from a metal tool lets it through. Which jars and lids suit a vinegar preserve is covered in jars for preserving, and water-bath canning basics goes through the bath step by step.
Many UK chutney recipes skip the bath and rely on hot chutney sealing itself in sterilised jars. Without the bath this recipe has no tested keeping time, so keep hot-filled jars in the fridge and eat them soon.
Storing, and when to throw it out
| Stage | Where | How long |
|---|---|---|
| Maturing | Cool, dark, dry cupboard | At least a few weeks, ideally around two months |
| Unopened | Cool, dark, dry cupboard | Around a year |
| Opened | Fridge | Use within a few weeks to a month or two |
Throw the whole jar away if it shows mould or smells fermented, yeasty or of alcohol. Don't scrape off the top. Do the same if the lid has pitted right through. Chutney that darkens in the jar has usually had too much air left in it, so leave only about 1.25cm of space next time. More on shelf life is in how long preserves keep.
Common questions
Can I use cherry tomatoes?
Any ripe, sound tomatoes can be used, as long as they're skinned, chopped and measured to the same volume. Small fruit simply take longer to skin.
Can I use cider vinegar instead of white?
Yes. Cider vinegar of 5% acidity suits pickling as well as white, though it changes the flavour and colour. Check the label says 5% and keep the quantity the same. Malt vinegar isn't covered by this recipe, so keep to white or cider, and never use a vinegar whose strength isn't stated.
Do I need a proper canner for the water bath?
No. Any pan deep enough to hold the jars upright on a rack, with at least 2.5cm of water over the lids and room to boil, will do.
Can I skip skinning the tomatoes?
No, skin them. A quick dip in boiling water, then cold, loosens the skins in under a minute.
Sources
Show the 17 sources
- Recipe proportions based on: National Center for Home Food Preservation (University of Georgia), Tomato-Apple Chutney, adapted from So Easy to Preserve, 5th ed. 2006, revised by Elizabeth L. Andress and Judy A. Harrison: all ingredient quantities and yield; washing and skinning tomatoes; paring and coring apples; spices in a clean white cloth; boil gently with frequent stirring until thickened and reduced about half (about 1 hour); hot pint jars; ½ inch headspace, air bubbles, wiping rims; boiling-water processing, hot pack, pints, 10 min at 0 to 1,000 ft, 15 min at 1,001 to 6,000 ft
- Crushed Tomatoes (with no added liquid) (National Center for Home Food Preservation): dip in boiling water 30 to 60 seconds until skins split, then cold water, slip off skins, remove cores, trim bruised or discoloured portions
- Canning Tomatoes: Introduction (National Center for Home Food Preservation): select disease-free, firm fruit; don't use tomatoes from dead or frost-killed vines
- Harvesting and using fallen apples and pears (University of Minnesota Extension, Annalisa Hultberg): dropped apples not recommended for canning; patulin heat-stable and undetectable
- Using Boiling Water Canners (National Center for Home Food Preservation): preheat to 180°F (82°C) for hot-packed jars; rack; load jars upright; boiling water poured around jars to at least 1 inch over; time from a vigorous boil; restart timing if the boil stops; heat off, lid off, wait 5 minutes; lift without tilting onto towel or rack, away from cold surfaces and draughts; cool 12 to 24 hours; unsealed jars to the fridge and use first
- Cooling Jars and Testing Jar Seals (National Center for Home Food Preservation): press the middle of the lid; a sealed lid is concave, an unsealed one springs up; unsealed jars refrigerated and eaten within several days
- Sterilization of Empty Jars (National Center for Home Food Preservation): pre-sterilising needed only when processing time is under 10 minutes
- General Information on Pickling (National Center for Home Food Preservation): white distilled and cider vinegars of 5% acidity; don't alter vinegar, food or water proportions; no vinegar of unknown acidity; minimum, uniform acid level to prevent botulinum growth
- Salts Used in Pickling (National Center for Home Food Preservation): canning or pickling salt recommended; table salt safe; flake salt not recommended
- Chutney (Penn State Extension): never reduce the vinegar; vinegar acidity stops pathogenic bacteria, moulds and yeasts; darkening from air left in the jar
- Frequently Asked Preservation Question: Pinholes in Lids (Penn State Extension): acids corrode metal lids; metal tools scratch the enamel; discard contents if pitting goes right through the lid
- Food Safety and Labelling Guidance for small scale home producers of chutneys, pickles, flavoured oils and jams (Scottish Borders Council): vinegar and sugar amounts essential for safety; don't reuse lids; discard cracked or chipped jars; store in a cool, dry place
- Making Jam and Similar Products (Orkney Islands Council): don't reuse lids
- Checklist for Chutneys (Kilner): maturing at least 8 weeks; cool, dark storage
- 25 dirt-cheap ways to garden organically and save (Garden Organic): chutney up to a year in a cool, dark place; maturing 2 to 3 weeks; opened chutney in the fridge
- Storing Home-Canned Jams and Jellies (National Center for Home Food Preservation): opened jars in the fridge; discard jars with mould or a fermented, yeasty or alcohol smell
- General Information on Canning Jams, Jellies, and Marmalades (National Center for Home Food Preservation): mycotoxins found in mouldy preserves (why the whole jar goes)