Abundant Green Tomatoes
In the late summer and Autumn there really are lots of green tomatoes about. I had already taken part in a mini Green Tomato Challenge between myself and Twitter friend Sara. We made Green Tomato Pasta Sauce and Green Tomato Soup. The results were delicious! Frankly it was very pleasing that there were other things that could be done with green tomatoes – other than make chutney. But when I saw a box of green tomatoes that had been left out for people to take – it was time to try out making the classic Green Tomato Chutney.
It is frustrating when tomatoes don’t ripen as you would wish but this chutney more then makes up for the disappointment of not having red tomatoes!
Making Chutney
I had already had an adventure into chutney making – when I made Apple Chutney! I will be including it in some Christmas Food Hampers that I will be making for people each year. What surprised me really was how easy chutney making is – you just put all the ingredients in a pan and boil for a while until it goes nice and thick.
Chutney Variations
When deciding what to put in the chutney, I took tips from what I consider to be the best and the simplest. This chutney uses a mix of green and red tomatoes. This is partly to use what you have and partly because it is recommended as the green tomatoes take some sweetness from the ripe tomatoes. However the chutney can be made with all red or all green tomatoes. The ingredients are variable – so long as you include vinegar – malt or cider vinegar – and some sugar, you are well on the way to making your chutney. You can add spices to pep things up a bit – may be some chilli powder for example. Pad out the fruit with sultanas, raisins or dates.
Adjust the amount of vinegar, sugar and sultanas in proportion to the amount of tomatoes you have. You can use cider vinegar rather than malt vinegar if you prefer. Don’t worry if it doesn’t seem to be reducing and thickening to start with – just keep simmering and you will see it soon gets to a lovely thick consistency.
When it is getting near to a thick consistency, don’t forget to sterilise your jars. There are instructions on this in the Apple Chutney Recipe.
This recipe made a slightly sloppier chutney than my apple chutney, but it is amazingly delicious! Chutney is best after it had been left for a month or so. But that doesn’t stop you from digging in straight away! Great with cheese on toast!
Green Tomato Chutney Recipe
Equipment
- 4 glass jars with lids
Ingredients
- 750 g tomatoes
- 500 ml malt vinegar
- 250 g sultanas
- 1 red onion
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 400 g light muscavado sugar
Instructions
- Roughly chop the tomatoes
- Peel and finely chop the onion
- Place all the ingredients in a large heavy bottomed saucepan and bring to the boil
- Stir and simmer for about 1 hour (or longer) with the lid off until the mixture has gone thick
- Allow to cool a little then put into jars
- Label the jars
- Allow to cool
- Store in a cupboard
Can I add some pickling spice and if so, how much for your recipe quantity please?
If you want to use pickling spice you could put about 50g in a muslin bag and dangle it in the mixture while it is cooking. Alternatively add a teaspoon of ginger and perhaps 1/2 a teaspoon of all spice for some extra zing
Just made this today. I think I had it on a slow simmer initially but once I turned up this thickened up very well. Looking forward to trying it at Christmas. Thank you
Just made this today. Used a mixture of sugars that I had available in the house, mixed fruit (left over from Xmas cake making) and half white wine vinegar half malt – and it is blooming delicious ? thank you so much for inspiring me to make my first chutney – it was so easy!!!
Just made this and both my husband and I think it is delicious (and we’re not particularly fond of chutney as a rule!).
Do you peel the tomatoes first?
No, no need
Just made this and bottled so haven’t tasted it yet but smells delicious.How long before I can taste it
You can taste it as soon as you like – but the flavours will improve over 2-4 weeks
Took a lot longer than an hour to thicken but got there in the end. My first try at chutney, it looks lovely, can’t wait to try it. What size jars did you use as I only got two jars out of mine? I am going to try the green tomato soup next. Thank you
jam jar size – 340g. I think this recipe will always be a bit variable depending on the tomatoes
Just finished. Added some chili flakes. Worked out perfectly! Thank you.
Now we wait.
I have a lot of green tomatoes and was wondering if I could double or triple the batch. Then I could fill up my canner with 7 jars at once? Anyone tried this?
I would only double not triple and maybe be sparing with the vinegar – do a little less than double or it may take ages to thicken. You can always add more as you go
Tastes wonderful and did thicken up. My only question is, ‘how do I stop it going brown?’
It is a beautiful taste but if I could have kept it green it would have looked beautiful too. Would a clear or light coloured vinegar help rather than the malt?
I am not sure I know the answer to that. You could use white vinegar and white sugar but you might lose some of the taste. I think the end colour also depends a lot on the greenness of the tomatoes
Really simple recipe. I changed around the amounts a bit as only had 400ml of vinegar. I didn’t add apples or sultanas but a small spoon of mild chilli powder (possibly could have added more) . I had been looking on line for a simple recipe that did’nt need the tomatoes and onion to soak over night. Ive put two jars away for christmas and already eaten some with crackers and cheese. Thank you!
Absolutely brilliant recipe and fabulous taste
An absolute disaster I followed the recipe, cooked it for an hour and a half and all I ended up with was an acidity sloppy vinegary mess!!!! Really disappointed
You just need to keep it simmering for longer with the lid off. Sometimes it doe stake longer to thicken and boil off some of the vinegar.
goiong to try this recipe but i like my chutney looking browner. does it really turn out green and if so how can i adapt it to make it brown. was also going to use cider vinegar – does that matter
I would suggest using a browner sugar if you want it quite brown. It should be fine made with cider vinegar
Can you put an apple in it.
Yes you can – and there is an Apple Chutney recipe too
Hi! Just wondering if I need to add citric acid to the chutney? I know when canning ripened tomatoes you have to. Can’t wait to try your recipe!
Thank you
You certainly can use a little citric acid for as a preservative if you wish but I never have.
Should the centres, where the stalk was, be removed?
Yes, that would be good to do – I will add that into the instructions
Does it have to be “Light Muscavado Sugar or will any brown sugar work, thank you
Sure you can use any brown sugar. They all have slightly different flavours
Hi – am looking forward to using up my green toms in this recipe – it’s great to find a recipe that doesn’t have loads of expensive add-on ingredients. In that vein, is demerara a suitable substitute for muscovado sugar? Basically I have some in the cupboard already but if it isn’t I’ll go out and buy some. Thanks.
I think demerara should be fine
Brill – I’ll give it a go and let you know.
My chutney is define not thickening. Any udea?
Just keep simmering – it can take a while….
I’m currently making this chutney.Do I cover the pan, or just simmer the next in an open pan? My Maslin pan doesn’t have alid- is this o.k.?
Yes it is fine in an uncovered pan. Just simmer and stir occasionally. 🙂
I hate sultanas!! In fact I hate all food that is squishy, what would I use instead apart from sugar please? Many thanks KT
Hmmm – may be some chopped apple?
Thanks Penny, I know it is obvious but thought I would ask ?
I used dried apricots, tastes awesome
Quince stays firmer than apple and I have used chopped dates instead of sultanas – smells promising!
Made this chutney yesterday.tastes great. So easy unbelievable. I did add a teaspoon of chilli powder and half of a cooking Apple too .
Thanks! It’s great to hear about the adaptations and additions you made to the recipe!
This is so delicious. Letting it rest for a month. Can’t wait to dig in!
made this last week and love it i have so many tomatoes still green i am going to make another batch for family its so easy to do
I made this yesterday as my tomatoes contracted some kind of disease so they turn brown instead of red. They are OK while green so this chutney is just perfect! After putting it in jars, we had some leftovers for a cheese platter. Yummy! 🙂
This seems to be the green chutney recipe that will suit me. Print recipe? OK. But I really do not need 12 pages of it. I only need the recipe itself, not the preamble and all the comments. Please adjust. Complete waste of paper.
You can delete all the preamble – but I have adjusted the recipe into my new format which makes it easier to print just the recipe. I hope that helps
Just highlight the ingredients and print, easy
HELP have been cooking green chutney for one and half hours and has not thickened up yet. Has been on a simmer all this time must be something wrong?
Did it thicken in the end? The only thing I can think is that some tomatoes are juicier than others. It should thicken up on cooling or on re boiling
Thank you penny I will give the green tomataoes chuckney recipe a try.
Okay, I made the green tomato chutney, now what do I use it for. I haven’t found any recipes on line using it as an ingredient. Did I make all of this chutney just for toast?
Surely there must be other uses. I gave some to my daughter and she called to ask me what uses are. I’m afraid I had no answer for her.
Use it in anyway you use any chutney or pickle – with cheese in a sandwich or in a salad, with ham or other cold meats or with a baked potato. I will also ask the question on Penny’s Recipes Facebook page and let you know other ideas
I made this recipes out of my end of season green tomatoes! It turned out great. I have used it to serve with cheese and wine. It also tastes great on crumbed chicken. I had extra jars and I’m planning to give them as gifts. Great recipe thanks penny. I do wonder how long it will last in cupboard for. This is the first time I have preserved anything.
Thank you for the suggestions! It should last for 12-18 months so long as the jars are sterilised and sealed
I’ve spread some on Pizza, and it tasted great.
Great recipe .. So easy to do , and tasted really nice ,
Thank you for saying 🙂
thank you for this wonderful recipe, I made it today its in jars and in the cubard. cant wait!
All set to try this this weekend. I have about 4.5kg of greenish tomatoes and have purchased all the other ingredients.
Will see how it goes
This is going to be great. I have just picked all our tomatoes and have a five gallon bucket full of greens.
A simple way of doing it! great….will try soon as I have an abundance of Toms! all green…so many sites faff on too much. I presume you can miss out the sultanas if you don’t like them!
Another one to try.
Must have a go at this next year. Hoping to have a greenhouse by then and grow a lot of my own tomatoes.