• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
That Recipe
  • Recipes
  • Members
  • Subscribe
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Recipes
  • Members
  • Subscribe
  • follow the fun

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Recipes
    • Members
    • Subscribe
  • follow the fun

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • ×

    Home » Our latest posts » Condiments

    Old Fashioned Tomato Preserves are Delicious and Easy

    August 28, 2014 Filed Under: Condiments, Fruit, Jams, Top Recipes

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
    Easy old fashioned tomato preserves is a delightfully easy jam to make. A great way to use up those end of the summer tomatoes.

    Easy old fashioned tomato preserves is a simple homemade jam with tomatoes, lemons and sugar. Kick it up with a little ginger or cinnamon.

    tomato jam spread on a piece of bread with text overlay "old fashioned tomato preserves"

    Do you have too many tomatoes and are running out of things to make? Salsa, Caprese Salad, spaghetti sauce, Pasta alla Vodka with Fresh Tomatoes are all great, but ...

    Or has the weather started to turn cold where you are and you are worried you will have unripened tomatoes? Fried Green Tomatoes, Green Tomato Chow Chow or even Green Tomato Bread are all possibilities.

    But, I just made a recipe that you probably never thought of trying before: Tomato Preserves.

    That's right, a sweet jam made with tomato instead of berries, stone fruit or just about any other fruit you would normally associate with jam.

    What kind of tomatoes to use for Tomato Preserves

    I used ripe Roma tomatoes that were on sale at the store. But here's the great thing, you can use any tomatoes. Green, yellow, red. Heirloom, beefsteak, early girl, etc. I would stay away from cherry or grape tomatoes because who wants to stand around and blanch the peel off of a pound of those. Not me, thank you very much.

    If I may make a recommendation: make these preserves, get some good sourdough bread (or make your own) smear it with some Brie and add a little Tomato Preserves. Maybe a nice glass of wine. Then sit back with some nice soft music and just savor the fabulous flavors.

    How to Blanch Tomatoes

    Never blanched tomatoes before? Check out our video. I use peaches in the video, but it is the same technique.

    Tomato Preserves

    tomato jam spread on a piece of bread with text overlay "old fashioned tomato preserves"
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe

    Ingredients
     

    • 1 pound tomatoes
    • 1 pound sugar (approximate quantity)
    • 1 small lemon
    • ½ inch piece of fresh ginger or 4 inch cinnamon stick

    Instructions
     

    • Slice an x in the top of each tomato. Place in a pot of boiling water until skin begins to peel off. Immediately place in a bowl of ice water. Slough off skin and remove stem button.
    • Weigh tomatoes and place in a non reactive bowl (plastic or glass). Gently squeeze tomatoes by hand or with a wooden spoon to release juice. Add an equal weight of sugar. Let stand for 12 hours.
    • When ready to cook, place two metal teaspoons in the freezer.
    • Drain juice into a large sauce pan. Boil until the syrup thickens and falls of a spoon in heavy drops. Approximately 20 minutes.
    • Rough chop the tomatoes and add to the thickened syrup. Grate the lemon zest and add to the syrup. Cut lemon in half and squeeze juice into the syrup. Add the ginger or cinnamon.
    • Boil mixture until thick for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
    • To test for doneness, remove one spoon from the freezer. With the spoon you used to stir the preserves remove a small amount of jam and pour into the frozen spoon.
      Tilt the frozen spoon over the pot, if the preserves pour off in large thick drops it is done. If it pours off quickly, boil for another few minutes and retest with the other frozen spoon.
    • Remove ginger or cinnamon. Put preserves in sterilized jars and boil in a water bath canner for 20 minutes.

    Notes

    Makes 3 or 4 half pints.

    Until next time, happy eating.
    ~Audrey

    More Condiment Recipes

    • mango freezer jam on an English muffin
      Mango Pineapple Freezer Jam Easy Tropical Treat
    • rose pomegranate jelly on an English muffin
      Rose Pomegranate Jelly A Sweet Autumn Treat
    • toast on a plate with an omelet and apples
      Lemon Rosemary Marmalade a Sweet Tart Spread
    • bowl of asian sauce with text overlay "spicy garlic ginger sauce"
      Spicy Garlic Ginger Sauce Adds Flavor to Your Meals

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Katerina

      September 01, 2014 at 5:54 am

      One of the best ways to preserve tomatoes! Thanks for coming and linking up at The Weekend Social. All posts get pinned in our pinterest board! Please be sure to come back next week starting Thursdays at 9PM EST on culinaryflavors.gr ! I hope to see you there!

      Reply
    2. Joybee

      September 01, 2014 at 11:40 am

      Cool. I've never heard of tomato preserves but this sounds very good and I love the idea of having it with sourdough and brie. I'm pinning.

      Reply
    3. Kristina and Millie

      September 05, 2014 at 5:11 pm

      yummmm! I have the small batch canning recipe book and made a similar recipe. I was pleasantly surprised how yummy tomato preserves are! Love it on a toasted bagel with cream cheese! Thanks for sharing with us!

      Reply
    4. Amanda @ The Kolb Corner

      September 06, 2014 at 6:11 pm

      Interesting. I don't think I have ever heard of tomato preserves, but may just have to give it a try! Thank you for sharing at the Merry Monday Link Party! See you again tomorrow night at 8pm CST

      Reply
    5. Bruce Brunow

      August 18, 2016 at 7:09 pm

      I have been looking for a tomatoes preserve recipe for sometime now and this one comes closest to my dad's only thing different is that my dad would put a thinly sliced piece of lemon that had been cooked with the tomatoes and a half of a stick of cinnamon in each jar before sealing then

      Reply
    6. Susan Awar

      May 13, 2017 at 4:17 pm

      Over cooked preserves. Tried the spoon method,would never drip off the spoon. Preserves ended up thick and sticky. I did drop a few drops on a saucer and it cooled thick. Stopped cooking preserves then. Bottled preserves. Was too thick.Tasted great! Wish I had stopped earlier.Used lemon,chrystalized ginger,cinnamon stick and a few cloves.

      Reply
      • Audrey

        May 15, 2017 at 4:24 pm

        Sounds delicious even if they were overcooked. I did the same thing with my last batch of orange marmalade.

    7. Ashley @ Forgetful Momma

      September 04, 2017 at 9:50 am

      Well... I have never heard of this, but I am going to have to try this!

      Reply
      • Audrey

        September 05, 2017 at 8:53 am

        It is a delicious balance with the lemon and tomatoes.

    8. Randall Martella

      August 06, 2018 at 1:15 am

      When I was a boy they were in pretty much every store and supermarket and
      'i loved them and devoured them by the jar full. Sadly they have become very
      very rare. I strongly recommend them, and will have to try this recipe.

      Reply
    9. Samantha Carlson

      February 18, 2019 at 12:01 pm

      Have been eating this for 70 years. My aunt made it every summer from her garden in OK and NM. Looking forward to making it myself.

      Reply
    10. Peggy Adams

      June 26, 2020 at 9:42 pm

      This sounds very similar to the recipe that my mother uses. She got it from my grandmother. It is simply delicious! I could eat it straight out of the jar! Not that I ever have but maybe a bite or two. I don’t think she put the cinnamon in hers but it sounds like that would be tasty.

      Reply
      • Audrey

        July 01, 2020 at 1:13 pm

        I am anxiously awaiting my tomatoes to ripen this year so I can make some more.

    11. Sherry B.

      July 13, 2020 at 8:24 am

      Omg I had these when I was a kid. My special Grandma made tomato preserves and we ate them on crackers. She used both red and yellows. Always a treat!!!

      Reply
    12. Don Stevenson

      August 05, 2020 at 10:36 am

      While the TV Show, The Waltons is only on the Hallmark website late at night, we bought a complete set of The Waltons compact disks and play them at our convenience. On one episode, Grandpa Walton ask his wife to make some Tomato Preserves...He ate them by the spoonful. Neither my wife nor I had ever heard of Tomato Preserves..so we consulted your web site and found the recipe. THEY WERE GREAT!!!.

      Reply
    13. MARYLOU GERMY

      September 04, 2020 at 8:01 am

      The directions call for the tomato/sugar mixture to set for 12 hours...is that at room temp or should this mixture be refrigerated. I've looked at several recipes and none of them say whether they should be refrigerated or not. My instinct says it should be refrigerated or it would quickly develop mold but thought I needed to ask. My mother made these, but I don't remember the process.

      Reply
      • Audrey

        September 04, 2020 at 5:53 pm

        Nope, I just cover them and leave them on the counter overnight. Between the acid in the tomatoes and the sugar I've never had a problem. If you are hesitant, you could put them in the fridge after the sugar has completely dissolved in the tomato juices and maybe leave them longer (just a guess). The goal is to create a thick tomato syrup with bits of tomato in it.

      • Ruth Hasten

        October 21, 2021 at 5:20 pm

        One should remember that refrigeration was not commonly used in the US until the mid-1940's.. Tomato Preserves (not jam, no cinnamon, no ginger) was served on many a breakfast table from earliest days of America to present day. My grandmother basically used this recipe (no spices except salt) and left the mixture in a large pan overnight. Tomato preserves were my dad's favorite jelly/jam/preserves. . My grandmother never, never refrigerated Tomatoe Preserves. Her neighbor Sam Rayburn (if you do not know his name, google him) loved Tomato Preserves. In the early 1960s, Mr. Sam brought the Democratic candidate JFK to Texas. They had "dinner" (aka lunch) on my grandparents farm. JFK sampled the preserves and asked my grandmother to give him a couple of jars because he preferred her version (standard rural northeast Texas recipe) to the ones that had all the spices in it. Later, while in the White House, he wrote her, asking for two more jars.

      • Audrey

        October 21, 2021 at 6:04 pm

        Fascinating! I'll bet the tomato really shines through without the extra spices.

    14. Tadas Osmolskis

      September 18, 2020 at 8:54 pm

      Looking at the recipe,I've crushed the tomatoes and let them stand with sugar. Later in the recipe, I'm supposed to dice the tomatoes and put them into the syrup. What tomatoes am I supposed to dice? I've already crushed them and let them stand for 12 hours.

      Color me confused...

      Reply
      • Audrey

        September 19, 2020 at 1:37 pm

        In step two you just have to squeeze out the juices not crush or dice. If your tomato pieces are already small enough there is no need to dice again just continue making the preserves.

        Mine were still in big pieces after I squeezed out the juice and let them sit so I just did a rough chop on the bigger pieces.

    15. Gail Roberts

      September 20, 2020 at 1:51 pm

      Grew up eating tomato preserves..my grandma always made it...recipe was lost after she died..finally found it ..one of my aunts had it..it is just like this...cinnamon stick was always in it..I make it evey year for my aunt & I...brings back happy memories.. Soooo good on buttered homemade bread...making it now..9/20/20

      Reply
    16. Linda M Backman

      June 16, 2021 at 12:30 pm

      I don’t have canning equipment. Would it be all right to follow the recipe but put the product in 8 ounce jars and freeze them, keeping the open one in the refrigerator?

      Reply
      • Audrey

        June 16, 2021 at 3:12 pm

        The only canning equipment you really need are jars, an 8 0r 10 quart pot and some good tongs to remove the jars. But, I understand canning isn't for everyone.

        You should be able to adapt any jam or jelly recipe to a freezer jam. I just checked https://www.freshpreserving.com/how-make-jam-and-jelly.html they say "Freeze it: Leave ½-inch headspace when filling jars. Cool, lid, and label. Freeze jam or jelly for up to 1 year."

    17. Maria Roth

      November 04, 2021 at 1:13 am

      In South Africa we make various tomato preserves. Tomato jam as per the recipe above traditionally includes stem ginger or cloves. I use cloves and put pectin into the sugar, but traditionally we used apple pectin we made ourselves using Granny Smith Apples. Another favourite and marvelous with Brie or Blue cheese is whole tomato preserve. The best tomatoes to use for that are Roma tomatoes. The quantities are also 1 kg fruit to 1 kg sugar and the juice of two lemons. The unripe tomatoes are blanched then rinsed and carefully pricked all over. They are then placed into a solution of slaked lime and water, of course the lime doesn't dissolve so not really a solution, and left overnight. The next day they are rinsed and boiled until cooked, removed from the water and a syrup made using two cups of water for every cup of sugar and brought to the boil. The Tomatoes are placed into the syrup along with the lemon juice and some cloves and boiled until they are transparent and filled with sugar. Allowing them to colour slightly adds to the flavour as this is a whole fruit conserve like green fig conserve, and not a jam or jelly so you are not worried about the jam setting. Bottle in sterilized bottles.

      Reply
      • Audrey

        November 04, 2021 at 1:02 pm

        Actually, I heard about this recipe in the first place when I friend told me a South African friend had told her about and wanted to know if I had a recipe. I've never made my own pectin but always prefer homemade to store bought anything.

    18. Debbie Martin

      March 09, 2022 at 8:03 am

      My Mom made a wonderful tomato jam and I wanted to duplicate it. This recipe was a little different but in a very delightful way. I love it!! I used both fresh ginger and cinnamon with great results. Thanks so much for your contribution to another delicious recipe!!

      Reply
    19. Terri

      August 31, 2022 at 10:35 am

      Just watched an episode of The Waltons where Jim Bob made Grandma’s tomato preserve recipe to enter in the county fair. I’ve never heard of tomato preserves so naturally I searched the Internet and found your recipe! Looking forward to making it with my garden tomatoes 🙂

      Reply

    Trackbacks

    1. Tomato Preserves Recipe - Aunt Della'S Tomato Preserves Recipe | Cdkitchen.Com says:
      October 19, 2020 at 5:18 pm

      […] 4. Old Fashioned Tomato Preserves are Delicious … – That Recipe […]

      Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    audrey humaciu in kitchen

    Welcome

    I'm your hostess, Audrey, an avid "maker" that believes home made is better.

    Whether it's cooking, crafting, gardening, home décor, even blog design, I love getting my hands dirty and trying new things... even if I make a mess in the process.

    Discover more about me →

    Fresh Spring Tastes

    • strawberry muffins in a muffin tin with text overlay "sourdough strawberry muffins"
      Sourdough Strawberry Muffins Tangy Sweet Muffins
    • carrot muffins topped with granola on a cooling rack
      Carrot Granola Muffins with No Refined Sugar
    • lemon blueberry jelly roll on a plate
      Lemon Blueberry Jelly Roll Cake Sweet Taste of Spring
    • spinach and strawberry salad with text overlay "strawberry spinach salad with hot bacon dressing"
      Strawberry Spinach Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing is a Delightful Spring Salad

    See more Spring Produce Recipes→

    tablet with ebook on display and text overlay "Seasoned with Love: 60 seasoning mix recipes from around the world"

    Tried and True Recipes

    • piece of bread dipped in cheese fondue with text overlay "alcohol free cheese fondue"
      Alcohol Free Cheese Fondue: Easy Family Dinner in 20 Minutes!
    • close up of popover in a pan with text overlay "Julia Child's Popovers"
      Julia Child's Popovers A Classic Recipe Made Easy
    • fork holidng a piece of lasagna with text overlay "no boil meat lasagna"
      The Original Barilla 4 Layer No Boil Lasagna Recipe
    • jar filled with granola
      Homemade Granola is as Easy as 1-2-3

    See our Top 10 Recipes →

    follow the fun

    • Bloglovin
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy/Disclosures
    • Cookie Notice

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact
    • Work with me

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2023 ThatRecipe

    1.2K shares
    Manage Cookie Consent
    We use cookies to optimize our website and our service.
    Functional Always active
    The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
    Preferences
    The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
    Statistics
    The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
    Marketing
    The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
    Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
    Preferences
    {title} {title} {title}