Tomato Jam with Red Wine Vinegar Canning Recipe
19. October 2022Our friend and guest blogger Chez LaRae worked up this family favorite Enchilada Sauce canning recipe. You can follow LaRae’s amazing food adventures on Instagram and her website. LaRae is a self-taught baker, cooking and baking instructor, & recipe developer. See LaRae's other recipe guest blog posts.
Capture the flavor of summer’s best tomatoes in this rich tomato jam. Tomatoes are cooked down and concentrated for maximum flavor. Serve with a nice wedge of farmhouse cheddar or creamy brie. Can be a substitute for ketchup if you are looking for something different.
Decorate your jars with Custom Watercolor Tomato Canning Labels by CanningCrafts. Shop for matching canning labels in the Watercolor Canning Label Collection.
Tip: Use red wine vinegar with a minimum of 5% acidity. Many jars indicate the acidity level on their labels.
Tomato Jam with Red Wine Vinegar
Recipe was adapted from “The All New Ball Book of Canning and Preserving” & used by permission ©2022 Chez LaRae
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Preservation method: Waterbath canning
Difficulty level: Easy
Yield: Makes about 6 half-pint jars
Head space: 1/4 inch (.635 cm)
Processing Time: 10 minutes
You will need clean pint jars and closures, a boiling-water canner, rack, jar lifter, canning funnel, and wooden skewer
- 6 lb plum tomatoes, cored and coarsely chopped
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- ¾ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- ½ tsp Herbes de Provence*
- ½ - 1 tsp red pepper flakes, depending on taste
- 3 shallots, finely minced
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 3/4 cup red wine vinegar (minimum 5% acidity)
*NOTE: Herbes de Provence is an equal mixture of dried herbs consisting of thyme, basil, crushed rosemary, tarragon, summer savory, marjoram, oregano, and a crushed bay leaf. You can purchase a pre-mixed blend in stores or make your own so you can adjust the spices more to your taste.
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Prepare water bath canner, lids, and jars. Put jars in hot water bath and simmer over medium heat until ready to use.
Combine tomatoes, salt, black pepper, Herbes de Provence, red pepper flakes, and shallots in a large Dutch oven. Cook, uncovered, over medium heat for about one hour or until reduced by half. Stir and check often to avoid scorching. Stir in sugar and red wine vinegar. Cook uncovered over medium-low heat until very thick, about 30 minutes, stirring often.
Note: If you desire a smoother jam, use an immersion blender to blend before the next step.
Ladle hot mixture immediately into prepared jars, leaving ¼ ” headspace. Use a wooden skewer to remove any air pockets and readjust headspace if needed. Wipe jar rims and threads with a moistened towel. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands to finger-tip tight.
Place jars onto a rack in the canner. Water must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches. Cover canner, and bring water to a boil. Once boiling, process jars for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude* if needed, see chart below. Turn off the heat and let jars sit in the canner for 5 minutes.
Remove jars and place them upright on a towel to cool completely. Let jars stand at room temperature untouched for 12-24 hours. After the jars cool, check seals by pressing the centers of lids with your finger. If the lid springs back, the lid is not sealed and refrigeration is necessary.
Affix CanningCrafts’ labels and write dates on jars. Store unopened jam in a cool, dry place for up to 1 year.
*Altitude
Living at a higher altitude affects home canning recipes, just as it does baking recipes. Many people are unaware that they live at a high altitude. If you live at a high altitude, you’ll need to increase either your processing time or processing pressure. Most canning recipes state this info for elevations of 0 to 1,000 feet above sea level. If you aren’t sure what your elevation is, get more info from the National Center for Food Preservation. Or call your local extension office if unsure.
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Want more Tomato Recipes? Try Our Bruschetta Canning Recipe
Try our Enchilada Sauce Canning Recipe
Get more Tomato Canning Recipes on our blog!
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Comments (2)
I am diabetic and would like to make this jam using allulose (a sugar free alternative to regular sugar). Would I need to add calcium water or Pomona’s Pectin to this recipe or just go ahead and make as is, but substituting the sweetener?
Hi Kathy,
I’m not familiar with allulose, but you can substitute the type of sweeteners or even reduce them for many recipes. Since I’m not familiar with how allulose works in recipes (how comparable it is to sugar), I don’t know how the consistency or taste would turn out by making this swap. But it would be ok to reduce or increase the amount of sugar to your own taste.
There are recipes specifically created with Pomona’s Pectin. If you go to Pomona’s website, they do have a tomato jam recipe there that uses less sugar than our recipe (they use 1/2 to 1 cup of sugar). You can use honey instead of sugar with their Pectin & calcium water (some recipes can also use maple syrup). So if you want to use Pomona’s, I would suggest using their recipe.
I have never made tomato jam with pectin before as I do not think it’s really necessary. You can cook the tomato jam down and it will get thick on it’s own, even if you reduce the amount of sugar.
Alison
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