Green Tomato Chutney

After my Tomatoes displayed evidence of the dreaded blight I was forced to sacrifice some of them before they were ripe. But what to do with them? Well, there’s only one thing you can do with them in my book – Green Tomato Chutney – here’s my recipe (adapted from my Pumpkin Chutney recipe).

Oh and if you’re wondering why I use dried Cranberries instead of Raisins it’s because a certain someone (who eats most of the chutney in our house) doesn’t like the taste of Raisins. And before you ask, yes, he doesn’t like Christmas pudding, mince pies, Christmas cake or anything else that is yummy.

Green Tomato Chutney

Ingredients:

200g (7oz) Green Tomatoes

2 Shallots

75g (2.5oz) Craisins (Dried Cranberries)

half teaspoon ground Ginger

half teaspoon Allspice

1 teaspoon Salt

1 grind of Pepper

quarter of a knuckle of fresh Ginger

2 small Garlic cloves

1 and a half cups of Sugar (300g)

1 cup Red Wine Vinegar (250ml)

Method:

Cut the tomatoes into cubes and chop the other ingredients. Throw them all in a pan and simmer on a low heat until thick and dark brown. Make sure to open the windows to let the stink out!

Boil the jars and bottle. Then process (boil the full jar) for 30 mins.

Category: Recipes     Tagged:

70 Comments on “Green Tomato Chutney”

  1. I might just try that! :) Get well soon and have a good trip

  2. Thanks for that. I may well have to do this if we don’t have sun soon.Chopped leaves off last night in the hopes more light may help. I really enjoy your blog. It has been a great help to me this year.Keep up the good work!!

  3. I have been looking for a decent chutney recipe! Do you think it would work with pears? Like Sandra, I am reliant on your blog for gardening tips!

  4. I can relate to to the certain someone in your house that doesn’t like raisins. I would prefer dried cranberries as well.

    I’ll keep this in mind when I have green tomatoes at the end of the season!

  5. Fabulous recipe – I am looking forward to making this as I have plenty of green tomatoes!

  6. Mmmm! Nice apart from the cranberries, I prefer raisins myself… Fantastic blog, very inspirational and massively more helpful than many of the books I’ve read – I like my gardening advice in easily digestible bite-size chunks, so this is fantastic. Please Help though. I’ve been happily harvesting raised beds for a couple of months now and thought had gotten away with it, but on recent planting of cabbage have been decimated by slugs and caterpillars, also no lettuce or swiss chard left! Have tried slug pub, and night time forrays with torch, but any other ideas or tips? We wont use pesticides because of – admittedly absent – frogs and hedgehog. Thanks for any help.

  7. Nice idea, I have a pot on the stove as I type! (Rasins and Cranberries omitted as hubby didn’t like the idea of either).

    Figured that as the rain has been so bad that my poor tomato plants are starting to rot in their pots, it would be much better to harvest ALL the fruit and have some nice chutney instead of a pile of rotten waste! (It was a sad moment to realise that having harvested all my plants, I have enough for 4 lots of this receipe! I hope it freezes ok!)

    I did leave a few tiny fruits on the plants, in the desperate hope for a summer, but I hold no real hopes!

  8. Great idea of what to do with green tomatoes. I’m going to have to remember that for the end of the season. Too bad about the blight!

    Have you decided if you are coming to the Oxford food growing get-together?

    http://www.patnsteph.net/weblog/?p=386

    If you would let me know one way or another I would appreciate it. It’s okay if you still need some time to decide, but after the 1st of September I might offer your seat to someone else. I don’t think this will be an issue though, as it seems like we have enough seats.

    I have you down for only one seat, is this right?

  10. So far, touch wood, no blight on our tomatoes although the beef tomatoes are resolutely refusing to ripen so I may end up trying your nice recipe. I’m a raisin hater myself so I really appreciate this. Have you tried green tomato marmalade – it’s a sort of sweet and sour marmalade, very good with fatty meats like pork and lovely on a cold lamb sandwich.

  11. First time I have grown toms outside and some are starting to turn black – is this the blight?

  12. Ah yes! I think I will be making some of this before too long. We have had an overcast, damp Summer and my tomatoes are just not ripening well. I love chutney, so this will be the one for me.

  13. Sounds delicious! I may have to keep this recipe on hand because my tomatoes do not seem to be ripening.

  14. Sounds like a great recipe. My toms have suffered with blight so I have rescued them to make chutney for the first time. How long will this chutney keep for once bottled?

  15. Great recipe!

    My tomatoes aren’t doing so well… I guess I’ll have to ask to my grandma for good ones but I will try this chutney.
    In Italy I can’t find cranberries, so I will use raisins, thank for the suggestion!

    Graziana

  16. Hi, luckily no blight for us so we have made a standard tom chutney, however, we cannot get it to set, any tips please. We’ll try your green tom recipe towards the end of the season, Thanks.

  17. sounds like a great recipe.

    went abit wild with the tomato plants this year as i just cannot face chucking away a worthful plant haha.

    but overall i got about 7kg of tomatoes.

    i now have 2.7kg of green ones to make chutney with so it looks like i will be eating it for breakfast dinner and lunch.

    im really looking forward to following this recipe i’ll let you know how it goes. :)

  18. I made it to use up the last of the tomatoes (they’ll never ripen now). I added the last of my (anaheim) chilies to add some bite…

  20. hi is that only 200grms of tomatos or is it 2000grms ??? it just dosnt seem like enough toms. Thank you,

  21. Hi Kerry,
    I did 200g because that’s all I had but you can increase the recipe as needed.

    Hope that helps.
    Gill

    ps. I’m eating the chutney now – it’s delicious!

  22. Hi Joy,

    You just fill the jars with the chutney, seal then place upright in some water and boil. Make sure the lids are tight and that the jars don’t fall over.
    I think that ‘processing’ as it’s called expels all the air from the top of the jar and creates a vacuum. This way the chutney will keep longer.

  23. Thanku have just made chutney..it is yummy!
    First time ever made chutney..put in2 kilner jars 4 crimbo
    prezzies X

  24. When you boil the jars to “process”, does the glass not crack? Is it absolutely necessary to do this, or can you just bottle it up in sterilised jars? Jayne

  25. I’ve had a go at this and have a jar filled. However, I wonder if I simmered for too long as it was really sticky. How long do you leave yours on for? Also, how long do you leave it before eating? Thanks.

  26. this is a lovely simple recipe, but as I couldnt get malt vinegar I used white wine vinegar.

    am new to this bsottling and pickling as have just moved to the middle of Itay and have an enormous garden so your site is invaluable.

    Am hoping to make a simple christmas cake this week any good ideas. The shops here are a little short on the usual ingredients we can find in our large english supermarkets…Thanks >>Jacqueline.

  27. Thanks so much for this recipe – I have a bowlful of green tomatoes (thanks, British “summer”!) that I don’t know what to do with…

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  29. Pingback: 25 Green Tomato Recipes To Try : TipNut.com

  30. I just made your green tomato chutney today. Wow! it is gorgeous! I couldn’t even wait for it to cool down before trying it. I love anything with cranberries in it but since I’m an old fashioned girl and love raisins in my chutney I used both. I made a double batch using a small red and small yellow onion instead of shallots (thats what I had in the garden) and 75g of frozen cranberries instead of the second lot of raisins. It was more like a chutney jam than the chutneys I usually make but delicious. I’ll be back for more of your recipies! Thanks, what a blight buster:)

  31. Blight, in the UK, in 2008, eh? We’ve got it now, 2009, in the US. Wish I knew how your tomatoes are this year–whether the blight carries over into the next year, and if what we have now is what you had then.

  32. If your tomatoes aren’t ripening and you want them to turn red, put a banana skin at the bottom of each plant. It works a treat and they’ll be turning red within a few days

  33. Pingback: Green tomatoes « This blessed plot

  34. Hi Esther – I don’t have blight on my Toms this year. I think it depends on whether you’ve had a wet summer or not. I’m growing a blight resistant variety this year called Ferline. It seems to be working a treat.

  35. hi trid your recpe wonderful thankyou – i also added fresh chilli second time around it is lovely

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  37. Yippee…. stupidly, I thought I was the only person in the world with tomato blight and as it was my first year growing in new location and new polytunnel (and first attempt at tomatoes in about 10 yeas) I thought it was just ME. I can now in a guiltfree manner make chutney with the little horrors!!! Thank goodness, and as a bonus I’ve found your blog which will be a great source (no pun intended) for the future.

  38. This seems to be a lovely recipe; I shall try it.
    Maybe some dates plus raisins would be good, rather than cranberries, which I don’t like!
    However, with the vinegar, sugar and some salt, I don’t think the chutney needs further sterilising after being potted up in already sterilised jars.

  39. Thanks Gayle – will try the banana at bottom of plant suggestion!

    I’ve a few fruit suffering from Blight, but as this is my first year of growing any veg, I’m chuffed to see anything at all whether its rotten or not!

    I’ve managed to pick about 1kg of tomatoes in total, 40 beetroots, corn, carrots, rocket. Turnips, Swede, Cabage and more carrots are just beginning for homemade winter veg soup :)

    Wasn’t aware that there were some varieties more resistant that others, so will give Ferline a go next time. Any back out to the sunshine!

  40. I made this yesterday with the numerous tiny Gardener’s Delight that didn’t make it to the ripe stage in my yard. The fist batch – which was simmering while I had a shower and my wife was watching it (!) – unfortunately turned into a brown gooey gloop tasting of burnt sugar.
    Undaunted, I made another batch with my remaining fruit. I didn’t leave the pot out of my sight this time and am pleased to report that it was delicious. Even my wife (who was fed up with chutney experiments by now) agreed. And the cranberries are a real plus. Thank you!

  41. Pingback: Green tomato chutney recipes « The Evening Hérault

  42. I’ve made this recipe a couple of times now but doubled up the ingredients each time and also added a fresh, homegrown chilli. The results are fantastic! Thank you.

  43. I’d just made a mixed red and green tomato chutney using a Nigel Slater recipe when I found this….which looks great (though I prefer my Craisins in porridge!). Just one question – how big should the cups be? Thanks

  44. I’ve had such a bumper crop of tomatoes this year, I all but ran out of ideas as to what to do with them all. But the time came today to cut the plants down and my husband did one last harvest. Having made this chutney about a month ago, I am almost out – it is so delicious that friends have asked for more than one jar. So I’m off to the shops to brew another batch with the last of my toms. Thank you!

  45. John ,try adding sugar when you have simmered othered ingredients for about an hour ,it then dosent end up all gooey and sticky.I make green tomato chutney each year and it keeps for quite a while ,normally run out by Easter .
    Have fun changing some of the ingredients about for that extra tang .Lynda Whymark .

  46. Hello just made some of your green tomato chutney wonderful had bacon on Toast with chutney ==really liked it made 3 jars hadnt got red wine vinegar so put red wine and brown viniger really good than you .

  48. Just cooking my batch up now. I used 4 x the amounts suggested and it’s filled up just about enough jars for a few Xmas presents (only for the super nice friends though) and of course one or two for us! Had a little taste and it’s delicious!

    Thank you :-)

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  50. Nice recipe. I have loads of green tomatoes right now here in Bulgaria and have been making chutneys from them lately with great success.
    Think I’ll give your recipe a try later on today (omitting the cranberries and raisins as I don’t have any).
    Hope you don’t mind if I put your recipe on my blog with a link to your site?

  51. Thank-you! Bad weather had blown all plants to pieces and I had so many green ones left, they have been on a window sill to ripen, but this is much more instant and far more useful. Think it will make some nice christmas pressies with the cranberries.

  52. hi

    i used five chopped apples, raisins and half-and-half red wine vinegar to the umeboshi type plum vinegar (japanese – which is both sweeter and saltier) and THEREFORE NO SUGAR!!

    It’s better for your teeth I’m sure! :)

    turned out beautifully!

  53. This has to be the best chutney I have ever tasted…just getting into growing our own veg and had a lot of tomatoes left…was fun spending the morning getting it all together!!!! The result was awesome and we had loads to give out this Christmas for pressies…great with curries, or just in a sandwich..brill..will be hoping for green tomatoes next year…

  54. someone help me i’m confussed, if for instants i double the amount of tom’s i put in do i have to do the same with all the other ingrediants? i have lots of green tomatos

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  57. thats great I have been asking around for ages for a recipe for green tom chutney as last year I had quite a few that never ripened! This year I seem to have twice as many toms but they are looking redder by the day…but I like to be prepared!!

  58. Hi – I love this recipe, but I’m a dolt when it comes to math and us Americans know nothing about the metric system :). When I try and convert I get flustered and mad. Could you please post a SIMPLE conversion chart? It would make me so very happy!

    Also pondering – I actually grew Granny Smith tomates, which I read (too much) that these were the original Fried Green Tomates as opposed to unripe red toms. Just wondering….cause everyone on the internet has an opinion.

    Thanks!

  60. Hi can i leave the raisens or craisens out totally.. will it spoil the taste, has anyone tried this /

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  63. Finally you have found a Great recipe and its viral now. Before i try it myself how did find that taste?

  64. Pumpkin chutney sounded a bit weird. But, after I tried with my green house ingredients its simple the best one I have ever made and so many from the kids too. Thanks for the Great Post.

  65. As an American, I’ve long been baffled by chutney. How dies one eat it?

    And why does it stink?

  67. i simply cut up my green tomatoes,stuffed them in mason jars and added 1 1/12 tbsp.salt, 1 1/12 tbsp. crushed red pepper flakes then filled to the top with boiling vinegar. seal tight and enjoy with butterbeans and cornbread in about 2 months. i even eat them with my pizza. try it, you’ll love em!!!!!

  69. I made this and it was awesome!!
    Strongly recommend it. When I took it to work everyone could not stop talking about it.
    I served it over a bar of cream cheese with crackers.
    I added just about everything that was left over from the end of the garden. Green tomatoes;red tomatoes;red peppers; sweet banana peppers.

    I am now making a second batch!!

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