This Tomato Jam contains both goldenberries and chia seeds. The Goldenberries add a sweet and sour note to the delicious tomato spread that you can use in your sandwiches, vegetable bowls, as a tomato ketchup replacement, or many other plant-based dishes. It’s healthy, and an SOS-free recipe: it’s free of oil, salt, and sugar.
Goldenberries are a firm, tangy fruit that are closely related to tomatoes. They have a bright and slightly citrus or sweet-and-sour flavor that can easily be used in either sweet or savory dishes. They are also sometimes called cape gooseberries, and you can read a bit more about them here. While I am growing a bunch in my greenhouse (you can see one below, and again near the bottom of this page), I didn’t have nearly enough on hand to make this recipe (I have so far harvested about a dozen berries in total!) I was really lucky to find that Costco started carrying goldenberries in their produce section. Regularly, and so far most of the year they have had them in stock (off and on, depending on location).
But if you don’t have goldenberries, you can easily substitute other berries in their place. Cranberries, blueberries, blackberries, or other fruit will do just fine. Or, you can use one of our other tomato jam recipes on this site.
Basic Tomato Jam with Goldenberries and Chia Seeds
Ingredients
- 4 cups tomato diced
- 1/2 cup onion diced
- 1 cup goldenberries cut in half. Sub with other berries (see notes)
- 3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 3 Tbsp chia seeds
Instructions
- Pulse the tomatoes in a food processor, or dice into chunks.
- Dice or food process onions.
- Cut the goldenberries (cape gooesberries) in half, or smaller if desired.
- Add the tomatoes, goldenberries, and onions to a large pot on the stove, and simmer until most juices evaporate (this could take up to an hour, it depends on the water content in your tomatoes).
- Once liquids are reduced, add the apple cider vinegar and chia seeds and stir well.
- Let cool in a glass bowl or jar, and then refrigerate or freeze once cool.
Notes
The jam will thicken a bit in the fridge as the chia seeds gelatinize. You can also adjust the consistency by adding or reducing the amount of chia seeds you use (for instance, if the jam doesn’t thicken enough for your liking overnight, you can always add some more the next morning). This tomato jam will keep for about 5 days or so in the fridge. As with any tomato-based product, don’t push it too much (tomatoes are unsafe if they turn).
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Alex
Hi
Quick query, The recipe refers to apples being diced, however, no quantity or type is listed within ingredient. Please can you clarify . Thanks
Jen @ PlantBasedRecipe.com
Hi Alex! Sorry about that – there are no apples in this recipe. It should have just said the onions. Made the edit – sorry for the confusion!
Jason
I hate onions 🤣 anything I can substitute instead?
Jen @ Plant Based Recipe
Hi Jason, I would substitute apples for the onions. For less sweet you could try radish or perhaps even jicama.
(Edit to add — I wrote this from outside the site, and didn’t see it was a response to the earlier comment about apples, haha!)