My garden is bursting with cherry tomatoes again, and here is the funny part: I do not actually like eating them raw. I love growing them. I am completely on board for spaghetti sauce and salsa. But popping one straight off the vine? Not for me. For years I handed baskets over the fence just to keep up. This summer I finally simmered a batch down into cherry tomato jam, and now I am the one hoarding them.
This cherry tomato jam recipe is made without pectin, in one wide pan, with about six pantry ingredients. It takes roughly an hour and forty minutes, start to finish and makes a small batch of about 2½ cups, or five 4-ounce jars. It is sweet up front, tangy at the finish, and it turns an ordinary cheese board into something people ask about.
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What Is Cherry Tomato Jam?
Cherry tomato jam is a sweet-and-savory spread made by slowly simmering halved cherry tomatoes with sugar, vinegar, and lemon juice until the mixture thickens and turns glossy. It sets without added pectin because cherry tomatoes carry natural pectin in their skins and seeds. You will sometimes see it called cherry tomato preserves, and the two names are used interchangeably. The flavor lands somewhere between a fruit preserve and a very good chutney, which is why it works equally well on a biscuit and on a burger.
Why You’ll Love This Cherry Tomato Jam
- No pectin required. Cherry tomatoes do the work themselves.
- No canning skills needed. Make it as a refrigerator jam and skip the water bath entirely.
- Small batch. About 2½ cups from one pan in an afternoon.
- Six pantry ingredients. Tomatoes, sugar, vinegar, lemon, salt, pepper. That is the list.
- It solves the overabundance. Two and a half pounds of cherry tomatoes disappear into five little jars.
- It gifts beautifully. A thrifted jar and a length of ribbon and you have a hostess gift people remember.
Ingredients for Cherry Tomato Jam
- 2½ lbs cherry tomatoes. A mix of red and yellow makes the prettiest jam. (I used all red this time, since that is what I had.) Grape tomatoes work just as well. Use ripe fruit, because underripe tomatoes stay tart and refuse to break down.
- 1½ cups granulated sugar. Swap up to ½ cup for honey or brown sugar if you want more depth. Refrigerator and freezer batches only, though. See the canning note before you change anything.
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar. Balsamic gives a richer, darker jam. Red wine vinegar also works.
- 2 tbsp lemon juice. Fresh is lovely for refrigerator jam. Use bottled if you plan to can, which is a safety requirement rather than a preference.
- ½ tsp sea salt. Kosher salt is fine at the same volume.
- ½ tsp black pepper. Coarsely cracked. Adjust at the end, once the sugar has mellowed.
- Optional add-ins
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes for gentle heat
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger for zing
- A sprig of rosemary or basil for an herby finish
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, stirred in at the end, for a sweet gourmet note
How Many Cherry Tomatoes Do You Need?
Two and a half pounds of cherry tomatoes is roughly 6 to 7 cups whole, or about three pints from the farmers market. That cooks down to about 2½ cups of finished jam, which is five 4-ounce jars or two and a half half-pints.
Yield varies more than you would expect, and this is the part most recipes skip. Very juicy varieties like Sweet 100 and Sungold cook down further and can leave you closer to 2 cups. Meatier varieties like Juliet or a small paste tomato hold their volume and can push past 3 cups. If you are making these as gifts and need an exact number of jars, weigh a little heavy.
| Cherry tomatoes | Whole volume | Finished jam | Jars (4 oz) |
| 1¼ lb (half batch) | 3–3½ cups | About 1¼ cups | 2–3 |
| 2½ lb (full batch) | 6–7 cups | About 2½ cups | 5 |
| 5 lb (double) | 12–14 cups | About 5 cups | 10 |
Tip from wendy’s kitchen:
For a double batch, cook it in two separate pans rather than one big pot. Jam piled too deep will not evaporate evenly, and you end up with something that scorches on the bottom before it thickens on top.
Cherry Tomato Jam Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Wide shallow pan 12"
- 1 Wooden spoon
- 5 five 4-oz Ball jars. For canning
- 1 Water bath canner or deep stockpot with rack
- 1 Jar lifter
Ingredients
- 2½ lbs cherry tomatoes halved
- 1½ cups granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp lemon juice bottled if canning
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ½ tsp black pepper coarsely cracked
Optional add-ins (use the WPRM ingredient group feature)
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
- 1 sprig rosemary or basil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Wash and dry the cherry tomatoes, remove any stems, and halve them.
- Toss the halved tomatoes with the sugar, vinegar, and lemon juice in a large bowl. Let sit 30 minutes at room temperature, or overnight in the fridge. This draws out the juices and shortens the cooking time.
- Transfer to a wide, heavy-bottomed pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves. Mash the tomatoes gently with a wooden spoon as they soften.
- Stir in the salt, pepper, and any add-ins. Raise the heat to medium-high, bring to a gentle boil, and skim off the foam.
- Reduce to a simmer and cook 40 to 50 minutes, stirring more often as it thickens, until the jam mounds on a spoon and a spatula dragged across the pan leaves a track that takes a beat to fill in.
- Cool 10 minutes, then spoon into clean jars. The jam firms up considerably as it cools. Refrigerate once fully cool.
For canning
- Use bottled lemon juice, not fresh, and make the base recipe exactly as written with no honey substitution or reduced sugar.
- Sterilize jars in boiling water for 10 minutes and keep them hot.
- Ladle hot jam into hot jars leaving ¼ inch headspace. Wipe rims, apply lids, tighten bands to fingertip-tight.
- Process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes at sea level. Add 5 minutes at 1,000–3,000 ft, 10 minutes at 3,000–6,000 ft, 15 minutes above that.
- Cool undisturbed 12 hours, then check seals. Refrigerate any jar that didn’t seal.
Notes
How to Make Cherry Tomato Jam (Step by Step)
Step 1: Pick and Prep Your Tomatoes
Wash the tomatoes, dry them, and pull off any stems. Halve them. This is the only knife work in the recipe, and it goes faster if you line a handful up on the board and cut across all of them at once.
Step 2: Macerate (Optional but Recommended)
Put the halved tomatoes in a bowl with the sugar, vinegar, and lemon juice. Let them sit 30 minutes on the counter, or overnight in the fridge. The sugar pulls the juice out, which means less time on the stove and a brighter flavor in the finished jam.
Step 3: Cook it Down
Pour everything into a wide, heavy-bottomed pan. Add an herb sprig now if you are using one. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves, then use a wooden spoon to gently mash the tomatoes as they soften.
Tip from wendy’s kitchen:
For the best texture, use a wide, shallow pan (like a sauté pan instead of a deep stock pot). The larger surface area helps the liquid evaporate faster, which means your jam thickens more quickly and develops a richer, caramelized flavor.
Step 4: Season & Simmer
Add the salt, pepper, and any flavor variations. Raise the heat to medium-high, bring to a gentle boil, and skim the foam off the surface. Reduce to a simmer and cook 40 to 50 minutes, stirring more often as it thickens. The color deepens from bright red to something closer to brick.
Step 5: Test for Doneness
See the section below (How Do You Know When Tomato Jam Is Done?). This is the step worth slowing down for.
Step 6: Cool and Jar
Let the jam cool about 10 minutes before spooning into clean jars. It looks slightly loose while hot and firms up considerably as it cools. Refrigerate once fully cool.
How Do You Know When Tomato Jam Is Done?
Cherry tomato jam is done when it mounds on a spoon instead of running off, and a spatula dragged across the bottom of the pan leaves a track that takes a beat to fill back in.
For a more exact check, put a small plate in the freezer before you start cooking. Drop a spoonful onto the cold plate, wait 60 seconds, then push the edge with your fingertip. If it wrinkles, it is set. If it floods back into the gap, keep simmering and test again in 10 minutes.
One thing to keep in mind: jam thickens noticeably as it cools, so pull it off the heat slightly before it looks perfect in the pan. Cooking until it looks right while hot gives you something closer to tomato paste the next morning.
Do You Need Pectin for Cherry Tomato Jam?
No. Cherry tomatoes carry enough natural pectin in their skins and seeds to set a jam on their own, as long as you cook off enough liquid and include an acid like lemon juice or vinegar. That is why this recipe simmers for 40 to 50 minutes rather than the 10-minute boil a pectin recipe calls for. You are removing water, not adding a setting agent.
If your jam still has not thickened after a full hour, keep going. It is almost always a water problem rather than a pectin problem, and a wider pan or slightly higher heat will fix it.
Do You Have to Peel or Seed Cherry Tomatoes for Jam?
No, and I would argue you should not. The skins and seeds are where most of the natural pectin lives, and cherry tomato skins are thin enough to disappear into the jam as it cooks. Larger slicing tomatoes are a different story. Those are worth peeling, because their skins curl into tough little ribbons.
If you want a completely smooth spread, make the jam as written and finish it with a few pulses of an immersion blender once it comes off the heat. You get the silky texture without giving up the set.
Cherry Tomato Jam Troubleshooting
| Problem | What To Do |
| Too runny | Keep simmering. Move to a wider pan if you can, since more surface area means faster evaporation. Test again every 10 minutes. |
| Too thick | Stir in a splash of water or vinegar while still warm, a tablespoon at a time, until it loosens. |
| Too seedy | Pulse with an immersion blender, or press the finished jam through a coarse sieve while warm. |
| Tastes flat | It usually needs acid, not sugar. Add another teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice and taste again. |
| Scorched on the bottom | Stop stirring the burnt bits in. Pour the good jam into a clean pan and finish it there. Do not scrape. |
| Foamy on the top | Skim it off as it boils. A tiny knob of butter also knocks the foam down. |
Cherry Tomato Jam Recipes: 6 Flavor Variations
Balsamic Tomato Jam
This is the variation I get asked about most, and it is barely a change to the method. Swap the 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar for 2 tablespoons of good balsamic, then add a third tablespoon in the last five minutes of cooking so some of that sweet-sharp edge survives the simmer. Stir in a handful of chopped basil off the heat.
The result is darker, glossier, and noticeably more savory than the base recipe, closer to something you would spoon over a steak than spread on a scone. Balsamic also carries more residual sugar than cider vinegar, so taste before adding the full amount of granulated sugar; you may want a quarter cup less.
Five more ways to change it up
- Spicy cherry tomato jam. Red pepper flakes plus a pinch of smoked paprika.
- Cherry rosemary jam. Simmer two woody rosemary sprigs in with the tomatoes and fish them out before jarring. Rosemary and tomato is the pairing I keep coming back to, and it is what you can see in most of the photos on this page.
- Vanilla honey. Replace ½ cup of the sugar with honey and add vanilla off the heat. This is the one I made this batch.
- Savory tomato jam with garlic and shallot. Soften a minced shallot and two cloves of garlic in a little olive oil before adding the tomatoes. Cut the sugar to 1 cup. Excellent on burgers.
- Warm spice. A cinnamon stick, two cloves, and a teaspoon of grated ginger, simmered in and fished out at the end.
How to Store Tomato Jam
Cherry tomato jam keeps 2 to 3 weeks in the refrigerator in a clean sealed jar, or up to 6 months in the freezer. Properly water-bath canned jars hold in a cool, dark pantry for up to 12 months.
| Method | How Long | Notes |
| Refrigerator | 2–3 weeks | Always use a clean spoon. Crumbs and stray knives are what cause mold. |
| Freezer | Up to 6 months | Leave ½ inch of headspace so the jar does not crack. Thaw overnight in the fridge. |
| Water-bath canned | Up to 12 months | Base recipe only, made with bottled lemon juice. Refrigerate after opening. |
Cherry Tomato Jam Recipe for Canning
If you enjoy canning the way I do with my Mrs. Wages dill pickles and my bread and butter pickles, you can put this jam up for the pantry too. There is one thing you have to change first, and it is not optional.
Use bottled lemon juice, not fresh
Fresh lemon juice is perfect for a jam that lives in the refrigerator. It is not safe for anything you intend to store at room temperature. Fresh lemons vary in acidity depending on variety, ripeness, and time of year, while bottled lemon juice is standardized, so you know exactly what you are getting.
This matters more with tomatoes than with almost any other produce. Tomatoes sit right on the pH borderline, roughly 4.5 to 4.8, and the safe cutoff for water-bath canning is 4.6. Modern varieties trend less acidic than the ones our grandmothers grew, which is why every current canning authority says tomato products must be deliberately acidified. Swap the 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice for 2 tablespoons of bottled, and make the base recipe exactly as written, with no honey substitution and no reduced sugar.
Sterilize jars and lids
- Wash the jars and lids in hot, soapy water.
- Place the jars in a large pot of boiling water for 10 minutes and keep them hot until you are ready to fill.
Fill the jars
- Ladle the hot jam into the hot jars, leaving ¼ inch of headspace.
- Wipe the rims clean, set the lids on, and screw the bands to fingertip-tight.
Process in a water bath
- Set the filled jars on a rack in a canning pot or deep stockpot.
- Cover with at least 1 to 2 inches of boiling water.
- Once the water returns to a full boil, process 15 minutes at sea level. Add 5 minutes between 1,000 and 3,000 feet, 10 minutes between 3,000 and 6,000 feet, and 15 minutes above that.
Cool and check the seals
- Lift the jars out and let them cool on a towel, undisturbed, for 12 hours.
- You should hear a pop as each one seals. Press the center of each lid. If it does not flex, it sealed.
- Refrigerate any jar that did not seal and use it within a few weeks.
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A note on tested recipes: this is my family recipe, not a laboratory-tested canning formula. If shelf stability is your priority, the National Center for Home Food Preservation publishes tested tomato spread recipes and I would point you there. For everything else, the refrigerator and the freezer are wonderful and I use them far more often than the canner.
Ways to Use Cherry Tomato Jam
- Spread on crusty bread, biscuits, or crackers
- Paired with goat cheese, brie, or sharp cheddar on a charcuterie board
- Spooned over whipped ricotta or baked feta with crackers
- As a glaze for grilled chicken, pork tenderloin, or salmon
- Inside a grilled cheese, which is the one that converts people
- On a burger in place of ketchup
- Over baked brie for an appetizer
- Packed into a vintage jar with ribbon as a handmade hostess gift
Tip from wendy’s kitchen:
Make a double batch in two pans and tuck a few jars away for holiday gifting. Late November you will be very glad you did.
Cherry Tomato Jam FAQ
Jam is made from the whole fruit, so it has body, texture, and visible bits of tomato. Jelly is made from strained juice only, which gives a clear, firm set. Because straining removes the skins and seeds where the natural pectin lives, a true cherry tomato jelly recipe needs added pectin. If you want the clear jelly, strain the cooked mixture through a jelly bag and follow the pectin package directions. If you want the spread in this post, leave everything in.
In everyday use, yes. Strictly speaking, preserves keep larger pieces of fruit suspended in syrup, jam cooks down until more uniform, and marmalade traditionally includes citrus peel. This one sits between preserves and jam.
Yes, and it is a good use for a bag you stashed in August. Thaw them first and pour off some of the liquid, or the jam will take longer to reduce. One bonus: the skins slip off easily after freezing if you would rather remove them.
For refrigerator jam, yes. Green tomatoes are firmer and tarter, so plan on a longer simmer and taste for sugar near the end. Do not can a batch made with green tomatoes using these times, since you have changed the recipe.
Partly. A slow cooker will soften the tomatoes beautifully but will not thicken them, because the lid traps the steam you are trying to drive off. Cook it down covered, then finish uncovered on the stove for the last 20 minutes.
Chutney carries more vinegar and spice, usually includes onion or ginger, and stays chunkier and more savory. Tomato jam is sweeter and smoother. If you make the garlic and shallot variation above, you are most of the way to a chutney.
Other Recipes from WM Design House
If you loved this recipe, you may also enjoy some of my other favorites.
Mrs. Wages Dill Pickles
The most delicious recipe for dill pickles you will ever make
Fall Harvest Salad Recipe
Air fryer vegetables create a delicious summer salad
Beet Salad Recipe
How Long do Roasted Beets Last in Fridge + Best Beet Recipes
Wrapping Up
This cherry tomato jam is about as forgiving as preserving gets. A basket of garden tomatoes, a little sugar, and about an hour on the stove will give you a spread that’s sweet, savory, and just a little magical.
Whether you enjoy it on toast, alongside a cozy fall meal, or tucked into a jar with a ribbon as a thoughtful gift, this one is sure to become a seasonal favorite. It certainly won me over, and I am the woman who does not eat raw tomatoes.
If you make it, or come up with your own twist, I would love to hear about it. Leave a star rating and a comment below, tag me on Instagram @wmdesignhouse, or pin it to save for next summer’s harvest.
Happy Jam Making!
More about me!
Hello, I’m Wendy – a dedicated homemaker with a deep passion for decorating, gardening, cooking, and crafting. I find joy in harmonizing beautiful elements to fashion a space that is both comfortable and inspiring. I will help you create a beautiful home, one project at a time.
I can’t wait to make this! I pinned it so I don’t lose this!
Totally trying this today, Wendy! Great way to enjoy all the late summer cherry tomatoes. I’ve got a ton of pear ones, too. Yum!
This looks delicious, Wendy. I can’t wait to try it! I’m pinning it to save for later until I can find the time…maybe after volleyball season 🙂
I don’t think I have ever had tomato jam. It looks delicious though!
It is quite good, the perfect mix of sweet and savory. I love it with cream cheese on a cracker.