Thai Style Tomato Chili Jam

Name: Thai Style Tomato Chili Jam
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 120 min
Total time: 130 min
Ingredients: 500 g tomatoes ((roughly chopped)); 300 g red peppers ((roughly chopped)); 5 red chillies ((roughly chopped)); 4 cloves garlic (((roughly chopped)); 1 medium onion ((roughly chopped)); 1 thumb ginger ((roughly chopped)); 2 lemongrass ((finely chopped)); 4 lime leaves ((finely chopped)); 2 star anise; 1 cup sugar ((160 grams)); 2 tbsp fish sauce

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This sweet and spicy Thai Style Tomato Chili Jam is super easy to make at home as long as you have a food processor and a saucepan!

It is a fuss-free type of recipe that you can put together in less than 10 minutes and forget about for a couple of hours.

All you need to do is blitz the mixture to a smooth sauce at the end of the cooking process.

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What is Chili Jam?
Ingredients You'll Need
Step-by-Step Instructions
What is Chili Jam Used For?
Top Tips From the Chef
Recipe FAQs
Related Recipes
Thai Style Tomato Chili Jam

What is Chili Jam?

Chili Jam is a popular accompaniment to many savory dishes and is widely used in Asia.

There are many different recipes for this condiment.

tomato chili jam is served as a part of a cheese board

This Thai Style Tomato Chili Jam recipe is made with tomatoes, onions, chilies, ginger, garlic, and red peppers and seasoned with Asian flavors for an extra kick!

It is a versatile sauce you can serve with the cheese board, as a dipping for Thai Fish Cakes - Tod Mun Pla, Easy Air Fryer Hamburgers, Frozen Sweet Potatoes in Air Fryer, Crispy Duck Spring Rolls, Easy Air Fryer Crab Cakes, or just to spread on a piece of Homemade Sandwich Bread.

Our favorite way to eat this sweet and spicy condiment is to dip it with some delicious Turkish Cheese Rolls (Sigara Borek).

Ingredients You'll Need

Please scroll down to the recipe card below for the full ingredients list with measurements, complete recipe method, recipe notes, and nutritional information.

Labelled picture of ingredients for chili jam

Chilies For Tomato & Chili Jam

There are many varieties of chili you can use for this spicy and sweet condiment.

Different parts of the world have different types of chilies.

Here in the UK, my options are not as wide, and I mostly use Cayenne, which is considered medium hot.

If you like your Tomato Chili Jam extra spicy, you can use varieties such as Scotch Bonnet and Apache.

Other than the chilies, other ingredients you will need are:

Tomatoes - I use fresh, ripe tomatoes whenever I can find them. I prefer Roma plum tomatoes with more flesh and fewer seeds. However, if you can’t get plum tomatoes then use any type of ripe vine tomatoes.

Red Peppers - I usually use romano peppers but any sweet type of red pepper works great with this recipe.

Ginger - Use fresh root ginger for this recipe, not dry or powdered! They are widely available in supermarkets or Asian stores.

Lemon grass - It is a sweet, lemony herb that grows in tropical climates and the stems are widely used in Asian cooking. Peel the outer leaves and use the pale yellow stalk that is softer and easier to chop. You can buy them online from Amazon or from Asian shops.

Lime leaves - They are great for flavoring Asian dishes such as curries and soups, similar to how bay leaves are used. Thinly slice them to use for salads, fish cakes, and other fresh dishes. You can find them from Asian shops or substitute them with lime zest.

Thai fish sauce - It is called "Nam Pla" in Thailand and is used for flavoring in Thai cooking as well as a condiment for serving at the table. You can substitute it with oyster sauce, Worcestershire sauce, or soy sauce.

Step-by-Step Instructions

This delicious, sweet, and mildly hot Thai Style Tomato Chili Jam recipe is from one of the big hotels where I worked as a chef many years ago.

I have made a few changes to the original recipe to make it easier for home cooking.

Making this spicy jam is very simple and straightforward.

You can easily adjust the heat by changing the amount/type of chili you use for the recipe.

To achieve the best results you need to follow a few simple steps:

Prepare the Vegetables

Wash and roughly chop tomatoes and place in a Dutch oven or a large saucepan.

Wash, deseed, and roughly chop red peppers and add to the tomatoes.

Peel and roughly chop the garlic, onions, chilies, and ginger.

Add them to the pan along with finely chopped lemongrass, julienned lime leaves, star anise, sugar, and fish sauce.

Keep the seeds of chilies if you want your sauce extra hot.

garlic, ginger, chilies, sugar, fish sauce, lime leaves and lemon grass are added to the pan

Gently Simmer the Chili Jam

Place the pan over medium heat, cover it with a lid, and bring the mixture to a boil.

Ingredients for chili jam are in Dutch oven ready for cooking

Lower the heat and gently simmer for an hour with the lid on.

chili jam is simmered for an hour with the lid on

Remove the lid and simmer for another hour or until the mixture is almost dry.

chili jam is cooked and ready for blitzing

Take the pan off the heat, remove the star anises, and place the mixture in a food processor.

Blitz until nice and smooth and store in a jar.

Just like Easy Rhubarb Jam, you can keep Tomato Chili Jam in the fridge for up to 1 month.

thai style tomato chili jam stored in a glass jar

What is Chili Jam Used For?

Chili jam is very versatile and you can use it as a dip with Crispy Duck Spring Rolls, crispy Turkish Cheese Rolls (Sigara Borek), or Calamari Fritti.

It is also a great condiment to serve on a cheese or charcuterie board.

You can also serve Tomato Chili Jam with burgers, sandwiches, or fishcakes and you can even spread it on a slice of Homemade Sandwich Bread.

Or add to your stir fries, casseroles, and soups to add a bit of extra kick.

I also make this sweet and spicy condiment to give as an edible Christmas present to my chili-loving friends and family members.

Top Tips From the Chef

Remember to remove 2 pieces of star anise from the pan before blitzing your Tomato & Chili Jam!

I recommend you use a food processor for this Thai Style Tomato Chilli Jam. You can't really achieve the same texture by chopping everything by hand and it would possibly take hours.

You can make this Chili Jam in big batches and store them in sterilized jars for up to 6 months

Recipe FAQs

What is the difference between chili jam and sweet chili sauce?

Sweet chili sauce is made with red chilies, vinegar, and sugar and is thickened with starch. It doesn't require slow cooking, usually ready in less than half an hour.
Chilli Jam is made with vegetables such as red peppers, tomatoes onions, and ginger. It requires slow cooking and blitzing.

How spicy is this chili jam?

This recipe is mildly spicy and quite sweet. However, you can use more/hotter chilies and add less sugar to achieve a spicier and less sweet condiment.

How long will chili jam last?

You can keep chili jam in a sterilized jar for up to 6 months. Once opened, you should keep it in the fridge and consume it within a month.

How to sterilize jars?

The easiest way to sterilize jars is to use your dishwasher. Simply remove the jars from the dishwasher as soon as the cycle has finished and fill them with chili jam immediately afterward.
You can visit kilnerjar for more information about how to sterilize jars.

For more delicious sauce and condiment recipes why not try:

Did you make this recipe? Please let me know how it turned out! Leave a comment below and tag @cookingorgeous on Instagram and hashtag it #cookingorgeous.

I hope you enjoy the process of making this spicy&sweet Thai Style Tomato Chili Jam as much as you enjoy eating it! 🙂

Bon appétit! / Afiyet olsun!

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What is Chili Jam?