Plum chutney recipe

This plum chutney takes 15 minutes to prepare and can be enjoyed alongside cheese, pork pie or simply with crackers. 

Plums that are ripe will have lots of natural pectin which will help thicken the chutney. We’ve included sultanas but you can omit these if you prefer. If you’d still like an extra fruit boost, consider adding some peeled, finely diced eating apples for the final five minutes of cooking. 

Please note the nutritional information is per jar of chutney and the recipe makes five jars. We would estimate that each jar contains around 10 or more servings which works out approximately 60 calories. 

Ingredients

• 1kg plums, halved stoned and chopped
• 2 onions, peeled and finely chopped
• 225g sultanas
• 1tbsp grated fresh root ginger
• 1tsp ground cinnamon
• ½tsp grated nutmeg
• 2tsp salt
• 600ml white wine vinegar
• 400g granulated sugar
• 5x 450ml jars, sterilised

Method

1. Put the plums, onions and sultanas in a large pan. Stir in the ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and vinegar and bring to the boil.
2. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes until the plums are tender, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Boil the chutney for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thick and pulpy and most of the liquid has evaporated.
4. Spoon the hot chutney into warm sterilised jars and seal with airtight vinegar-proof covers. Label and store in a cool dry dark place for at least 2 weeks before eating to allow the flavour to develop and mellow. Once opened, store in the fridge.

Tops tip for making plum chutney

Make sure you sterilise your jars before adding the plum chutney. Follow our simple guide on how to sterilise jars and bottles to make sure you do this correctly.

Unlike in a jam, the vinegar in this recipe makes it more savoury. It is an excellent match for cheese, cold cuts of meat or rich buttery pies. We also like it in toasties or sandwiches but it’s also a great option alongside your favourite curry if you’ve run out of mango chutney. For more tips, continue reading below. 

In this recipe you need to grate the fresh ginger. We like to use a microplane grater as it gives a lovely fine finish and is very effective. 

Microplane grater Premium fine grater - View at Amazon

A high quality grater is your best friend in the kitchen. This grater is perfect for preparing the ginger for your chutney but is also excellent for grating garlic, instead of crushing it, and can be used to zest lemons, limes and oranges or any citrus for that matter. It also goes without saying, but it’s excellent for grating cheese, especially hard cheeses like Parmesan. 

Make our plum cake if you still have plums leftover and need some inspiration on how to cook them. Alternatively, if you’d like to try a different chutney recipe, you might like our tomato chutney or this easy onion chutney.