Plum chutney is a sweet-and-tangy spread that is perfect for roasted meats, on sandwiches or as a dipping sauce. I made it last year with a box of Italian plums I picked with my friend Brigitte from a local farm. It has to be hands down one of the best chutney combinations I’ve ever had.
Italian plums from a local u-pick farm
Any old plum will work for this recipe, but I happen to favor Italian plums. I love them so much that I planted one this past year on our homestead. They are great for fresh eating, preserving and drying – making them a good, easy to grow and easy to use fruit for the NW.
Grab a friend for the chopping – 3 lbs of plums gets a little boring!
This chutney recipe is modified from the book Well Preserved, an excellent and creative food preservation cookbook that focuses on small batches. As is the case with most canning recipes, this one involves lots and lots of chopping. I don’t own a big food processor and I wanted the fruit pieces to stay chunky. So grab a friend and have them help you cut everything up.
Dried coriander seeds from the garden’s bolted cilantro
I used coriander seeds from some cilantro that had bolted earlier in the season. Just pull the plant and hang it to dry. You can replant those seed heads when the weather cools down or crush them in a mortar and pestle like I did to cook with.
Plum chutney ingredients
Plum Chutney with Cinnamon & Coriander
- 3 lbs. firm plums, roughly chopped
- 1 c. Honeycrisp apple, chopped
- 1 c. white onion, chopped
- 2 c. brown sugar
- 1 1/2 c. red wine vinegar
- 1/2 c. golden raisins
- 1 T. mustard seed
- 3 tsp. dried chili flake (add more or less to suit your taste)
- 2 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- 2 tsp. coriander seed, crushed
- Combine all ingredients into one big stock pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally.
- Once hot, lower heat to medium and stir often to prevent sticking. Simmer for about 45 minutes, or until the mixture is thick enough to stay mounded on a spoon. (You should be drinking wine or a cold beer with a friend during this part.)
- Get your canner filled with water and start bringing to a boil about halfway through the chutney cooking time.
- Ladle hot mixture into clean, sterilized canning jars leaving about 1/2″ of head space. Wipe the rims clean and adjust the two piece caps. Process the filled jars in a hot water bath for about 10 minutes.
Thickened chutney is ready for the canner when it mounds well on a spoon
That’s it! Pretty simple and straight forward. Again, adjust the seasoning to suit your taste. This recipe has enough acidity from the vinegar that you can feel comfortable increasing or decreasing the spices a bit.
Pint jars for us and half pints for gifts
I canned mine in both pint and half pint jars. We can easily devour a pint of chutney within a couple weeks after opening, while the smaller sized jars are good for gift-giving. Encourage gift receivers to use it as they would cranberry sauce. Enjoy!
This looks and sounds wonderful! It makes me want to go get some plums right now! Thanks for sharing!
I just finished canning this, tasted a bit and it seems yummy. It made 62oz of finished chutney for me! Thanks for sharing. My 6 year old granddaughter helped me pick the Italian plums I used.
That is so sweet! I’m glad you’ll relive that memory every time you open a jar this winter 🙂
Very good recipe, super easy, thank you for posting! I was given 2 cases of plums, so this was exactly what I was looking for! I used the big round plums and two small royal gala apples instead of Italian plums and honeycrisp. Tastes great but mine seems a bit runny.
Allison, glad it turned out so great! Your plums may have been juicier. In the future, cook it down a bit more at a summer to stream off more liquid. It’s ready to can when it mounds on a spoon at room temperature. Cool a spoonful at time every few minutes toward the end to test.
I just finished canning this chutney. I didn’t even bother processing the last jar since we had pork tenderloin for dinner. Yummy! Thanks for the recipe. It look a lot longer (more like 1.5 hours) for me to get the correct consistency. The only thing I neglected was drinking a glass of wine! I am hoping to make another batch tomorrow with the rest of the plums on my tree.
Way to go Emily! I’m making a batch in this next week too 🙂
I found this to way too sweet for me although I used only half the sugar. This may be because the plums were quite sweetened toward the end of the season here I LaConner, WA and also, Imused vadalia onions.
making this as we speak, smells delish, added a peach, had some going soft, used cider vinegar, thats about it, I am sorry never follow a recipe , improvise, thats me, thanks,
I’ve been making my mother’s plum chutney recipe for a long time. Thought I would change it up a bit and found your recipe. Made a few changes. I find people don’t care for a cooked raisin so omitted that (in chutney recipes that call for raisins I substitute dates). I make many different chutneys each year. Plums are excellent for making an HP kind of boldness. Great recipe!
In my mother’s recipe she used cloves instead of cinnamon but with the coriander and mustard seed (new additions for me) I used the cinnamon and found it improved the flavour. Well done!
So glad this worked for you + you tailored to your tastes. Appreciate the feedback!