Summer is a lovely time to make jams and jellies- here is an absolutely delicious Mock Raspberry jam, that uses an item that is overly abundant in the garden- Green Tomatoes!
If you’ve never tried Mock Raspberry jam you’re in for a treat, This delicious jam recipe utilizes fresh green tomatoes, but your tastebuds will never even know they’re there. It’s an excellent way to get little ones or picky eaters to eat fresh veggies- just don’t tell them what’s in it.
Unlike many tomato recipes, you won’t need to take the time to remove the seeds from the fruit. They just add authenticity to the idea that you’re eating raspberries!  For this recipe, we usually use large, full green tomatoes that are just starting to ripen.
Ripe tomatoes aren’t really recommended for a couple of reasons. First, they won’t have the correct texture, they can take on a graininess. Secondly, they add too much tomato flavor, overpowering the fruity flavor of the jam. So do yourself a favor and use nice, fat, green tomatoes!
Mock Raspberry Jam aka Green Tomato Jam
You’ll Need:
2-1/2 cups shredded/finely chopped green tomatoes (about 3 medium)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 package (3 ounces) raspberry Jello (Or Blackberry Jello, or Mixed Berry Jello)
In a large saucepan, bring shredded tomatoes and sugar to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes over very low heat.
Remove from the heat; stir in gelatin until dissolved. Skim off any foam. Ladle into jars or freezer containers, leaving 1/2-in. headspace.
If freezing, Cool before covering with lids. Refrigerate. Yield: about 3 cups.
Other Flavor Ideas
This recipe is delicious with either Raspberry or Blackberry gelatin or strawberry to make various flavors of jam. We have tried the mixed berry gelatin and it received mixed reviews, only 3 out of 4 family members liked it.
If you’d prefer less sugar, you can reduce it to 1 cup instead of 1 1/2 cups, particularly since jello is already very sweet on it’s own.
Note: We have NOT tried this recipe with Splenda or any other sweetener, but we’d love to hear your results if you do!
The jam lasts about a week in the fridge or up to 6 months in the freezer.
do you peel the tomatoes first???
I wouldn’t think so since they are shredded.
No, just shred them.
No, this is a Freezer Jam Recipe, if you process in a water bath the jam will UnSet and the acid levels will be out of whack due to the green tomatoes and sugar.
***I have canned this jam successfully several times, and it has never separated or thinned out. I’d say that, if you’re comfortable canning, give it a try. I just use a 10-minute water bath with half-pint jars.
Patty W.
I just opened a jar I’ve had before at least 4 years. Was perfect consistency and tasted great! I water bathed mine.
I made this recipe just last week! It is sooo easy and sooo yummy! The site I found it on called it green tomato jam.
(I like this name better… more people will be apt to try it! 😉 Anyway, I did not peel the tomatoes.
I did, however, pulverize them in my HealthMaster mixer. It turned out virtually seedless!
i might have to try that. i usually have an abundance of green tomatoes.
i wonder if you could seal the jars with hot water bath method so it would last longer?
another person posted that they canned it several times and had no problem with the consistency. They used water bath canner and half pint jars for 10 minutes. I’m going to try that. I have plenty of half pint jars.
this is very interesting. it is so neat that the green tomatoes have so little flavor of their own, if i have green tomatoes i should try this one. :party1:
If I had raspberries, could I add them also?
Would the raspberries have to be cooked?
will try half size recipe with agave syrup and let you know how it come out
mcc1326
i just made this using strawberry jell-o. we tried it while it was still slightly warm over some strawberry ice cream. it has a wonderful flavor..but very sweet.
i was wondering what would happen if i cut the sugar in half, since the jell-o has a lot of sugar also. i have some green tomatoes left, so i think i will try it with raspberry jell-o, cutting some of the sugar and see what happens. worst case scenario we have ice cream sauce, i guess.
also, wonder if you could use sugar free jell-o? another experiment coming up.
i made the raspberry flavor out of the rest of the green tomatoes using about half the amount of sugar it called for, it is still plenty sweet and the flavor is awesome. we just had some spooned over vanilla ice cream..yum!
okay, i have lots of green tomatoes…gonna try this recipe
I have made this recipe for years, and no one even knows there are tomato’s and no raspberries. Hands down the best raspberry jam going!
I just made two batches of this. One using sugar free raspberry jello and one using sugar free strawberry jello. It’s what I had in my cupboard.
I only used 1 cup of sugar in each batch because other posters had said it was too sweet. I am very happy with each batch. I will definately make this again.