Tomato Bacon Jam is a little sweet, a little savory, and a whole lot of delicious! Spread it on a cracker or bread, turn it into a hot or cold dip, use it to top cream cheese or brie. The possibilities are endless!
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I had some bacon and some tomatoes that I needed to use and we already had made a BLT, so what else to do with them? Of course, a ton of things came to mind, but I was in a dip/jam/sauce mode and thought, hey I can make a Tomato Bacon Jam!
This recipe can be made in the inner pot of the Ninja Foodi or in a pot on the stove. It only requires a few ingredients and about 30 minutes to make.
I love condiments! From preserves, homemade dressings, bbq sauces, pickles, and marinades to sweet or savory jams, count me in! I love perusing the gourmet grocery store shelves for different types of condiments and I especially love making them at home!
If you are a condiment lover like I am, I bet you'll love these recipes as well!
Easy BBQ Sauces to Make at Home
BBQ sauces are sort of my speciality, especially fruit-based bbq sauces. I used to own a BBQ restaurant and we made all of our own sauces in house. Here are some of my favorites!
Raspberry BBQ Sauce goes perfectly on ribs and chicken, or even try it on some mild fish. YUM!
If you are a blueberry lover or an apple lover, these two BBQ sauces might be up your alley!
Blueberry BBQ sauce goes perfectly with brisket as well as chicken wings! It's also great when you want to make a grown-up ham and cheese grilled sandwich.
Apple Butter Bourbon BBQ sauce is PERFECT on burgers and pork chops or chicken!
If you enjoy a traditional BBQ sauce that is a little sweet and a little spicy, this is the one to try!
Jams & Preserves to Make at Home
If sweet condiments are more your style, here are some recipes you will love!
Banana Jam! That's right, Banana Jam! It's unbelievably delicious and super easy to make. I spread it on toast, but it's also great on ice cream, yogurt, or used as a filling in a small hand pie.
I also have recipes for the following types of jams/preserves.
Strawberry Preserves Apple Butter Orange Marmalade Jalepeño Jelly
What are the Best Tomatoes to Use for Tomato Bacon Jam?
Any kind of fresh tomatoes that you like! I've tested the recipe with both medium-size red tomatoes and red cherry tomatoes. Both worked fine.
If you use the cherry tomatoes, you might want to use a pressure cooker to break down the tomatoes quicker. You can do this by pressure cooking on high for 2 minutes after you add the tomatoes, and then do an immediate release.
You can also simply let them cook longer and they will break down on their own. I used my (affiliate link)Mix 'N Chop to try to break them up and they simply slipped away from me until the tomatoes softened enough, and then the Mix 'N Chop worked fine.
You can also use any variety of tomato that you like.
How to Make Tomato Bacon Jam in the Ninja Foodi or on the Stove
The only difference between making Tomato Bacon Jam on the stove versus the Ninja Foodi is just the temperature regulation.
On a gas stove, you may want to render the bacon on a medium heat instead of high.
In the Ninja Foodi, I start off on high sear/sauté and adjust the heat down to medium when the bacon starts to render and brown.
The most important thing, no matter how you are cooking the tomato bacon jam, is not to let it burn.
Keep your bacon cold until you are ready to make the tomato bacon jam, it is much easier to cut when cold. Use a sharp knife or kitchen shears to cut the bacon into small pieces.
Add to the inner pot and turn the sear/sauté on high. Dice the onion into ¼" dice and add to the inner pot. Continue to cook on high until the fat begins to render.
Turn the heat down to medium and cook for another 5-10 minutes or until most of the fat has been rendered and the bacon is brown and crispy.
Add the brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, and the tomatoes. You can turn the heat back up to high or leave it on medium. Stir and simmer until the tomatoes begin to break down and give off their liquid. Diced tomatoes will break down faster, and you can certainly help the cherry tomatoes by manually breaking them up with a tool like the (affiliate link)Mix 'N Chop.
Once the tomatoes start to break apart, add the salt and the red pepper flakes, if you are using them. The red pepper flakes do not make the tomato bacon jam spicy, but they do balance out the sweet and the acid in the jam.
Continue to simmer on medium heat until the mixture reduces and thickens. I like to do what I call, "the scrape test." This means I take a spoon and scrape along the bottom of the pot. When the mixture stays apart for more than 6 seconds or so, the jam is thick enough.
Keep in mind, it will thicken as it cools, as well.
When the mixture has thickened, turn the heat off and pour into containers to cool. This is what it will look like when it has chilled.
How to Serve Bacon Tomato Jam
Bacon Tomato Jam is wonderful spread on a cracker just by itself. It's a little smokey, a little sweet, a little sour and really is a perfect spread.
I also love it as a warm dip. I mix 2 parts of cream cheese to 1 part of bacon tomato jam and warm until it's creamy and incorporated. Serve with crackers. It's so good, but I'll warn you, it isn't a pretty dip!
I think it would be wonderful as a topping for bruschetta or even pizza! I haven't tried it that way you, but I can only imagine.
I also made a cream cheese mold and then topped it with the tomato bacon jam and it was delicious as a cold spread for crackers or crusty bread.
You could add it to eggs and make bacon tomato scrambled eggs! That just came to me, and I think I'll try that soon!
Basically, get creative and try in on different things. It's good right off the spoon too!
Enjoy!
Tomato Bacon Jam
Ingredients
- 8 ounces thick cut bacon
- 20 ounces cherry tomatoes or 4 medium size tomatoes
- 1 sweet onion
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼-½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
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Instructions
- Cut or chop the bacon into small pieces and add to the inner pot of the Ninja Foodi or a medium size pot on the stove. Dice the onion into a small ¼" dice and add to the pot. Turn the heat on high (Ninja Foodi) and medium (stove)to sauté the bacon.
- Once the bacon begins to brown and the fat is rendering, reduce the heat to medium.
- Stir occasionally and when most of the fat is rendered and the bacon is crispy add in the tomatoes, brown sugar, and balsamic vinegar. Continue to cook until the tomatoes start to break down and the sauce begins to thicken. Add the salt and red pepper flakes.
- Simmer and cook on medium heat (Ninja Foodi & Stove) until the mixture thickens into a jam consistency, this takes about 15 minutes. Pour into containers and let cool.
Notes
Nutrition
About the Recipe Author, Louise Long
Louise is a full-time recipe creator and food blogger @ The Salted Pepper. She has over 30 years of experience with cooking and recipe development. She owned a restaurant for several years and was a full-time RN until retiring to blog full-time.
She published her first cookbook in the Fall of 2018 and is very interested in writing several more.
Louise is also the creator of an online Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooking Course with over 100 instructional step-by-step videos. People absolutely rave about the course and all the value they have received from it.
Louise has several very active Facebook groups that help people with the basics of cooking and learning more about the appliances they love.
Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooker & Air Crisper 101
Ninja Woodfire Outdoor Grill & Smoker
Louise is also a YouTube creator and you can find most of her recipes in video format on The Salted Pepper YouTube channel.
She is very responsive to messages and eager to help in any way she can. Get more Information about Louise & contact information
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leslie
Thank you, Louise!!! I made your recipe a few years ago and loved it. Just made another batch today and am going to spread it on bread and make a delish turkey/ham sandwich. 🤗
Louise
That sounds amazing!
Kris
Do you drain any of the bacon grease at all?
Louise
I didn't, but you certainly can if you want to.
Veronica Camilleri
Louise, this is sooo delicious!! I love it! I've made it several times.
I usually double the recipe and this gives me 3 lb jars yield. It does take longer simmering - it took me an hour
I was wondering whether I could actually quadruple the recipe to make a big batch at once.
Louise
It might be quicker to do two double batches than try to do four at once. The deeper the mixture gets, the longer it will take to reduce. I'm wondering if you could reduce a big batch on slow cook (high) with the lid open, and that way, you could just let it cook for hours, stirring occasionally. It would be very important to have the lid off though so steam can escape and the liquid evaporates. Let me know if you try the slow cook way!
ellene
can I use tomato I have frozen (for Ina's butter tomato pasta sauce) -they are not cherry tomato - regular ones?
Louise
That should be fine. I would thaw and drain them.