This easy low carb tomato jam is packed with flavor from the caramelized onions to the salty bacon to the sweetness of the tomatoes. This low carb spread is perfect on burgers, chicken or fish. Only 3.1g net carbs for 2 tablespoons and 4 ingredients to make.
Looking to use up fresh garden tomatoes? Try this roasted tomato sauce or curried chicken salad stuffed tomatoes!
When I first made this years ago I had never had tomato jam but it sounded so tasty to me. Then I made it and I found it was one of the most tasty low carb condiments I ever had! And it’s very easy to make with only a few simple ingredients.
This low carb tomato jam recipe is a great way to use summer tomatoes from the garden. The fresh sweetness of the tomatoes goes great with the caramelized onions and salty bacon. You can use it as a low carb spread on burgers, chicken and even low carb crackers and bread. I’ll give you more ideas after I show you how to make it. Recently we ate it on top of French toast!
Recipe ingredients and substitutions.
The simple ingredients I used were fresh tomatoes from my garden, Swerve brown sugar sweetener, bacon and onions.
- tomatoes – It’s best to use fresh if you can. It doesn’t matter if they are grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes or beefsteak or Roma tomatoes. Any will work. I have not tried this with canned but I don’t think that would work half as well but it could work.
- onions – I used yellow onions but you can use white or Vidalia onions if you wish.
- Swerve brown sugar sweetener – This is my favorite sweetener but you can use any brown sugar replacement you want. Lakanto golden monk fruit sweetener is also good. If you don’t care about carbs you can substitute with regular brown sugar or even coconut sugar. White sugar or sweetener would work but would not be as good.
- bacon – It doesn’t matter weather you use thick bacon or thin sliced. I would not substitute with turkey bacon though. If you are vegetarian you could eliminate it if you want but it would be less tasty.
Note if you want to add a bit of heat to this recipe you can use a little red pepper flakes.or even ground cayenne pepper. I do this sometimes because my husband make the best homemade red pepper flakes from peppers in his garden.
How to make tomato jam.
Step 1: Get out a medium size skillet and heat to medium high heat. Add the bacon and cook until browned and crispy. Take out the bacon and set aside. Keep the grease in the skillet and use for the next step.
Step 2: Heat up the skillet again to medium heat. Add the diced onion to the pan and start to brown in the bacon grease. You want to get these nice and caramelized and may take 10-15 minutes. Stir occasionally.
Step 3: Add in the diced tomatoes and brown sugar substitute to the caramelized onions in the skillet. Mix well, bring to a simmer and cook down for 10-15 minutes.
Step 4: When the tomatoes have cooked down to the texture of a chutney or jam cosistency add the crumbled bacon. Mix well and cook for 1 more minute then take off the heat and let cool.
Spoon into a jar, cover and refrigerate until ready to eat. Please scroll down for the printable recipe card.
Note I have not canned this in jars (water bath canner) but I don’t see why they would not work. It would be great to have in the middle of winter when you want a taste of summer.
How to use the savory jam.
If you are trying to keep your carbs down, try this on a burger, chicken or even a white fish. It will add so much flavor in just a spoonful.
There are so many low carb crackers and breads these days so it would also be good on those products. Just toast some keto bread and slather some of the tomato jam on top and you are in for a treat! You can even add some fresh grated parmesan cheese on top.
If you are not watching carbs, this would be good on sandwiches or with a big piece of toasted crusty bread (see below). Make a bruschetta type appetizer with it or even use with savory French toast, avocado toast or add to your next charcuterie board.
How much does this recipe make?
Depending on the type of tomato you use and how much water is in them, you will get approximately 1 cup of jam. And since there are 16 tablespoons in a cup, you can get at least 8 – 2 tablespoon servings out of this recipe. It’s also very easy to double or triple if you like it.
I ate this on a burger one day and then a piece of grilled chicken the next. It’s so tasty! My husband ate it on top of a toasted piece of crusty bread and then grated some parmesan cheese on top for lunch. I hope you like this as much as we did. Enjoy!
The nutritional information for 2 tablespoons of this low carb tomato jam is: 40 calories / 1.7g fat / 4.2g carbs / 1.1g fiber / 2.1g protein = 3.1g net carbs
Tomato Jam Recipe with Bacon (low carb)
This low carb tomato jam recipe is packed with flavor from the caramelized onions, salty bacon to sweet tomatoes. Perfect on burgers, chicken or fish. Only 3.1g net carbs for 2 tablespoons!
Ingredients
- 4 pieces bacon
- 1 cup onion, diced
- 3 cups ripe tomatoes, chopped (can use any kind – Roma, cherry, grape, beefsteak, etc.)
- 1 tablespoon Swerve brown sugar sweetener
- salt & black pepper to taste (optional)
Instructions
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Get out a medium skillet and heat to medium high heat. Add the bacon slices and cook until crispy. Take out the bacon and place on a piece of paper towel to absorb the excess grease Don't clean the grease from the skillet because you are going to use it in the next step. Chop up the bacon once it cools and set aside.
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Heat up the same skillet to medium heat and add the onions to the bacon grease. Saute the onions until they start to brown and caramelize. This may take 10 – 15 minutes.
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Add in the chopped tomatoes and if you want you can sprinkle salt and black pepper if you want. Add in the brown sugar sweetener and mix well. Bring to a simmer and cook down until it has the texture of a chutney or jam. This may take 10-15 minutes depending on the type of tomato you use.
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When to the consistency you like add in the crumble bacon and mix well. Take off heat and let cool a bit. Then spoon into a jar and refrigerate until ready to eat.
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Serve over burger, chicken or fish for a low carb meal. If you don't care about carbs you can eat with crusty bread, toast or crackers as well. It's also a good topping over French toast for a savory flavor.
Recipe Notes
NOTES:
You can use any sweetener you want. Swerve brown is my favorite but you can also use something with a brown sugar flavor like Lakanto Golden or something like that. If you don’t care about the carbs, use regular brown sugar or even coconut sugar.
Sometimes I use some hot pepper flakes to the recipe for a bit of heat.
The nutritional information for 2 tablespoons of this tomato jam is: 40 calories / 1.7g fat / 4.2g carbs / 1.1g fiber / 2.1g protein = 3.1g net carbs
And if you are looking for more great low carb tomato recipe, check out this recipe for low carb roasted tomato soup!
Dulce says
How do I store it? And for how long? I didn’t catch any info on it if you did post that info.
Denise says
HI Dulce, I would store this tomato jam in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks. I hope you like it!
Peggy Logan says
Have you tried to freeze this recipe?
Denise says
Hi Peggy, I have never done that. I’m not sure if it would work or not but I’m guess that you could. You cook out most of the liquid in the tomatoes and that is what usually causes a problem when freezing. But again I haven’t done it so I’m not sure. Please let me know if you do and how it worked out. I’m sorry I’m not more help.
Nancy W. says
Oh my gosh, this tomato jam is AMAZING!! Making it for the second time in about a month – we put it on everything! Eggs, over toasted bread, with roasted vegetables, on salads, etc. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe!
Denise says
Hi Nancy, so glad you liked it! Thanks for coming back to comment and rate the recipe. I appreciate it!
Drvnsnow says
I added some tri-color baby carrots to it for some sweetness as well as a little coconut sugar.
Michele says
Would it make a difference to the consistency, if i peeled the tomatoes first?
Denise says
Hi Michele,
I don’t think it will at all. It might be a bit thinner but you could cook it down a bit more if so. Also it will set up as it cools. Good luck!
Dawn montana says
Could you possibly can this jam?
Denise says
Hi Dawn, I am not much of a canner. I don’t see why not though. Sorry I’m not much help.
Nancy says
What is a substitute for sweetener in recipe?
Denise says
Hi Nancy, brown sugar is the best substitute but you could also use white sugar or coconut sugar. Hope that helps!
Nancy says
I want to make a lobster carbonara for guests and I am wondering what you think about using a dollop of your tomato bacon jam on top?
Denise says
Hi Nancy, I’m not sure how that would taste. The lobster carbonara sounds wonderful itself! If it helps at all the jam tastes very tomatoey with sweetness and a bit smoky from the bacon. Good luck!
Sandra L Carter says
Why can’t I pin your recipes? I have already subscribed to your Newsletter?
Denise says
Sandra,
I don’t know why it’s not working. There should be little buttons along the side when you are on a desktop or along the top when on a mobile phone that have the Pinterest button. I’ve just added a little Pinterest button on the graphics so hopefully that will work too. Lastly here is my Pinterest page. Hopefully one of these solutions will work for you. Sorry for the inconvenience. And thanks for signing up for my newsletter.
https://www.pinterest.com/mylifecookbook/my-life-cookbook-best-of/
Alice says
I just made this! So yummy and quick! Thanks for sharing!
Denise says
Hi Alice,
So glad you liked it! I eat it on everything. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Emily @ Recipes to Nourish says
Thank you for linking up at Savoring Saturdays! Your recipe was one of my favorites this week and I’ll be featuring it at this week’s link party. Hope to see you there this week. {pinning too}
[email protected] says
Thanks Emily! I’ll be there!
Ashley says
Thank you for linking up to this week’s Tasty Tuesday linky. I have pinned your recipe to the Creative K Tasty Tuesday Pinterest board. I hope you’ll join us again this coming week.
Yum Girl says
Welcome to Yum Goggle! We’ve followed you on all your social media and hope that you will do the same! We will tag you as we can when we promote your post across the 14 platforms available to us! Kelli at YG.
[email protected] says
Thanks Kelli!
Gourmet Getaways.com.au says
Oh YUM!
These are all my favourite flavours!
Thanks so much for sharing
Julie
Gourmet Getaways
[email protected] says
Thanks Julie! Hope you get a chance to try it.