We had a lot of garden tomatoes this year. They were growing faster than we could cut them for salad, so I needed to start getting creative and coming up with recipes that would use tomatoes in bulk. And that’s how I thought of Bacon Tomato Jam.

Oh my gosh.

Bacon Tomato Jam is so good. It’s not like a jam that you spread on toast with butter or add to a peanut butter sandwich. Although I guess you could.

Personally, I think better tomato bacon jam uses are as more of topping for something like a chicken sandwich or on a crusty bread like a bruschetta topping.

It has a smoky sweetness to it that really jazzes up a meal.

Now, our recipe (obviously) calls for adding bacon. That really adds a smoky element to it. Plus, bacon makes everything better.

But, if you don’t have bacon at home at all times, you can still make this without the bacon. It becomes, essentially, a tomato onion jam that way. But it would still be good.

This recipe doesn’t become vegan or vegetarian when you remove the bacon, though, because it uses balsamic vinegar. Quick notes: Traditional balsamic vinegar is made from grapes being reduced and aged for years. The cheap bottles that are within normal people’s price ranges add a few “extras” to it, like caramel for coloring. That caramel may or may not contain cream or milk. So for vegans, that’s a no no, for vegetarians it’s okay. That’s not always clearly labeled, and that’s not even something non-vegans think about.

So, if you have no dietary restrictions, make this as it is and you will love it. And if you have a friend coming over who is vegan, well, maybe save your tomatoes for salad instead of making this.

Just trying to help.

Bacon Tomato Jam

What You’ll Need:

• 5 garden tomatoes (Roma or beefsteak from the store would work too)
• 6 slices of bacon
• 1 onion, diced
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon salt

What You’ll Do:

Chop the bacon into small pieces and cook it in a pan. Remove it when it’s done, but leave the grease behind.

Dice the onion and cook it in the bacon grease until the onion starts to get translucent (about 10 minutes).

Dice the tomato the same size as the onion and add it to the pan. Cook until the tomato really starts to break down (at least 10 minutes).

Add the brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar, and salt. Cook until it all starts to combine, then let it cook down at least 20 minutes. The longer you cook, the better the flavors will be.

Stir the bacon back in.

You can serve the tomato jam right away or you can store it. If you do store it, wait for it to cool completely, then put it in the fridge in a sealed container for a week or so.