Easy Tomato Chutney (With Step By Step Photos)

5 from 2 votes

Easy Tomato Chutney is so flavorful, that you will want to add it to all your savory dishes. This antioxidant-rich recipe is versatile, using easy-to-find ingredients.

Published: Jun 25, 2024 by Nisha Melvani, RDN · I earn commissions from purchases via links on this post.

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Healthy and Easy Tomato Chutney is so flavorful, that you will want to add it to all your savory dishes. This antioxidant-rich condiment will transform veggie bowls, grain bowls, tofu, tempeh, beans, or grains into an exciting meal.

Cooked tomatoes are so much more nutritious than raw. We get more lycopene per gram from cooked tomatoes. Lycopene is the pigment that gives tomatoes their red color. It is a potent antioxidant and may help fight depression, heart disease, and cancer.

Adding a little bit of fat to your meal when eating foods such as tomatoes is important to maximize the body’s absorption of fat-soluble phytonutrients.

Eating this tomato chutney with every meal can help protect your cells from damage. Also, the yellow pigment around tomato seeds helps prevent blood clots without stopping normal clotting. This might be why eating tomato products is linked to a healthier heart. I often make our family dinners healthier by adding tomato chutney to our favorite dishes.

This recipe was inspired by my Quick Pickled Carrots, as well as these three 10-minute Easy Vegan Green Sauce recipes.

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👩🏼‍🌾 Ingredients
🍅 Substitutions
📖 How to Make Easy Tomato Chutney (Step By Step)
✔️ Expert Tips
🙋🏽‍♀️ Recipe FAQs
🫙 Related Recipes
🍽️ Pairing
👩🏽‍🍳 Made This Recipe?
📖 Recipe
💬 Comments

👩🏼‍🌾 Ingredients

Tomatoes, green chili peppers, mustard seeds, spices, garlic, and ginger on a gray backdrop.

Tomatoes
Ginger
Garlic
Green chili pepper
Mustard seeds
Cumin seeds (optional)
Turmeric
Black pepper
Red chili powder (optional)
Lemon juice
Agave or maple syrup

See the recipe card for quantities.

🍅 Substitutions

Mustard seeds - omit these as needed, or add ½ teaspoon of mustard powder at the same time as the tomatoes instead
Cumin seeds - omit these as needed, or add ½ teaspoon of ground cumin at the same time as the tomatoes instead
Longevity-boosting ingredients - add long pepper and black cumin seeds to the tomato chutney
Additional seasonings: add ¼ teaspoon asafoetida (hing) and 8 to 10 dried curry leaves with the tomatoes for a flavor boost

For more healthy chutney recipes, visit my Vegan Condiment Recipes page.

📖 How to Make Easy Tomato Chutney (Step By Step)

For the full recipe with quantities, scroll down to the bottom of the post. This is an overview.

Green chilis, ginger, and garlic chopped in a mini chopper.

Step 1: Optional-Use a mini chopper to quickly chop the garlic, ginger, and green chili peppers to save time.

Chopped ginger, garlic, green chili peppers, and mustard seeds in a black skillet.

Step 2: Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Cook the mustard seeds for about 30 seconds, or until they start to pop. Add the cumin seeds and cook for about another 30 seconds. (For oil-free, toast the mustard and cumin seeds without oil. Add broth or water with the aromatics.) Add the garlic, ginger, and green chili pepper.

Chopped ginger, garlic, green chili peppers, and mustard seeds cooking in a black skillet.

Step 3: Cook over medium-high heat for about 1 minute, or until fragrant.

Chopped tomatoes, ginger, garlic, green chili pepper, and mustard seeds in a black cast iron skillet.

Step 4: Add the tomatoes. (If using asafoetida, curry leaves, mustard powder, or ground cumin, add now.) Cover, and cook over low heat for about 10 minutes, or until the tomatoes are tender.

Tomatoes, onion, garlic, ginger, mustard seeds, green chilis, and spices in a black cast iron skillet.

Step 5: Mash the tomatoes with the back of a spoon until the desired consistency. Remove from the heat and add the turmeric, red chili powder (if using), and black pepper.

Tomatoes, onion, garlic, ginger, mustard seeds, and green chilis cooking in a black cast iron skillet.

Step 6: Mix well. Add lemon juice, maple syrup, and salt to taste.

Quinoa, pickled carrots, roasted lentils, and yogurt sauce with tomato chutney in a white bowl.

Try this healthy meal-prep High-Protein Roasted Lentils & Quinoa Bowl with tomato chutney.

✔️ Expert Tips

To boost longevity, add long pepper and ground black cumin seeds (nigella seeds) to the tomato chutney. Add the turmeric after removing the chutney from the heat to preserve the antioxidants.
Additional seasonings - add ¼ teaspoon asafoetida (hing) and 8 to 10 dried curry leaves with the tomatoes for a flavor boost
Storage: Refrigerate any remaining tomato chutney in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

🙋🏽‍♀️ Recipe FAQs

Does heating turmeric reduce its antioxidant properties?

Curcumin appears to play a role in helping to block every stage of cancer transformation, proliferation, and invasion. It may even help before carcinogens even get into our cells.
While studies have found that cooked curcuminoids still possess antioxidant activity, they are reduced by higher temperatures and oxygen exposure.

What is asafoetida?

Asafoetida, or hing, is a gum resin extracted from ferula, an herb in the celery family. It usually comes as a coarse yellow powder and has a strong smell similar to boiled eggs due to its sulfur compounds. However, don’t let its strong odor discourage you. When used correctly, just a pinch of hing can enhance the flavor of every other spice in the pan, acting like salt but in a healthier way (without sodium). It essentially makes Indian food taste even more authentically Indian.