This delicious courgette chutney is packed with Mediterranean flavours - red pepper, tomato and fresh herbs. Perfect in sandwiches, wraps, burgers or with your vegan cheeseboard!
From the popularity of some of my other courgette recipes (like my roasted courgette soup and creamy courgette curry) I'm guessing that many of you are here because you grow your own courgettes and when they start popping up they just don't stop! Suddenly you find yourself with more courgettes than you possibly know what to do with.
If that sounds familiar, this chutney is perfect for you: it uses up 4 large courgettes (or you could make a double batch if you have even more to use up!), and it will keep for at least a year so you can enjoy your homegrown produce all year round!
Homemade chutney also makes a lovely gift - you could even get ahead for Christmas and start to stock up hampers of lovely goodies in pretty jars.
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📝 What you need
Ingredients
- Courgettes (large)
- Tomatoes (I used large plum tomatoes)
- Red peppers
- Red onion
- Fresh thyme
- Fresh rosemary
- Cider vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
- Soft light brown sugar
- Ground coriander
- Dried oregano
- Salt
Equipment
A large, heavy stainless steel saucepan or preserving pan is perfect for making chutneys and jams - I like these KitchenCraft pans, either a smaller 4.5 litre pan or large 9 litre pan if you're really keen (or have a LOT of courgettes to use up!).
A very low cost piece of kit I couldn't be without is a jam funnel like this one from Kilner. When it comes to ladling chutney or jam into jars this avoids any mess or stress, and makes sure it all ends up in a jar and not on the work surface!
And if you're giving chutney away as gifts and need some beautiful jars to show it off, these gorgeous quilted jars by Ball will be absolutely perfect.
👩🏽🍳 Chutney variations
I tend to make chutney when I have a glut of veg or fruit - either home grown or because I couldn't resist a bargain bumper bowl at the local market!
And this Mediterranean-flavoured chutney is easy to adapt to whatever you have available - just keep the volume of vegetables roughly the same and get creative! How about:
- Marrow This is a great way to use up a huge marrow or totally over-sized courgette. I would suggest removing the seeds and fibrous centre, then chop finely. Aim for about 900g-1kg in weight, or else if you want to use up the whole thing, adjust all the other ingredients proportionatley.
- Chilli With its flavours of the Med, this chutney is perfectly suited to a good kick of chilli. Either add 2-3 fresh chillis (finely chopped - remove the seeds or leave in if you prefer!), or 1-2 tsp chilli flakes.
- Aubergine also works really well - swap out 1 courgette for 1 aubergine in the recipe.
- Olives and/or capers are another lovely addition - finely chop and add 2 tbsp to the pan with the vegetables.
⏱ How long does it store for?
Your chutney will need at least 3-4 weeks to mature before eating, to allow the vinegar to mellow and the flavours to mature.
After that you can store unopened jars of chutney in a cool, dry place for up to a year. Sunlight will have an effect on the colour so a dark place is best. This is assuming you have cleaned and sterilised your jars really well following the instructions in the recipe.
Once a jar is opened, keep it in the fridge and use within a month.
🔪 What else can I make with courgettes?
If you've found this page because you're desperate to use up a big batch of home-grown courgettes, you might also like to take a look at:
- My Roasted Courgette Soup with peas and basil (lots of great feedback from readers who have tried it!)
- For the more adventurous, a recipe for Courgette Kimchi that my blogging friend Kavita reviewed from a new cookery book. I'm definitely trying this, it looks epic!
- My Creamy Courgette Curry is really delicious - the courgette is roasted to give it a lovely texture.
- This Courgette and Freekeh Salad by another blogging friend Emma looks totally delicious. I'm a recent convert to Freekeh and this is the sort of 'substantial salad' I love in a lunchbox in the warm summer months.
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📖 Recipe
Courgette Chutney with red peppers & tomato
Ingredients
- 4 large courgettes
- 5 large tomatoes (I used large plum tomatoes)
- 4 red peppers
- 1 red onion
- 600 ml cider vinegar or white wine vinegar, or a combination of both
- 450 g soft light brown sugar
- 3 stalks fresh thyme
- 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Prepare the vegetables - trim and finely chop the courgettes, peppers and tomatoes. Peel and finely chop the onion. Tip them all into a large stainless steel saucepan.
- Add the vinegar and sugar to the pan. Heat gently until the sugar dissolves. Pick the leaves from the thyme, and finely chop the rosemary leaves. Add both to the pan, followed by the oregano, coriander and salt.
- Bring to the boil then simmer gently for around 2 hours, stirring frequently, until the chutney is thick and sticky.
- Whilst the chutney is cooking, prepare 5-6 jam jars. Wash them in soapy water and rinse but don't dry them. Put the jars and lids on a baking tray in the oven at 160-180ºC for 15 minutes. Do this just before your chutney is ready, so that you can spoon it straight into the hot jars.
- Optional: For a finer-cut chutney, use a hand-blender to pulse just a few times - don't over-blitz or the chutney will lose its texture.
- Spoon the chutney into warm sterilised jars and leave to cool.
- Store the jars in a cool, dark place for at least a month before opening, to give the flavours time to mellow.
ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION
Video
Nutrition
I'm linking this post with the CookBlogShare challenge, hosted this week by Janice at Farmersgirl Kitchen.
Ooooh yes please! Such fab flavours 😀
We harvested our first courgette of the season yesterday, so not quite desperate for recipes yet. But later in the season, I reckon I'll be making chutney. Your recipe looks delicious. Love to have a few jars of homemade chutney in the cupboard as I'm paranoid about running out.
This is so good on sandwiches! Love this recipe.
This sounds absolutely delicious, and I love the idea of gift jars!
I never tried zucchini chutney before. Sounds delicious. I love the herbs and spices you used in this recipe. I must give this a try while zucchinis are in season.
Such a great way to use up veggies and turn it into a spread for just about anything! My hubby is going to be all over this one. Such a delicious and tasty idea! Thank you!
We always make a big batch of chutney at the end of summer. It's a great way to use up all the courgettes we have growing.