Easy Homemade Spicy Cherry Chutney (+Video!)

This sweet yet tart cherry chutney has the kick of warming spices and is the perfect addition to BBQ, roast game and meats and great with a cheeseboard too.

What’s so special about this recipe?

• This is a quick and easy cherry chutney that is ready in less than an hour
• Store cupboard ingredients, apart from the cherries, apple and a red onion everything else in this cherry chutney recipe can be found in your larder
• This delicious cherry condiment goes perfectly with so many dishes from game and BBQ to a cheeseboard and burgers
• Cherry chutney isn’t available in the shops so makes a great wee foodie gift!

What is chutney?

For anyone unfamiliar with chutney it is a gluten-free, spicy or savory condiment originating in India. Chutney is made from fruits, vegetables, and/or herbs with sugar, vinegar and spices.

Chutney was originally used to provide balance to an array of Indian dishes, or highlight a specific flavour.

The word chutney is now applied to anything preserved in sugar and vinegar, regardless of its texture, ingredients, or consistency.

What is the difference between chutney and relish?

In general, chutneys have a chunky spreadable consistency much like a preserve and are usually made with fruit. On the other hand, relishes are hardly cooked, use little or no sugar, are more crunchy to the bite, and use vegetables.

Here’s a link to my Chutney and Relish Collection where you’ll find lots of super easy chutney recipes.

Ingredients

There are only 9 ingredients in my cherry chutney recipe and most will be lurking in the larder or fridge. Certainly nothing exotic.

• cherries – stoned/pitted
• a red onion
• an apple peeled and chopped. Any apple you have to hand
• seedless sultanas soaked in Kirsch (here’s my homemade kirsch recipe) or vodka
• vinegar – I used white wine vinegar for my chutney. You can use any vinegar you like here but I wouldn’t use a strong malt vinegar as it may well smother the gorgeous flavour of the cherries
• sugar – any sugar will do here, whatever you have in the larder. I used white sugar. If you use brown sugar you will get a slightly caramel-like flavour
• the spices – ginger and cinnamon

Spice notes

You’ll see in the recipe card below that I haven’t used a lot of spices in my cherry chutney. I really want that cherry flavour to be the star of the show. If you want a spicier chutney feel free to be a tad more liberal with the spices.

The complete list of ingredients and full instructions for making this recipe can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Cherry season

I love this time of year when cherries are available in abundance. Of course here in Scotland they are nothing like those I used to get when I lived on the Greek island of Crete where we’d buy huge bags of them. Every bar gave you bowls of cherries with your drinks during the cherry season.

When cherries are available I use them for all sorts of recipes from hooch to puddings, jam to pickles. Check out the list of cherry recipes at the end of this post.

How to pit/stone cherries

You can use a cherry stoner as I have or simply use a small bottle and drinking straw. Place the cherry in the top of the bottle and press the straw right through the cherry top to bottom.

The cherry stone will pop out and land in the bottle. You can then use the stones to make homemade kirsch if you like.

How to make cherry chutney

This really is a super easy recipe. If you’ve never made chutney before this easy cherry chutney is a great recipe to start with.

First soak those sultanas in booze just to plump them up a bit and add some extra flavour. If you are using kirsch you will be ramping up that cherry flavour.

Chuck all the ingredients into a nice big pan. Make sure it is made of non-reactive material like stainless steel. This is so that the vinegar in the chutney won’t react and cause a nasty metalic taste.

Heat your cherry chutney gently until the sugar has dissolved completely then bring it to a boil for a couple of minutes. Now reduce the heat to a simmer and let that chutney bubble away for about 45 minutes.

Now simply ladle the cherry chutney into sterilised jars and you’re good to go.

How do you know when chutney is ready?

Unlike jam with chutney you don’t have to look for a special setting point. Your chutney is ready when you can drag your wooden spoon through it and leave a clear trail on the bottom of the pan before the chutney fills the gap again.

Storage information

Your cherry chutney will keep in a cool dark cupboard for up to a year at least. Once you have opened the jar store the chutney in the fridge and use it up within a month.

Please Note – We do not usually do water bath or other canning methods here in the UK. Our preserves keep perfectly well without this.

How much chutney does this recipe make?

I got 800g of cherry chutney from this recipe. That will fill a few small jars or two big jars. I like to make some small jars of cherry chutney to give as gifts to friends and family. It’s a great way to give someone the gift of summer sunshine in the depths of winter!

Serving ideas

My favourite way to serve cherry chutney is by spooning some into a round of Camenbert (cut the top off first) then bake it in the oven and dip pieces of French bread into it.

Serve this cherry preserve with venison or other game. The cherry goes wonderfully well with any type of game including a good game pie served hot or cold.

Add cherry chutney to a cheeseboard or antipasti platter for some sweet/savoury delight.

With pate, oh yes, this cherry chutney goes wonderfully well with pate.

Serve this cherry condiment with duck, it really sparks up the flavour of the bird.

Slather it on a burger or simple cheese toastie.

Looking for more cherry recipes to make? Then check these out before you go;

Traditional French cherry clafoutis

Cherry curd

Spanish style pickled cherries

How to make homemade kirsch

Spanish style spiced cherry cheese

French style cherry conserve

How to make homemade cherry brandy

Finally, if you do try this recipe don’t forget to leave a comment/star rating below as I just love to hear from readers. Want more Larder Love? Then follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and sign up for my newsletter too of course.