Plum Sauce

We have had a fruit bowl overflowing with plums. No one was eating them. I've thought about making my own homemade plum sauce before since my favorite pizza of all time uses plum sauce as the sauce of the pizza, but I had never attempted it. Those little jars of store bought plum sauce can be a little pricy, so I decided to bite the bullet and try to make it instead of letting those plums end up in the trash. The recipe I used come from the Ball Blue Book guide to preserving. I am pleased with how it turned out, and since I used plums that came in our basket it costs pennies compared to the store bought sauce.


4 pounds plums
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup chopped onion (I used 1/2 cup dehydrated onion)
2 TBS mustard seed
1 (1/4 x 1 inch) piece of ginger, minced
1 TBS salt
1 clove garlic
1 cup cider vinegar

Wash plums; drain. Pit and chop plums (I blended my plums up in my blender because I was too lazy to finely chop the peel). Combine all ingredients into a large saucepot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat. Cook until thick and syrupy. Ladle hot sauce into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Process 20 minutes in a boiling water canner.

*The recipe also called for 2 TBS chopped green chili peppers, but I didn't have any. It is spicy enough for me with the ginger, so I think I will be always leaving the peppers out. Add it if you like extra spicy.