Feijoa Chutney
Have feijoas by the bucketful? Lucky!
Yay, it’s feijoa season. I love how it’s such a kiwi tradition to share all the surplus fruit from backyard trees. People bring in bulging bags to work for co-workers or they share amongst their families and friends. I can’t help thinking how great it would be if everyone grew just one vege and did the same thing – I might plant a whole garden of fennel next year I think :-)
Anyway… this chutney recipe is soooo easy to make and so delicious, have it on cold slices of chicken or lamb for lunch, on top of avocado on a seed cracker, or put it in the back of the fridge for all the upcoming winter curry nights mmmmm
Ingredients
3 cups feijoa flesh (scoop out the inside of the feijoas)
1 cup dates, chopped roughly
1/4 cup dried apricots, sliced thinly
1 large red onion, diced
1 lime, sliced super thinly, then roughly chopped, skin and all
3/4 cup cider vinegar *
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon ground ginger
sprinkle cayenne pepper
pinch of salt
*I used a Manuka honey cider vinegar so if you are using just a regular cider you could add a tsp of Manuka honey.
Method
Put all ingredients into heavy bottom pot. If you like a strong feijoa taste, finely chop some feijoa skins and add in. Bring to the boil and simmer for 30-40 minutes – you’ll know when it turns from stewed fruit to more of a syrupy sticky consistency – yum!
Spoon into sterilised jars and give away to your most favourite people!
Help yourself to some labels to print out for your jars — Feijoa Chutney Labels.
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April 27, 2013
OMG this is an amazing feijoa chutney! So simple but soooo tasty! Just made my first batch and am going back to do more
April 27, 2013
Thanks Chrissy – I’ve just finished yet another batch to give away, might have to stow some away for winter before it all goes!
October 7, 2013
Wow, looking forward to feijoa season! How long do you reckon this would last in the fridge?
October 7, 2013
Hey Amanda – I’ve had jars for over a year and they are still good! Just need to be careful jars are clean and hot when you first fill them, and once open, don’t double dip knifes with other food on etc. But seriously, you will eat it all before it goes off!
April 21, 2014
Got a huge bag of feijoas this weekend and I remembered I wanted to try this recipe since last year! Finally made it and it’s delicious! Had it with Dr Libby’s meatless meatloaf for lunch, with heaps leftover to accompany other meals :)
April 22, 2014
Hey Nancy – good to hear! I just made another batch with the last of our feijoas over the weekend too – I had it with meat meatloaf ;-) xx
June 25, 2014
Nice, use as jam on a toast yummi
April 11, 2015
I see there is no sugar in this recipe. Is this correct?
April 6, 2016
Yum! I love this chutney! Have made it twice now the second time I threw a diced apple thrown into the mix and both times added some grated fresh ginger, turned out amazing :) thank you!
April 7, 2016
Hi Samantha — mmmm fresh ginger sounds divine, I’ll add it to my next batch! x
April 13, 2017
Hi I just made some feijoa paste and was wondering if you could use dates instead of sugar. The recipe used 600grams
April 13, 2017
Hi Jeanette — ooh that sounds so delicious but 600gms of sugar, yikes! Hmmm I’m not sure actually … I’d maybe try just blending fresh dates, feijoa flesh, dried apricots and some almond meal to soak up the juices maybe? Roll in baking paper and freeze until needed? Would be quite different to a normal fruit paste but still delicious I reckon … I’ll try it and let you know!
April 15, 2017
Thanks look forward to the result, cheers
April 18, 2017
Hey Jeanette — I ended up cooking it after all (mostly cause I couldn’t be bothered getting out my food processor!). I just used a handful of dates, dried apricots (chopped), feijoa flesh and juice and zest of a lime with 1/3 cup of water and cooked until soft. Was really delicious, even hubby liked it and he’s not really a fruit person. It wasn’t really like a traditional fruit paste of course but yum!
April 15, 2017
Hi also was wondering we have a kaffir lime tree with an abundance of fruit, do you know of any recipes one can use them in. Could I substitute for normal limes
April 18, 2017
Ooh yes, I just substitute for normal limes but use 1/2 lime juice and 1/2 water if they are quite strong — you may need to add a little honey depending on what you are making but I love their tart taste!
February 12, 2018
Thanks so much for this. Cant wait to try the dates/ apricots substitute for sugar!! When I make feijoa chutney, I use the skin as well, no wastage and tastes great :-)
February 14, 2018
I’m counting down the days until feijoa season! :)
April 28, 2018
Want to try making this chutney but want a bit more bite. How do you think it would go with some fresh ginger and fresh chilis?
April 28, 2018
Oooh yeah, fresh ginger would be delicious! Maybe green chillies …? I’d go with the ginger first then do a little taste test with the chilli … not sure about that. Maybe just a sprinkle of cayenne pepper? Sounds good, I need to track down some feijoas now!
May 17, 2018
I tried the feijoa chutney and I thought the lime could have been halved, In my opinion ( personal taste) it was a bit overpowering .
May 18, 2018
Lol, I do have quite the love affair with limes so you may be on to something there Terri ;)
April 6, 2019
How long will this keep in the fridge? I just washed and cleaned some glass jars but didn’t professionally reseal
April 8, 2019
Hey Sameena — that’s exactly how I do my jars but I pour boiling water over them before I fill them. They will last a good few months officially but I had a few jars in the back of the fridge I opened after a year and ther were still good.
May 1, 2019
Hi would I be able to use apple cider vinegar for this recipe? Also is there anything else I can use instead of a lime? Would a lemon do the trick?
May 2, 2019
Hey Daralyn — yes of course, apple cider vinegar would be totally fine to use. And lemon would definitely do the trick — just adjust for size if it’s a giant lemon :)
May 23, 2019
Totally different from usual chutney recipes which are over sweet with sugar and raisins. Yes, the lime flavor is quite prominent but the freshness of the flavours and lack of sugar makes this recipe a winner. I topped and tailed whole feijoas, peeling only the thicker skinned larger fruit, and left the skin on the smaller fruit and chopped into smallish dice. The skin melts into a softness and is undetectable.
Thank you – and I appreciate your book so much.
May 24, 2019
Yum Sharyn – sounds delicious! I’m eyeing up my bowl of limes but I have no feijoas waaah! Might have to actually just buy some this year :(
Thanks for the comment about my book, makes my day xx
May 13, 2020
[…] all the scrummy flavours – Pineapple & Ginger, Tamarillo, Tomato – of course I went for Feijoa and a nice looking mango for our next […]
May 16, 2020
Hi! So I’m new to feijoas, they almost taste like guavas which we had in South Africa. But we love our chutneys, put it on everything except cereal :D
Anywho, I made your recipe last night with the feijoas our neighbor gave us. Do you have to let it stand for a while to let it “mature” before you open it and use it? If so, how long? And do you store the unopened ones in the cupboard, or in the fridge? Can’t wait to try it, it smelt amazing while making it!
May 18, 2020
Hey Petra — oh yum, I’d love it if we had guavas!
I usually use one jar immediately because I can’t wait — I don’t think it really needs to mature but I’ve kept a jar in the fridge for almost 2 years and it was just a bit more intense and slightly discoloured. I always keep mine in the fridge just because of the lower sugar levels and I’m not that particular when it comes to the jarring preparation/procedure. Now I want guava chutney!