No-Cook Apple, Date and Onion Chutney Recipe
Comments(32) 
Our old friend, Kate Auty, makes this excellent chutney every year. It does not have to be cooked at all. In fact all you do is mince, mix and leave to mature. If you can leave the chutney longer than three months it will continue to improve. We let a jar mature for a year, it is treasured and strictly for family consumption.
It’s great for children to make, under supervision. By the time it has matured for three months the daily bleat of, “Is it ready yet?” has died down completely and they have forgotten that it is lurking in the larder. Then you will discover their tasty chutney and they will be stars.
Katey gave me a jar of this chutney a couple of years ago. It was so good that we hinted heavily for more and eventually the recipe. We couldn’t believe that a chutney this good is not simmered for hours.
Recipe for Kate Auty’s No-Cook Apple, Date and Onion Chutney
Ingredients:
- 1 lb/454g of cooking apples
- 1 lb/454g of dates (stoned)
- 1 lb/454g of onions
- 1 lb/454g of soft brown sugar
- 1 pt/570 ml of malt vinegar (we use cider vinegar)
Method:
- Wash, peel and core the apples and skin the onions.
- Mince the apples, dates and onions using the coarse profile.
- Put the minced fruit and onions in a large glass or china bowl.
- Add the sugar and vinegar.
- Stir very well and stir once a day for three days, keeping it covered closely with a clean tea towel against flies.
- On the fourth day bottle the chutney in sterilised jars with plastic lined screw top lids and label. (How do I sterilise jars and lids? Why do the lids have to be plastic lined? See Tricks and tips below).
Tips and tricks:
- Katey says that she tried chopping (instead of mincing) the ingredients one year and the onion didn’t break down as much as the apple and date and remained crunchy which spoilt the chutney.
- Why do I have to use plastic lined lids for chutney?
The vinegar eats into metal lids that are not lined. If you use cellophane jam pot covers the vinegar evaporates through these and you are left with a dried up mess in your jars.
- How do I sterilise jars and lids?
The sterilising method that we use is simple. Just before making the chutney, I quickly wash and rinse the jars and place them upside down in a cold oven. Set the temperature to 160c/140c for fan assisted. When the oven has reached the right temperature I turn off the heat. The jars will stay warm for quite a while so use oven gloves to take them out of the oven. I only use plastic lined lids for preserves as the all-metal lids can go rusty. I boil these for five minutes in water to sterilise them. If I use Le Parfait jars, I do the same with the rubber rings.
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wot no spices? or is the vinegar ready spiced?
There are no spices in this chutney, Steve. It’s very tasty and and Katey thinks that spices would spoil it.
Hi Katey
I’ve made the chutney – it happily marinating -how many jars does it fill?
Hello Katey, years ago, I had a ploughmans meal in a pub in England. the chutney was so good. it was sweet and moorish. I was sure it had saltanas in it as well. I asked the lady for the recipe.unfortunatly I lost it. and missed the great, perfect for ploughmans, chutney. I have written all over to try to find the recipe. this one is so close I will see if it has the sweet fruity taste. can’t wait to make it. thanks Angie
[...] We have lots of apples in our garden, so I made chutney at the weekend. It sat marinating in our kitchen until Wednesday, when I jarred it. It smelled very nice and tasted nice too. [...]
I don’t have a mincer, would it be possible to blitz it in the food processor?
Where do you get all these jars from? Seems i will have to start collecting jars before i can even think about making chutney.
Have collected some cooking apples and lots of quince. Looking forward to making chutney for the first time ever. Intend using as xmas presents.
Hi Chrissey
I have no idea how many jars that it fills off hand. Hope that you found enough
Hello Angela
Hope that this might have been the recipe!
Hello Polly
The food processor can turn great ingredients into mush so find someone with a mincer or get a mincer attachment for your food processor.
Hello Hayley
The jars are from your cooking and condiments. All saved plus lids. If you have none check out your local Freecycle and move fast!
what do you mean by mincing? i’m pretty sure i don’t have an attatchment for that would it be ok to grate or very finely chop the ingredients? love the [cooked] apple chutney recipe which i tried y/day.
Hi Emma
You use an old fashioned mincer for this. Cutting the ingredients very fine would work to but they do have to be fine otherwise they’ll take ages to soften.
thx alot for your reply, i’ll give it a go…
Does the mixture thicken up over time, I have made a batch using the above recipe but after one day it seems a bit thin?
Hi John
It thickens over time. Remember to stir it each day.
I have also found my new batch of chutney to be a bit thin, i could pour it into jars, it resembles a sauce rather than a chutney, no chance of putting this in a sandwich, but then its only 1 day old, when will i see it start to thicken? I am worried i have done it all wrong. Did yours thicken after 4 days John?
Hi
I’m new to this preserve making business and would like to ask if the chutney thickens in the jar, please? I’m about to jar it on day 4 and, while it has thickened since making, it is not a chutney thickness.
May I ask if jams are ready to eat from the day of making or do they need time as well?
Thanks
Hi Hayley
This chutney must mature for three months and it will thicken as it matures!
Hi Mel
This chutney thickens at it matures. We leave ours for at least six months although you can open it after three.
Jam and jelly can be guzzled on the day that you make them!
I made this chutney in September and gave some as gifts at Christmas. It’s fab! Will make a few more batches next year when my neighbours apples are ready.
Hello Gillian
Thanks for the feedback!
Hi,
I made this chutney in July 2007. I did two medium kilner jars and a few smaller jam jars. We gradually got through the smaller jars (after leaving it 3 months to mature), but have just opened one of the kilner jars and I can tell you that after 18 months maturing, the chutney is absolute pefection! I will be making some more asap.
Thanks for the recipe and keep up the good work.
Sue.
Any thoughts on best type of mincer to use? Have battled through 2 batches with an electric mincer, but I think it’s intended for meat and it seems to struggle badly with juicy things like apples and onions. But it could be that the mincer’s just not in peak condition. Are others using manual mincers?
Thanks, Lynne.
I made this using a food processor and it was great. I did try one with a bit of curry spice added and it was very nice too, nice as is though too.
Hello Norfly
Good to hear that you can make this in the food processor. Hand mincing can be such a slog.
I have just made a no-cook chutney very similar to this, and am a bit concerned that the apple has remained apple-coloured. Does the apple change colour over time as the chutney matures?
Hi Tracy
Eventually everything goes dark brown.
Hi, I’ve been chutney making this last week and still have onions and apples left to use up. This recipe looks brilliant especially since i dont have to cook it! Do you think it could be possible to change the dates for sultanas or raisins? love to hear what you think before i make some horrible mistake! Thanks.
Hi Colin
The dates give it a nice texture. Why not experiment and add sultanas and raisins (minced) they should work, I reckon.
I’d be interested to hear how it turns out.
Really strong smell of vinegar from mine on day 3, is this normal and will it go away?
Hi Booklegger
Yes this is how it will be. This chutney takes at least 3 months to mature after bottling up.
Thank you! I have this bottled and am hopeful for good results in 3 months! I appreciate your blog and your efforts.
i brought some jars and lids to put the chutney in but have read some miss leading tips, some people say never use metal lids, some say you can but use wax disc’s aswell. I have the lids which are plastic lined are these alright to use.
Hi Lozzer plastic lined metal lids are perfect. It’s the totally metal lids that yoiu should avoid.
can you cook this chutney like you would cook any other or will it spoil