Roasted Jalapeno Clementine Peach Chutney
I’ve always had a soft spot for condiments made from fruit — there’s something about that balance of sweet and tangy that a plain sauce just can’t match. So when I first tried store-bought chutney, I was excited. That excitement didn’t last long. Between the amount of sugar packed in and a flavor profile that just didn’t sit right with me, one jar was enough. It went straight to the back of the shelf and stayed there.
Then, watching an episode of Beat Bobby Flay, I saw Bobby Flay make a chutney with green apple, tangerine, and roasted poblano. The ingredient list caught my eye — none of the spices I’d been avoiding were in it, and no vinegar either. Green apple chutney still sounded a little unusual to me though, so I started experimenting. I swapped in peaches for the apple, clementine for the tangerine, and roasted jalapeño for the poblano, then finished it with hot honey instead of regular honey for a little extra kick.
The result is this roasted jalapeño peach chutney — sweet, a little smoky, with a citrus lift and none of the heavy sugar or spices that turned me off in the first place. It’s the condiment I actually wanted from the store and couldn’t find.
Step by Step Cooking Guide
Start with the jalapeno
Preheat your oven to 425°F. Drizzle avocado oil over the jalapeño and sprinkle it with pink salt, then roast until it blisters evenly on both sides, flipping halfway through. Give it a poke before pulling it out — if it’s still firm rather than soft and charred, let it go a few minutes longer. You want it collapsed and blackened, not just warmed through.
Let it rest, then work it into a paste
Once it’s out of the oven, cover the jalapeño in a bowl and let it steam for a bit. This makes the skin and seeds much easier to remove. After resting, pull out the stem and seeds, then mash the flesh with a fork or the back of a spoon until it turns creamy and smooth — almost like a smoky little jam on its own.
Turn to the clementines
Zest a couple of them first, then juice the whole batch. The zest is where a lot of the bright, floral clementine flavor lives, so don’t skip it even though it’s easy to.
Build your base
In a saucepan, combine the clementine zest, the juice, and ground ginger. Bring it to a boil over medium-high heat — this is where the citrus starts to concentrate and the ginger blooms into the liquid.
Bring in the peaches
While that’s coming up to temperature, peel, core, and dice the peaches into small, even pieces. Add them to the saucepan along with a touch of monk fruit extract and let everything simmer together until the peaches have softened and started to break down slightly into the citrus base.
Finish it off
Take the pan off the heat and stir in fresh cilantro leaves, hot honey, and your mashed roasted jalapeño. Give it a good stir until everything’s evenly distributed — the cilantro should stay bright and fresh rather than wilting into the mix.
Let it cool slightly before serving, and taste as you go — the balance of sweet peach, warm ginger, bright citrus, and smoky heat is really the whole point of this chutney.
Make it ahead
This chutney actually holds up beautifully in the fridge, so don’t feel like you need to serve it the same day. Store it in an airtight container for up to a week, and give it a quick reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave before serving-or enjoy it cold, straight from the fridge, depending on what you’re pairing it with.
Roasted Jalapeño Clementine Peach Chutney
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Drizzle avocado oil and ⅛ tsp pink salt over the jalapeño. Roast for 20 minutes, flipping halfway through. If still firm rather than charred, roast 5 minutes more.1 jalapeño, Avocado oil for drizzling, ⅛ tsp pink salt
- Cover the jalapeño in a bowl for 15 minutes. Remove the stem and seeds, then mash the flesh with a fork or spoon into a creamy texture.
- Zest 2 clementines, then juice all 5 (about 1 cup juice).5 clementines
- In a saucepan, combine the clementine zest, clementine juice, and 1 tsp ground ginger. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.1 tsp ground ginger
- Peel, core, and dice 4 peaches into small pieces. Add to the saucepan along with 1/32 tsp monk fruit extract. Simmer for 10 minutes, or until the peaches are softened.4 peaches, 1/32 tsp monk fruit extract
- Stir in ¼ cup cilantro leaves, ½ tbsp hot honey, and the roasted jalapeño.¼ cup cilantro leaves, ½ tbsp hot honey