Bought vs homemade: Chutney

Chutney is a good way to use up extra produce and adds a flavour boost to dishes. But is making your own chutney healthier than buying some from a store?

Bought

Cerebos Chunky Sweet Fruit Chutney

Ingredients: Sugar syrup, tomato puree 26% (water, tomato paste), sugared apple 20% (apple, sugar, food acid, firming agent, preservative), sugar, onion, thickener, golden syrup, sultanas, food acids, salt, vegetable gum, spice, colour, flavours.

vs

Homemade

Healthy Food Guide Courgette chutney

Ingredients: Courgette, apple, onion, capsicum, garlic, dark cane sugar, white wine vinegar, fresh ginger, mustard, salt, chilli flakes (optional).

Nutrition information per serve

Chutney can add a flavour and texture boost to sandwiches, meat, burgers, cheese and crackers, or a yoghurt dip.

While both these chutneys are made from vegetables and fruit, the main thing they add, nutritionally speaking, is sugar and sodium. While our homemade chutney is lower in sugar, it’s still more than one teaspoon per serve, so keeping the serving size down is key. Since our serving size needs to be small, we’re adding hardly any fibre, despite the veges.

If you do use a lot of chutney, making your own might be a good idea. You won’t save money, unless you grow or are gifted the produce, but this homemade version has 32 per cent less energy, 28 per cent less sugar and 65 per cent less sodium than the store-bought one.