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Easy strawberry jam takes spring fruit and transforms it into sweet-tart jam goodness. Just a few ingredients, a short cooking time, and no canning makes this very easy and fun!
The depths of my love of a jar of homemade strawberry jam know no bounds. Strawberries cooking on the stove hold the aroma and flavor that have launched a thousand of my own shipsโฆthe title of my original blog and cookbook was inspired as I inhaled sweet strawberry rose sauce while cooking in my kitchen in San Francisco during culinary school. My first blog post was a heartfelt story with Strawberry Rose Lemonade as its recipe.
This very easy strawberry jam is also small batch strawberry jam, which is why it’s a great one to make especially during strawberry season, but also wonderful all year long, coaxing flavor from a few winter-time berries that are otherwise lackluster. Here in northern Michigan, strawberry season comes mid- to late June. I take a gentle touch with ingredients but always include rose water, which is a strawberryโs twin sister, best friend, cousin, all … because the fruit and the flower come from the same rose family. And I take the jam straight to fridge, to be eaten quickly and to be able to skip the canning and water bath step that’s used for room temp shelf-life jam.
Strawberry Jam Ingredients
Strawberries. Look for fresh, thoroughly red berries with no or very few blemishes.
Sugar. See FAQs for info about sugar options.
Fresh Lemon Juice. All things fruit-sweet are better, in my humble opinion, with a tart note.
Rose Water. See above (rose + strawberry = perfect). Use pure rose water, which is distilled from rose petals. Rose extract? No. That is a flavor we avoid.
No pectin! This recipe does not include additional pectin. There is naturally occurring pectin in strawberries; this combined with lemon juice and sugar creates the jam’s thick and saucy consistency.
How to Make Strawberry Jam
Step 1. Hull and cut the berries.
Step 2. Combine strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice in a large heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to medium. Stir frequently and mash the fruit with a potato masher.
Step 3. Simmer until the mixture thickens. To determine if your jam is thickened properly, place a spoonful on a small plate and run the tip of the spoon through it. If the spoon leaves a trail that does not fill in immediately, you’re there. This takes anywhere from 15 to 25 minutes.
Step 4. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the rose water.
Step 5. Transfer the jam to a 1/2-quart jam jar, allowing the jam to cool a bit before putting the lid on and refrigerating. The jam will hold for up to 3 weeks in the refrigerator.
How to Hull Strawberries
The short of it is this: don’t cut the strawberry straight across the top, taking the precious flesh at the shoulders. Use a small knife, angling it in around the stem and cut it out like a plug. This way we get as much strawberry as possible to love.
Frequently Asked Questions
Great berries make great jam. If you can get them in season, from a farmerโs market or picked by your own hand (Iโm saying it!), youโre in for the best flavor of your life.
If purchasing from the grocery store, I always buy organic strawberries. Theyโre on the โdirty dozenโ list of โif you buy anything organic make it these.โ The same is true of organic apples, but thatโs a story for another time (note this, Iโm on the No Apples in Summer committee).
Not this strawberry jam recipe, my friends. Make this one jar of jam, easy peasy, and keep it in the refrigerator to eat up fast (no problem!). The jam will hold in the refrigerator for weeks.
An easy way to test the thickness of your jam is to spoon some onto a plate and run a spoon through it. Look for the staying power of the track the spoon makes. The line lingers quickly and leaves a track, and you’re there.
Yes, frozen berries work fine in this recipe. Add them to the mix straight from the freezer, no need to thaw. The cook time will increase some, to cook the frozen fruit.
Simply reduce the sugar quantity in the recipe to make a low-sugar jam. Cook the mixture a little longer so that it thickens; the sugar assists in thickening the jam.
Pectin occurs naturally in fruit. It is gelatinous and contributes to the thickness and set of jams. Pectin can be added to preserves to make it thicker. This recipe calls for no pectin, using the natural pectin in the berries, combined with lemon juice and sugar, to make a thick saucy jam. Jam is delicious with or without pectin!
Lemon is so key, adding a tart note that really brings out the flavor of the fruit in jam. Avoid jam that is too sweet with little fruit flavor by adding lemon juice, and increasing as needed. Lemon juice is also essential in a strawberry jam with no pectin because it aids in helping the jam set (strawberries are low-pectin fruit), just like in raspberry jam.
You can use bottled lemon juice. The drawback is flavor. Fresh lemon juice has better natural lemon flavor than juice from a bottle or frozen.
For no-pectin jam, leaving out the lemon juice will leave the jam runny.
Yes, you can use cider vinegar with a 1-1 substitution. The flavor of the finished jam is not as bright and wonderful as it is with fresh lemon juice though.
Best Ways to Use Strawberry Jam
- With a spoon sitting at your counter.
- On fruit salad. Mix with orange juice and toss the salad with the dressing.
- On berries. Mix chopped fresh strawberries and whole raspberries with the jam and allow to macerate (get juicy). Spoon over cheesecake, shortcake, biscuits, you name it. Top with whipped cream.
- On toast.
- On ice cream.
- Filling for layer cake.
- In Strawberry Jam Bars and Thumbprint Cookies.
- With a spoon sitting at your counter (on repeat).
More Recipes for Preserves
- Now that you know how to make my recipe for strawberry jam, try this apricot jam next!
- If you love jellies over jams, my raspberry rose jelly is for you. The hint of rose water makes it so special.
- Apricot fruit leather is the perfect sweet treat to have on hand, and the kids will love it in their lunchbox at school too.
More Strawberry Recipes
Cream Puffs with Strawberries, for Mom
Strawberry Cake with Whipped Cream
Brioche Star with Strawberry Rose Jam
Strawberry Rose Fool. My Favorite Bakeless Sweet.
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie, a hint of Rose Water, & Momโs Best Crust
Strawberry Jam Recipe
Ingredients
- 1ยฝ pounds strawberries, hulled and cut into ยฝ-inch pieces (3 cups)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- Juice of 2 lemons
- 2 teaspoons rose water
Instructions
- Combineย strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice in a large heavy saucepan. Bring to boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to medium. Mash the fruit with potato masher.
- Simmer until the mixture thickens. To determine if your jam is thickened properly, place a spoonful on a small plate and run the tip of the spoon through it. If the spoon leaves trail that does not fill in immediately, you're there. This takes anywhere from 15 to 25 minutes.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the rose water.
- Transfer the jam to a ยฝ-quart jam jar, allowing the jam to cool a bit before putting the lid on and refrigerating. The jam will hold for up to 3 weeks in the refrigerator.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
My fridge had a moment and froze the fruit in the drawer. The strawberries were soft after thawing. I didnโt want to throw them away and on my mission found your recipe. So easy, so delicious. Now Iโm using this recipe to make pear jam. Thank you for the inspiration.
Helene what a great use for your soft berries. Pear jam…that sounds divine! Thanks so much!
I absolutely LOVE this! Ty Maureen! <3
Thank you Suzy! This strawberry jam is so easy and so so delicious!
I’d like to use up some frozen strawberries; no added sugar. Obviously, fresh are best. Please comment on use of the frozen fruit in your jam recipes.
Thank you,
Liz Abood
(not your vegetarian cousin; but 1st-cousin to your Aunt Anne Abowd, Dr. Tom’s wife)
p.s.
My late husband’s Abood family were from Khirbet-kanafar, Lebanon; also known as Kirby.
Hi Liz! Love that family connection. Frozen fruit works beautifully in these easy refrigerator jam recipes. Simply cook the berries from frozen, knowing that the cooking time will be a bit longer as the berries thaw. Frozen berries are an especially great alternative when fresh are not in season.
I think your recipes are so awesome I am addicted to your mails. Thank you so much for sharing. Since I have joined, I save all your mail. I am in Cape Town South Africa
Debra thank you thank you! I love this! Keep us posted on what you are making from here!
I usually don’t care for anything with cooked strawberries but the ingredient of rose water made me think I would like it. I love rose water. My grandmother called it her secret ingredient.
This jam is so delightful with the rose water. I’ve been eating it on saltines. It’s a wonderful treat.
Thank you Teresa, this is so delicious and simple!