When I was a kid, I remember my Mom and my Aunt making jams and preserves. As an adult, life got in the way and I always said I was too busy to make homemade jams.
In the last 7 or 8 years, I have gotten into making a plethora of jams and preserves. You name it, every fruit imaginable. This Strawberry Jam is a family favorite!
Since I resumed making my own jams, I absolutely can not eat store bought! It is pure sugar! This Low Sugar Strawberry Jam literally tastes like a bit spring, anytime of the year! Just like biting into a fresh, juicy strawberry in June!
Making jam has a bad reputation, as far as the difficulty of the process. With a few specialized tools, Jam making can fun and easy. This set of canning tools is cheap and saves so much time and so many burns! Which, of course, is key!
The only other tool you need is a canning pot, which is cheap, as well.
One great trick that I have found is that you don’t have to make all of the jams in the summer when it is hot and humid!
Making Low Sugar Strawberry Jam From Frozen Berries
Just freeze the fresh fruit as soon as you can after picking! Lay them out on a cookie sheet and freeze. Once they are frozen, you can pop them in a freezer bag and freeze.
That way the fruit won’t all stick together and you can take out as much as you like, any time of year! I make a new batch of jam when we run out in the fall and winter, and then use up any frozen fruit that I have left in the freezer before the new batch of fruit the next year. That way we always have fresh jam, all year long!
This jam can easily be made with no sugar to make it diabetic friendly! Use a sugar substitute or simply use just fruit!
I hope you enjoyed the recipe for Low Sugar Strawberry Jam today! Give it a try! it’s not as hard as you think! Here is the first post I ever did on BCC which will show you the method (Excuse the pics, I was a newb!) Here is another great article for the canning process.
Love Gardening? If you love growing your own produce, these posts are packed full of information about how to get that big harvest by the end of the season! Don’t miss How to Start a Garden Series! The first part is Planning Your Garden! Second is Preparing the Garden Site. The third is Choosing Plants and Planting Your Garden. The fourth is Garden Maintenance, and the last is Harvesting a Garden and Preserving the Harvest, this post has over 100 FREE recipes for preserving your harvest!
Do you make your own jams and preserves? Let me know in the comments below! Thanks for stopping by and have fun cooking!
Tools I Use to Make Strawberry Jam
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Low Sugar Strawberry Jam
Ingredients
- 2 cups strawberries, hulled and chopped into pieces
- 1/3 cup fruit juice or water
- 3 tsp Bottled Lemon Juice
- 1.5 Tbsp Ball RealFruit™ Low or No-Sugar Pectin
- 0- 1/2 cup sugar, sugar substitute, honey
Instructions
- Prepare waterbath canner. Wash jars ad lids thoroughly in hot, soapy water and rinse well. Add jars to to canner and cover with water 1 inch above the jars. Boil jars for 10 minutes. Let jars sit in hot water until ready to use.
- Pour boiling water over lids and let sit in hot water until ready for use.
- Combine the fruit, juice or water and lemon juice in a large saucepan. Gradually stir in pectin. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil (one that can't be stirred down.), stirring constantly.
- Add sugar, if using. Return mixture to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam, if necessary.
- Ladle hot jam into hot jars. Cool to room temperature, if not canning. Then refrigerate immediately.
- If preserving, ladle hot jam into the hot jars, leaving 1/4" headspace. Wipe rims clean with paper towel.. Center lids on jars. Apply bands and adjust to fingertip tight.
- Place filled jars in canner ensuring jars are covered by over 1" water. Bring to a gentle, steady boil.
- Process jars for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Turn off heat. Let jars rest in hot water for 5 minutes.
- Remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should not flex up and down in the center, when pressed. Store jars in a cool place.
Notes
Nutrition
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Susie McCallister
Can you use peaches instead of strawberries (or any other fruit)? Also is it ok to use Splenda as the sugar substitute? My husband is afraid that boiling the Splenda will break it down wrong.
Beth Neels
I have not tried Splenda brand, but I have heard it works fine. You can also use honey. Here is a recipe for peach jam and here are recipes for all of the different fruits we have covered on BCC. Thanks Susie! Thanks for checking out the recipe!
Donna Dupont
How many pints will I yield from this recipe?
Beth Neels
Hi Donna! 64 tablespoons equals 2 pints. I do the servings in tablespoons, for nutrition facts purpose. I mean you would never eat a pint of jam! Thank you for stopping by!
Debbie
Hi my strawberry jam is not as thick as it should be. I used one pouch of liquid pectin. Will it thicken with time ?
Binky
No it will not. Liquid pectin is different from powdered pectin. You should always base your pectin amounts on the manufacturer’s instructions. The good news is you can use it as strawberry syrup on pancakes, waffles, ice cream. It’s awesome!
cookilicious
wow! Strawberry jam is my favorite! An d love the fact that its homemade! Thanks for this recipe.
Binky
Thanks, Priya! I love making my own jams!