Wondering how to make strawberry jam? All you need to do is boil a few ingredients you probably already have! This easy, pectin-free and lower in sugar homemade strawberry jam can also be sweetened naturally and is paleo and vegan. With a how-to recipe video.
Every year after going strawberry picking, we come home and I immediately get started making this amazing strawberry jam recipe. It’s so simple and is a great way to use up a few pounds of strawberries.
Not a fan of strawberries? Then try my honey-sweetened apricot jam! Everything I say in this post is valid for that recipe. Meaning you can also make it with maple syrup, it’s pectin-free, etc.
You can also use other types of berries or stone fruit but you’ll almost definitely have to increase the sweetener – especially for fruit that’s not too sweet, like raspberries or apricots.
Unlike most of the other strawberry jam recipes I’ve seen, this one doesn’t have an absurd amount of sugar. It’s really very little!
But keep in mind that if you don’t use sweet and flavorful strawberries, your jam isn’t going to be very good. I’ve tried this recipe with frozen strawberries, which were lacking in both taste and sweetness, and the result was almost bitter.
For two pounds of strawberries, there’s only 1/4 cup of sweetener called for so you need to use naturally sweet strawberries or add more sweetener. Other recipes use 2 pounds of strawberries and up to FOUR cups of granulated sugar!
It makes me wonder if I’m crazy and I don’t know what strawberry jam is supposed to taste like. But I promise you, this is delicious! As long as you use sweet berries. ;)
I usually use honey to sweeten this strawberry jam (it’s also great in this Rose Jelly), but for a vegan version, you can use maple syrup. I recommend using the lighter Grade A variety instead of a darker, more maple-y type so that the maple flavor doesn’t overshadow the strawberries.
By the way, this strawberry jam would be great on these vegan and gluten-free strawberry chocolate scones!
If you’re worried that this homemade strawberry jam won’t taste as good as a granulated sugar-sweetened recipe (you can also use granulated sugar in this recipe, if you prefer!) – don’t be! When you mix everything together, you can taste the honey or maple syrup. After a few minutes of boiling, all you can taste is strawberries with a lemony zing.
If you prefer a recipe a recipe that already calls for granulated sugar, try this Homemade Strawberry Freezer Jam!
And don’t leave out the lemon juice! It’s necessary due to the lack of pectin. Or at least that’s what I’ve read.
Whatever I don’t eat after about a week, I freeze in 1/4 or 1/2 cup portions and use in recipes like these strawberry white chocolate cheesecake bars and strawberry oat bars. I think this jam would also be great in this gluten free pop tarts recipe!
Questions about how to make strawberry jam?
- Can I use another type of sweetener?
I don’t think the slightly caramel-like taste of coconut sugar would blend so nicely with the strawberries and lemon. Brown rice syrup (for a non-paleo version) would be great. I think dates or date syrup would be odd. And I unfortunately have no clue when it comes to low-carb sweeteners.
- Can I use another type of juice / zest?
I think any citrus juice + zest would be great!
- Can I use another type of fruit? Another type of berry or stone fruit should work just fine. But you’ll likely need to increase the amount of sweetener quite a bit, unless you’re using something that’s really sweet, like peaches. I actually have made spiced peach jam using this recipe, and still had to increase the honey to 1/3 cup.
- Can this homemade strawberry jam recipe be canned?
I have to admit that I don’t know a thing about canning. Here’s a step-by-step guide on canning that might be of some help to you!
- I didn’t use sweet berries and now my jam isn’t sweet enough. Can I add more sweetener now? I haven’t actually tried this but I’m pretty sure it’d be ok.
- Can I use frozen strawberries? Definitely! As long as they’re actually tasty + sweet. I make this all the time using berries I froze after berry picking. I’ve also made it using store-bought frozen strawberries (that weren’t any good to begin with) and it was awful.
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: A 600ml (20oz) jar
- 2 pounds (907 grams) (~6 1/2 cups smashed) rinsed, hulled really sweet strawberries
- 1/4 cup (80 grams) honey or Grade A maple syrup for a vegan version (1/3 cup or 67 grams granulated sugar for a non-paleo version also works but you'll need less cooking time)
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1/4 cup (60 milliliters) freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Place the strawberries in a large pot and crush with the bottom of a glass. Add the sweetener, lemon zest and lemon juice and heat over medium high.
- Boil, stirring every now and then, until the mixture thickens. With my really soft and juicy strawberries, this took about 45 minutes. It could take more or less time depending on your strawberries.
- To test, put some of the jam on a clean spoon and then put the spoon on a plate in the freezer. Let it sit in there for five minutes and then take it out. If the jam doesn’t fall easily off the spoon when you turn it to the side, it’s ready and you can take the pot off the heat. If it does pour off easily, continue cooking for another 5 minutes and try the test again.
- Let cool and then pour into jars and store in the fridge and for up 1 week. Freezes great.
Homemade Strawberry Jam (naturally paleo and vegan)
Ingredients
Directions
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101 comments on “How to Make Strawberry Jam” — Add one!
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LOVE strawberry jam! Seeing lots of great strawberries at the farmer’s market here, I have to give this recipe a try. I love my berries whole in a jam, so I wonder if it’s okay not to crush the strawberries in this recipe. Thank you!
Hi Zerrin! So sorry for just now seeing your comment. I crushed the strawberries to make the cooking process quicker. I’d recommend crushing at least half of them. :) Hope you’ll enjoy it!
I love strawberry jam! Looks perfect!
I can’t wait to try this…can’t believe there’s no thickener/pectin in it! And I love how low in added sugar this is :)
Hi Erin, I like your recipe, but it’d be nice to save some of the goodness of raw honey that is lost with cooking. Considering that honey doesn’t help with the thickening of the jam as sugar would, what about adding it last thing before it cools down? Would it still mix nicely? I believe it would keep more of its nutrients compared to cooking for 1h.
Hi there! I don’t use raw honey when baking or cooking for that very reason. It would definitely keep more of its nutrients that way but as I haven’t tried it, I can’t say for sure that it’d work. I’m guessing it’d have a much stronger honey taste for one thing (but really, it’s just a guess!). Sorry I can’t give you a more definite answer. I can say that I’m very interested in trying it out for myself. :) If you try it first, I’d love to hear how it goes!
Hi Erin,
well, I tried it. I simmered the strawberries a little longer to make a thicker texture and added the raw honey when the jam was about 37 degrees C (90 fahreheit). That is the body temperature that does not kill good bacteria and enzymes.
The end result was a thick preserve with just the lightest hint of honey. I also reduced the amount of lemon as my florida strawberries were quite sweet.
I’m totally happy with it, I used a fraction of honey compared to the sugar I would normally put in my preserve and it still tastes sweet.
My husband loved it and all nephews that come over for the weekend enjoyed very much.
Thumbs up Erin!
That’s great! Thanks so much for letting me know how it turned out. I’m really surprised that there’s just a hint of honey! Those must have been some really flavorful strawberries. :) Thanks again!
Hi, wondering if you have to use lemon for this to work or can I omit it all together (wanting to make today and don’t have a lemon) thanks :)
I am so sorry for just now seeing your comment! I found it in spam for some reason. I hope you found the answer in the post. :) “And don’t leave out the lemon juice! It’s necessary due to the lack of pectin. Or at least that’s what I’ve read.” It could work without the lemon but I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure. Sorry about that!
Love it! I had to adjust the amount of lemon because our British winter strawberries are a bit sour!
Thanks so much! I never knew it would thicken so well with nothing added!
Haha. Same with our German winter strawberries! They’re pretty useless. :/ Thanks for your comment!
Can this be processed for canning? Or placed in the freezer for use later?
You can freeze it but I have no idea about canning. Sorry about that!
Hello.
Would this recipe work with other berries as well? Such as raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, etc.
Looking forward to giving this recipe a try – this will be my first ever attempt at making jam.
Hello! I’ve used this with other types of fruit with no issue. You might just have to adjust the honey a bit. I used super sweet strawberries, which are way sweeter than other types of berries, so you’ll likely need quite a bit more honey or other sweetener. Hope it turns out well. :)
Hi Erin, I wonder if I could use frozen strawberries? When its not strawberry season I tend to use frozen.
Thanks
Hi there! Frozen will work fine as long as the berries are actually sweet. If your frozen strawberries are anything like mine (which aren’t sweet or really even flavorful), you may need to add more honey!
Maybe your berries weren’t sweet enough? I’ve never thought that this jam was very lemony at all!
Hello! Thanks for this AMAZING recipe! LOVED the flavor AND color! Thanks again!
Hi there! I’m happy you enjoyed the jam. :) Thanks for your comment!
I made this as a single batch and it tastes kind of sour. Any way to fix it and make it a little sweeter? It’s not awful but would love to try and fix it verses making a new batch. Thanks!
I used very sweet summer berries for this jam so if your berries aren’t very sweet (ours are just awful right now!), I can see that happening. You can add more honey or some granulated sugar until it tastes sweet enough. :) I hope it’ll taste better then!
Hello from Australia, googled ‘excess strawberries’ and found you jam. I have previously made marmalade but now put off by the amount of sugar used – do you have any ideas for reduced orange/citrus marmalade/jam?
And hi back from Germany! :) I’ve never made orange or citrus jam but I found two honey-sweetened orange jam recipes that sound good (though they use a lot more honey than this strawberry version). Honey-sweetened cara cara orange jam and here’s another one. I hope that helps!
Hello, I noticed you interest in orange marmalade. I made my marmy using navel oranges, honey (no particular flavour), fig infuse balsamic vinegar.
Peel the rind and cut into 1inch pieces, tumble in honey, place on a tray and bake at 350 till golden brown. Take all orange pulp and cook with 1/4cup honey, pass thro a sieve to remove membrane. Return to pot adding toasted rinds add additional orange juice and honey if needed, add 1tablespoon of balsamic for colour and taste. I like dark tangy marmalade. I sorry I can’t give you precise amounts, I cook from scratch, never the less this was good Marmalade.
Peter, thanks for sharing your ‘recipe’ for dark marmalade – a very original take on traditional loads of sugar and long simmering style of marmalade. I would never have thought of roasting the peel in honey. You have encouraged me to experiment. Best wishes from Oz.
Help! I added too much lemon juice! I didn’t have enough lemon zest so I put in extra lemon juice to make up for it…the finished product has a great consistency but it too sour. Can I add more strawberries/honey and cook the mixture again?
I’d make more jam without any lemon and then mix it in with the lemony jam! I think that’d work better than adding more berries and honey and then cooking it all together. Good luck and enjoy! :)
I LOVE your photography! These beautiful jam photos drew me in like a bee to honey! I just shared your post on my FB page :) xoxoxo
Haha. I love this comment! Thanks. And thanks for sharing! :)
Hi, sounds wonderful, can you freeze this jam?
Hi there! It freezes wonderfully. Enjoy! :)
Strawberry stand just opened up this week! I’m stopping on my way home tonight so I can make your recipe!
Aww, yay! I hope you’ll enjoy the jam. :)
This is great recipe!
I made my first jam today following this recipe.
And the jam was made perfectly.
Thank you!
Oh, that’s great! I’m so happy to hear that. Thanks a bunch for your feedback. :)
I was glad to stumble upon this page. I made my strawberry jam today following your recipe and it came came out perfectly…..Now I can make my own healthy jam
I’m so happy it came out well for you! Thanks a ton for your feedback and I hope you find some other recipes you like. :)
I live near Plant City Florida. – the “Strawberry Capital”. I just picked fresh strawberries last week. I love the pretty jars in the picture- can you tell me where you purchase them.
Lucky you! I have to wait until June for strawberry season. I hope you’re taking advantage of your location! ;) I got my jars in Germany from a German brand called Weck but apparently they’re easy to find in the US now. :) Here you go: Weck jars
I made this last night with strawberries from our garden. I followed the recipe exactly and I made 12 ounces of finished jam. (1 and 1/2 jelly jars half pint). The amount of honey is correct and I think I could have even used less if I wanted. It never really gelled up and I think mine turned into more of a strawberry butter (like apple butter) still taste great. I am going to can one of the jars and will let you know in a few months how it turns out.
That sounds amazing! Strawberry season hasn’t even begun over here so I’m super jealous. Thanks for experimenting with the canning! I hope it’ll be ok and can’t wait to hear if it comes out! Sorry that yours never gelled up but I’m happy to hear that it still tasted good. Thanks for the feedback! :)