My Easy Homemade Blueberry Jam (with No Pectin) only has 3 ingredients, no funky additives, and comes together quickly on the stovetop as a small batch recipe. No canning necessary!
Once you start making your own jam, you are going to be hooked! This blueberry jam has the perfect amount of sugar to enhance the natural sweetness of our fruit. For another tasty flavor, try this homemade strawberry preserves recipe!
The Coined Breakdown
- Total Cost per serving (1 tbsp.): $0.19
- Total Cost (8 oz. jar): $2.14
- Those Other Guys: $8.99 per serving
Ingredients
- Blueberries - Fresh or frozen blueberries will work here. Just make sure you thoroughly clean your fresh fruit; I like to use a water + apple cider vinegar combination.
- Granulated Sugar - We don't use a ton of sugar since blueberries have a natural sweetness. You can also use honey or agave as a sweetener!
- Lemon Juice - A small amount of lemon juice will cut some of the sweetness of the jam as well as help prevent the growth of bacteria when we store it in the fridge. It also helps activate the natural pectin in our fruit which gets that jammy texture we love.
Pairing Ideas
Peanut Butter & Jelly Baked Oatmeal: For a fun and filling breakfast, try this recipe for PB&J Baked Oats using homemade blueberry jam.
Halloween Treats: These Jack-o-Lantern Hand Pies are so cute! And blueberry preserves give off a spooky color that works great for the pastries.
Stovetop Party Meatballs: Most recipes for party meatballs use grape jelly. Substitute that with blueberry preserves for a delicious flavor twist.
Breakfast Favorites: Top these Apple Pancakes with blueberry jam, or spread some onto Sausage, Egg, & Cheese Sandwiches.
How to Make Homemade Blueberry Jam
Making homemade jam or preserves is so simple! Most jelly recipes use pectin, a food starch, to get the gel consistency that we’re all used to. But we’re going to make this homemade jam without pectin.
Pectin can be expensive and sometimes hard to find. Blueberries naturally contain pectin, and combining them with the acidity of lemon juice (and cooking down most of their moisture) really allows the pectin to shine, forming delicious, jammy, homemade preserves.
Step 1: Start by adding all of your ingredients to a large pot.
Step 2: Let the mixture come to a boil, stirring frequently so the jam doesn't get stuck on the bottom and burnt.
Step 3: While it's cooking, be sure to smash any large pieces of fruit using the back of a spoon or a potato masher.
After about 20 minutes, it should be done.
Step 4: Pour the hot preserves into a glass jar, let it come to room temperature, and you're ready to seal and store in the fridge. It's that easy!
Recipe Pro Tips
- Take the temperature of the jam. You want to make sure your homemade jam reaches 220°F. That temperature ensures we have the consistency needed.
- No candy thermometer? If you don’t have a food thermometer, there's a quick freezer test that can help. Once you think your preserves are ready, add a plate to the freezer for about one minute until it gets chilly. Then, spoon a dollop of hot blueberry preserves on the plate.
- Place the plate back into the freezer for another minute, and run your finger through the jam. It should stay where it's at, and not immediately run back into the space you created with your finger - that's how you know you're ready to go.
Recipe FAQs
Yes! Some fruit naturally contains pectin. Below, I show a cooking technique to create the jam consistency that we want without using added pectin.
You can store this homemade jam in a mason jar in the refrigerator for 2-3 weeks (if it lasts that long!) I like to make small batches so the jam can continuously be fresh. You can also freeze this for up to 2 months as long as it's sealed well.
Regular granulated sugar actually uses a non-vegan technique when processing. To make vegan homemade jam, substitute the granulated sugar with coconut sugar.
Other Breakfast/Brunch Recipes You'll Love!
If you tried this Homemade Blueberry Preserves Recipe, or any other recipe on my website, please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you! Thanks for visiting!
Easy Homemade Blueberry Jam (No Pectin!)
Equipment
- Chef's Knife
- Pot
- Silicone Spoon
- Candy Thermometer
- Mason Jar
Ingredients
- 16 ounces blueberries
- ⅓ cup granulated white sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
- Rinse your blueberries.
- Add blueberries, sugar, and lemon juice to a pan and cook on medium heat until it begins to boil, stirring frequently.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for about 20 minutes. While it simmers, smash some of the blueberries with the back of a spoon.
- After 20 minutes, your jam should reach 220℉ (use a candy thermometer to test).
- For another test, or if you don't have a candy thermometer - set a plate in the freezer for about one minute.
- Drop a quarter-sized amount of the hot preserves onto the plate and put back in the freezer for another minute.
- If you can run your finger through and it wrinkles up (aka, the preserves don't quickly fill the path you made with your finger), your preserves are ready!
- Add the hot blueberry preserves to a mason jar and let cool completely.
- Once the preserves are cooled, seal, and store in the fridge.
- Serve on biscuits, toast, pancakes, or anything else you can think of. Enjoy!
Anonymous says
I made this jam last night using frozen WILD Blueberries. I followed your recipe exactly and used the plate method to test for thickness as I do not own a candy thermometer. I couldn’t wait for the morning to test out the jam. LOVE it! Love it and Love it! I will definitely make this again and will not ever buy a store made jam going forward.
I love that it only used 1/3 cup of sugar so the true flavour of the blueberries come out. I read other recipes that add from 1/2 cup to 1 cup of sugar for 2 cups of berries - lots of sugar! Which I don’t need nor want.
Thank you for sharing your recipe and your step by step instructions. It’s not as technical or scary to make homemade jam!!
Shani W. says
That makes me SO happy to hear!! I definitely feel your pain with most recipes having tons of sugar, so I wanted to make a version that could combat that 🙂 Thank you so much for your detailed review - it means a lot!!