My recipe for Easy Homemade Strawberry Preserves (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!
Strawberries were on sale this week and I thought it would be the perfect time to test out a recipe for homemade strawberry preserves! Making homemade jam (without pectin) is so incredibly easy. Just add chopped fruit, sugar, and lemon juice to a pan and cook until thickened.
Ingredients
- Strawberries - Fresh or frozen strawberries (if fresh, try and grab ripe berries that are almost too soft to eat... but not moldy) 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 lot of sugar since great strawberries have a natural sweetness. You can also use honey or agave as a sweetener!
- Lemon Juice - A small amount of lemon juice will add much-needed acidity as well as help prevent the growth of bacteria when we store it in the fridge.
How to Make Homemade Strawberry 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. Strawberries 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.
- Start by adding all of your ingredients to a large pot.
- Let the mixture come to a boil, stirring frequently so the jam doesn't get stuck on the bottom and burnt.
- 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 45 minutes, it should be done.
- 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.
Start by adding all of your ingredients to a pot.
As the berries begin boiling, smash any large ones with the back of a spoon.
Towards the end, you'll see the moisture evaporate out of the fruit.
You want to make sure your homemade jam reaches 220°F. However, 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 strawberry 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.
If you love this recipe, you'll also go crazy for my 3-ingredient blueberry jam!
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.
Most brands of granulated sugar use a non-vegan technique when processing. To make vegan homemade jam, substitute the granulated sugar with coconut sugar.
Keep it simple with a nostalgic PB&J sandwich, or try my recipes for homemade strawberry pop-tarts (coming soon!) and PB&J baked oatmeal.
Other Breakfast Favorites!
Cajun Shrimp & Grits (with a Creamy Tomato Sauce)
Purple Rain Smoothie Bowl (Whole 30!)
Easy Homemade Strawberry Preserves (No Pectin!)
Ingredients
- 32 ounces strawberries
- ½ cup granulated white sugar
- 4 tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Rinse your strawberries, remove the tops, and slice them into quarters.
- Add the sliced berries, sugar, and lemon juice to a pot and cook on medium heat until it begins to boil, stirring frequently.
- Cook for 45 minutes. While it is boiling, smash some of the larger strawberries with the back of a spoon.
- After 45 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 strawberry preserves to a mason jar and let it 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!
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The Coined Breakdown
- Total Cost serving (1 tbsp.): $0.30
- Total Cost (16 oz. jar): $4.80
- Those Other Guys: $5.99 per jar
Leslie Gardone says
Fast, easy and delicious!
Anonymous says
Fantastic recipe!!!!!!