This Strawberry Honey Jam is one of our most popular recipes. In fact, it has won many blue ribbon awards, not only across the country, but across the globe.
We love to get emails from those that have made it and happily share that the jam won their local, county fair award.
Who knew that a jam that contained no refined white sugar and no pectin would be that good! Especially when compared to traditional jam, which typically requires 7 cups of sugar for every 2 pints.
When you think about it, that is a lot of sugar!!! And that is why this strawberry honey jam keeps becoming more and more popular.
Plus, it is easy to make! In fact, you can even make Instant Pot Strawberry Honey Jam!
So how do you make jam using no white sugar and no pectin? The answer, with just 4 natural ingredients.
Strawberry Honey Jam
It all starts with 6 pounds of strawberries. It is obviously best to use fresh picked strawberries whenever possible. Not only are those strawberries fresh out of the strawberry patch, they are much sweeter than store bought.
However, we also understand, that not everyone can find a place to purchase or pick strawberries.
Therefore, the recipe below has been adjusted for store-bought strawberries. If you do use fresh picked or super sweet strawberries, you can decrease the honey to 1 1/2 – 2 cups.
To start making Strawberry Honey Jam, begin by hauling and slicing the strawberries in half or quarters if they are large.
Then place them in a large stockpot. Next, core your apples. However, do not peel them! The peel contains natural pectin that will help thicken your jam. Then grate with stand mixer or place your apples in a food processor using the grating blade and place in the pot.
Cooking Instructions
Add in the honey and lemon juice and bring the strawberry honey jam to a boil. Then reduce the heat to a simmer.
After about 15 minutes, use a potato masher to mash the strawberry mixture. Continue to simmer for 45 – 60 minutes or until thickened.
Remember, this strawberry honey jam will not be as thick as traditional jam that uses boxes of pectin and refined white sugar. However, it will continue to thicken as it cools.
When the desired thickness has been reached, you can either let it cool and place the jam in freezer jars. Or, you can use hot and sterilized half-pint or pint jars and place in a water bath canner for 10 minutes.
As a reminder about honey – Honey can contain botulism spores that can cause botulism in kids less than a year of ago. Water bath canning will not kill them. So this jam should not be consumed by those under a year of age to be safe.
Enjoy!
Mary and Jim
Jim and Mary Competti have been writing gardening, DIY and recipe articles and books for over 15 years from their 46 acre Ohio farm. The two are frequent speakers on all things gardening and love to travel in their spare time.
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Yield: 8 half pints
Strawberry Honey Jam
Homemade strawberry jam made without white sugar or pectin. Only 4 natural ingredients required!
Ingredients
6 lbs strawberries
3 cups local honey, *see note
2 small Granny Smith apples
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
Hull strawberries and cut in each strawberry in half (or quarters if large), place in a large stockpot.
Cut the sides of the apples away from the core and grate the apple leaving the skins on. (I used my food processor) Place in pot with the strawberries.
Pour the lemon juice and honey in the stock pot and stir.
Heat mixture on high until boiling, stirring occasionally. As soon as the mixture begins to boil, reduce heat to medium low to simmer.
Simmer for approximately 15 minutes until the strawberries become soft. Using a potato masher, mash the strawberries so there are no recognizable, whole sections. If you have an immersion blender, you can use this instead.
Simmer for another 45-60 minutes, stirring occasionally. The longer the mixture simmers, the thicker the consistency. (Remember, this will not be as thick as the consistency made with sugar and/or pectin).
Strawberry Honey Jam can either be placed in freezer safe jars and stored in the refrigerator or freezer, or canned using a hot water bath canner with 10 minutes of processing time.
Notes
*Decrease the amount of honey if using fresh picked or sweet strawberries or if your local honey is strong in flavor. Use 1 1/2-2 cups of honey instead of the full amount.
The chia seeds soak up the juice and moisture from fruit purée and plump up, giving a thickening effect to the jam without using heat or added sugar or pectin. Think of it as a chia seed pudding made with fruit rather than milk.
“Sugar serves as a preserving agent, contributes flavor, and aids in gelling. Cane and beet sugar are the usual sources of sugar for jelly or jam. Corn syrup and honey may be used to replace part of the sugar in recipes, but too much will mask the fruit flavor and alter the gel structure.
No extra pectin– You may wonder if strawberry jam is better with or without pectin. Strawberries are naturally low in pectin, so some people prefer to add additional pectin to jams and jellies. However, I actually prefer homemade jam without extra pectin. They are a bit softer in texture, making it more versatile.
Strawberry jam with added pectin can be cooked in as little as ten minutes, preserving that fresh berry flavor and quality. Strawberry jam without added pectin needs to be cooked up to four times longer to reach the gel stage, resulting in a much sweeter, less fresh-tasting jam.
Although we are not adding powdered pectin, we will add citric acid or lemon juice to the jam. This gives an additional pop of pectin but also some acidity that balances the sweetness of the jam. Citric acid provides very consistent results, which is why I like to use it.
Adding acid in the form of fresh lemon or lime juice is important for two reasons: First, it makes for a more well-balanced jam, returning some of the acidity lost with the addition of sugar. Second, pectin needs acid to properly activate, or firm up.
A light mild flavored honey works well for canning fruit. If you are making a sweet pickled product, darker or stronger flavored honey works well. Honey may darken your fruit a little more than with sugar.
You certainly can! you won't find it in a commercial jam as it adds extra flavour, and the course white sugar they use sets firmer and clearer than brown, but in a blueberry jam, which sets very thick with whatever sugar you use so brown sugar is a great choice for a deeper flavour.
Whisk a tablespoon of powdered pectin (preferably the no-sugar-needed variety) into the pot of cooking jam. Test for thickness and add another tablespoon if needed.
You can skip the commercial stuff altogether and make your own pectin using a high-pectin fruit like apples to make a stock that can be used instead of commercial pectin. If you can, use crabapples, which have lots of natural pectin and are less sweet than other varieties.
Cornflour (or cornstarch) combined with lemon juice is a great alternative to pectin. It thickens up jam really well, combined with the sugar and heat.
This is a process of color loss and does not mean the jam or jelly is going bad. The browning starts at the top of the jar and slowly works its way down. If your jars were properly sealed and the seal is still intact, the jam or jelly, although not as pretty as it once was, is safe to eat.
Pectin can reduce the body's ability to absorb beta-carotene, an important nutrient. And pectin can also interfere with the body's ability to absorb certain drugs, including: Digoxin (a heart medicine) Lovastatin (a cholesterol-lowering drug)
In this sense, you may need to adjust how much you add to your jam to trigger the pectin to achieve the perfect set. Generally, it's advised to add one tablespoon of lemon juice per pound of fruit.
If you aren't using pectin as a thickener, the sugar as well as the cornstarch slurry will work to thicken quite well. Feel free to add more for an even thicker jam.
Whisk a tablespoon of powdered pectin (preferably the no-sugar-needed variety) into the pot of cooking jam. Test for thickness and add another tablespoon if needed.
For every 4 cups of jam that needs to be remade, whisk together 1/4 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon powdered pectin. Pour the jam into a low, wide pan and add the sugar and pectin combo. Stir until the sugar and pectin has dissolved.
Pectin is often used as a thickener in cooking and baking. It is a natural polysaccharide (starch) product extracted from fruits and is commonly used as a natural thickening and setting/gelling agent that shouldn't affect the taste or smell of your recipes.
Cornstarch - Another plant-based thickening agent, cornstarch is a great substitute for pectin. Gelatin - For non-vegan menu items, you can substitute gelatin for pectin, but it will yield a different consistency.
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