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.
If you really want to thicken it to a more spreadable consistency, the easiest way is to heat it up with some thickeners such as cornstarch. Arrowroot flour is more delicate and taste-neutral, but most cooks won't have it. Unflavored gelatin may also be used. Bring the syrupy “jam” to boil in a pot.
Honey can be safely used when making homemade jam. When using honey in place of sugar in jams, you will want to use 7/8 cup of honey for every 1 cup of sugar in a recipe, according to Pick Your Own. This is because honey is sweeter than sugar.
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.
Lemon is crucial to balancing those sweet flavors, but it also helps the pectin to firm up the jam. It can be added at the start of the cooking process or towards the end, but what must be taken into account is that adding liquids to the jam mixture will inevitably require the jam to cook for longer.
The amount of sugar you need to make jam depends on the amount of pectin in your chosen fruit, but generally the fruit-to-sugar ratio for traditional jams is 1:1 (ie. 450g/1lb sugar to 450g/1lb fruit).
One of the main reasons people choose to sub honey in is because they think it's a healthier choice than sugar. In truth, honey does have some benefits, like being less processed and having more micronutrients. But we have to be careful. Honey is sweeter and higher in calories than sugar.
The thing to keep in mind is that sugar is essential for successful jam-making. Cutting down on the sugar in a jam recipe is just asking for failure. You will end up with a runny mess to show for all your work. While it is true that sugar contributes to the sweetness of the jam, it does much more than that.
Jams and jellies can be made without added sugar but will resemble more of a fruited gelatin desert than a true jam or jelly. Salt is not necessary for safe processing of canned or frozen fruits and vegetables.
Lemon juice plays two parts in a strawberry jam recipe. First, it prohibits bacteria growth, so your jam lasts longer. Second, it is a natural pectin booster. Fresh berries have pectin that's released when we heat the jam.
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)
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.
If you simply take fruit and cook it with some sugar to sweeten it a little, it will get thick enough to turn into jam by the naturally occurring pectin in the fruit and the process of reduction. Reduction occurs when we simmer the fruit, and the liquid turns to steam and evaporates, which thickens the jam.
Do not vary the sequence in which the ingredients are added. For example, powdered pectin does not dissolve in a sugared solution, so if you add the sugar and then the dry pectin, the jam will not be firm. Be sure you use a kettle large enough to accommodate the preserves when they are brought to a full rolling boil.
The acid in lemon juice can help pectin to gel which is why it is often added to lower pectin fruits in jam-making, but it is not a straight replacement for pectin.
Just wait. You've followed the recipe and even tested the jam for thickness by smearing a bit of the cooked jam on a cold spoon straight from the freezer, but it still looks runny in the canning jars after processing. ...
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.
If you prefer a softer set, you can always use less pectin than called for in our recipes. We would suggest you experiment by using ¼ to ½ teaspoon less pectin than the recipe calls for, or perhaps up to a teaspoon less for recipes that call for 4 teaspoons of pectin.
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. Also, this recipe is gluten free!
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