The best homemade strawberry jam that’s easy to make with only four ingredients! Full of fresh sweet berry flavor, it beats out store bought any day.
Homemade jam is the best on toasted homemade bread! Other jams we make during summer include blueberry jam, freezer peach jam and strawberry rhubarb jam.
Table of Contents
Best Strawberry Jam Recipe
One of our favorite family summer traditions is to go strawberry picking and then using the fresh strawberries in homemade jam, strawberry sauce, strawberry rhubarb crisp and fresh strawberry pie.
I remember helping my grandma make this homemade strawberry jam recipe as a little girl and when I make this recipe, it brings back memories from my childhood! Grandma always said I was the best “taste tester”, a job I was happy to have! ;)
Ingredients in Strawberry Jam Recipe
Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.
- Strawberries: You will need 2 pints of fresh strawberries. Look for bright red berries with no spots or blemishes.
- Sugar: Granulated sugar is needed for the jam to set properly.
- Lemon juice: Fresh lemon juice acts as a preservative plus the tart taste helps cut the sweetness.
- Powdered fruit pectin: Regular powdered pectin, not instant, is needed to thicken the jam.
- Water
Variations
- Other berries: Using this recipe you can use any fruit such as blackberries, blueberries or raspberries to make jam. Try a combination of berries!
- Rhubarb: Sweet strawberries pair really well with tart rhubarb.
- Cinnamon: Add just a pinch for warm taste.
- Zest: Up to 1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest, lime zest or orange zest will give the jam a citrus undertone.
- Preserves: Jam is made with mashed or pureed fruit. Preserves on the other hand contain larger pieces of fruit.
How to Make Strawberry Jam
Place strawberries in a blender with the lemon juice. Pulse the strawberries about 5-10 times.
Pour strawberries into a large bowl and then stir in sugar. Stir for about 2-3 minutes and then let sit for 15 minutes.
Bring fruit pectin and water to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Pour mixture into the strawberries, stir and let rest another 2-3 minutes.
Next pour or ladle the homemade jam into sterilized jars (leaving about 1/2 inch from the top) and place lids on.
Tips for Making Homemade Jam
- If you don’t have a blender, you can use a potato masher as well. I use my Blendtec.
- I love to use a strawberry huller for easily prepping the strawberries. Using a straw to push through the bottom to the top of the berry is a great hack to hull as well.
- I love to use mason jars to store this easy strawberry jam recipe. When filling leave about 1/2 inch room from the rims (this ensures they won’t explode in the freezer).
- After 24 hours, test if the jam is ready. Place a small amount on a plate then run your finger through it, if it wrinkles and doesn’t fill the gap, it’s ready. If it’s runny, set up to 48 hours.
Favorite Ways to Use Strawberry Jam
- Spread it on a piece of homemade bread or my English muffins recipe (other favorites are artisan bread, French bread or dinner rolls).
- Add as a topping on breakfast recipes like crepes, pancakes, biscuits or Belgian waffles.
- On baked desserts like strawberry crumb bars and peanut butter and jelly cookies or spooned over top cheesecake.
- As a topping for yogurt, vanilla ice cream or a banana split.
- Add to a charcuterie board on top of baked brie.
FAQs
While fresh is preferred, you can use frozen thawed strawberries.
If you have measured incorrectly or not boiled your pectin and water mixture long enough, your jam may have trouble setting up properly. Give the jam at least 48 hours to set up and if it’s still a runny consistency you may need to simmer your jam with some additional pectin.
You can use 1 tablespoon of cornstarch for every 2 cups of berries or you can also bring the fruit mixture to a full rolling boil on the stove until it thickens or reaches 220°F degrees with a digital thermometer. Be careful not to burn your jam and you may want to skim foam on top of the jam.
Let the jars sit on the counter for 24 hours before storing so the jam sets properly. Seal tightly to prevent mold, then store in the fridge for up to 3 weeks or in the freezer up to a year. This jam is not shelf life friendly since we are not canning it.
More strawberry recipes to enjoy include strawberry crepes, strawberry sour cream cake and this classic strawberry shortcake recipe!
More Strawberry Recipes
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Strawberry Jam Recipe
Video
Equipment
- 5 half-pint containers with lids , sterilized
Ingredients
- 2 pints fresh strawberries , washed and stems removed
- ½ teaspoon lemon juice
- 4 cups granulated sugar
- 1.75 ounces powdered fruit pectin (regular, not instant)
- ¾ cup water
Instructions
- In the base of a blender, pulse strawberries and lemon juice 5 to 10 times, or until crushed but with some strawberry pieces still visible.
- Pour the strawberries into a large bowl. Stir in sugar 2 to 3 minutes, or until sugar is dissolved. Let sit 15 minutes.
- In a small saucepan, stir together the fruit pectin and water over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and boil 1 minute. Stir into the strawberries and let sit 3 minutes.
- Carefully pour into sterilized jars, leaving 1/2 inch room at the top, and add lids. Let the jars sit on the counter 24 hours to set. Store in the freezer up to 1 year.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
Categorized as: American, Condiments, Dairy-Free, Desserts, Fruit Desserts, No-Bake, Toppings, Vegan
Jamielyn Nye is the founder and recipe creator at I Heart Naptime. She is the author of the I Heart Naptime Cookbook and shares easy family-friendly recipes and desserts for every occasion.
My family will love this homemade jam! So tasty on a toasted bagel!
Ooh I love a good strawberry jam!
I LOVE those adorable labels. Thanks so much for sharing.
Thank you! :)
This is also a wonderful gift idea!
The recipe says 8 cups 4 cups of strawberries, which is it?
Also is it really 4 cups sugar?
Hoping to make this soon ,thanks
Is the measurement of 4 cups of strawberries the measurement before you blend them? I just wanted to make sure since I have seen other recipes where it was 2 cups blended.
The 4 cups is before you blend them! :)
Thank you so much for sharing your bread and jam recipes! …
You are very welcome! Hope you enjoy! :)
Would it be ok to can this? I’ve canned apple jelly before and would like to try some jam as well!
You’ll need to bump up the lemon juice to 2 Tablespoons in order to can it, then I think it would be okay (but I haven’t tried).
Canning requires an exact amount of acid and pectin to be shelf stable, plus all the canning sanitation, to make sure it will be shelf stable. As-is, this recipe is great for freezer jam (putting it in the freezer for up to six months instead of canning). :)
Okay thanks!
I made this recipe yesterday afternoon. The jam is setting up well. The seal did not deal properly. The seal pops. What did I do wrong? How can I fix it? Should I start over?
This recipe is for a refrigerator/freezer jam, and does not have the components for seals to set. Once your jam is cool, place in the freezer or fridge and you’ll be prepared for jam whenever you like. :)
Thank you so much for responding! Appreciate it! Great, I’ll give it a try.
This looks yummy! Sorry, new to jam making. Do I need to boil the jars and lids prior to making this recipe? or don’t need to for this recipe?
Since this is a freezer jam, you’d want everything very clean but they don’t have to be sterilized (boiled) because you aren’t putting it in a water bath after.
It wouldn’t hurt to boil them, you just don’t have to. :)
Love this site. Has a lot of great ideas!!!
Is the pectin you talk about like Sure Jel in the yellow box?
Yes, that is exactly it! :)
Love this recipe, I’ve been using it for almost two years! It’s the only jam my family likes now, no more store bought for us!
When do you add the lemon juice?
Hi Lacey! Add the lemon juice in the blender with the lemon juice! :)
I love this! I have been searching for hours on Pinterest and online and I think this is the best one yet! I would like to freeze some jam….I am worried about the canning part of it. When you let it set for 24 hrs does that mean you can add the ring and then they should be good to freeze? I’m not sure if I need to do something else for them to be good to freeze?
Hi Megan! Once I fill the jars with the jam, I add the lid and the ring and then let it sit for 24 hours. Then I just pop it in the freezer and its all ready to go! :)
love the free labels thank you! I have’nt tried the jam recipe yet as I have rather put the cart before the horse…I already made strawberry jam with a recipe very similar to this one but without pectin and guess what ? I din’t think it has set properly and I boiled it for at least half an hour though they said 6 minutes!! So now I am checking out various recipes to see what I should do next time. Thanks for the recipe will now try find pectin to see if will give a better result Regards, Kiki