Homemade Jam Recipes That Everyone Will Love

With just a bit of fruit, sugar, and lemon juice, you can make a tasty homemade jam that everyone will love. Here is a guide to making homemade jam, as well as a few recipes to get you started.

The best way to preserve all that delicious fruit that you’ve so lovingly grown is to make jam from it. Not only will you have some lovely homemade jam to have on your toast or scones, but you’ll more than likely have plenty of jars left over to give away to your family and friends.

Below is some basic information on how to make your own jam as well as a few recipes to get you started.

What Fruits Are Best For Making Jam?

Though you can make jam from almost any fruit, the best options have high amounts of pectin. Pectin is a starch that occurs naturally in many fruits and vegetables and helps your jam to set properly.

Fruits with high amounts of pectin include blueberries, raspberries, cherries, apples, pears, apricots, figs, peaches, oranges, and lemons. You can still make jam with low pectin fruits, such as strawberries, but you will need to add pectin to the recipe.

You also don’t have to settle with just one fruit for your jam recipe. Try mixing different fruits to come up with jams that have unique flavors and textures.

Other Important Ingredients

When you look at the recipes below, you should notice a pattern. Each jam recipe includes sugar and lemon juice. When making jam, it’s important to add some sweetness and acid to the mix.

Sugar (or other sweet substitutes) adds to the flavor. Some fruits can be quite tart, and a bit of sugar can balance the taste. Though we have recommended certain amounts in our recipes, put in as little or as much as you want.

Acid, which comes in the form of lemon juice, not only keeps the jam well-balanced but also activates the pectin in the fruit. Therefore, this is a crucial ingredient to get the right texture for your jam.

Homemade Jam Recipes

Now that you know the perfect equation for jam recipes, it’s time to start cooking! Below are some recipes for strawberry, fig, and apricot jams to get you started.

Strawberry Jam

There are many different strawberry jam recipes available and you may even have a favorite one that was handed down through your family.

If you’ve never made strawberry jam before, here’s a super simple recipe to get you started.

Ingredients:

Directions:

Wash and hull the strawberries.
Roughly chop the strawberries either in a food processor or by hand.
Using a large heavy-based pot or saucepan, put in the chopped strawberries, the sugar, and the lemon juice.
Gently cook this mixture over medium heat and stir often.
Turn off the heat when you start to see bubbles all over the surface.
Once cooled, pour the jam into some jars and refrigerate.

This easy jam will last in the refrigerator for about ten days. To store the jam for a longer period, you’ll have to preserve it using a canning kit or a water bath.

You can also ensure your jams stay preserved longer by pouring them into special canning jars that have new sealing rings. These rings allow the excess air to condense and create a vacuum which helps to preserve your jam. Make sure that you sterilize the jars and lids before using them.

Fig Jam

Growing figs requires a little patience as the trees can take a few years to start producing abundant fruit. However, once you have a mature fig tree in your garden, you’ll realize that it was all worth the wait.

Unfortunately, the fig harvesting season is quite short and we only get to enjoy fresh, juicy figs for a few weeks. What better way to keep that taste going than to make some fig jam?

Here’s a simple recipe to get you started.

Ingredients:

Directions:

Remove the stems from the figs and cut them into quarters.
Using a heavy-based pot or saucepan, add the figs, sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla.
Cook this mixture on medium heat and stir frequently until the sugar is dissolved.
Reduce the heat to a low setting and add the water.
Let the jam mixture continue to simmer until you see bubbles all over the surface.
Once cooled, pour the jam mixture into some nice jars and store them in the refrigerator.

Because of the higher sugar content, this jam should last about two months in the refrigerator. If you want to store it for longer, you’ll have to use a preserving method.

Apricot Jam

You know that spring has arrived when your apricot tree starts blossoming. Apricot trees are so easy to grow and will provide you with lots of delectable fruit sooner than you might think.

If you plant your tree in winter or early spring after the frosts have left, you should get a small amount of fruit the following year in the summer. After that, be prepared, because you’ll most likely get quite a bumper crop.

All that lovely, juicy fruit tends to ripen all at once which means you have to pick it if you don’t want the birds getting it all.

Thankfully, when you have an abundance of apricots, you can make delicious apricot jam. Here’s a quick apricot jam recipe we found that is easy and only uses three ingredients.

Ingredients:

Directions:

Wash the apricots, remove the stones, and cut them into quarters.
In a heavy-based pot or saucepan, add the apricots and the sugar.
Cook over medium heat and stir frequently.
Continue to simmer the mixture for about 10 to 15 minutes.
Stir in the lemon juice and remove from the heat.
When the jam has cooled a little, pour into some fancy jars and refrigerate.

As with the other recipes, if you want to keep your jam for longer, you will need to find another preservation method.

There’s nothing better than picking lovely fresh fruit from your garden to enjoy. But, if you have a bumper crop, then you can simply make some jam to enjoy long after your trees have finished fruiting.