Small Batch Strawberry Jam without Pectin

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This small batch strawberry jam recipe is so quick and easy, anyone can make it. It only requires 3 ingredients and turns out perfect every single time.

A scoop of strawberry jam in a spoon over a jar of jam. — **Easy Small Batch Strawberry Jam Recipe without Pectin - Delicious Homemade Jam**

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❤️Why you will love this recipe
📋Ingredients
🧾Substitution and variations
👩🏻‍🍳How to make
🍽️Serving & storage
💡Expert tips
💭FAQs
❤️More recipes you will love ❤️
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❤️Why you will love this recipe

This small batch jam is an easy recipe, and uses only 3 simple ingredients.
It is a great way to use up all those leftover strawberries during strawberry season and turn them into delicious jam.
The small batch recipe means you get to make fresh strawberry jam whenever you want.
Unlike store-bought jam, this homemade strawberry jam is made using natural pectin i.e. lemon juice.
You get to adjust the sweetness by using less sugar to make this classic recipe.
And since there is no butter required, this makes an excellent vegan small batch strawberry jam too!

Like this easy homemade jam recipe? Here are my other posts you might want to check out:

📋Ingredients

Fresh or frozen strawberries – hulled and cut into small cubes
White sugar - can be coarse sugar or granulated sugar.
Lemon Juice - use fresh lemon juice and strain to remove seeds.

*Refer to the recipe card below for exact quantities of the ingredients above. For best results, use a digital kitchen scale where applicable*

🧾Substitution and variations

To make vanilla strawberry jam, scrape the insides of a vanilla pod and add it to the jam as it begins to thicken.

This recipe has not been tested with other substitutions or variations. If you do try, please let me know in the comments section below!

👩🏻‍🍳How to make

Choosing and preparing the strawberries

A bowl of strawberries. — ***Fresh strawberries to make my small batch strawberry jam***

The process of making this small batch jam starts with getting the strawberries ready. And that means hulling and washing them. In choosing the strawberries, I personally prefer the not too ripe berries. That way, the fruits themselves are not too sweet. And when mixed with the sugar in the recipe, the jam does not become overly sweet.
If you are using frozen strawberries, let them thaw and then drain the liquid before chopping them.
Next is cutting the fruits. It is a matter of personal preference as to how you wish to cut your strawberries. I like to have chunky strawberries in my jam rather than a smooth jam. So I chose to cut mine by halves (for small ones) and quarters (for the large ones).

Cooking the fruits

A poster of 4 images show strawberries cooked with sugar to make jam. — **Steps for cooking the small batch strawberry jam**

Once the fruits are ready, add them into a small or medium saucepan. Since this is a small batch recipe, you don't need a large saucepan. Add the lemon juice in. Let the strawberries simmer in their own juice over very low heat until they have softened slightly. Once the strawberries appear soft and mushy in the saucepan, add the sugar.
Let the fruits simmer in the sugar until the sugar is all dissolved and the mixture starts to thicken. If you are not used to making jams, it can be a little tricky to decide when the jam is really done. This is because the jam, while on the heat can be quite runny. But once it cools down to room temperature, it will thicken noticeably. The best way to deal with this is to get a candy thermometer.
Clip the thermometer to your saucepan (making sure it is not touching the base). As soon as the temperature reaches 105 degrees Celsius, remove your jam from the heat.
If you don’t have a candy thermometer, you can check if the jam has set by spooning the jam onto a chilled small plate. Push the jam with your finger and if the surface of the jam wrinkles, the jam is ready. Remove the jam from the heat and let it cool to room temperature before storing. At this stage, if you want to break the strawberries down, you can use a potato masher.

🍽️Serving & storage

There are 2 ways in which you can store your fresh strawberry jam – in the pantry or in the refrigerator. If proper canning process is observed, the finished jam can be kept out in the pantry. Otherwise, it needs to be refrigerated.
The canning process is a little too complicated for me, so I always store my jams in glass jars in the refrigerator. This jam can even be frozen, which is why I sometimes refer to my jam as a freezer jam. If stored in the freezer, it needs to be thawed in the fridge before using it.
The jam is great to be enjoyed with a toast bread and combined as a filling with peanut butter for jelly sandwiches. It also makes a great filling for sandwich cookies like in these strawberry jam cookies. You can also add this homemade jam to other desserts like cakes and cupcakes (you can swirl it in the batter before baking) and also ice cream (swirl into vanilla ice cream for a quick and easy strawberry ice cream).

💡Expert tips

For best results, use ripe berries.
If you wish to mash the fruit pieces in the jam to smoother pieces, you can use a potato masher and mash them half way through the cooking process.
Before spooning the jam into jars for storage, wash the jars with warm soapy water. And then heat them up slightly in your oven. Too much heating can result in cracked jars. So it is important to keep a tab of the jars in the oven.
Alternatively, place the clean jam jars in a pot filled with hot water. Let them sit there for a few minutes (make sure the hot water does not get into the jars when doing this). Once the jars are warmed up, pour the fresh jam in. Place the lid on, and store the jars of jam in the refrigerator.

💭FAQs

What is pectin?

Most commercially made jams contain a special ingredient called pectin. It is basically a substance that is naturally present in fruits and it is this substance that helps jams and jellies set. The amount of natural pectin differs by the type of fruits and the level of ripeness. This is why, in commercially made store-bought jam and jellies, it is added as a stand-alone ingredient to ensure consistency and help with the gelling process in the jams and jellies.

While there is no harm in adding pectin to your homemade jams, it is not something that everyone would readily have at home unless they are into large scale jam making. And that means a jam recipe that does not require pectin as a stand-alone ingredient is definitely something that most people who want to make their own homemade jams in small batches for personal consumption would find very useful.

Not wanting to use pectin in your jam recipes means there has to be an alternative jelling agent, which is where the lemon juice comes in handy. You only need a little lemon juice to make up for the lack of natural pectin in some fruits.
Having said that, not all jams require it. When making jams with fruits high in pectin, neither the pectin nor the lemon juice is required. In the case of strawberries, however, pectin is required. Since I choose not to use the commercially packed one, I opted for lemon juice.

Why is my jam not thick?

The jam will generally not be thick when hot hence it is best to wait until it cools down.

If it is still runny, one reason could be that you did not cook it enough.

Another reason is that there is not enough pectin in the recipe. Make sure to follow the measurements provided in the recipe card precisely for the lemon juice and other ingredients.

Try to cook the jam again until it thickens further.

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