Bright and Fruity Strawberry Jam, Your Way

Achieve your jam success with this basic formula.

Updated November 22, 2024

A spoon dipping into a jar of strawberry jam. — Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Why It Works

A set formula and commercial pectin ensure great results, even if you change things up.
Commercial low-sugar pectin sets the jam quickly, leaving the flavor bright and the process easy.

This classic strawberry jam is built on a very basic formula using low-sugar pectin, which I shared in my primer on preservation.

For a strawberry jam using regular pectin: 4 cups strawberries + 4 cups sugar + 1/3 cup pectin. For a strawberry jam made with low-sugar pectin: 4 cups strawberries + 2 cups sugar + 2 tablespoons lemon juice + 1/3 cup low-sugar pectin. In fact, that's not just the master formula for strawberry jam; that's the master formula for most jams.

Follow my formula and you'll have a jam that comes together quickly and ends up bright and fruity. Or, use it to your advantage, making substitutions that are guaranteed to work.

Here are some additional suggestions:

Replace some of the strawberries with other liquids or solids. For example, use 2 cups strawberries with 2 cups dry red wine, 2 cups strawberries with 2 cups Prosecco, 3 cups strawberries with 1 cup ginger beer, or 3 cups strawberries with 1 cup diced rhubarb.
Replace the granulated sugar with an equal quantity of another sweetener, such as brown sugar, maple syrup, hickory syrup, or honey.
Replace the lemon juice with an equal quantity of another acid, such as balsamic vinegar, lime juice, red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or sherry vinegar.
Add flavorings without changing other quantities, such as spices like freshly ground black pepper, freshly grated horseradish (it's surprisingly good!), or fresh herbs like minced tarragon.

July 2017

Recipe Details

Bright and Fruity Strawberry Jam, Your Way Recipe

Prep 20 mins

Cook 15 mins

Active 25 mins

Total 35 mins

Serves 48 to 64 servings

Makes 6 to 8 jars

Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

Ingredients

4 cups (22 ounces; 625g) roughly chopped hulled strawberries (see notes)
2 tablespoons (30ml) fresh juice from 1 lemon, plus more if needed
2 cups granulated sugar (14 ounces; 400g)
1/3 cup powdered low-sugar pectin (1 1/2 ounces; 45g), such as Ball or Sure-Jell, plus more if needed (see notes)

Directions

Combine strawberries and lemon juice in a large nonreactive saucepan and set over medium heat until simmering. Stir in sugar and bring mixture to a full boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to a simmer. Stir in pectin until dissolved, return heat to medium-high and bring to a full rolling boil. As soon as mixture reaches a full boil, cook for 1 minute, then remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes.
Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik
To Check the Jam Set: Spoon 1 tablespoon (15ml) jam onto a small dish and allow to cool completely, to room temperature. Run a finger through the jam. If the jam remains separated, it is properly set; if it runs back together, it is not. If not set, add an extra 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 1 tablespoon low-sugar pectin, then return to a boil and boil for 1 minute longer. Repeat jam set test until jam is properly set.
Carefully scrape any foam or scum from surface of jam. Transfer jam to clean jars, leaving 1/4 inch space at the top; seal jars. Jam can be refrigerated up to 3 weeks or frozen up to 3 months. If heat-processing jam, process for 8 minutes.

Special Equipment

3-quart stainless steel saucepan, 8-ounce canning jars

Notes

You can choose how finely to chop the strawberries: Leave them in bigger pieces for a chunkier jam, or chop them up smaller (or even mash them with a potato masher) for a smoother jam.

This recipe is formulated to work with low-sugar pectin; substituting other types of pectin will not work here unless you know how to alter the recipe accordingly. Be mindful that one brand of low-sugar pectin, Pomona's, works very differently from the others and will not work here.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
30	Calories
0g	Fat
8g	Carbs
0g	Protein

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 48 to 64
Amount per serving
Calories	30
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g	0%
Saturated Fat 0g	0%
Cholesterol 0mg	0%
Sodium 2mg	0%
Total Carbohydrate 8g	3%
Dietary Fiber 0g	1%
Total Sugars 7g
Protein 0g
Vitamin C 6mg	30%
Calcium 2mg	0%
Iron 0mg	0%
Potassium 16mg	0%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)