This easy Homemade Raspberry Jam recipe requires just four ingredients and is perfect for when you only want to make a small batch. It doesn't require canning and can simply be placed in the fridge. It is an excellent jam to have on toast, drizzled over ice cream or yogurt, as a cake filling or any other ways that you enjoy using jam.
While you often need a large amount of fruit to make jam for water bath canning, this raspberry jam only requires 1 pound of fresh or frozen raspberries for a smaller batch of jam.
It doesn't require any pectin, only relying on the sugar to help the jam thicken as it cools. A little lemon juice helps brighten up the flavour of the jam and balance out the sweetness.
Ingredients
In addition to frozen or fresh berries, you will need a few other ingredients to make this wonderful pectin-free raspberry jam recipe. Here is what you will need:
- raspberries - fresh or frozen
- sugar - white, cane, or brown (I used muscovado) **
- lemon juice - or lime juice
- sea salt
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Add the raspberries, sugar, lemon juice, and salt to a medium-sized saucepan.
Stir everything together with a spatula or wooden spoon, and heat over medium heat.
Once the mixture is bubbling, reduce the heat to low. Continue simmering, stirring occasionally, until the raspberries break apart and the mixture thickens, about 20 to 30 minutes.
Fill clean jars with the hot raspberry jam. Seal the jars with lids and allow them to cool to room temperature. Place in the refrigerator. The jam will thicken as it cools.
Hint: For a smoother jam, use a potato masher to mash the raspberries to a smoother consistency.
Substitutions
While this raspberry jam recipe includes a simple list of ingredients, you can definitely change some of them out if you don't have certain ones on hand.
- Add Lime Juice - Instead of fresh lemon juice, you can add lime juice for that bright flavor and zing. That's what I usually use because I am more likely to have limes on hand.
- Use Different Sugar - Rather than using white sugar, you can use brown sugar for a delicious molasses undertone or cane sugar.
- Honey - See the notes below the recipe box for instructions how to replace the sugar with honey.
Variations
This simplicity of this raspberry jam recipe means that it is easy to vary at home. Here are some ways you can change it up.
- Make Raspberry Basil Jam - If you enjoy a savoury note in your jam recipes, feel free to add some chopped basil to the raspberry jam at the end of the cooking time. This version would be wonderful to spread on crostini with cream cheese or to have as part of a charcuterie board.
- Make a Raspberry Orange Jam - If you are looking for a festive flavoured jam for the holiday season, you can add a small amount of cinnamon along with some orange zest to the jam while it simmers. A little orange juice will add some acidity and act as a perfect alternative to the lemon juice as well.
- Make a Raspberry Vanilla Jam - If you love the taste of vanilla, you can add some vanilla extract to the jam. I recommend adding it at the end of the cooking process to ensure that the vanilla doesn't steam off of the jam.
Storage
This raspberry jam recipe is lower in sugar so it is best stored in jars in the fridge. If filled into properly sterilized jars with sealing lids (not the plastic storage lids pictured above) unopened jars can last in the fridge for many months. Once opened try to use up the jar within 2-4 weeks.
You can also store the jam jars in the freezer for up to 1 year. If you have experience canning, you can process the jars and turn this into a canning recipe for long-term shelf stable storage.
Top tip
Due to the sugar in the jam, it can be easy to scorch the jam if you aren't careful. For this reason, make sure you stir the jam once in awhile while it is simmering.
FAQ
This homemade raspberry jam keeps in the fridge unopened for several months, once opened for 2-4 weeks. However, canned versions can keep for years.
This jam recipe doesn't include any pectin. All you have to do is combine the raspberries with sugar, lemon juice, and salt, and simmer it until the raspberries break apart. The sugar will help the jam thicken as it cools.
If you would like your raspberry jam to become thicker, simply simmer it for a little longer so that more of the water steams off.
You can use either fresh or frozen raspberries in this raspberry jam recipe. The use of frozen raspberries means you can even make this jam when raspberries are out of season.
Yes, you definitely can! If you have blackberries, loganberries, blueberries, or strawberries on hand, feel free to use those or a combination of them to make this jam recipe at home. The blackberries or loganberries will likely act the most similarly to the fresh raspberries.
While raspberry jam is delicious spread on toast, you can also have it on freshly baked scones or biscuits, or serve it over ice cream or yogurt. This jam is also wonderful for baking such as Victoria sponge cake, thumbprint cookies, or linzer cookies. It is also excellent dolloped on top of hot homemade waffles or fluffy pancakes for a weekend brunch. If you would like it looser, you can warm some of the jam up before drizzling on your pancakes or waffles.
Yes, it is! If you love a cheesecake with strawberries or cherries, you will likely love a slice of it drizzled with some of this homemade raspberry jam. Feel free to warm it up a little so that it is thinner and easier to drizzle on top.
Since glass jars have lids, they are the perfect choice for storing your jam in the fridge. However, since the jam is only being stored in the fridge rather than being processed in a canner, you could store it in another lidded glass container if you don't have any jars available to you.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Pairing
These are my favorite dishes to serve with this easy raspberry jam recipe:
Recipe
Homemade Raspberry Jam Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound raspberries fresh or frozen* (2 pints or 4 cups)
- 1-¼ cups sugar white, cane, or brown (I used muscovado) **
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice or lime juice
- 1 pinch sea salt
Instructions
- To a medium sized saucepan add the raspberries, sugar, lemon juice, and salt.
- Stir everything together with a spatula or wooden spoon and heat on medium.
- Once the mixture is bubbling, turn down to low heat. Continue simmering the jam for about 20-30 minutes until the raspberries fall apart and the mixture thickens. Stir occasionally to keep the jam from burning at the bottom.
- The raspberries will disintegrate from the heat and stirring action. But if desired, you can mash them further with a potato masher.
- Fill the hot raspberry jam into clean jars (washed out with hot water or sterilized in a hot water bath). Close the lids and let cool to room temperature. Then transfer to the fridge. The jam will set and thicken as it cools.
- Enjoy your homemade raspberry jam on toast, yogurt, ice cream, as cake filling and more. Once opened, the jam jars are best stored in the fridge and used up within 2-4 weeks. Unopened they can last for many months.
Notes
Nutrition
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