Small batch Homemade Strawberry Jam with printable

During the summer months, fruit is at its peak and I love eating it by the pound. It’s sweet, refreshing and you just know you’re putting something good into your body – especially if it comes straight from your own garden. And while I love just eating fruit as it is, I also love making it into jam so I can appreciate the fresh flavors for as long as possible. This Homemade Strawberry Jam is as summertime essential in our home, and if you make it I know it will be a summer favorite in your home too.

Simple ingredients are always best

At some point in my life, I was intimidated by making jam. Something about it made me feel like I had to be an expert chef, or a canning expert. Well, I am neither. I’m just simply a woman who loves good food and I’m happiest when I’m feeding my family something as delicious as this Homemade Strawberry Jam.

To me “delicious” always means amazing ingredients that as simple as possible. So this Homemade Strawberry Jam recipe requires strawberries, honey, sugar and a little lemon. That’s it. In fact, that’s all most jams include so don’t let them intimidate you too!

There’s no pectin here

I will tell you something I don’t tend to use in my jam recipes is pectin. Pectin is a naturally occurring, carbohydrate starch that’s found in the cell walls of most fruits and vegetables. It can be extracted from the fruit and sold as either a powder, liquid or a frozen form and it’s often used to give jam and jellies their gelatin-like quality. It’s even considered vegan.

It’s perfectly fine to use it if you like making your jams and jellies with it. I just don’t use it in this Homemade Strawberry Jam recipe. I don’t feel like I need it. The jam is delicious all on its own and I love that my jams are more spreadable without it.

Small Batch is speedy

Making this Homemade Strawberry Jam is not only simple, but it’s fast! You can make it in about 20-30 minutes. It’s full of flavor and it gives me so much joy to make it straight from scratch for my family.

I love making small batch jams because they fast. I also don’t have to worry about ended up with 30 cans of jam that we might not use before they go bad. And, I don’t have to worry about canning them either.

This Homemade Strawberry Jam recipe makes about 2.5, 8 oz. jars of jam. Depending on what we are making with it (This year Kevin used it in my birthday cake.), this will last us a few weeks. Making the jam in small batches also helps to prevent overcooking the fruit.

Tips for making Homemade Strawberry Jam

• Cut the strawberries as small as you can. This will just help to break them down a little easier. I try to cut them into 6 small pieces each.
• Use a potato masher to further crush the strawberries. Just make sure the potato masher has a heat-proof handle. I like this one {HERE}.
• Stir the jam frequently, this will help to keep the jam from burning. I simmer it for most of the cooking time but it would be a small tragedy to spend some time doing this and then burn it.
• You will know the jam is ready when it starts to stick to the bottom of the pan. It will continue to firm up as it cools so make sure you don’t let it go on too long and overcook it.
• Let the jam cool completely before you put it in the jars.
• I use fresh strawberries for this but you can use frozen too!
• This jam will last at least a month in an airtight container in the refrigerator. After that use your best judgement. The lemon acts as a natural preservative but if you’re not canning it, then it clearly won’t last as long.

What to eat with Homemade Strawberry Jam

I love eating this on homemade bread! As you can tell from all the photos. 🙂 You can find the recipe for the Dutch Oven No Knead Bread {HERE}. However, as I mentioned, Kevin also used this as a cake filling. It would also be delicious as a filling for these Homemade Danishes {HERE}.

I also think this would work well as an ice cream topping too! Or maybe a cheesecake topping? There’s really so many delicious uses, you can’t go wrong in making it.

Homemade Strawberry Jam Printable

I made a printable for the Homemade Strawberry Jam that’s free! Simply click {Strawberry Jam Printable} to download it.

I’ve used an Avery template to make it but full disclosure, I’ve had trouble aligning it when printing. For me that didn’t matter because I just cut it out and used it with some twine around the lid. However, if you also have trouble aligning it, I would suggest getting a full sheet of the Avery paper {HERE} and then using a paper cutter to make the squares. It should fit any jam jar you like to use! If you want to try the square ones, use this paper {HERE}. Note, the number will not match the PDF.

Thank you so much for visiting today, friends! You can find the full recipe for the Homemade Strawberry Jam below! Also, if you love making jams, check out my Blackberry Lavender Jam {HERE}.

Homemade Strawberry Jam

This Small Batch Homemade Strawberry Jam is a delicious way to add a little flavor to your bread or baked goods! It's simple and there's no pectin involved.

5 from 10 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: bread, preserves

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Homemade jam, Homemade strawberry jam, small batch strawberry jam, strawberry jam

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Cooling time: 1 hour

Servings: 2.5 8 oz jars

Author: Rachel

Equipment

• Silicone whisk
• Canning jars

Ingredients

• 6 cups fresh strawberries, cut small You can use frozen too.
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup real honey
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice

Instructions

• Set heat to simmer and combine strawberries, sugar and honey.
• Mix until the sugar dissolves and begins to combine with the honey.
• Once the sugar is dissolved, add the lemon juice and whisk in.
• Smash the strawberries as needed. I like using a potato smasher for this.
• Turn up the heat to medium and let the mixture boil. Continue to crush the strawberries as needed. Make sure you don't turn the heat higher than medium to prevent burning.
• Once it boils for a few minutes, turn down the heat and let the mixture simmer for 10-15 minutes. Continue to stir occasionally so it doesn't burn on the bottom.
• Let the jam cool completely and then add it to an airtight container to chill in the refrigerator.
• Once chilled, enjoy!