It’s Strawberry Season, and that means making the best Strawberry Freezer Jam to preserve the harvest! This yummy recipe only uses 4 simple ingredients and takes about 10 minutes and lasts for year(s) in the freezer!
Whether or not you grow strawberries, this fast and easy recipe is a sure hit that your whole family will love… It’s so fresh tasting and easy, you’ll want to share it with your friends! It makes a great gift 😉
Low Sugar Strawberry Jam Recipe Without Pectin
I make this recipe by the blender… So whether I have gallons or just cups of strawberries the recipe is easy to adjust for the amount of strawberries you have!
The thing I LOVE most about this strawberry freezer jam is it’s almost all fruit! There is no water added, and barely any sugar at all! Classic strawberry jam recipes call for 4-8 CUPS of sugar… That’s WAY too much for me to feel good about. The good news is, when you make your own homemade jam this way, you can use very low or no sugar at all!
Best Strawberry Freezer Jam Recipe For Beginners
This low sugar jam recipe recipe is so easy to make, that it’s perfect for beginners trying to make their own jam for the first time! It only takes about 4 steps: take your washed and trimmed strawberries and put them in the blender or food processor and puree till desired smoothness. Then you add your lemon juice to preserve color, a tiny bit of sugar, and thickener!
After blending all ingredients together, you’ll put in in freezer safe containers, or in the fridge, till you’re ready to use! That’s it… Super simple easy jam!
To Pectin or Not To Pectin? That is The Question!
Most fruit jams are commercial pectin jam recipes. The one thing I don’t like about using pectin, even the newer freezer jam pectin, is that you need to use at least 4 cups of sugar. That is too much sugar for me! I like my freezer jam to be mostly fruit with a little sugar, not the other way around.
The thing I love most about freezer jam is that it is more fruit and less sugar, and fresher, than traditional jams. Not to mention that you don’t cook the fruit with freezer jam…. This recipe really capitalizes on all those virtues!
Ultra Gel (and EZ Gel) is different… You don’t need lots of sugar or to cook it, because it thickens any liquid whether it’s hot or cold. This awesome thickener is a modified food starch that’s made from potato or corn starch. They treat potato or corn starch with enzymes so that it does not have to be cooked, or have added sugar, to thicken!
Tools You’ll Need
This strawberry freezer jam recipe is so simple, and cuts out many steps that require things like a potato masher, candy thermometer, water bath canner, or large pot! These are the only tools I use to make this super easy, delicious jam:
Blender or food processor! – I use a blender for this most often, but I use a food processor for so many things and it works great for this too!
A rubber spoon – scraper – spatula: These are super handy to get all the goodness out of the blender or food processor and into freezer containers!
Freezer Containers – I love using these freezer safe mason jars, because I don’t like plastic. If you do use plastic, be sure to get the BPA free freezer safe plastic containers. You don’t need to add chemicals from plastic to your jam!
Dissolvable Labels! So everyone knows what is in your containers for the next year (or two).
Freezer Space!
Easy Strawberry Jam Recipe Ingredients:
- Strawberries (fresh or frozen)
- Lemon Juice
- White Sugar
- EZ Gel or Ultra Gel Thickener (my secret ingredient!)
Lemon Juice
You may think lemon juice is an odd ingredient for strawberry jam…. However, the lemon juice acts as an all natural preservative. The citric acid in lemon juice keeps the color of the strawberries nice and bright! Without lemon juice, instead of bright pink or red strawberry jam, you can end up with a darker color that does not look fresh or appetizing.
On top of preserving the color, lemon juice adds a nice tart flavor that really compliments the strawberry! It also preserves the nutrients of the strawberries, making it more healthy!
Fresh Strawberries
For this recipe, I always use fresh fruit, because we get a nice harvest of them out of the garden almost every year. Fresh strawberries are easy to work with and have the highest amount of nutrition. However, that does not mean that you can’t use frozen strawberries!
Can I Use Frozen Strawberries in Freezer Jam?
Yes! You can use frozen strawberries in freezer jam… You will need to thaw frozen strawberries on the counter and keep any juices they lose. Blend thawed strawberries and juices in step one of the instructions, and follow the instructions!
Using frozen strawberries may decrease some of the natural vitamin health benefits of fresh strawberries, depending on how long they’ve been frozen… But it will still taste great!
How To Make The Best Strawberry Freezer Jam
This is a small batch strawberry jam recipe, and you can repeat small batches using your blender to process as much strawberry jam as you like!
- Staralalize your freezer jars, or containers, using hot soapy water, and hot water rinse. Then set on a clean towel to dry.
- Wash and trim ripe strawberries.
- Place strawberries in your blender, or food processor, about 4 cups.
2. Add 1/3 cup Lemon Juice
3. Puree to desired texture.
4. Add 1/3 cup Sugar & 1/3 cup EZ Gel or Ultra Gel Thickener
5. Blend till well incorporated. If you see sugar or ultra gel stuck to sides, stop and use your rubber spoon to scrape and re blend.
6. Pour into clean jars, or freezer safe containers! Do not fill to the top of the jar, to leave room for expansion when it freezes!
ENJOY!
Cooking Time
This recipe is made at room temperature, does not require cooking, and eliminates the cooking process entirely! You will not need to use low heat, medium heat or a rolling boil, so you won’t kill all the living nutrition in the strawberries like traditional jams!
It is the fastest strawberry jam recipe you will ever make! However, you will wash, blend and mix the strawberries with the other ingredients. Although it may only take you 10 minutes to prepare, schedule yourself 30 minutes for packaging and cleanup.
TIPS FOR MAKING STRAWBERRY FREEZER JAM:
- You can adjust the texture to your liking from chunky to smooth by blending it more or less
- Want Sugar Free Strawberry Freezer Jam.? No Problem! You can adjust the amount of sugar, and you don’t have to use sugar at all. Likewise, you can substitute maple syrup for honey, or my favorite, erythritol, and other natural sweeteners.
- DO NOT Skip the lemon juice! Lemon Juice keeps the bright red strawberry color beautiful, plus it preserves nutrients!
- Make your freezer jam thicker by adding a tablespoon more of the Ultra Gel (or EZ Gel)at a time. (Till your jam is as thick as you want it.)
- Store strawberry freezer jam in airtight freezer containers until you are ready to use.
- It’s best to thaw frozen freezer jam on the counter, but you can also use the microwave if you’re in a hurry.
- Thawed strawberry freezer jam is best used within 2 weeks of opening.
- Store freezer jam in refrigerator after opening…. If there’s any left in the jar!
How To Serve Strawberry FreezerJam
This freezer jam is so versatile, you can use it in SO many ways! Of course, we LOVE it in the traditional ways like on:
- pancakes
- on English muffins
- waffles
- toast
- Homemade Bread
- In FRESH strawberry PIE!
- Topping on Cream PIE & Cheese Cake!
- Peanut butter & Jelly Sandwiches
However, it is also super good on:
- yogurt
- cottage cheese
- oatmeal
- cream of wheat
- In Homemade Ice Cream!
I also like to make strawberry bars with this freezer jam! If you haven’t tried this recipe… You’re missing out!
HEALTHY BENEFITS:
- This is a LOW Calorie Treat
- It’s High in Fiber
- This raw strawberry freezer jam retains all the Minerals & Antioxidants of fresh strawberries!
- Strawberries help guard against diseases like diabetes, arthritis & cancer.
- BEST of all… Strawberry freezer jam is the tastiest and Delicious strawberry jam.
Strawberry Freezer Jam Goes Best With These Recipes
Everybody LOVES Strawberry Freezer Jam on Homemade Bread, and this EASY recipe will help you make it.
It’s also super good on SOURDOUGH Pancakes! If you haven’t made sourdough pancakes, you are missing out!
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Sounds delicious! My mum and mil used to make freezer jam every year and hubby and I both love it but I haven’t made it myself for years! This is a must for this summer!!
Trying this over the weekend, I am Keto, so I am going try using erythritol! Beautiful pics, looks so yummy!
Yum!! This is perfect for summer and so easy!
My strawberries are just ripening now! I can’t wait to try this recipe!! Have you ever tried to can it instead of freezing? I suppose that would require cooking it! I’m going to have to clear out some space in my freezer!
Hi Emily!
I’ve never tried cooking it because I like the fresh flavor of uncooked strawberry jam… However you probably can. It would be the lowest sugar canned strawberry jam that I know of!
Hi,
I don’t see how many strawberries to use in your recipe???
Thx a lot
Ho Patti… Thanks for asking! 4 cups 😉
Wow this is so easy! Love that there’s no pectin and the sugar content is so low.
Your instructions say 8 cups of strawberries puréed. Is that correct? But your response to a question says 4 cups, but doesn’t state whether puréed or cut up. Can you please clarify? Thank you.
Hi Maxine! It’s 4 cups! Sorry about that… I usually fill up my blender and adjust it to the right thickness. 4 cups of washed and chopped strawberries!
I love that this recipe is low sugar and doesn’t use pectin however I cannot find the ultra gel thickener anywhere, not even the gluten free market. Do you know of any substitutes for this??!
You can order it on Amazon, and if they are out the E-Z Gel by Gornaby’s is the same thing! It’s made from non-GMO gluten-free corn and instantly thickens sauces, jelly, desserts, and more!