Cucina Nicolina

  • Gluten-Free Recipes
  • Cookbook
menu icon
go to homepage
  • About
  • GF Spring Favorites
  • Recipe Index
  • Cookbook
  • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • About
    • GF Spring Favorites
    • Recipe Index
    • Cookbook
    • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • ×
    • A gluten free funfetti cupcake cut in half on a plate.
      Gluten-Free Funfetti Cupcakes
    • A loaf of porridge bread with a slice of bread.
      Leftover Porridge Bread
    • A cute bunny bread decorated with raisins.
      Homemade Bunny Bread
    • Cups of milk and plates of chocolate chip and walnut cookies.
      Chocolate Chip and Walnut Oatmeal Cookies
    • A loaf of no knead whole wheat bread on a white counter.
      No Knead Whole Wheat Bread
    • A bowl of vegetarian white chili served with cornbread.
      Vegetarian White Chili
    • A gluten free unicorn cake topped with sprinkles.
      Gluten Free Unicorn Cake
    • Slices of cranberry walnut bread cut from a loaf.
      No-Knead Cranberry Walnut Bread
    • A unicorn bar turned on its side on a plate with more bars.
      Unicorn Bars
    • A pitcher of homemade lemonade with lemons and glasses of lemonade.
      Homemade Lemonade
    • A loaf of cinnamon raisin bread on a wooden cutting board cut into slices.
      No Knead Cinnamon Raisin Bread
    • A bowl of gluten free chili on a napkin with a spoon in it.
      Gluten Free Chili
    Home » Recipes » Jams & Preserves

    Not Too Sweet Strawberry Jam

    Published: Apr 20, 2012 by Nicole Spiridakis ·

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    A recipe for a beautifully hued not too sweet strawberry jam made without pectin. You can make this a refrigerator jam or follow canning processes to preserve it.

    The good news is that after my expression of teen angst last Friday San Francisco turned on a dime, helping us to forget a soggy week by giving us a glorious weekend of sun, (mostly) blue skies, and a good, strong wind that blew out the cobwebs rattling around my brain -- so, yeah. I'm over it. (For now.) (Thank you for your nice notes and emails.)

    The other good news is that I spent a good portion of the past week/end cooking -- mostly working up recipes for an upcoming article (all about souffles, if you must know) -- and thinking about cooking and also stuffing my fridge with farmers' market bounty and beauty. I misread one recipe and went nuts for strawberries thinking I needed more than I did; the bonus was that after eating them out of hand, in my granola, and atop vanilla ice cream I still had a lot. So I made jam. I small-batched it and came out with just three wee jars, but I preserved them properly so they will last for a good few months (if indeed we can make them last that long).

    Which brings me to my point of the day: what to do when you have too many berries? Can 'em, o'course.

    I know - breaking news.

    Still, I can't help but sing the praises of home preserving yet again: it's (fairly) easy; it's (pretty) cheap; it's (very) pretty in general; it's actually quite fun, no modifier necessary. I indulged myself in a few Weck jars and used them for my strawberry jam, mostly because the size of the Ball jars - a flat of which is currently perched atop a length of my kitchen cupboards; small apartment kitchens for the win! - are a bit too large for the kind of canning I wanted to do. (Oh and also I truly love the funky shapes and pretty lids of Weck jars, even if they're a tiny bit more fussy to use what with the rubber ring and the metal clamps. I used Weck jars for my blackberry jam wedding gift project last summer and have a real fondness now.) We have one jar leftover from the Great Blackberry Jam Project of '11, and it's of a medium size, which means we can't linger over it too long lest it go bad - which is fine, who needs an excuse to eat jam? But I think canning in smaller jars is more to my taste. Especially since I don't eat jam every day.

    Sunday afternoon after I slid a batch of chocolate 'soufflettes' (my new favorite made-up word) into the oven, I cut the tops off the extra strawberries I'd picked up at the farmers' market, sliced them in half, and put them in a pot with a sprinkling of sugar and lemon juice. Meanwhile I sterilized about 4 jars - I ended up needing 3 - so I'd be prepared, started my Sunday Dinner prep and tidied the kitchen, every so often turning to stir and check the jam as it simmered. The Giants game continued its progress in the other room, the sun shone, and it was a fine place to be, my kitchen on a weekend afternoon with my run done and tucked away, the laundry filed, the dishes done.

    I like to make the simplest kind of jam, and skip pectin when possible (this latest batch lacked pectin for the simple reason that I didn't have any one hand and didn't feel like going to the store). I use a light hand with the sugar and let the jam simmer as long as it needs 'til it becomes thicker and ready to can. I am not one to experiment with more exotic flavor combinations, but I'm letting myself consider it, and will check out the fruit options at tomorrow's market to see what I might concoct. Still, though: I like simple, fresh, clear flavors that taste of themselves and will probably keep my jams that way for a long time to come.

    I'm including my basic jam recipe here, with lots of notes, exactly as I cooked it last weekend. Maybe this weekend will be your weekend to make jam. Something to consider, at any rate. There are many, many home canning guides available either in real-time or on the Internet (I often refer to the USDA site), so I won’t detail here. Suffice to say it’s a quite easy and very satisfying endeavor! This is a loose recipe, as I wanted to detail more the process of jam-making without tying you down too tightly to specific instructions – I think the main thing to keep in mind is that when making jam it does taste better when made in smallish batches, so don’t fill up your biggest soup pot with berries + sugar lest you get overwhelmed and end up with undercooked, unsatisfying jam.

    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Not Too Sweet Strawberry Jam

    Nicole Spiridakis
    Beautifully hued not too sweet strawberry jam made without pectin. You can make this a refrigerator jam or follow canning processes to preserve it.
    No ratings yet
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 5 minutes mins
    Cook Time 30 minutes mins
    Total Time 35 minutes mins
    Course Jam
    Cuisine American
    Servings 20 servings
    Calories 25 kcal

    Ingredients
      

    • 2 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced in half
    • ½ cup sugar, depending on how many berries you have, how sweet they are, and how sweet you like your jam
    • ½ lemon, juiced (more if you have more strawberries)

    Instructions
     

    • In a large, heavy bottom saucepan, stir the sliced strawberries with the sugar. Turn the heat to medium, and cook, stirring, until the sugar melts and the strawberries get juicy. (At this point you could add a tiny bit of water if you’re concerned, as I was, that the berries would burn. However, I caution against this as your berries may end up too soupy. I would say … a drop or two of water would be OK.)
    • Bring the berry/juice/sugar mixture to a boil and stir in the lemon juice. Reduce heat and simmer for about 20 (or more) minutes; you want the jam to reduce and thicken before removing from heat. Try the spoon test – dip a spoon into the pot of jam to check the consistency of the jam; if it’s very thin and liquidy you want to keep it cooking for awhile longer – every so often.
    • When jam is thickened, spoon/pour into prepared sterilized glass jars and either can or keep in the fridge for 2-3 weeks (or however long it lasts – 2-3 days?). Jam will further thicken as it cools.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 25kcalCarbohydrates: 6gProtein: 0.1gFat: 0.1gSaturated Fat: 0.003gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.03gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.01gSodium: 0.2mgPotassium: 26mgFiber: 0.4gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 2IUVitamin C: 10mgCalcium: 3mgIron: 0.1mg
    Disclaimer: Nutrition information is automatically calculated and is an estimate (I'm not a nutritionist and can't guarantee accuracy!). Even when not specified, be sure to check that all the ingredients you use are gluten free if you need them to be by reading labels on all packaging and/or confirming with the manufacturer.
    Did you make this recipe?Let me know in the comments how it went!

    More Preserves

    • A cup of coffee and a plate with toast and persimmon jam.
      Persimmon Jam
    • A bowl of orange persimmon puree on a counter.
      Persimmon Puree
    • A jar of strawberry honey jam with a spoon.
      Strawberry Honey Jam
    • A lemon rests to the left of a dish of honey lemon curd with a spoon in it.
      Honey Lemon Curd

    Comments

    1. Anne Zimmerman says

      April 22, 2012 at 1:13 pm

      You had me till "I don't eat jam every day."
      I don't either, but I could. Easily!

      Reply
    2. Robin (Hippo Flambe) says

      April 20, 2012 at 12:20 pm

      If you leave the berries and strawberries to sit for even as little as 20 minutes before heating they will become release some of their juice and you should not need any water. I am jealous looking at your jam because we used up the last of last summers strawberry jam a month ago and they should not be in season for another 2 months. Although with the crazy weather we have been having, who knows...

      Reply
    3. Meaghin says

      April 20, 2012 at 12:43 pm

      This is great! I made (and canned) a large batch of strawberry jam last season that everyone I gave it to seemed to love--but it was way too sweet for me. I'll try this w/the berries I get at the market this weekend.

      Reply

    I'd love to hear from you! Please leave me a note. Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Welcome!

    Cucina Nicolina is your home for easy gluten free baking recipes made with simple, wholesome ingredients. I'm a writer, recipe developer and cookbook author who loves to share all things yummy and gluten free. Learn more about me.

    My Popular Recipes

    • An oat flour blueberry muffin is cut in half on a blue and white plate.
      Oat Flour Blueberry Muffins

    • Slices of oat flour cake on plates with the cake in the background.
      Oat Flour Cake

    • A piece of vanilla cake on a blue and white plate.
      Oat Flour Vanilla Cake

    • An oat flour scone on a plate.
      Oat Flour Scones


    Welcome Spring!

    • A slice of gluten free lemon curd cake on a plate near the cake.
      Gluten Free Lemon Curd Cake

    • A cup of tea, a slice of gluten free carrot cake with a fork, and the cake.
      Gluten Free Carrot Cake

    • A lemon and poppyseed cake cake on a white plate.
      Gluten Free Lemon and Poppyseed Cake

    • A slice of gluten free angel food cake with sliced strawberries and whipped cream.
      Gluten Free Angel Food Cake

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    Info

    Terms and Conditions

    Privacy Policy

    Accessibility

    Newsletter

    Sign up for my newsletter

    About

    About Me

    Writing Work

    Contact

    © Copyright 2025 Cucina Nicolina

    Rate This Recipe

    Your vote:




    A rating is required
    A name is required
    An email is required