Most of the jams you find in supermarkets and even homemade/artisanal jams are LOADED with added sugar (even if it comes from a natural source like honey or maple syrup). I underst and the sugar acts as a preservative but I always find them so ridiculously sweet when I taste them. So for years now I’ve made my own sugar-free strawberry jam (and other jams too) and I wanted to share with you how easy it is!
I was really craving some jam lately (I love the peanut butter and jam combo), and strawberries were SO cheap at the markets (I got 2kg for $5)! So I decided it was a sign for me to get into the kitchen and whip up a batch of sugar-free strawberry jam! You could substitute any seasonal fruit for the strawberries in this recipe too.
Note, in terms of texture, this is not your typical ‘preserve’ type of jam, but more of a ‘strawberry chutney’ texture, if you will.
Recipe Type: GF, DF, RSF, V, Paleo
Makes ~ 1 C
Time 20 min
Ingredients:
- 1 x 500g punnet strawberries (washed, stems removed) – or use whatever fruit is in season!
- juice of 1/2 an orange
- pinch sea salt
Optional – sweetener of choice like stevia, maple syrup, honey, sugar etc. (note that the jam will not be sugar-free if you use the sugar-containing sweeteners).
Optional – adding a tablespoon of chia seeds will help bring it together (more like a jam, less like a coulis/sauce).
Method:
I love to have some strawberry jam on top of these sugar-free brownies from the Live Love Nourish ebook
- Roughly chop the strawberries, if they’re pretty small ones then you may only need to chop in half or not at all as they’ll reduce and de-form while cooked anyway.
- Place strawberries in a small pot over medium heat with the orange juice and salt and bring to a simmer while stirring.
- Turn the heat down and allow to simmer on low heat for 10-15mins without the lid, stirring every few minutes.
- Taste the jam and if you feel you need some sweetener then add some as needed (start with a small amount, re-taste and only add more if you really need to).
- Pour into a glass jar and allow to cool on the bench.
- Because this jam doesn’t use any added sugar for preservative, it needs to be kept in the fridge and keeps for 3-4 weeks.