Summer preservation just got a little easier. This pectin-free easy strawberry freezer jam is the perfect way to use fresh strawberries. Just FOUR real food ingredients!
You know summer has arrived in Michigan when strawberries are in season. It’s an exciting time of year! But at the same time it means preservation season has also begun.
For me this lasts from June to November. Literally half of the year I am preserving food for the other half of the year! It’s a lot of work, but so worth all of the effort.
How to Preserve Strawberries
I’m always so thankful that we kick off preservation with fruit like strawberries. I can ease into it instead of jumping right into the labor intensive canning. Fresh strawberries are so easy to work with. Simply wash, hull and freeze. We usually freeze at least four gallons of strawberries to use all winter in yogurt, smoothies, and muffins.
While the strawberries are still fresh I like to make a lot of strawberry jam. It has recently become my preschooler’s favorite food. Our homemade gluten free bread toasted with butter and strawberry jam. No other flavor. Only strawberry.
How to Make Pectin-Free Strawberry Freezer Jam
There are so many ways to use strawberries when they are fresh. There are even plenty of ways to use them once they are frozen. But one of the best ways to use them, fresh or frozen, is by making strawberry jam!
I’ll confess. I’ve never been that great at making jam.
I followed recipes exactly. I bought various types of pectin. It just never seemed to turn out well. I think my husband was starting to wonder if I would ever make jam that wasn’t like liquid or totally solid.
So I created my own recipe for pectin-free easy strawberry freezer jam. And it is amazing!
I love this recipe because you don’t need pectin (the debate is still out on whether or not pectin is really that great for you). Instead it uses grass-fed gelatin (Use the code TAKE10 to get 10% off gelatin HERE).
How to Stock Your Freezer with Jam
This pectin-free strawberry freezer jam recipe makes about five half-pints of jam. Since it only takes about fifteen minutes to make you can easily cook several batches in one day while you have fresh strawberries.
Pectin-free easy strawberry freezer jam is great on toast. But you can also spread it on pancakes, mix it into yogurt, or even use it as an ice cream topping! My kids like to eat it by the spoonful. It’s that good.
Since creating this strawberry jam recipe I have upped my game in jam and jelly making! We now enjoy homemade pectin-free concord grape jelly, 5 minute peach jam, and red plum raspberry jelly! They are all pectin free!
Whether you still have fresh strawberries available or you already have your stash in the freezer, try making pectin-free easy strawberry freezer jam.
You’ll have a little taste of summer ready in your freezer all year long.
Pectin-Free Easy Strawberry Freezer Jam
Simple strawberry freezer jam with only four ingredients and no pectin.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup organic lemon juice
- 3 1/2 tsp. grass-fed gelatin
- 3/4 cups organic cane sugar or coconut sugar or honey
- 5 cups strawberries, washed, hulled and roughly chopped fresh or frozen
Instructions
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In a medium sauce pan combine the lemon juice and gelatin. Let sit 2 minutes
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Add the sweetener and strawberries.
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Cook over medium heat, stirring and mashing berries with a potato masher, for about 10 minutes.
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Pour the jam into half-pint jars.
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Chill jam in the refrigerator until set.
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Use the jam fresh or freeze until ready to use.
Recipe Notes
- This makes about five half-pints.
- If using frozen berries, thaw them at least partially before making the jam
Looks yummy! Strawberry season just ended here, but I made 3 dozen half pints! I used Pomona’s Pectin which worked amazingly well and you can use low sugar levels and any sweetener you want. I did some with white sugar and some with honey.
Sounds good, Helen!
I just read it was soaked with pesticides—-yuck.(the Pomanos)
How long would this be ok in the fridge before it needed to be frozen?
I would keep mine in the fridge for at least a month. If it’s been in there a while just be sure to check it for mold before you eat it.
Where would I find grass fed gelatin? Target or Whole Foods?
I’m not sure about Whole Foods since we don’t have one here. But I have a link in the post for the kind I use. I just buy it on Amazon. That is usually the cheapest place to get it. Our local health food store carries it too. Maybe you can try a local health food store? The Great Lakes brand is a good one.
Bristol and I just made a triple batch using some of the strawberries the kids and I picked today! It’s delicious fresh! And so super easy!! I puréed mine with a hand blender, though 😉
Awesome, Sara!!!! We’re strawberry picking today. So I’ll be doing this very soon 🙂 We like it a bit chunky. But I bet that would be good pureed too.
I’m so excited to find this recipe that uses natural sweetener and gelatin – so hard to come by! I tried it yesterday using organic cane sugar, Great Lakes gelatin, lemon juice and strawberries. Only problem was mine didn’t set well, and after reading the back of my orange Great Lakes gelatin container which says 1 Tbsp. of gelatin is needed to gel 1 pint of liquid, I’m wondering if you meant 3 and 1/2 Tbsp. of gelatin instead of 3 1/2 tsp? I can’t think what else I would’ve done wrong, although I did a minor puree of the strawberries before putting them in the pot and I made a double batch all in one pot so maybe one of those things affected the final product? (For a double batch, I used 7 tsp. of gelatin) I’ve been adding gelatin little by little to my jars in hopes that it will firm up, and it is getting better, but do you have any other ideas of what might’ve gone wrong?
No, 3 1/2 tsp. is correct.
How long did you wait for the jam to set? It takes quite a while for it to be fully set. It might seem runny for quite some time until it is fully chilled. Maybe you didn’t wait long enough? You don’t want the final product to be like jello. If you add enough gelatin for it to gel quickly it will be solid. That’s what the container is referring to.
Did you puree the strawberries before or after measuring? It is 5 cups of whole strawberries. 5 cups of pureed strawberries would be a lot more strawberries.
Maybe try a single batch and see how it goes. Let me know if one of those ideas is the solution.
Love that your recipe uses gelatin! This looks super easy and super delicious!
Thanks, Michelle! It’s one of our favorites.
Do you use fresh lemon juice or the kind you buy at the store?
I use bottled organic lemon juice, Maria.
Can you use fresh raspberries and would the ingredients be the same?
Yes, you can definitely use raspberries! Since they have a slightly different water content than strawberries, you might have to play around with the amount of gelatin.
Would this work with blueberries as well?
It works, but you likely have to adjust the amount of gelatin as blueberries and strawberries let out a different amount of liquid.
Hi! I just made this recipe last night…times 4! It seems to have set but is still a little thinner than what I’d like. Will it continue to set? I saw a gal on tik tok who cans, and she said it takes about 2 weeks for jam to fully set… but I don’t know if it was freezer jam, and I don’t know if she used beef gelatin (doubtful). Also, I placed lids and rings and everything seemed to seal. Should I have left all this off to cool in the fridge? And will I have to remove all of it before placing in fridge? I left about a half in or so for expansion. I’m using mostly 4 and 8 oz jars. Thanks!!
Way to go, Saren! That’s a lot of jam 🙂 Sometimes with jam doing a larger batch doesn’t yield the same results. And even depending on how juicy the strawberries are it may end up a bit thinner. It should be fully set after 24 hours. No need to remove the lids. It should be ready to go.
The only real way to adjust thickness after you’ve already filled the jars is to pour it all back in the pan, add a little more gelatin, heat it until the gelatin dissovles, and put it back in the jars.
I mean removing before placing in the freezer*
Thanks for the reply! Make sense. I know with some baking recipes you can’t double or halve. They could have been pretty juicy ones. I probably wont go through the effort of adding more gelatin. I just know for next year. I did cook my strawberries for a bit before starting this process as I feel it renders more of a strawberry flavor and richer color. Looking forward to seeing more recipes!
I am going to try this – can’t wait. I have gelatine in the cupboard and wanted to know if I could use it up by making jam. I currently use chia seeds to thicken my jam, and it thickens and sets really fast – like 5 or 10 minutes. 20 – 30 is best though. I like doing this because the chia seeds make the bread a complete protein. However seeds are also high in fat, so I want to try a chia seed free recipe. I will let you know how I get on with this once I’ve given it a go. But do give chia seeds a go for making jam if you’re ever in a hurry, because I can whip up some homemade jam in literally minutes. It’s great. I microwave the quantity of frozen berries I want, then just stir in a couple of teaspoons of chia seeds and hey presto – jam! xx
I hope it turned out well! Thanks for the suggestion.
Can this recipe be canned for longer storage?
I’m really not sure. I’ve never tried it. I always freeze this variety.
Thanks! I made a batch and it set up nicely. It’s a different texture than pectin but I really like that it adds clean protein rather than gmo/pesticide laden chemicals. It was a hit this morning at breakfast! Since we have evebearing strawberries I will continue to make in small batches so not to take up too much freezer space!
Wonderful! I’m glad you are enjoying it.
Hi there, do I have to heat up the berries? I would love it if I didn’t have to expose them to the heat. Thanks!
The gelatin does need heat to dissolve. You could try heating just the gelatin and lemon juice and then mixing it into the mashed berries. I’ve never tried it.