Homemade jam and jelly recipes are the one corner of my kitchen where I do not improvise. I invent things constantly, that is simply how I cook, but my own rule has always been that you follow the recipe first and earn the right to wander off later, and jam is where that rule pays for itself. The sugar, the acid and the pectin are doing actual chemistry in that pot, and a set that fails is not a jam, it is a very expensive syrup. So everything here is a recipe worth following. There is strawberry, peach, blackberry and fig, small batch versions for when you only came home with a handful of fruit, freezer jam that never sees a canner, and a whole run of savory ones: pepper jelly, roasted garlic, mint. Perfect for a fruit glut, a jar you are giving away, or a Saturday when you want the house to smell like this.
1. Homemade Strawberry Jam
Four pounds of strawberries, fresh or frozen, three and a half cups of sugar and the juice of two lemons with the zest of one, cooked until it hits 215 to 220 degrees. That is it, no pectin. Crush the berries after the cooking rather than before, so you control how chunky it ends up. Frozen berries mean you can make this in February, which is the real gift here.
Get the full tutorial at Olga's Flavor Factory.
2. Blackberry Lavender Jelly
Ripe local blackberries and lavender out of the garden, which sounds like it could go badly and does not. The tart berries keep the lavender from going soapy, which is the usual failure with floral anything. This is a jar to give away rather than one to put on toast every morning, and it is the prettiest thing on this list by a wide margin.
Get the full tutorial at Jillian In Italy.
3. Healthy Low Sugar Fruit Jam
Ours, and it is the one to make if the sugar in every other recipe here is the reason you have never bothered. Two cups of blackberries mashed with a tablespoon or two of maple syrup or honey, then a third of a cup of cooked mashed apple stirred in as the thickener instead of pectin. Five minutes of prep, no canning, no equipment. Any soft fruit works.
Get the full tutorial at DIY Joy.
4. Small Batch Fig Honey Jam
Two pounds of quartered figs, half a cup of coconut sugar, half a cup of honey, the juice of a lemon and a teaspoon of vanilla stirred in at the end. Forty-five minutes of simmering and stirring, no pectin, no refined sugar, no canner. It lives in the refrigerator. Stir often once it starts to thicken, because fig jam will scorch on the bottom while you are looking elsewhere.
Get the full tutorial at Flavor The Moments.
5. Blackberry Jalapeño Pepper Jelly
Two cups of blackberries blended with lemon juice into a thick pulp and pressed through a strainer, then apple cider vinegar, six and a half cups of sugar and six or seven seeded jalapenos brought to a rolling boil with liquid pectin. Ten minutes in a water bath, eight jars out the other side. Wear gloves for the peppers. Over cream cheese with crackers is where this belongs.
Get the full tutorial at Southern Made Simple.
6. Homemade Apple Pie Jam
Apple pie in a jar, which means cinnamon and warm spice cooked down with the fruit until it is thick enough to spoon onto toast, a biscuit or the top of vanilla ice cream. This is the fall answer to a bag of apples nobody is going to eat fast enough. It tastes like the filling and takes none of the crust work.
Get the full tutorial at Thrifty DIY Diva.
7. Watermelon Jelly
About six cups of chopped watermelon run through a food mill or a fine sieve gives you the two cups of juice this needs. That, lemon juice, sugar and pectin go to a full rolling boil for exactly one minute, then into four ounce jars and seven minutes in the water bath. Six or seven little jars. It tastes like the last week of August in a way nothing else does.
Get the full tutorial at Love And Olive Oil.
8. Salted Cantaloupe Jam
Six cups of very ripe cantaloupe, lemon juice, four cups of sugar split in two, five tablespoons of powdered pectin, vanilla and a teaspoon and a half of salt. The salt is the whole idea and it is what makes this taste like something rather than sweet mush. Eight half pints. The recipe’s own note says it has not been pH tested, so read that before you plan on shelf storage.
Get the full tutorial at Wholefully.
9. Homemade Grape Jelly
Four cups of grape juice, a quarter cup of lemon or lime juice, and anywhere from three quarters to two cups of sugar or honey, set with Pomona’s pectin and its calcium water. That pectin is why the sugar can swing that wide, which most jelly recipes will not let you do. Reconstituted frozen concentrate works, so this is a February project as much as a harvest one.
Get the full tutorial at Attainable Sustainable.
10. Blackberry Lemon Jam
Two pounds of blackberries and only half a cup of sugar, with a tablespoon of water and the juice of a lemon, cooked about thirty minutes while you press the berries against the side of the pot to burst them. No pectin. Two drops of lemon essential oil go in off the heat. It keeps two months in the refrigerator and tastes far more like fruit than like candy.
Get the full tutorial at Table For Two.
11. Easy Blueberry Jam
Four ingredients and fifteen minutes: two cups of blueberries, two tablespoons of raw honey, two tablespoons of lemon juice and two tablespoons of chia seeds, simmered until thick. The chia does the setting instead of pectin, which means no sugar is doing structural work. Makes about a cup and a half and keeps a week. If you have never made jam before, start with this one.
Get the full tutorial at Lexi's Clean Kitchen.
12. Cranberry Sriracha Pepper Jelly
Twelve ounces of cranberries simmered with bell pepper, two jalapenos, orange juice and rice vinegar, then strained to exactly two cups of liquid. Four and a quarter cups of sugar, liquid pectin and four teaspoons of Sriracha finish it. Exactly two cups is not a suggestion, it is why it sets. Spooned over a block of cream cheese with crackers, it is the appetizer that ends the conversation.
Get the full tutorial at The Cafe Sucre Farine.
13. Four Ingredient Cranberry Jam
Ours, and it should replace the can on your Thanksgiving table. Two cups of fresh or frozen cranberries, sugar, two tablespoons of lemon or orange juice and half a cup of water, boiled and then simmered fifteen minutes until the berries burst. Mash it as chunky or as smooth as you like. It keeps three weeks in the refrigerator, so it is done well before the day.
Get the full tutorial at DIY Joy.
14. Cherry Jam
Four cups of cherries, which is about three pounds before you pit them, a quarter cup of lemon juice, a box of Sure-Jell and five cups of sugar. A quarter teaspoon of almond extract is listed as optional and I would not skip it, because almond is what makes cherry taste like cherry. Pit them over a sheet pan. That job is messier than anybody warns you.
Get the full tutorial at Moms Need To Know.
15. Strawberry Jam And Pepper Jelly
This pair is made in an automatic jam and jelly maker, the countertop kind that stirs the pot for you while you do something else. That is the whole appeal: you fill it, press the button, clean your kitchen while it works, and come back to fill jars. If you make preserves often enough to have wondered whether the machine is worth it, this is the post that answers it.
Get the full tutorial at Noble Pig.
16. Easy Peach Vanilla Jam
Five cups of chopped peeled peaches, about three pounds, a cup and a half of sugar, a split vanilla bean and the juice of a small lemon. No pectin, no gelatin. Boil at least ten minutes, until a candy thermometer reads 221, and expect closer to fifteen. Makes about two cups. Scrape the seeds out of the pod into the jam before you throw it away.
Get the full tutorial at Celebrating Sweets.
17. Coffee Jam
Ours, and it is the strangest thing on this list. Four tablespoons of coffee dissolved in hot water, a cup and a quarter of double cream and a little over a third of a cup of sugar, cooked on low for twenty-five to thirty minutes until it thickens. No fruit anywhere. Spread it on toast or a croissant and it is somewhere between a jam and a caramel, in the best way.
Get the full tutorial at DIY Joy.
18. Pomegranate Jelly
Clear, deep red and worth the work of getting juice out of pomegranates, which is the only genuinely annoying part. It sets into the kind of jelly you can see through, which is what separates a jelly from a jam. Lovely on a cheese board next to something sharp, and it is a good one for a holiday gift jar because of the color alone.
Get the full tutorial at Hungry Foodies Pharmacy.
19. Strawberry And Peach Jam
A UK recipe, so it is by weight: 700 grams of strawberries, 500 grams of peaches, 900 grams of sugar, seven teaspoons of lemon juice and the rind of half a lemon. No added pectin. Rolling boil for fourteen minutes or until it hits 220, then the chilled saucer test. If it does not wrinkle, boil two more minutes and test again. That is the whole method.
Get the full tutorial at Fab Food 4 All.
20. Homemade Plum Jelly
Four to five pounds of plums go in the pot whole, skins and pits and all, with no added water, and simmer for about an hour until it looks like plum soup. Then you strain it, and that juice plus four cups of sugar and four and a half tablespoons of pectin makes eight jars. Wear old clothes. Plums are aggressively juicy and the splatter does not come out.
Get the full tutorial at Mainly Homemade.
21. Banana Jam
Three ingredients and the best answer to the black bananas on your counter that is not another loaf of bread. About two cups of mashed banana, which is five small ones, two cups of sugar and two tablespoons of lime or lemon juice. Boil five minutes, jar it, water bath ten. Makes three jars. The lime is what keeps it from tasting like baby food.
Get the full tutorial at Confessions Of An Over-Worked Mom.
22. Apple Core And Peeling Jelly
The peels and cores from fifteen to twenty tart apples, simmered in six cups of water for twenty to thirty minutes and strained through a jelly bag, topped up to seven cups of liquid. A box of pectin, nine cups of sugar, a hard one minute boil, five minutes in the water bath. Note that the person who posted it says plainly they have not tried it, so treat it as a thrifty idea worth testing.
Get the full tutorial at Food.com.
23. Easy Homemade Guava Jam
Eight to ten guavas, a cup of sugar for every two cups of fruit, a tablespoon of liquid pectin per cup of fruit, and vanilla bean paste if you want it. Because the sugar and pectin scale to the fruit rather than sitting as fixed amounts, you can make whatever size batch the guavas allow. Tropical, tangy, and it cans well, which makes it a good gift jar.
Get the full tutorial at Garlic And Zest.
24. Mango Peach Jam
Two cups of mango and three cups of unpeeled peaches with only one cup of sugar between them, which is a fraction of what most jams use. Boil forty to fifty minutes until it thickens, stir in vanilla, then fifteen minutes in the water bath. Puree the mango and cube the peaches and you get two textures in one jar. Leaving the peach skins on is deliberate.
Get the full tutorial at Kitchen Nostalgia.
25. Peach Jalapeño Jam
Sweet and hot in the same spoonful, with the heat entirely under your control: leave the jalapeno seeds in for more, take them out for less, add a pepper or leave them out altogether. Over brie or cream cheese with crackers it is an appetizer, and with fried chicken and biscuits it is something else again. That flexibility is what makes it worth a jar.
Get the full tutorial at Recipes Food And Cooking.
26. Mint Jelly
A cup and a half of packed mint leaves crushed with a potato masher, boiled in water for about ten minutes and strained, then one and two thirds cups of that liquid with lemon juice, three and a half cups of sugar and a pouch of liquid pectin, boiled exactly one minute. The store version is mostly corn syrup. This is the real thing, and it is the job your out of control mint bed has been waiting for.
Get the full tutorial at One Hundred Dollars A Month.
27. Raspberry Peach Freezer Jam
No canner, no water bath, no botulism worry, which is exactly why freezer jam exists. Two cups of mashed raspberries and a cup and a half of mashed peaches, Sure Jell sifted in, then a thirty minute rest with a stir every seven to ten minutes before the corn syrup and sugar go in. Heat only to 100 degrees. Two months in the fridge, a year in the freezer.
Get the full tutorial at Garnish And Glaze.
28. Small Batch Fig Jam
One pound of Black Mission figs, three quarters of a cup of sugar, two tablespoons of honey, lemon juice, strips of lemon rind with no pith, and two sprigs of thyme. Forty minutes for a loose jam, fifty for a thick one, and the difference is entirely yours. Makes one eight ounce jar and keeps a month. The thyme is what turns it into a cheese board jar.
Get the full tutorial at A Family Feast.
29. Rhubarb Vanilla Bean Jam
Rhubarb almost never gets to be the main thing, because strawberries turn up and take the credit. This is rhubarb on its own with vanilla bean, and it is tart and sweet in a way that surprises people who think they know what rhubarb tastes like. If you have a plant in the yard producing more than you know what to do with, this is the jar to make.
Get the full tutorial at Make And Takes.
30. Peach Jelly
Six cups of peeled chopped peaches, roughly six pounds, cooked with a cup and a half of water to make the three and a half cups of juice this needs. Then lemon juice, seven and a half cups of sugar and six ounces of liquid pectin. Jelly rather than jam, so it is clear and spreads smooth with no fruit in it at all, which is the version some people quietly prefer.
Get the full tutorial at Add A Pinch.
31. Strawberry Habanero Jam
Four cups of crushed strawberries, three seeded minced habaneros, seven cups of sugar, lemon juice, a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and a pouch of liquid pectin. Yes, seven cups, and the recipe says outright that the amount is what makes it set. Wear gloves for the habaneros, genuinely. Makes six twelve ounce jars, and it is far better on a cheese board than on toast.
Get the full tutorial at Shared Appetite.
32. Roasted Garlic Jelly
Three heads of garlic roasted with olive oil and balsamic for forty-five to sixty minutes until soft and golden, then steeped in white wine, water, white balsamic and crushed peppercorns and strained through cheesecloth. Sugar and two pouches of liquid pectin finish it. Nine small jars. It is savory, it goes on roast chicken and cheese, and it will be the strangest gift you hand anybody.
Get the full tutorial at Love And Olive Oil.
33. Pineapple Jam
Two ingredients. An eight ounce can of crushed pineapple with its juice and three quarters of a cup of sugar, boiled twenty minutes until it thickens, poured into one clean jar. That is the entire recipe. If you have never made jam and the water bath canner is the thing stopping you, start here, because there is nothing in this to get wrong.
Get the full tutorial at Accidental Happy Baker.
