This strawberry jam recipe can be made from fresh or frozen strawberries.
It uses Ball / Bernardin No-Sugar Needed pectin, either in box form, or in flex-batch canister form.
The Ball recipe calls for added liquid in the form of water; the Bernardin version calls for added liquid in the form of a juice. We give both versions, along with nutritional values for both versions.
You do not have to make this sugar-free; you can add sugar if you wish. In fact, you can use the sweetener of your choice, as the special pectin is going to look after the gelling for you.
The recipe
Jar size choices: 125 ml (½ cup / 4 oz) OR quarter-litre (½ US pint / 250 ml / 8 oz)
Processing method: Water bath or steam canning
Yield: 5 x quarter-litre (½ US pint) jars
Headspace: 1 cm (¼ inch)
Processing time: 10 minutes either size jar
Strawberry Jam (Ball / Bernardin)
Yield: 5 x quarter-litre (½ US pint) jars
Ingredients
- 1 kg strawberries (2.2 lbs / 8 cups quartered / thickly sliced. Measurements apply to after prep)
- 250 ml water (1 cup / 8 oz) OR same amount of unsweetened apple or grape juice
- 1 box Ball / Bernardin No-Sugar Needed Pectin (49 g / 57 g / 1.75 oz)
- 350 g sugar (white. 1 ½ cups / 12 oz. Or alternative, see notes below.)
Instructions
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If using fresh strawberries, wash them, and hull them.
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Mash the strawberries a layer at a time in something like a pie plate using something like a potato masher.
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You should end up with around 1 litre (4 cups / 32 oz) of mashed strawberries. A tidge under or over is fine.
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Put in a large stainless steel pot.
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Add the water.
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Add the pectin and stir till the pectin is dissolved.
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Put on a burner.
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If using SUGAR or SPLENDA: Bring to a full rolling boil over the heat and when it reaches that point, start timing 1 minute. Add in sugar or Splenda, bring back to a boil that you can't stir down, and boil for 1 minute after that point. Remove from heat.
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If using STEVIA: Bring to a full rolling boil over the heat and when it reaches that point, start timing 1 minute. Remove from heat. Add stevia to taste.
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Should it start to gel before this time is up, remove from heat, you're done.
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Remove from heat.
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Skim off any foam, if there is any.
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Ladle into 125 ml (4 oz) or quarter-litre (½ US pint / 8 oz) jars.
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Leave 1 cm (¼ inch) headspace.
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Debubble, adjust headspace.
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Wipe jar rims.
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Put lids on.
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Process in a water bath or steam canner.
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Process either size jars for 10 minutes; increase time as needed for your altitude.
Reference information
How to water bath process.
How to steam can.
When water-bath canning or steam canning, you must adjust the processing time for your altitude.
Information about no-sugar needed pectins.
More information about Sugar and Salt-Free Canning in general.
Recipe notes
- Ball / Bernardin No Sugar Needed from the small boxes is the same; it’s made in the same plant and just labelled with different brand names on the packaging. Instead of the box, you can use the Ball No Sugar Needed Flex Batch pectin from a canister. You’ll want 3 level tablespoons.
- Bernardin method: Bernardin calls for ½ teaspoon butter or margarine to avoid foaming, 250 ml (1 cup / 8 oz) of fruit juice instead of the water, and a 3 minute hard boil. For the fruit juice, you could use apple juice, an unsweetened berry juice, or unsweetened grape juice. You add the butter right at the start before boiling.
- If using frozen strawberries, zap from frozen in microwave first for 3 minutes. Incorporate any juice that comes off into the mash.
- Don’t crush or mash the berries in a machine, it will damage the pectin.
- You can reduce the sugar, or use the same volume amount of granulated Splenda®, or use 2 teaspoons of liquid stevia. For stevia, we’d recommend Better Stevia liquid stevia.
- If you are using liquid stevia, how much stevia you need will depend on the tastes of your crowd and how sweet / tart that particular batch of strawberries is. Try 1 ½ teaspoons first, then go up as far as 3 teaspoons even if you deem it needed.
Recipe source
- Strawberry Jam. In: Ball Blue Book. Muncie, Indiana: Healthmark LLC / Jarden Home Brands. Edition 37. 2014. Page 55.
- Bernardin Leaflet in No-Sugar Needed Box
Modifications made:
- None
Nutrition information
Nutritional information below is using liquid stevia. Calories will be higher with Splenda and sugar.
Ball version
With water.
Per 2 tablespoons:
- 8 calories, 1 mg sodium
- Weight Watchers PointsPlus®: 1 to 4 tablespoons: 0 points; 5 to 14 tablespoons: 1 point
Bernardin version
With juice.
Per 2 tablespoons:
- 12 calories, 1 mg sodium
- Weight Watchers PointsPlus®: 1 to 3 tablespoons, 0 points; 4 to 10 tablespoons: 1 point.
* Nutrition info provided by https://caloriecount.about.com
* PointsPlus™ calculated by healthycanning.com. Not endorsed by Weight Watchers® International, Inc, which is the owner of the PointsPlus® registered trademark.
* Better Stevia ® is a registered trademark of the NOW Foods Company.
I want to verify that if using Stevia this still be canned using the wet-bath version and should last up to a year. Thank you.
Yes.
Thank you. I must have wrote that before coffee. Proofread, proofread, proofread.
Hmm, the title says sugar-free but the ingredients list includes sugar. Is the sugar completely optional? In other words, if I include the fruit juice can I omit the sugar (and any other added sweetener) entirely?
The sugar is totally optional. You could certainly use the juice, and omit any sweetener. Or for other sweetener alternatives, see recipe notes.
Can you use this recipe with other fruits??
Hi Monica, I would look for other recipes from Ball or Bernardin, using their no-sugar needed pectins, that specifically call for the fruit or fruits you have in mind. Which fruit(s) are you thinking of?
Made it.This was my first attempt at a NO SUGAR jam recipe. I used fruit juice (strawberry-kiwi) unsweetened, of course. My strawberries were not local and had little flavor and no ‘natural’ sweet taste from the start. I did have to add some Stevia to help the flavor along. I am not disappointed in the jam itself, but believe some fresh from the patch strawberries deserve a try before I make final judgement on this. Though a bit tart, I believe my jam will be great added to my home-made yogurt, pound cake and ice-cream. On my way to the kitchen to try some on toast right now.
You’re right, using berries in season (or frozen when in season), does make the difference. The berries were probably even a bit tart? That said, it’s probably actually a good idea to do what you are now: doing the practising and testing out of season with a small batch, even though the berries might not have the proper taste. That way, for next year when things *are* in season, you are ready to go with knowing exactly what you want to make, and how much of it, eh? I do that a lot. Test a very small batch of a given pickle recipe, say, with pricey out-of-season cucumber in the winter so I can decide whether to plan to buy a bushel of cukes for that recipe next summer.
Absolutely! Our (NC) local home grown strawberries are way better than the ones I used. I couldn’t resist trying though. Found them for $1 per quart container at a grocery nearby. My eight year old daughter usually eats a carton or two before I can work them up. She tried a couple of these and said “Nah, I’ll just wait for the jam.” It isn’t a waste by any means, as long as you enjoy tart. I will definitely grab extras of our sweet, sweet locally grown strawberries when they come back in season.