How to Make Homemade Strawberry Jam

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Have you ever wanted to make your own strawberry jam/jelly but have no idea where to start? That's the same boat I was in, and I wasn't wanting to use pectin or any preservatives.

My mother-in-law who makes EVERYTHING from scratch gave me this rough recipe. It only uses STRAWBERRIES & SUGAR....NOTHING ELSE!! Of course, you do need to freeze it and it doesn't have a very long fridge life....but I think it's worth it to have all natural jam.

What you will need

*Freezer Containers - HERE is the link for the ones I used

Their glass mason jars for canning are awesome also!

*Potato Masher

*4 cartons of Strawberries (that's how much I did in one batch, but you can do any amount really)

*1 & 1/2 cups Sugar (or to taste)

Note: This is how much I added of each, but you can add sugar until it tastes how you want it.

How to make it

1. Wash, and dice the strawberries up very small

2. Mash the strawberries to make them juicy - I used a potato masher. You can do this until it's as chunky or runny as you would like it. 

3. Add your mashed strawberries to a large saucepan and heat it up to a boil (med-high heat) You will need to stir frequently, then throw in the sugar and turn the heat to medium once it's starting to boil a little.

4. Let the sugar and strawberries simmer/boil for about 45 minutes. You will need to stir frequently, so DON'T leave them unattended. You don't want it burning to the bottom. You can then taste it and see if you want more sugar. If you want it to be thicker, you can boil it longer. It will also thicken as it cools.

5. Take off heat and let it cool, once it is about room temperature you can transfer to the freezer container. These things are awesome! Make sure you leave about 1/2 an inch at the top for it to expand. Add to freezer :)

There ya have it, delicious strawberry jam made from just strawberries and sugar! My mother in law would use the same concept for making apricot jam as well :) Make sure you refrigerate after opening and thawing one from the freezer. 

Hope you enjoyed this! Please share if you found it helpful.

Have a wonderful day!

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