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Strawberry Freezer Jam
This strawberry freezer jam uses the original Sure-Jell powdered pectin ratio, with no canning, no water bath, and no cooking the fruit. The berries stay raw, so the finished jam tastes like fresh strawberries. Five minutes of active stirring and 24 hours of patience is all it takes.
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This strawberry freezer jam recipe is the one that used to come printed on a slip of paper inside the Sure-Jell box. It makes about 5 cups (fills five 8-ounce jars), takes about 25 mintues to make, and sets for 24 hours.
Plenty of people open a box now and find nothing but the pectin, which sends them searching for a ratio they used to have sitting in a kitchen drawer. This is that recipe: two cups of crushed fruit, four cups of sugar, one package of pectin, and three quarters of a cup of water.
The appeal has never really changed. You crush fresh strawberries, stir them with sugar, boil the pectin with water for exactly one minute, and combine the two. Nothing simmering down for hours, no canner, no water bath, no jar lifter...
The finished jam tastes like the fruit you started with rather than something cooked down. Fresh and flavorful, and stored in the fridge so you've got jam for months.
The first time I made a batch of this jam, I eyeballed the strawberries instead of measuring them and ended up with jam that never firmed past a thick syrup. It was still good on toast, but it wasn't really great jam. Freezer jam sets on a ratio rather than on cooking time, so measuring carefully is critical.
It's a simple recipe, but the small details matter with jam. The ten-minute rest after the sugar goes in, the full three minutes of stirring... Get those right, and you will have about five cups of jam, good in the refrigerator for three weeks and in the freezer for a year.
Ingredients For Strawberry Freezer Jam
What you'll need to make Sure-Jell Strawberry Freezer Jam:
This recipe only uses four ingredients, but the amounts are not flexible. This is a ratio recipe, so measuring carefully matters a lot.
- 2 cups crushed fresh strawberries. Start with about 1 quart of whole berries, hulled. Crush them first, then measure, because a quart of whole berries and 2 cups of crushed fruit are not the same volume. Include the juice that collects while you crush. Ripe berries are worth seeking out here, since nothing in this recipe cooks long enough to concentrate weak flavor.
- 4 cups granulated sugar. Level, not heaping. Sugar is not only sweetening this jam, it works with the pectin to create the set, which is why a sugar substitute will not give you the same result.
- 1.75 ounce package fruit pectin. I used Sure-Jell Original Premium Fruit Pectin, the powdered kind in the yellow box. Use the whole package.
- ¾ cup water. This boils with the pectin, not with the fruit.
Can I Double Strawberry Freezer Jam?
I would make two separate batches instead. I know, it feels slower. But it is the difference between ten cups of jam and ten cups of strawberry syrup.
This recipe sets on a ratio, so every measurement carries weight, and doubling doubles the chance that one of them drifts. Two cups of crushed fruit becomes four, four cups of sugar becomes eight, and a bit of extra fruit that would have been forgivable in a single batch now throws the whole thing off. You also cannot correct any of it, because you find out how the set went 24 hours later, after everything is already in jars.
Two single batches take about ten extra minutes. If you have 2 decent sized pots, you can cook them both on your stovetop at the same time.
One thing that genuinely does not work is stretching a single package of pectin across more fruit. If you want more jam, you absolutely must buy more pectin.
How to Make Strawberry Freezer Jam
FIRST STEP: Run the jars and lids through the dishwasher, or rinse them with boiling water and dry them thoroughly. Make sure they're clean and dry before the jam is ready.
SECOND STEP: Hull the strawberries and crush them with a potato masher. Leave small pieces of fruit unless you want a completely smooth jam. Measure exactly 2 cups of the crushed fruit and its juice into a large bowl. Crush the berries before you measure them.
THIRD STEP: Stir in exactly 4 cups of sugar. Let the bowl sit for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. This gives the sugar time to dissolve into the fruit juice, and helps your jam set better.
FOURTH STEP: While the fruit rests, whisk the water and the full package of pectin together in a small saucepan. Bring it to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, then boil for 1 minute while continuing to stir.
FIFTH STEP: Pour the hot pectin into the strawberry mixture and stir for 3 minutes. Set a timer - don't just guess. Most of the sugar should dissolve, though a few grains may remain.
SIXTH STEP: Ladle into the jars, leaving half an inch of space at the top so the jam can expand in the freezer. Wipe the rims, secure the lids, and leave the jars at room temperature for 24 hours.
SEVENTH STEP: Tighten the lids and move the jars to the refrigerator or freezer.
If Your Jam Set Runny - How To Fix Runny Freezer Jam
First, if your jam set runny, it's probably a measurement or timing issue. So if you try to make more, pay close attention to your process.
In the meantime, you don't have to throw your jam out. Sure-Jell publishes official remake directions, and the useful part is that they have you test before committing.
Measure one cup of the failed jam into a small bowl, stir in sugar, then add a tablespoon of a fresh pectin and water mixture and stir another three minutes. Pour that into one prepared container and let it stand up to 24 hours to see whether it sets. If the trial batch works, redo the rest the same way. If it does not, you have only lost one cup instead of five.
Look up the current remake ratios on the Sure-Jell site before you start, since the exact sugar and pectin amounts depend on how much jam you are fixing.
How To Serve
Like my raspberry freezer jam, this easy spread is delicious on buttered toast. Since the fruit never cooks, the flavor stays closer to fresh strawberries than to anything in a store-bought jar, and a plain slice of bread lets that all that flavor come through.
For breakfast, spoon it over pancakes, waffles, or French toast in place of syrup. It swirls beautifully into plain yogurt or a bowl of oatmeal, and it spreads easily on warm biscuits and English muffins.
It makes an excellent peanut butter and jam sandwich. The softer set spreads without tearing the bread, but keep in mind, it's best eaten fresh, since the looser jam will soak into the bread if it sits for a few hours.
On a cheese board, strawberry pairs well with brie, goat cheese, and sharp cheddar. Serve it alongside crackers with a small spoon so guests can add as much as they like.
For dessert, spoon it over ice cream or cheesecake, or spread it on peanut butter bread - my absolute favorite way to eat it.
More Recipes For Strawberry Season ⭐ Strawberry Lemonade | Strawberry Trifle | Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries
Storing Strawberry Freezer Jam
This recipe makes about 5 cups, enough to fill five 8-ounce jars.
After the jars have stood at room temperature for 24 hours, tighten the lids and choose where you want them to go.
In the refrigerator, the jam keeps for up to 3 weeks.
In the freezer, it keeps for up to a year.
Thaw frozen jars in the refrigerator rather than on the counter.
Before you freeze, make sure you left a half-inch of space at the top of each jar. Jam expands as it freezes, and a jar filled to the rim can crack or push its lid off.
What Size Jars Should I Use?
Think about jar size before you fill anything. Once a jar has thawed, you are on the 3-week clock for whatever is in it, so smaller jars make sense if it is just you or two of you eating it. Freezing five 8-ounce jars and thawing them one at a time gets you further than freezing one large container.
Both glass and plastic work. Straight-sided glass jars handle freezing better than shouldered ones, and Ball makes plastic freezer jars specifically for this.
The jam does make a good gift, with one caveat worth passing along when you hand it over. This is not shelf-stable, so it needs to go straight into the recipient's refrigerator or freezer rather than their cupboard.
Strawberry Freezer Jam
This strawberry freezer jam uses the original Sure-Jell powdered pectin ratio, with no canning, no water bath, and no cooking the fruit. The berries stay raw, so the finished jam tastes like fresh strawberries. Five minutes of active stirring and 24 hours of patience is all it takes.
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Ingredients
- 2 cups crushed fresh strawberries (about 1 quart whole berries)
- 4 cups granulated sugar
- 1.75 ounce package fruit pectin (we used Sure-Jell)
- ¾ cup water
DIRECTIONS
- Run the jars and lids through the dishwasher, or rinse them with boiling water and dry them thoroughly.
- Rinse the strawberries and remove the stems. Slice into halves or quarters if desired, which makes crushing them easier.
- Use a potato masher to crush the strawberries into very small pieces. Do not puree unless you want no fruit pieces in the jam.
- Measure precisely 2 cups of the crushed strawberries and their juices into a large mixing bowl.
- Stir in precisely 4 cups of granulated sugar. Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- In a small saucepan, stir together the full package of fruit pectin and the water.
- Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Continue stirring and boil for 1 minute.
- Pour the boiling pectin mixture into the strawberry and sugar mixture. Stir for 3 minutes, until the sugar dissolves. A few sugar granules may remain.
- Ladle into the prepared jars, leaving ½ inch of space at the top. Wipe the rims, secure the lids, and leave the jars to set at room temperature for 24 hours.
- After 24 hours, tighten the lids completely and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks or the freezer for up to 1 year. Thaw frozen jam in the refrigerator.
Notes
Nutritional Information is based on a 1-Tbsp serving.
- Crush the strawberries before measuring them. Use both the berries and their juices in the measurements.
- Measure the sugar exactly and do not reduce it. Sugar works with the pectin to create the set, so a lower amount or a substitute will cause this recipe to set poorly.
- Freezer jam sets thinner than cooked jam and tastes more like fresh fruit than the cooked flavor of a traditional jam. It will be slightly thicker after refrigerating than it is at room temperature.
- Leave the ½ inch of space at the top of each jar. Jam expands as it freezes.
- If you want to double this recipe, I suggest making 2 separate batches.
Nutrition
Calories: 42kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 0.03g | Fat: 0.04g | Saturated Fat: 0.001g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.01g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.002g | Sodium: 1mg | Potassium: 6mg | Fiber: 0.1g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 0.5IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 1mg | Iron: 0.04mg
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Strawberry Freezer Jam FAQs
Can I use frozen strawberries?
Yes, with one adjustment. Thaw them completely first and include the liquid that comes out during thawing, since that juice counts toward your 2 cups. Frozen berries release more water than fresh ones, so measure carefully after crushing rather than before. Keep in mind, the texture might be slightly softer than jam made with fresh berries.
Do I really have to use that much sugar?
For this version, yes. The sugar is not only sweetening the jam, it works with the pectin to create the set, which is why Sure-Jell's own instruction has always been to measure the sugar exactly and not reduce it. If you want a lower sugar jam, buy the pectin made specifically for it. That product comes with its own ratios and instructions, and those are not interchangeable with these.
Do the jars have to be sterilized?
Not in the canning sense. You are not processing these jars or making them shelf stable, so no water bath is involved. Clean and dry is what matters. Running them through the dishwasher or rinsing them with boiling water and drying them thoroughly is enough.
Can I use glass jars, or does it have to be plastic?
Both work. Ball also makes plastic freezer jars designed for exactly this. Whichever you choose, leave the half inch of space at the top.
Can I use a different brand of pectin?
Not with these measurements. Powdered and liquid pectin work differently and are not interchangeable, and even among powdered pectins the ratios vary by brand. This recipe is written for Sure-Jell Original Premium Fruit Pectin in the yellow box. If you have a different brand, it's best to follow the ratios on that package instead.
Will this recipe work with other fruits?
The method transfers, but the amounts do not. Different fruits carry different natural pectin and acid levels, so raspberries, peaches, and blackberries each call for their own fruit and sugar measurements. Sure-Jell publishes a separate freezer jam recipe for each one.
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