Many of my childhood friends would ask for a jar of my mom’s homemade raspberry jam for their birthday–that’s how yummy this stuff is! When I got to college and actually had to buy my own jam from the store, the choices were so disappointing! There’s just nothing that compares to homemade jam. The best part about this raspberry jam is that you don’t need any special tools to make it. You can store it in any freezer safe container (it doesn’t have to be a glass jar, that’s just what I choose to use). One batch of jam will fill close to 4 pints and lasts up to one year in the freezer!
Have you tried this recipe?! Add the raspberries to a large bowl and mash them gently. They should still look pretty chunky and thick, just not “whole”. They will be stirred a lot with the sugar and pectin.
Measure out exactly three cups of mashed berries. It’s important to be particular in your measurements of the mashed berries and sugar, so that the jam will set up properly. (If you have a bit of extra mashed berries, save them for topping on waffles, pancakes or french toast, or freeze them to add to smoothies.) To the three cups of mashed berries, add one cup of sugar and stir it in until dissolved. Repeat, adding just one cup at a time, until all of the sugar has been added. Let the mixture rest for 10 minutes, while you prepare the pectin.
Add the box of pectin and ¾ cup of water to a small saucepan. Stir the mixture well as you bring it to a full boil (a boil that doesn’t stop when you stir it), and then stir constantly and boil it for 1 minute. Pour the pectin over the berries and stir to combine. Continue to stir the mixture until the sugar is completely dissolved, and you cant hear or taste any crunchy sugar granules. This step is really important, otherwise you could end up with pools of sugar at the bottom of the jam after it is in the jars.
Ladle the jam into containers, or use a funnel. Cover with a lid and allow the containers to rest at room temperature for 24 hours to allow it to set up. Then, store it in the freezer.
Yes! I love to use glass mason jars for freezer jam, but you can use any container that is freezer friendly. These Ball plastic jars are great, or use a freezer-safe tupperware. How many containers you use depends on how big they are. This recipe makes about 7-8 cups of jam. I like to use pint size jars for my family and 2 cups of jam will fill a pint, so I can fill about 4 pints. Half pint jars are smaller and great for giving as neighbor gifts. A half pint jar is 8 oz and will be filled with about one cup of jam, so you’ll need about 7 or 8. I love using these homemade labels with these sheets to give the yummiest neighbor gifts!
You can use frozen berries to make freezer jam! Be sure that the fruit is NOT sugared, substitute an equal amount of frozen fruit for fresh fruit, thaw the fruit to room temperature, and don’t drain the excess juice that is produced from the thawing process. If you end up making the jam and find that it’s too runny or soft, don’t worry, you can fix it! Maybe your berries were extra ripe and juicy, or maybe the sugar didn’t get dissolved well enough when you added the pectin and you see pools of liquid at the bottom of the jar. The best thing to do is to pour all of the jam back into a large bowl. Cook another box of pectin with water (step 5), and add it to the jam. Stir it really well, until the sugar is completely dissolved. The extra box of pectin will help to thicken the jam further. RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience. *I originally shared this recipe in June 2013. Updated August 2018. This post contains affiliate links. I love sharing my favorite products with you! This post contains affiliate links.
