Homemade Blueberry Preserves without Pectin

23
May

Homemade Blueberry Preserves without Pectin

I've had quite a few people email asking what the lovely looking blue spread was on my recent grain-free white bread recipe, so I thought I'd share the homemade blueberry preserves with you! It's a very simple recipe for blueberry jam that doesn't use pectin or processed sugar. Just 4 ingredients!

Print this recipe

3.82 / 5.0 based on 11 reviews

Confirm Rating? Yes / No

Homemade Blueberry Preserves without Pectin

AUTHOR: Danielle Walker - AgainstAllGrain.com

SERVES: 8 ozs

Cuisine: American

Category: Sauces and Condiments

PREP TIME: 5 mins

COOK TIME: 20 mins TOTAL TIME: 25 mins

Ingredients:

3 cups blueberries (frozen and thawed or fresh)
3/4 cup honey (you can use more or less depending on how tart your berries are)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest

Instructions:

Place the blueberries in a medium sized sauce pan and crush them with the back of a fork or using a potato masher.
Add the honey, lemon juice, and lemon zest, then bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir frequently while the mixture boils for 15-20 minutes and it starts to thicken. The best way to test if it’s done is to put a spoonful in the freezer for 5 minutes. If it won’t easily pour off of the spoon when you remove it from the freezer, then it’s done.
Skim off any foam, then ladle the jam into a sterilized jar.
Store tightly covered in the fridge for a couple of weeks or you can use canning methods to store in a pantry for longer storage.

Keywords: breakfast, dairy free, egg free, gluten free, nut free, paleo, sauces and condiments, vegetarian

Hi there! The photos of this recipe and content above are copyright protected.

Please do not use our photos without prior written permission. Please do not copy this recipe and share it on your own site. If you wish to tell people about this recipe, please provide a link back to the recipe here on my blog rather than copying the recipe. If you make significant changes to a recipe, you are welcome to rewrite it in your own unique words and provide a link back here for credit. Thank you!

Sign-Up for FREE Recipes!

57 Responses to “Homemade Blueberry Preserves without Pectin”

Unfortunately due to the volume, Danielle is not able to answer every question,
comment, substitution inquiry, or provide nutritional information

Elizabeth

Fantastic! I was wondering…could I do the same thing with strawberries?
May 23rd, 2012 Reply
- Against All Grain
  
  I think so but I haven’t tried it yet. I plan to soon though because strawberry jam is my favorite!
  May 23rd, 2012 Reply
  - Hugh
    
    I was interested to read your recipes for making jam without sugar or pectin, but using honey instead. Please forgive my naivety if I ask whether it would not be possible to make blueberry (or any other) jam without any form of sweetening whatsoever? After all we eat all these fruits raw, perhaps with just a little kefir or joghurt (themselves containing only fermented milk). We have all become so addicted to sugar and its various highly calorific substitutes. I for one am trying to kick the habit, but it seems quite impossible to buy unsweetened jam. Even the best on the market contain concentrated grape juice or the like. Am I looking for a biological impossibility? I’ll never forget the time I tried to make elderberry cordial for summer drinks without using any sugar and ended up with glass fragments all over the cellar floor after all my bottles exploded.
    October 14th, 2012 Reply
    - Erin
      
      The sugar acts as a preservative (whether you keep the jam in the fridge or in your pantry – if properly canned). Otherwise, I assume the jam would spoil/ferment as quickly as the berries would in your fridge or countertop. If you aren’t looking for longevity, you could certainly just stew your berries.
      June 5th, 2013 Reply
- Jordan
  
  Strawberries take a little longer and do better in canning, but is defidently possible u have mostly the same steps but u have to add a lot of sugar but it some how still turns out healthier than buying it from the store….. just google how to make strawberry jam!!!!
  June 16th, 2012 Reply
[email protected]

LOVE IT! Easy and healthy! I’ve always steered clear of making any kind of jams, jellies or preserves because the whole “canning” process just overwhelms me. This seems doable to me! Thanks for sharing!
May 23rd, 2012 Reply
apryl

thank you 🙂
going to try some soon!
May 23rd, 2012 Reply
Erin @ Texanerin Baking

I love that this uses honey and doesn’t use pectin! I love preserves but don’t love all the sugar in it so this is definitely something I’m interested in making. 🙂
May 23rd, 2012 Reply
Dianne

It works with a variety of fruits. The way I like to make my blueberry Sauce/preserves is with lime juice instead of lemon and since i don’t like to use sugar/honey, i use liquid stevia and and in some arrowroot for thickening. Delish. If done this with strawberries and raspberries. Except the strawberries have a lot of water so you really have to cook the liquid down.
May 23rd, 2012 Reply
Barb

Wow! I didn’t have blueberries but I had fresh garden strawberries that I needed to do something with. I followed this recipe except that I decreased the honey to 1/2 cup and boiled for 15 minutes. Awesome on my coconut milk ice cream and will make a thin strawberry jam on my grain-free bread I made yesterday. Sweet! Love your recipes!!
May 23rd, 2012 Reply
Buttoni

This looks lovely. I’d like to try this with blackberries as well!
May 24th, 2012 Reply
kat murphy

I make berry jam/jelly using honey and some non flavoured gelatin as well but want to try the arrowroot and stevia recipe…that sounds pretty interesting….love your blog….have had IBD for over 30 years without drugs or surgeries!! Eating right:))
May 24th, 2012 Reply
Sam M.

Silly question, but…after it’s finished and ladled into a jar and stored in the fridge…do you have to wait a couple of weeks to be able to eat it or is that just how long you can keep in the fridge before going bad?

I’ve never made jam before, but I’m really eager to try!
June 6th, 2012 Reply
- Against All Grain
  
  You can eat it as soon as it’s chilled! You can actually eat it hot too if you really want, but it won’t be as thick hot. 🙂
  June 6th, 2012 Reply
  - Sam M.
    
    Okay. Thank you so much!
    June 6th, 2012 Reply
Jessica

How long did you process the jars in the canner for this recipe? Thanks!
July 14th, 2012 Reply
Kathy Weeks

No one said anything about putting this in the freezer. That would be my preference so I could do more up ahead of time. If there any reason that this wouldn’t work?
July 16th, 2012 Reply
- Against All Grain
  
  I’m sure that would be just fine, this recipe just yields 1 jar and we just go through it fast enough to not need to freeze it.
  July 16th, 2012 Reply
Tina Cain

Against All Grain
I’m giving away 2 $50 gift certificates to Tropical Traditions! The world’s leading online organic coconut retailer! They also have skincare, household goods, and other organic foods!

Here’s how to enter:
1. Click the “share” button below and set your post to “public”
2. Copy and paste the link to your favorite AAG (www.againstallgrain.com) recipe below!

Giveaway ends tomorrow 7/26 at noon!
July 25th, 2012 Reply
- Against All Grain
  
  Tina – you need to copy and paste the link to the recipe and leave it on Facebook!
  July 25th, 2012 Reply
Janet

I was never a great fan of blueberry jam. I think you just made me change my mind.
July 29th, 2012 Reply
- Against All Grain
  
  Great to hear!! 🙂
  July 29th, 2012 Reply
Gillian

Hi Danielle,

I couldn`t get this recipe right; I made it just for the Not-A-Grain Bar recipe, and the blueberry preserves hardened as soon as they cooled. How can I keep them spreadable?

Thanks,
Gillian
August 15th, 2012 Reply
- Against All Grain
  
  It should harden when it cools for using with toast etc., but that is why I add the water to it for the bars. Did you do that step and it still was too thick?
  August 15th, 2012 Reply
  - Gillian
    
    I did add some water, but I hadn`t yet looked at the Not-A-Grain directions, so I might not have added 3 tablespoons. I will try again. But regarding use of the preserves for toast, do you store them in an oven-safe jar and then heat them straight from the jar each time?
    August 16th, 2012 Reply
Sarah

hi,

Thanks for this. I’m hoping to make damson jam soon. Any adaptations recommended for your recipe? I’ve just ordered grape juice concentrate for sugar-free jam making. do you think this would work in place of the honey? The St Dalfour sugar-free jams are made this way but include pectin.

Thanks,
Sarah
August 27th, 2012 Reply
Caitlin Rosenquist

Just made this… YUM!!!! It’s like dessert!
September 10th, 2012 Reply
Greenmama

I made this yesterday to fill your not-a-grain bars. I used frozen organic blueberries that we picked locally a few months ago and I added a little over a cup of frozen local peach chunks so that I’d have enough filling for the bars. It was SO good, thank you so much! I do have some jam I had canned with local fruit and honey this summer, but I’m saving that for sandwiches for my little ones, and it was lovely to be able to make the filling hot and fresh to spread on the bars as I made them. I love this recipe and will definitely come back to it for topping pancakes and for more not-a-grain bars. Thank you for sharing it with us!
September 25th, 2012 Reply
Donna

Definitely doing this recipe this week, as I am a self-avowed blueberry freak….Question….What is “wrong” with pectin …or rather….why should we avoid it?…I am hoping to do this with the liquid stevia/arrowroot option that a reader suggested in the comments…or could I use coconut palm sugar or xylitol or erythritol for sweetening?…I am trying to keep the fruit in the frontline…and avoid the calories and insulin spiking…Thank you in advance for any enlightenment/suggestions?
October 10th, 2012 Reply
emaliah82

Oh my goodness! Just took a pan of this wonderful blueberry jam off of the stove and I am in LOVE!!! My favorite store-bought jam is absolutely loaded with sugar so I refuse to buy it anymore. I am a huge fan of a good piece of toast in the morning (whether it be almond flour bread or Ezekiel 4:9 bread) and am soooo excited to finally have a jam that I am thrilled to feed myself and my daughter. THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!! 🙂
November 10th, 2012 Reply
TheRaven

This is just the recipe I was looking for! I’m glad to find a recipe that uses neither pectin nor white sugar.. gonna try this today. Thanks!
November 16th, 2012 Reply
emaliah82

Just gotta throw another comment in here…..it felt like a breakfast for dinner kind of night so I thawed some almond flour pancakes I had in the freezer and put warm blueberries preserves on them. OH MY GOSH! Felt like I had died and gone to heaven the combination was just that good! 🙂
November 16th, 2012 Reply
- Against All Grain
  
  We love doing that! I water it down a little to make it more of a syrup consistency
  November 16th, 2012 Reply
Kathy Scollan

This may sound like I don’t know how to cook, but I do tend to follow recipes so I am concerned about leaving an ingredient out. My body does no do any citrus so can I leave out the lemon and still have a decent jam? TIA…Kathy
February 5th, 2013 Reply
- Against All Grain
  
  Glad you asked – the lemon brings out the natural pectins in the fruit which is what makes it gel up.
  February 5th, 2013 Reply
  - Kathy Scollan
    
    So, do you know of anything that I could use? Citric acid in any form gives me hives on the palms of my hands. Thanks
    February 5th, 2013 Reply
    - Against All Grain
      
      Oh wow sorry! I’m not sure, this was kind of my first time venturing into homemade jam land. I’m sure a quick google search will turn back a bunch of options. You can buy pectin in a packet which most canning recipes call for so maybe that will be your best bet
      February 5th, 2013 Reply
    - Denise
      
      You can use chia seeds to thicken anything. Not sure how much you would need to add, but I know it isn’t much.
      June 14th, 2014 Reply
Diana

Wow, I never thought I could make this at home, and SO easy! I only had a little over half a cup of honey and I had ZERO lemons, but I did have some Key Lime Juice- I was desperate… I had no zest either. I went ahead and made it anyway, and let me tell you. I LOVE the flavor! I don’t think I am ever buying blueberry preserves AGAIN. Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe!
February 9th, 2013 Reply
Alli

Made this with agave nectar instead of honey, and added grated ginger root for added flavor. Simple and tastes great – thank you!
June 15th, 2013 Reply
Bonnie Jean M. durning

I bought a canner then found out I could not use it on my glass top stove. Is there any way to can without the stove top canner? I wanted to be able to store the jam on the shelf not in my refrigerator/freezer.
Thanks.
June 25th, 2013 Reply
- Against All Grain
  
  Sorry I am not well versed in the canning world!
  June 25th, 2013 Reply
  - Johanne
    
    I use a regular pot. just make sure to put a dish towel on the bottom of it so the jars don’t break from the rolling boil. Add water so the jars are slightly peeking out, then boil for 10 min.
    June 26th, 2013 Reply
Miri

Can I use stevia instead of honey?
Stevia is the only sweetener I’m allowed.
How much shall I use?
July 5th, 2013 Reply
Tanya

My question is: If using the canning method how long can I store the jam. With the traditional method with sugar I know it can be stored for about a year. I’ve done this in the past and I want to make more than just a couple of jars
August 5th, 2013 Reply
fabia

danielle,
i was wondering why the no pectin. i’ve been trying to research what is bad about pectin and couldn’t find anything. i make my own jams and use honey as a sweetener and pomona universal pectin (derived from citrus fruit).
thanks!
March 5th, 2014 Reply
Lauren

Would this also work with blackberries? I’m a huge fan of blackberry jam!
March 10th, 2014 Reply
Sarah Hartley

Do we have to leave it in the refridgerator for a couple weeks or can we eat it after a few days…or hours..??? 😉
March 10th, 2014 Reply
- Amber
  
  Ha ha right?! ; P
  April 27th, 2014 Reply
Jen

I made this with a frozen berry blend – blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries. It is AMAZING! I’ve never liked jam or jelly much, but this I’d eat with a spoon! Lol Thank you!
April 6th, 2014 Reply
Jen

Oh, I forgot to mention that, as per another commenter, I reduced the honey to 1/2 cup for the berry blend. Perfect! Thanks again!
April 6th, 2014 Reply
Deborah

Can I store in a cleaned container in the fridge or does it need to be a sterilized container?
June 16th, 2014 Reply
Cooke

Does this recipe work just as well with other berries? Like strawberries and raspberries?
June 19th, 2014 Reply
Amy

How do you take the pectin out of fruit? Pectin is in the cell walls of fruits so this occurs during the ripping process.
June 27th, 2014 Reply
Patricia Holton Enderby

Can I use grapes instead? I received concord grapes in my farm box today and we won’t eat them and wanted to try preserves. Any suggestions on if I need to add anything or would it be the same process.
August 21st, 2014 Reply
Faith Jay

Can the honey be substituted with sugar?
August 27th, 2014 Reply
Robin

I used frozen blueberries and only 1/4 cup honey. It was perfect! Even my picky kiddo liked it! I also left out the lemon zest as I don’t have the tool for that :). Thanks for a great recipe!! I’m going to try strawberries next!
September 7th, 2014 Reply

Cancel

Homemade Blueberry Preserves without Pectin

Ingredients:

Instructions:

57 Responses to “Homemade Blueberry Preserves without Pectin”

Elizabeth

Against All Grain

Hugh

Erin

Jordan

apryl

Dianne

Barb

Sam M.

Against All Grain

Sam M.

Jessica

Kathy Weeks

Against All Grain

Tina Cain

Against All Grain

Against All Grain

Gillian

Against All Grain

Gillian

Sarah

Caitlin Rosenquist

Greenmama

Donna

emaliah82

TheRaven

emaliah82

Against All Grain

Kathy Scollan

Against All Grain

Kathy Scollan

Against All Grain

Denise

Alli

Bonnie Jean M. durning

Against All Grain

Johanne

Miri

Tanya

Lauren

Sarah Hartley

Amber

Jen

Jen

Deborah

Cooke

Amy

Patricia Holton Enderby

Faith Jay

Robin

Leave a Reply