Ready for some of the most amazing homestead raspberry jam you’ve ever tasted? Try this jam – you won’t be able to go back to the store-bought stuff ever again.
Okay, so technically this is more of a preserve, but still. It’s super versatile and easy to make. It’s even easier to can and preserve for several years. We’re lucky if it lasts the full year, but it should last 2 to 3 years.
Ingredients
- 3 cups fresh raspberries
- 3 cups white sugar
- 2 wedges lemon, juiced
Instructions
- To start, smash up your berries. I let the kids help, so they weren’t smashed evenly by any means. I do, however, like the more chunky homemade jams, so it wasn’t a problem for me.
- Put the mashed berries into a large pot over medium heat until they’re starting to boil.
- Add in the sugar.
- Add in lemon juice. I like to use 2-3 lemon wedges per batch of jam. When I don’t have lemons on hand, this is my absolute go-to substitute: true lemon.
- Mix it regularly as it returns to a boil.
- Let it boil: I let many batches boil for closer to 10 minutes if they have lots of extra-juicy batches. They turn out perfect!
- Take the jam off of the heat and let it cool for a minute or two, then pour it into jars.
- If you’re going to can it now’s the time, otherwise, keep going.
- Put a lid on the jam and let it cool. It’s delicious to eat as soon as it’s been chilled, but it’ll be even more perfect after a night in the fridge.
- Now you need some homemade bread to go with it! Enjoy.
Notes
Because you’ll be using equal parts fresh raspberries and sugar, this recipe is super easy to adjust to what you have on hand.
- Do you like your raspberry jam more liquid? Great. Don’t boil off as much liquid during steps 5 and 6.
- Do you like your raspberry jam more solid? Great. Boil-off more water during steps 5 and 6.
- Want seed-free jam? Great! Mash the berries through a fine-mesh strainer during step 1.
One more note: I don’t always have fresh lemons on hand, but I usually have freeze-dried lemon powder on hand. That totally works, too! And if you don’t want to freeze-dry lemon juice, you can buy it on Amazon in packets or in bulk.
- This link takes you to Amazon to shop for small packets of lemon powder. This is a great starter size to see if you like having this on hand in your food storage.
- This is the stuff I buy on Amazon: a 2-pack of lime and lemon powder. It’s great for baking, but I also love using it to flavor my water.
Garden Items in the Recipe
If you aren’t growing your own raspberries to make your own jam, you’re seriously missing out. And you’re paying too much for raspberries.
Here are the articles I’ve written on growing and caring for raspberries so you can get to it already.
