Homemade Strawberry Jam Recipe

One of the activities that we enjoy most is going down the road to the berry patch to pick fruit. Strawberry season was in full swing a couple weeks back, so we trekked out to get some. Picking their own fruit is a fun, education, and delicious experience for the kids.

Although we enjoyed most of the strawberries cut up and eaten fresh, I used some of them to make homemade strawberry jam. What is it about using freshly picked berries that make the jam so delicious?  This is a must try recipe especially if your kids love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches the way mine do. We now have a large stash of jam that will last for months. Grab some strawberries and mix up a batch for yourself. Don't miss the FREE printable recipe card at the bottom of this post either. You may never buy store-bought jams and jellies again...

Homemade Strawberry Jam
Canning Supplies
2 large pots
canning rack for the pot
tongs
six 8-ounce mason jars with lids and screw-on rings
canning funnel
small saucepan

Ingredients
baking pan
fork and knife
3-4 cups mashed strawberries
3 tablespoons lemon juice
5 cups sugar
1 package fruit pectin (49 grams)

Directions
1. Fill your pot with water and bring it to a simmer. Use the tongs to gently place your jars in the water. This will temper the jars for the hot jam.
2. Place the jar lids in a saucepan of water set to simmer.
3. Hull and chop your strawberries. Place them out on a baking pan. Mash them with a fork leaving some large chunks.
4. Measure out 3-4 cups of mashed strawberries and place them into the second large pot. Add the lemon juice.
5. Bring the strawberry mixture to a boil. Mix in the pectin.
6. Add the sugar and stir. If you like a sweeter jam, you can add another 1 / 4 cup of sugar.
7. Bring the mixture to a hard boil for 1-2 minutes. Remove it from heat and skim off any foam from the top.
8. Remove one of the jars from the water. Using the funnel, fill the jar up to the indentions for the rings. Wipe off any jam that may have spilled. Run a knife around the insde of the jar to remove air pockets.
9. Place a lid onto the jar and gently screw on one of the rings. Repeat these steps until all of your jars have been filled with jam.
10. Turn the pot of water up to high. Wait for the water to boil. Using a rack, submerge the jars into the pot of water and allow them to remain there for 15 minutes before pulling them out.
11. Set the jars out and allow them to seal. You should hear popping noises when this happens. Once the jars have cooled completely, you can test the seal by pressing on the middle of the lids.
12. Gift or enjoy your strawberry jam.

Printable Recipe Card
If you'd like a printable version of this recipe. Simple save the recipe card below to your computer. Open the image, set your printer to the 5 x 7 setting, and print the card.

Happy canning!