Get the great taste of homemade jam without all the refined white sugar. Just a little bit of honey does the trick — no one will know the difference!
I remember the first time I realized you could buy jam from the store… I was in middle school!
It honestly never occurred to me that someone would buy jam when it was so easy to make at home.
I grew up watching, and eventually helping, my mom and grandmas make homemade jam — starting by picking locally-grown berries from nearby farms.
We’d then wash, smash, and measure the fruit according to our trusty recipes… and dump a whopping 7 cups of white sugar (per batch) into the boiling fruit.
So that’s why it tasted so good! ☺️
As an adult, I continued canning all my own jam, never giving much thought to the amount of sugar in my recipes. After all, jam was more of a treat we added to homemade yogurt or ice cream — not something we devoured by the spoonful on a daily basis.
However, once our children discovered the deliciousness of PB&J sandwiches, I realized we were consuming an insane amount of jam (and sugar).
To be certain, I am NOT “against” sugar in any way.
I have always been firmly planted in the “all things in moderation camp” when it comes to food.
Yes, our family eats a ton of fresh produce.
Yes, I grind my own whole grains on a daily basis.
Yes, we drink huge quantities of water.
BUT, we also enjoy cake, cookies, ice cream, and candy as well!
And honestly, if a little jam is the worst thing your kids eat, you likely have much more important things to worry about.
However, the massive amount of sugar in my homemade jam recipe was starting to bother me… I almost felt hypocritical slathering this sugary jam on my whole-grain bread.
A Sugar-Free Jam Alternative:
I originally looked into buying low-sugar jam from the store but that used fake sugar substitutes which I’m not a fan of either.
Then, after a bit of online research, I discovered I could substitute honey in place of sugar.
I eventually decided on the ratio of honey to fruit that worked best and tasted best (in our opinion) and made six batches of it in one afternoon!
Not only can this recipe be completely sugar-free, but it also works well with just a bit of honey (for those of us who like our jam a little sweeter).
This recipe is beyond simple — in fact, I already have it memorized!
Ingredients for No-Sugar Jam
- 5 c. prepared fruit (washed, smashed, etc.)
- 5 T. low-sugar fruit pectin
- 1 c. water or sugar-free fruit juice
- 1 c. honey (or omit completely and use 1 extra cup of fruit)
Quick tip: if you’re short on time, buy frozen berries! They are just as nutritious and often less expensive. Plus, they are already picked, washed, and “de-stemmed” for you!
How to Make No-Sugar Jam
1. Wash and sterilize six 8 oz. jelly jars or four 12 oz. jelly jars. Fill with boiling water and set aside.
2. Put lids in a pan of water and bring to a gentle boil.
3. Wash, smash and prepare the fruit.
4. Add 5 level cups of fruit to a large saucepan.
5. Add 1 cup water or juice to the saucepan. (I always use water — and you can omit if you want REALLY thick jam)
6. Stir 5 level Tbsp. of fruit pectin into the fruit and bring to a full boil, stirring regularly.
7. Once boiling, add honey and bring the mixture to a full boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
8. Spoon into washed and sterilized jars, cover with lid and ring, and flip jar upside down for 5 minutes (or process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes).
9. Flip jars over (lids facing up) and let cool at room temperature for 12-24 hours, making sure the lids seal.
10. Wipe down jars and store in the pantry or refrigerate or freeze any jars that didn’t seal (I rarely ever have even one jar that doesn’t seal).
Making no-sugar jam is SO easy!
The measurements are simple too (5 c. + 5 T. + 1 c. + 1 c.) so I likely won’t forget.
I’ve tested this exact recipe with strawberries, mixed berries, and strawberries + rhubarb (frozen and fresh) — all with rave reviews from my sugar-loving tribe of taste-testers!
The most difficult part might just be washing the dishes! (Soak them in very hot water immediately after you finish to help with the stickiness)
If you’re looking for a simple, delicious homemade jam recipe that tastes like the real thing with ZERO refined white sugar (or weird sugar substitutes), today is your lucky day my friend!
No-Sugar Jam with Honey
This simple, delicious recipe for no-sugar jam will knock your socks off... it's so quick and easy to make and no one will notice the lack of sugar!
Ingredients
- 5 c. prepared fruit (washed, smashed, etc)
- 5 T. low-sugar fruit pectin
- 1 c. water or sugar-free fruit juice
- 1 c. honey (or omit completely and use 1 extra cup of fruit)
Instructions
Wash and sterilize six 8 oz. jelly jars or four 12 oz. jelly jars. Fill with boiling water and set aside.
Put lids in a pan of water and bring to a gentle boil.
Wash, smash and prepare the fruit.
Add 5 level cups of fruit to a large saucepan.
Add 1 cup water or juice to the saucepan. (I always use water -- and you can omit if you want REALLY thick jam)
Stir 5 level Tbsp. of fruit pectin into the fruit and bring to a full boil, stirring regularly.
Once boiling, add honey and bring mixture to a full boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
Spoon into washed and sterilized jars, cover with lid and ring, and flip jar upside down for 5 minutes (or process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes).
Flip jars over (lids facing up) and let cool at room temperature for 12-24 hours, making sure the lids seal.
Wipe down jars and store in the pantry or freeze any jars that didn't seal.
Notes
This recipe makes 48 oz. of jam (4 12-oz jars or 6 8-oz. jars).
You can omit the honey if you prefer no sweeteners at all, but then you'll want to use 6 cups of prepared fruit instead of 5 cups.
If you're using sour fruit (cherries, rhubarb, etc.) add a pinch of baking soda to "neutralize" that sour taste, and thus require less sugar. (Thanks to Sandra for this tip!)
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Nutrition Information
Yield
48Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 42Total Fat 0gSaturated Fat 0gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 0gCholesterol 0mgSodium 3mgCarbohydrates 11gFiber 1gSugar 9gProtein 0g
Nutritional information is approximate and does not account for additional ingredients or added toppings.
More Jam-Making Resources
Click the images below to read more about canning jam (but keep in mind, those posts were written before I found my no-sugar recipe).
Just for fun, I looked up the calorie count for 1 cup of honey versus 7 cups of sugar…
- 1 cup of honey = 336 calories
- 7 cups of white sugar = 5425 calories
So yeah, using honey “saves” more than 5000 calories PER BATCH of jam (or roughly 100 calories per ounce of jam!)
My Original Jam Recipes:
I originally shared all my jam recipes way back in 2010… those recipes are still fantastic and work wonderfully with sugar..
But now, you can tweak them to work with this no-sugar recipe by using the ratios of 5 cups of prepared fruit to 1 cup of honey and water. And make sure you use LOW-SUGAR pectin in place of regular fruit pectin.
Making homemade jam is not as scary as you might think — give it a try and let me know how it turns out!
Visit my virtual recipe box for more simple, delicious, family-friendly recipes!
CARRIE says
Love the simplicity of this and honey is my go to sweetener.
I see mention of strawberry-rhubarb. What proportions would you use here?
Rhubarb season is here and I’d love a new recipe to try.
Also, I’m trying to avoid adding pectin. I know it will be thinner, but any suggestions?
Andrea says
Hi Carrie,
I usually use 1.5 cups (cooked and mashed) rhubarb and 3.5 cups mashed strawberries.
I’ve never made jam without pectin and all my friends who do have very runny, unappetizing jam. If you’re going to go through the work of making it, I’d use Pectin to make sure it turns out. 🙂
Ellie Guertin says
In reading the below comments I have my answer to why the jam did not jell. One must use LOW SUGAR or NO SUGAR PECTIN. Still taste good!
Andrea says
yup, that will do it — which is why I mentioned over and over again in the post to make sure you use low-sugar fruit pectin for this recipe. It absolutely will not work if you don’t.
Enjoy your ice cream topping (and good idea on that — much better than wasting your work!!)
Ellie Guertin says
I followed your receipe in making blackberry jam. It did not jell. At least I have blackberry syrup for waffles, incream. I have made jam for years using sugar. Wish I knew what went wrong.
Mikela says
How long does your jam stay good for when you take it out of the freezer?
Andrea says
I can my jam, I don’t freeze it, but whatever the case, jam out of the freezer or an open jar of canned jam will stay good for many weeks in the fridge.
Linda Gaudet says
I have fresh satsuma juice and want a recipe to can jelly without using sugar Do you have a recipe with honey (or organic syrup) instead? Thank you.
Andrea says
Hi Linda,
I guess I’m a bit confused by your question — this recipe IS for making jam with Honey. You can likely use the same recipe for Jelly (although I’ve never personally tried Satsuma juice jelly)! Either that or Google “Satsuma Juice Jelly with Honey” and you’re bound to find something.
Rebecca West says
Hi there,
Wondering why you did not use lemon juice in the recipe as most recipes call for that to help the pectin activate and maintain colour of the jam. Just made a batch and tasted great but a friend questioned how I did not use lemon juice
Thanks !
Andrea says
I’ve never used Lemon Juice — just a person preference as I don’t usually have it in the house and my kids swear they can taste it! 🙂
Martha L Murphy says
How do you fix it , if your jam doesn’t set. i made a recipe using 6 cups of rhubarb and 3 cups of strawberries, with 1 1/2 cups of honey. And one pouch of liquid pectin. It’s been 48 hours and it hasn’t set. Thanks in advance for your help.
Andrea says
bummer that your jam didn’t set — none of it???
Were your jars super hot when you added the hot jam? That’s so crazy!
Fortunately, it’s a really easy “fix” — just put the jars of unsealed jam in the freezer and you can pull them out whenever you need another jar. It should last for many months in the freezer.
Michelle says
I cannot wait to try this jam with my kids this summer! I’ve always made easy freezer jam but it does have tons of sugar! Thank you for this!!
Andrea says
yay — hope you guys love it too!
and if you want to try it now, you could always use frozen berries (not the same as picking them, I know — but it works well for jam!)
Laura Larson says
I’m trying this for the first time and was wondering after the jars have been washed and sterilized they are to be filled with boiling water. Does this water get poured out once the jars are filled with fruit?
Andrea says
Hi Laura,
Yes, sorry I didn’t specifically mention that — you DO need to dump out the water and then immediately fill the hot steamy jar with the hot bubbly jam. That heat is what seals the jars.
Thanks for asking… and good luck with your first attempt at jam!
Lisa Walters says
Thanks so much for this–love that you mentioned you DO NOT have to water bath. All recipes I see say do water bath, and I just cannot remember my mom ever, ever making jelly like that. I’m so doing this as I have fruit in the freezer I need to use.
also, love your blog, I have followed since Nora was a baby!
Andrea says
Thanks Lisa! Wow, what a long-time follower 🙂
Technically, all canning resources will say you MUST use a hot water bath, but I’ve never ever done that with jam (neither has my mom or grandma) and we’ve never had any issues. You’ll save a bunch of time by just flipping the jars over!
Cindy says
Can you use regular pectin or liquid pectin?
And honey?
Andrea says
HI Cindy, I’ve only ever used regular pectin so I can’t say for sure if liquid pectin would work or not. Sorry!
Trish says
Can this recipe be doubled or tripled?
Andrea says
I always encourage readers to ‘just give it a try” if it’s something they want to do, however, I’ve always had the best luck by doing multiple single batches of jam at a time. I personally don’t have a pot large enough to accommodate a double or triple batch (it really bubbles up when it’s at a full boil) and if jam boils over, it’s a massive mess 🙂
Tina says
Can I add lemon juice to this and remove the pectin but cook it for longer so it thickens? I don’t like using pectin in my jams but I have never made them with honey instead of sugar.
Andrea says
I would never recommend removing pectin from a jam/jelly recipe (that’s what thickens it). That said, my suggestion is always just to “give it a try and see” — then you’ll know for sure! I suppose the worst-case scenario is that you waste a little bit of fruit and honey and/or have runny jam that you can then use for pancakes, ice cream etc.!
Ana says
You can use chia seeds insyeaf of pectin to thicken it.
Andrea says
oh — good to know! I wouldn’t have thought of this!
Gracie says
Hi, How much chia seeds did you use to set the jam please?
Colleen says
Hello I was wondering if this method would work with fruit juices? Maybe cook it down longer? I have a family member who can’t have seeds. And I also would like to try watermelon jelly
Andrea says
I’ve never tried it with juice… but like I always say, “What’s the worst that could happen!?”
You could always try a small batch so you don’t waste too much if it doesn’t turn out!
Betty says
Serving Size says “1.” Is that 1 Tablespoon for 42 Calories?
Andrea says
it’s 1 ounce 🙂
Hanna Schlup says
Dear Andrea,
I’m wondering how much honey should I put in red currant jelly? The recipe says for 6 1/2 cup of juice add 4 1/2 sugar.
How long can you store jellies and jam that are prepared with honey?
Thanks for your answer.
Andrea says
I’d say you can make the recipe exactly as I have it (with 1 cup of honey)– just don’t add an extra cup of water or juice. My recipe calls for 5 c. fruit plus 1 c. water/juice — which is essentially the same as your recipe for 6.5 c. juice.
I’m not sure how long it lasts — I’d assume several years, just like regular jam/jelly — but ours never lasts that long 🙂
Hanna Schlup says
I did it the way you said, but I’m wondering how long it takes that the jellies sets?
Andrea says
Hi Hanna, it should only take 5-10 minutes for the jars to sell… and the jelly should set fairly quickly (mine is usually set right away). For sure within 24 hours!