Ready for a quick, delicious recipe perfect for fresh strawberries? My mom taught me how to make Homemade Strawberry Freezer Jam a few years ago and it is now one of our favorite recipes!
This jam is DELICIOUS. As in so delicious my father-in-law eats it straight out of the jar with a spoon. We always give him a few jars for his birthday and Christmas.
The best part is that it is SUPER quick. We made two batches in less than an hour! That is 13 jars of delicious homemade strawberry goodness.
And if you need more motivation to make some, it costs less than half the cost of buying good jam at the store (see my calculations at the end of the post for more details!)
We always have some around – we keep one jar in the fridge and the rest in the freezer (and thaw a new one once our fridge jar is running low.) 
It’s pretty simple – here are the basics. There is also a printable recipe below.
First, prep your strawberries (wash, remove leaves, roughly chop) then mash them with a potato masher. You can pulverize them until they are completely crushed, or leave big pieces of fruit – it’s your call. Ours was about a medium level of pulverization (is that really a word?) My next batch will be even more homogeneous (picky toddler doesn’t like “chunks” of fruit in anything.)
You’ll need 4 cups of crushed berries.
Next, mix sugar with the contents of one SURE-JELL package. Add water, and heat until boiling. Once boiling, stir constantly for 1 minute and then remove from heat. Mix with mashed berries until fully combined, then pour into clean containers.
I tend to us a combination of Ball jars with white plastic lids plus some random glass jars leftover from other things. Since you are preserving the jam by freezing, you don’t have to worry about the jars sealing tight like in traditional canning. We have a pretty good collection of regular size and wide-mouth Ball plastic jar lids in our house – not only do we use them for jams, but also for pantry and refrigerator storage.
- 4 pints strawberries (4 cups crushed)
- 3 cups sugar
- 1 box of SURE-JELL
- 1 cup cold water
- Wash jam jars & lids really well (both glass & plastic containers work). For freezer jam you don't need to have the lid "seal" like you do when making cooked jam, it's OK to reuse old lids or use plastic caps.
- Wash strawberries & remove stems.
- First, crush but don't puree strawberries (for jam you want bits of crushed fruit!) Our tried-and-true method is crushing fruit with a potato masher in a 13x9 glass baking dish. Measure out 4 cups of crushed berries.
- Stir together 3 cups of sugar and the content of one box of "SURE-JELL For Less or No Sugar Needed Fruit Pectin" in a small saucepan.
- Add 1 cup of water and bring mixture to a boil. Boil and stir for 1 minute, then remove from heat.
- Mix hot pectin/sugar mixture and 4 cups of mashed berries in a bowl until combined.
- Pour or spoon into prepared containers, leaving about a 1/2 inch space at the top (it will expand slightly during freezing.)
- Cover jars and let them set at room temperature for 24 hours.
- Jam can stay in the refrigerator for around 3 weeks and in the freezer for 1 year. Thaw frozen jam in the refrigerator when needed.
I LOVED your mom’s jam growing up, Yana! I am psyched that I can now make my own. Does this work for other fruit, raspberries or blueberries, as well?
Thanks Cassie! You should – it’s super easy and delicious π
Thanks for the recipe! My mom used to make this, too, and she would add rhubarb……drooling just thinking about it!!