I seem to be in a jam making mood. Last week I published the recipe for Easy Sugar-Free Raspberry Jam and now: Sugar-Free Strawberry Jam. I got so thrilled about my (finally!) successful raspberry jam experiment, that I wanted to try out the same method for strawberry jam. And, my husband prefers strawberries to raspberries.
Just replacing raspberries with strawberries didn’t work, there were many other things to consider and to change. But, finally I succeeded in making jam which my whole family likes, including me. Hope you like this as well!
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| Nutrition information | Protein | Fat | Net carbs | kcal |
| In total: | 2.3 g | 0.9 g | 38.1 g | 172 kcal |
| Per tablespoon (0.5 oz = 15 g): | 0.1 g | 0.0 g | 1.4 g | 6 kcal |
| Per teaspoon (0.18 oz = 5 g): | 0.0 g | 0.0 g | 0.5 g | 2 kcal |
Tips for making the strawberry jam
Actually, there are two options for making this jam, depending on how chunky you prefer your jam and how you are going to use it. If you prefer chunky jam, just follow the directions in the recipe.
If you prefer smooth jam, combine all the ingredients, except xanthan, in a food processor and purée until the consistency is to your liking. Pour the mixture in a saucepan and sprinkle the xanthan evenly on top pinch by pinch, mixing all the time while sprinkling. Heat over a high heat. Stir all the time along the bottom. When the mixture starts steaming, turn the heat to the minimum and let the jam simmer 10 minutes, mixing constantly. Let the jam cool down.
All in all, it’s better to stir the jam all the time while cooking it. First of all, stirring prevents the jam from burning. Secondly, stirring prevents the jam also from bubbling vigorously and the scalding jam from spreading and shooting in all directions. In any case it’s best to be careful with the simmering jam and keep the lid available for covering the saucepan quickly if the jam starts spreading. Be sure to keep the stove on its lowest setting after the mixture begins to steam, that also prevents the jam from burning and shooting all over.
I prefer to use a large saucepan and a big mixing spoon because the strawberries are easy to crush and I don’t have to be afraid of spilling the hot jam.
This sugar-free strawberry jam is not that sweet, so if you prefer sweeter jam, the sweetness is easy to adjust by adding more Zsweet sweetener or unflavored liquid stevia.
My experiences when developing the sugar-free strawberry jam
The first experiment I did exactly in the similar way than my Easy Sugar-Free Raspberry Jam, expect I reduced the amount of Zsweet remarkably since the strawberries were sweeter than raspberries. The result was praised by my husband, but I wasn’t completely satisfied with the texture. So I made another experiment. And another one. And another one. Mainly the problem was to achieve the best consistency. The taste was surprisingly perfect from the very beginning, but I wanted to perfect the texture as well, since the jam was somehow a bit too slimy in my opinion.
In my first experiment I used whole frozen strawberries and that wasn’t the best idea, since the strawberries were so big and it took long time before they melted while cooking the jam. With raspberries I didn’t have this problem simply because raspberries were smaller and they didn’t contain that much water (frozen water in this case) than strawberries.
I wanted to use xanthan as thickener also for this strawberry jam. Chia seeds or psyllium husks would have been interesting options, too, but somehow I wanted to succeed with xanthan. So, I let the frozen strawberries melt and then added all the ingredients to a saucepan. I heated the mixture, but the strawberries were hard to break with the mixing spoon and the jam got thick immediately because of the xanthan. That experiment produced a very chunky jam, but I wanted to try out also a smooth version. I didn’t want to cook the jam for very long time because I wanted the flavors stay fresh and fruity.
In my next experiment, I again melted the frozen strawberries and this time puréed them in a food processor before cooking. The result was an extremely smooth jam. Well, too smooth for general use. If I would use the jam for example for buttercream or cream cheese frosting, or as a sauce for cheesecake, that would have been perfect. But I still prefer some chunks in my strawberry jam when topping my pancakes or muffins with it.
The best result in my opinion I got when I combined all the other ingredients, except xanthan, in a saucepan and cooked the mixture until the consistency was what I wanted. All the time while cooking and stirring I crushed the strawberries with the mixing spoon. Adding the xanthan after the preferred chunkiness was reached, was the key to the success.
Tips for variation and serving suggestions
This recipe is for a jam made from frozen — and melted — strawberries, since now it’s winter and simply not the season for fresh strawberries. In the summertime I’m definitely going to try out how the recipe works with fresh strawberries.
This jam, especially the smooth version, is also great for filling low-carb muffins and cookies. I tried it with my Low-Carb Linzer Hearts and they were superb!
The smooth version of the jam is also great as sauce for cheesecakes or other cakes. I used it also for making strawberry buttercream with which I filled low-carb vanilla whoopie pies. What a delish sweet snack!
I often make strawberry quark (curd) for dessert, because my husband likes it so much. So far I have used fresh strawberries or frozen, melted strawberries for the quark. After developing this jam I’m practically using only it, it makes whipping up the dessert very quick and simple. And, you don’t need to add other sweeteners because the sweetness of the jam is enough for sweetening the quark.
If you get this message (your post was several years ago), would you share the recipe for the strawberry quark?
Hi Ouida, it’s a very simple recipe: I use 250 grams quark (with 10% fat), 200 ml whipped cream and approximately 200 grams strawberries or 100 grams strawberry jam. If I use strawberries (not jam), I might add 10 drops liquid stevia or a couple of tablespoons powdered erythritol and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. That’s it!
I tweeked your recipe just slightly. I added more Swerve confectioners and used Pensey’s vanilla extract and NOW stevia gycerite and lemon juice. The taste was still not quite right. To bring out the sweetness and get rid of the “artificial” taste of these sweetners, I found a few dashes of Real Salt did the trick. The result is fabulous!
Hi Joan, thank you for sharing your tweaks, so great to hear you finally got the result you wanted!
I have been experimenting with strawberry jam today and I hope this one is a winner. I love the idea of xanthum gum instead of pectin or chia seeds. I just cannot seem to get the consistency I want from chia seeds. Thank you!
You’re welcome!
Would the Jam recipes work without the stevia? I don’t have any and can’t buy it where I live. I would love to make all your jams!!
Hi Carol, thanks for your comment. You don’t necessarily need stevia, but if you use two sweeteners (erythritol and stevia), you get the maximum sweetness with no aftertaste. Erythritol tends to have that certain cooling effect and stevia a slightly licorice-like aftertaste. Can you order stevia online, like for example from Amazon?
Thanks for replying…I went on a search and I can buy it from the online low carb grocery store where I shop. I really miss Jam and looking forward to making some.
Thanks again!!
You’re welcome! Wishing you successful and scrumptious jam experiments! 🙂
Where is the print button? I want to print this recipe to try it!
Sorry, I’m so disappointed with all recipe and print plugins because they never work and it’s pain in the neck to update any recipe so I use just tables for my recipes. Sometimes I add recipes as .pdfs to my blog posts so that people can print them. Another option is to copy the contents for example to Word and print it out.
Hi, how long will this last before getting spoiled? Any way to make the storage life longw naturally? Thanks!
Hi, I’ve been storing it in the freezer, but you can also prepare it like usual jams, so pour into a hot, sterilized glass jar.
That’s the same thing I was wondering. Can I do this in a water bath or does it need a pressure canner?
Thanks so much for your help.
DonnaL
Hi DonnaL, water bath should work.
What about fresh strawberries? can i sub frozen to fresh one since it season and i just went to strawberry farm for picking up them)))))
Thank you
Hi Victoria, I always wanted to try this out with fresh strawberries but never managed! However, I would expect this works well also with fresh strawberries. Please let me know how it turned out if you try this!
works great with fresh strawberries!
Yum!
You mentioned raspberry sugarfree recipe and that is what I need. Although strawberry is more plentiful I prefer raspberry. Could you help me with the one you were so pleased with? Thank You
Kate
Hi Kate, just click the text where it says “Easy Sugar-Free Raspberry Jam”. It’s a link which takes you to the recipe. Well, I can also give the link here to make it easier: https://www.lowcarbsosimple.com/easy-sugar-free-raspberry-jam/. Hope you like it!
Wow – this sounds amazing! What a yummy jam – I definitely need to try this and spread it all over some whole wheat toast for breakfast.
Thanks, Rachel, hope you like it!
Just wondering if you have heard of Pomona’s Universal Pectin? Jam making is very easy with our pectin and it jells reliably well, with only a few minutes of cooking, using low amounts of any sweetener, or even no sweetener at all. It is 100% pectin, no sugar or preservatives. The directions are on our website, so you can learn how to use it before buying it. It is available online or at most natural/health food stores. I hope this helpful information for you
Hi Mary Lou, yes, I’m familiar with pectin — although not with Pomona’s pectin. I have used pectin many years ago, but I have to admit that I haven’t used it very recently. I remember the latest batch I had expired before I managed to use it since I don’t make jam that often… But thanks for a hint, I think pectin would be handy in the late summer or fall, when it’s the jam season.
One last fact about Pomona’s — it keeps indefinitely. I wish you the best of luck with your jam-making experiments!
Great, thanks for the info! I have bought my pectin (that one which expired) from a health food store.
I am going to try this. I eat very low carb and this would be wonderful. Thanks.