Capture Summer with this Easy 30-Minute Blueberry Jam (no canning skills needed!)

This easy Blueberry Jam comes together in less than 30 minutes. It can be canned with a hot water bath or stored in the refrigerator or freezer, your choice. The free printable labels make it perfect for gifting!

If type the word “jam” into the search bar for this site, you’ll discover that the list goes on and on. If you add jelly and marmalade to the query, the collection is even larger. You’d be right if you surmised that I love to create seasonal spreads for toast, biscuits, bagels, etc., and delicious concoctions for charcuterie and cheese boards. Today we’re welcoming a new member to the jam/jelly/marmalade club, this Easy 30-Minute Blueberry Jam!

No canning skills are needed but you can can!

The great thing about this blueberry jam is that you get to choose how to preserve it. If you enjoy canning or have limited freezer space, this jam is perfect for putting through a hot water bath which will make it shelf-stable. If you’re intimidated by canning or don’t want to spend the extra time, this blueberry jam can also be stored in the refrigerator or freezer.

How to crush blueberries

This blueberry jam recipe starts with crushed blueberries. It’s essential to crush the berries before measuring for accuracy. For example, a cup of whole berries will yield a fair amount less than those berries are crushed. But if you’ve ever tried to crush these pretty little blue orbs, you’re probably aware that it’s not a fun task.

With other berries, like strawberries, raspberries and blackberries, I simply use a potato masher and in no time flat, the berries are crushed and ready to roll. Blueberries, however, have a firm, stubborn little skin wrapped around them and when you attempt to crush them, they either go rolling or squirt juice in every direction imaginable.

But, no worries! I’ve discovered two methods that make crushing blueberries much easier:

• Place two cups of berries in a ziplock bag, seal the bag then use a rolling pin to crush them.
• The second technique is even easier but it requires a little extra (hands-off) time. Freeze the berries on a sheet pan or in a bowl for an hour then allow them to thaw. The berries will be soft and easy to crush without making a mess. If you’re pinched for time, simply pop them in the microwave for 5-6 minutes after the berries are frozen, stirring once halfway through. Voila, minimal crushing is necessary!

Give it away!

Who wouldn’t love to receive a jar of this delicious Blueberry Jam? Because it makes such a great gift, we’ve created some pretty labels to adorn your jam jars. The labels also make it easy to identify whether you store it on the shelf or in the freezer.

To receive the free printable labels, simply leave us a comment below letting us know you’d like them. We’ll send them to your inbox, along with instructions on how to use them. We’ll include two labels; the ones pictured in this post which say “Refrigerate after opening” as well as another set that say “Refrigerate or freeze when not in use”.

The first labels mentioned above will be for those of you who decide to can this blueberry jam and the second is perfect if you decide to store your jam in the refrigerator or freezer. Either way, family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, teachers… everyone will be thrilled with a gift of this fabulous jam!

This blueberry jam is amazing on toast, biscuits, scones, brioche rolls, brioche bread and artisan rolls. It’s also wonderful as an ice cream topping, served with pancakes and waffles or drizzled over yogurt with some great granola. If you’ve got 30 minutes, you’ve got enough time to stir up a batch before the fleeting blueberry season slips away for another year!

Café Tips for making this Easy 30-Minute Blueberry Jam

• This recipe calls for 4 cups of “prepared fruit”. Prepared fruit, in this case, means crushed blueberries. You’ll want to purchase 1½ quarts (6 cups) of fresh blueberries to end up with 4 cups of crushed berries.
• It’s important when making jams and jellies to understand the terminology. One of the classic terms is to bring the fruit/sugar mixture to a “full rolling boil”. This means a boil that continues to bubble furiously, even when you give it a good stir.
• Another thing that’s important is to pay heed to the time that’s indicated in the recipe. In this Strawberry Balsamic Black Pepper Jam, the instructions say to allow the fruit/pectin/sugar mixture to come to a “full rolling boil”, then to boil for exactly one minute. Set a timer! This will ensure successful results.
• As mentioned above you can either preserve this Blueberry Jam, using a hot water bath, making it shelf-stable OR simply ladle it into jars and store it in the refrigerator or freezer.
• If you chose the canning method, here is a great guide from National Center for Home Food Preservation.
• If you chose to not use a hot water bath, it’s fine for the jam to sit at room temperature for several hours. The sugar in jam/jelly/marmalade recipes acts as a preservative so there’s no need to worry. Just keep it in the refrigerator or freezer for longer storage.
• This recipe calls for 1 box (1.75 ounces or 49g) of powdered fruit pectin. I use SureJell. SureJell is available at most larger grocery stores and online. If you can’t find it at your local grocery store, check with the front desk or manager as it’s stored in different places at different stores. There are two types of SureJell, regular and low-sugar. You want the regular or original variety for this recipe which comes in a yellow box (the low sugar version comes in a pink box).
• In order to ensure success with this Blueberry Jam, don’t try to alter the ingredients. Lots of people are concerned about the amount of sugar in jam and jelly recipes. 4 cups of sugar might sound like a lot but this recipe makes a lot of jam and you only eat a teaspoon or so at a time.
• Sugar is not only a sweetener but it also helps with the set of the jam and it’s a preservative, as mentioned above. There are low sugar pectins on the market and it would be better to go with a recipe specifically designed for low sugar than to try to alter this recipe. Plus you only consume a small amount of jam at a time so each serving is not that much sugar.
• I often get asked if you can substitute dry and liquid pectins. The definitive answer is no. Occasionally it will work out but generally, the proportion of fruit to sugar often varies, depending on whether the recipe calls for dry or liquid pectin. To ensure success, it’s best to stick with the type of pectin that the recipe calls for.
• Measure carefully when making jam or jelly with pectin. The proportion of sugar to fruit is important and if you use more or less than what’s called for, the set of the jam can be affected with the final results being too thick or too runny.
• You might be wondering why there is ½ teaspoon of butter in this jam recipe. The butter helps eliminate most of the foaming that can occur while the jam cooks.
• Many jam/jelly/marmalade recipes call for measuring the sugar into a separate bowl, then adding it to the fruit. Why? It’s easy to lose track and add too much or too little and risk the results. I don’t do this – but I do count out loud so I’m sure about how much sugar I’m adding.

Thought for the day:

You will keep in perfect peace,
those whose minds are steadfast
because they trust in You.
Trust in the Lord forever,
for the Lord, the Lord Himself
is the ROCK eternal.
Isaiah 26:3-4

What we’re listening to for inspiration:

Peace

 

If you enjoy this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review! It’s so helpful to other readers to hear your results, adaptations and ideas for variations.