Did you know you can make an easy, fresh, and healthy strawberry jam with chia seeds?! It’s true! This Strawberry Chia Jam is thick, sweet, and fruity, and it’s made with only 3 ingredients – fruit, sweetener, and chia seeds.
So if you have an abundance of strawberries, this is a great way to use some! This strawberry jam keeps in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or in the freezer for 2 months, so you can enjoy strawberries for months after they’ve peaked.
Table of Contents
- Why You’ll Love Strawberry Chia Jam
- Ingredients
- Adaptations/Variations
- How to Make Strawberry Chia Jam
- Tips for Success
- More Jam Recipes
Why You’ll Love Strawberry Chia Jam
If you’ve ever made homemade jam, you know it can be fussy! But when you make it with chia seeds, it’s super easy to get right. Chia seeds soak up to 10 times their size and weight in liquid, developing a gelatinous coating that makes them the most amazing thickener. Chia seeds are a great source of omega-3s, too, which is a bonus!
What I love most about this strawberry chia jam, other than the fact that it’s so easy to make, is that the taste of fresh, right-off-the-vine strawberries comes shining through.
This strawberry chia jam is amazing on buttered toast or stirred into a cup of yogurt.
Ingredients
Just 3 ingredients are all you need!
- Strawberries – fresh strawberries, hulled and diced.
- Honey – I love honey as a sweetener for this jam, but pure maple syrup (grade A only, because it’s more neutral-tasting) or even granulated sugar will work well. I’ve actually also made this strawberry chia jam without any sweetener, and it’s still great! The sweetness of the strawberries is sometimes all you need.
- Chia seeds – our star ingredient!
Adaptations/Variations
- Feel free to use other berries if you’d like, or a mix of two or more. The cook time might be a bit more or less depending on the berries you use.
- A squeeze of lemon juice is nice in this jam for a bright burst.
- Leave out the sweetener – sometimes, the strawberries are sweet enough on their own! If you do that, you may want to add a splash of water when you first put the strawberries over the stove, to help get them cooking.
How to Make Strawberry Chia Jam
First, cook your strawberries and honey until thick. You can mash them if you’d like your jam to have a smoother consistency. Then, stir in the chia seeds, and let the jam sit off the heat until the chia seeds have worked their thickening magic! From there, it’s just a matter of refrigerating your chia seed strawberry jam and enjoying it.
Tips for Success
- If, after sitting for the initial 10 minutes, your jam doesn’t appear to be thickening, you can add another tablespoon of chia seeds.
- If you prefer a perfectly smooth jam without the appearance or texture of seeds, you can puree this jam using an immersion blender after it’s thickened.
More Jam Recipes
Strawberry Chia Jam
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh strawberries (hulled and diced)
- 1/4 cup honey (can substitute grade A pure maple syrup)
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds
Instructions
- Set a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the strawberries and honey.
- Cook, stirring occasionally, until the strawberries and honey come to a boil. Let it continue to boil until it starts to break down and form a sauce, 5-10 minutes. If you'd like, you can mash the berries with a potato masher or fork until it's the consistency you prefer.
- Taste and add more honey if you'd like. Use a little at a time – it goes a long way.
- Stir in the chia seeds and remove from the heat. Let sit until thickened, about 10 minutes. The jam will continue to thicken as it cools, but if it still seems a bit thin after 10 minutes, add another tablespoon of chia seeds.
- Transfer to a jar with an airtight lid and refrigerate. Your jam will keep in the fridge for up to two weeks or in the freezer for up to two months.
I’m so glad you’re here! I’m a vegetarian home cook, certified plant-based pro, and mom. I’m married to an enthusiastic carnivore, and my mission is to achieve peace in the kitchen – one tasty recipe at a time. These days, with a name like mine, I also try not to ask to speak to the manager.
