One of my fondest memories of childhood is making strawberry jam with my mom.
When I was young, we lived in a very beautiful part of Ontario called Prince Edward County. One of the greatest things about ‘the County’, as it’s fondly referred to by the locals, is the abundance of agriculture in the area – apple orchards, strawberry fields, vineyards, farmer’s markets, cheese factories and other local artisans are everywhere you look.
When we were kids, my mom used to take us to the local strawberry fields where we would pick bucket after bucket of the beautiful little ruby red fruits, popping a few into my mouth when my mom wasn’t watching – sorry mom! Afterwards came my favourite part: my mom would make huge batches of strawberry jam that we would then jar and store in our pantry to enjoy for the rest of the year.
Now, I know I may be a little biased, but my mom’s jam is the best jam I have ever had! We would put it on everything – toast, ice cream, muffins, straight out of the jar on a spoon – basically anything we could, just to get it in our tummies. It was such a treat and was a great family tradition that I have really come to cherish now as an adult.
So you can only imagine my surprise as I was making this incredibly easy Strawberry Chia Seed Jam, tried my first spoonful and was instantly reminded of my mom’s jam. It’s always a great feeling when you can replicate a flavour from your childhood and it’s just as delicious as you remember it to be.
While my mom may have spent hours making batches of her famous jam, this Strawberry Chia Seed Jam comes together in less than 20 minutes, including chopping time!
My secret? A blender!
Basically, once your strawberries are destemmed and chopped in half, you toss them all into a blender with some water, maple syrup (optional) and chia seeds. Everything gets blended until you achieve your preferred jam consistency. Once blended, pour the contents of your blender into a small saucepan and cook as per the instructions below.
See? It’s called Super Easy Sunday for a reason 😉
This was my first time making chia seed jam and I honestly don’t know why I waited so long to ever try it! The chia seeds in this recipe help to create the jelly-like consistency of the jam, all while adding extra protein, fibre and omega-3 fatty acids. Who knew jam could be so healthy? And, since the strawberries are so naturally sweet on their own, you really don’t even need to add any sort of sweetener to this jam. I did end up sweetening mine with a touch of maple syrup but next time I’ll probably just omit it and let the wonderful natural sweetness of the fruit shine through.
Since this jam is free of preservatives, it’s best to eat it up within a week of making it. We’ve stored ours in the mason jar you see in these pictures and used it for all sorts of things – pb & j sandwiches, topping some amazing double chocolate scones, slathered onto cornbread and, just like as a kid, even straight out of the jar!
What’s your favourite kind of jam to keep stocked up at home? We love keeping both raspberry and apricot jelly in our fridge at all times. What’s your favourite thing to add jam to?
As always, we hope you love this Strawberry Chia Seed Jam as much as we do. Give it a whirl and post your pictures to Instagram, Facebook and Google+ with the hashtag #glutenfreeveganpantry.
Lots of love & happy eats,
Savanna
- 2 cups strawberries, destemmed and chopped in half
- ¼ cup maple syrup (optional)
- 2 Tbsp Chia Seeds
- Water as needed
- Place chopped strawberries, chia seeds and maple syrup (if using) into a blender. Blend on medium to high speed until preferred jam consistency is obtained. Add water 1 Tbsp at a time as needed to get things moving.
- Pour contents of blender into a small saucepan and heat over medium heat until the jam begins to bubble. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5-7 minutes, or until the jam starts to thicken.
- Remove from heat and immediately pour into a mason jar. Allow to cool completely and then store in the fridge for up to one week.
Savanna is the photographer, food stylist, head taste-tester and she-brains behind Gluten Free Vegan Pantry. 
I tried this jam for the first time and was very happy with the result.
I used maple syrup and no additional water , it turned out sweet enough and the consistency was just right.
A great idea using Chia seeds to thicken it up.
Thanks for this recipe
Hello!!! For how long it’s good in the fridge? Thanks
Our didn’t last longer than a week since we ate it so quickly. I would think about 2 weeks or so if you keep it in a sealed container.
I haven’t even tasted this yet but it smells devine as it begins to bubble. I suspect that the pink color so many are posting about comes from air when in the blender or under a submersion blender. I think it will settle to red in time? Can’t wait for it to cool some!
FYI …no need to cook .
Blend for 3 minutes and put the finished product in a container suitable for the fridge or freezer ….
1 cup of fruit to 1 tablespoon of chia add honey or your choice of sweetener , we prefer none . It takes about 12 hours to fully set .
Can’t WAIT to try this. Looks amazing~
Hi,
I’ll try your receipe tomorrow, but can you tell me if it can also be done with blueberries or other fruit?
Yes, absolutely! You could use whichever fruit you wanted 🙂
Hi! So glad I came across your site. I’ve always wanted to try to make homemade jam, but always thought you needed gelatin or whatever bc that’s how my dad’s wife does it. As vegans we know that’s a no-no 🙂 Anyway the only “tweak” I made was instead of using syrup I used dates. Soooo good and the kid loves it. So awesome and THANK YOU!!
I just made this jam for the second time. Looks a little darker than the first time, but this time I didn’t add any water. So glad that I found it though, I do not buy store jam anymore this is my go to jam now! I have shared it on Facebook as well to let all my friends know about it. Couldn’t believe how much it tasted like…..strawberries. Yes, strawberry jam tasted like strawberries and not sugar. Thanks so much for posting it.
So happy you enjoy it so much! Can’t wait for strawberry season to roll around!!
Is there a way to store this jam for longer than a week?
Some of my readers have mentioned that they have successfully stored it in the freezer.
I am new to chia, and have made the chia strawberry jam exactly as you suggested. Mine looks like pink paste. I made another lot without using a blender. It is runny and pink. I thought the chia seeds would expand to create the thickening. Instread they are like tiny grains of sand in the mix.
Am I doing something wrong or are there different types of Chia? Help please.
The chia seeds do take some time to gel up and make the jam get thicker. Hopefully the flavour was still good though? There are both black and white chia seeds but that shouldn’t make a difference, as far as I know.
Do you have any chia seed jam recipes that can be canned the old fashioned way, in a water bath canner? Strawberry in particular, but other fruits as well (blueberries, rhubarb, etc)? Thanks
Hi Pat,
Unfortunately, I don’t have any experience with Chia seed jams that can be canned. I’m sure if you do a quick Google search though, someone would have an answer for you. Good luck!
I have made this jam several times and have used different fruits (using yor recipe as a guide); I have frozen jars of it and when thawed, it is just as good as ever!
So great to know!! Thanks!!
With your strawberry jam and Chia recipe..Instead of 1/4 cup of maple syrup can I add honey??
Absolutely! Let me know what you think of the finished product 🙂
I will be trying this for sure!
I was only wondering though, do you soak your chia seeds prior to blending them up with the strawberries?
No need to soak them, just add them in and blend away! 🙂
How dare you call this jam. It’s preserves!!! It’s practically all fruit 🙂 Thanks again for the recipe.
LOL Kendra, sorry if I caused offence;)
I just made a double batch of this. It does taste more like fresh strawberries. I do have a question though…this is the second time I made fruit jam with chia seeds. But my jam does not look as red as yours, in fact it is not very pretty. ( But tastes good!)
Hmm, that’s so strange that the colour isn’t as vibrant! I guess at the end of the day though, as long as it tastes great, that’s all that matters 🙂
Will it freeze well?
Hi Ashley,
I haven’t personally tried freezing it but I did some digging on the Internet and others have had success freezing similar chia seed jams. Hope this helps!
Hi,
Is this recipe able to be freeze blessed?
Thanks!
Hi Natalia,
I haven’t personally frozen this chia seed jam recipe but I did some digging around on the internet and others have frozen similar recipes with great success. Let me know if you decide to try it and how it works out for you 🙂
I am going to try this jam recipe
thanks
You’re very welcome, Della! I hope you enjoy it 🙂
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe, i’m totally in love with this jam.
Awww, thank you so much, Danielle! It’s a lot of fun to make and then slather on everything you eat for the next week 🙂
I just want to express my thanks. One- for taking the time to share this beautiful information with us and Two- for following your passion in a public forum. Many blessings of health, enjoyment and success to you!!!
Michael
Hi Michael,
Thank you so much for your touching comment! I’m so happy to share my recipes with everyone and am even happier to see them being so warmly received. Many positive thoughts back to you! 🙂
VERY difficult to read your website. Font is pretty but too light and delicate to read. I will need to try to copy and paste the entire page if I want to be able to read the recipe. I have a dell 19 inch screen. I should have no trouble.
Hi Susan,
Thank you so much for your feedback – as a new blogger, I appreciate all the feedback I can get! I’m actually in the process of rebranding right now and a change of font is on the list. I hope you were able to make it to the recipe okay – sometimes increasing the size of the font on your browser using (ctrl and +) helps with lighter fonts. I use this trick all the time at work where we have large monitors too.
Sounds lovely but I don’t think I could get through a jar of jam within a week, it takes me months.
Hi Rob,
You could always try halving the recipe if you didn’t want as much? I used this jam in my PB & J cookies recipe (/peanut-butter-and-jam-cookies-vegan-gluten-free/) so about half of it went into the cookies which made the amount more manageable. To be honest, I ate the last of the jam this morning and it was still just fine (I made it two weeks ago).
do the chia seeds still have their texture once the jam is done or do they dissolve?
Hi Enne,
Yes, the chia seeds still maintain their original texture. Overall, it just makes the jam more seedier, which I personally love!
I have a friend living in Prince Edward county. Been there many a time.
What about actually canning this like more traditional jams? Or freezing it? Strawberries, at least the ones that taste good, are only in season a short while…
What a small world – I love the County, it’s so gorgeous 🙂
I don’t have experience with canning or freezing this jam but, from what I can find on the web, I would probably advise against jarring it. I found a similar recipe (http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-blackberry-chia-seed-jam-recipes-from-the-kitchn-206273) where it was stored in the freezer by one of the readers and she said it turned out great. Let me know if you try it out!
Just found your awesome website and I’m totally in love with this ingredient list. What a great way to continue a family tradition! I will be back 🙂
Thank you so, so much for your sweet comment! I’m so thrilled to read that you enjoyed the recipe and like my site! As a new blogger, it’s so great to see how many people my blog is reaching 🙂 Make sure to sign up for our newsletter so that you can get all of the posts right away 🙂