You can buy expensive jams if you want, but there’s something really special about a good homemade jam! I’ve been wanting to try to make this for quite some time now and now that strawberries are cheaper, I thought I’d take advantage. This recipe was so good I had to stop myself from eating the jam by the spoonful! It’s sweet, tangy and has a nice little crunch from the chia seeds.
While I’ve seen multiple versions of this recipe, I was initially inspired by A Sweet Pea Chef and Gimme Some Oven. I did make a few modifications. For one, I used coconut sugar instead of honey or maple syrup. Coconut sugar is slightly lower on the glycemic index, meaning it is less likely to spike your blood sugar levels. It also has more vitamins, minerals and nutrients than traditional sugar. I also added a teaspoon of lemon juice. Surprisingly, this cut the acidity of the strawberries a bit.
Chia Seeds
In this recipe, chia is used to help the strawberries form a jam-like consistency instead of pectin, as chia seeds are a natural thickening agent. They also are incredibly nutritious. Chia seeds are a complete protein and are an excellent source of vegetarian Omega-3 fatty acids. Just a 1 ounce serving contains 6 grams of protein and 18% of your daily calcium needs. I personally love them because they add a nice crunchy consistency. If you do not like the consistency you can grind them, or use ground flax instead.
A Delicious Jam in Minutes!
This recipe is quick and simple. You’ll include fresh ingredients without consuming any of the preservatives or artificial sweeteners that might be included in regular sugar. All you’ll need to do is:
- Cut up around 2 lbs of fresh strawberries
- Boil them down until they are nice and soft and water is released
- Mix in coconut sugar and chia seeds!
- Allow to rest overnight and you have a delicious and healthy jam spread to mix in to oats, top on toast or serve with yogurt parfaits!
Strawberry Chia Jam
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Strawberries Cut into pieces
- 2-3 tbsp Chia seeds
- 3 tbsp coconut sugar
- 1 tsp lemon juice
Instructions
- The first step is to thoroughly clean your strawberries remove the stem and cut into pieces.
- In a pot, cook down the strawberries on medium-high heat stirring occasionally to make sure the bottom doesn’t burn.
- Add 3 tbsp of coconut sugar (add more if you would like it sweeter) and 1 tsp lemon juice.
- Once the strawberries have cooked down for about 10 minutes they will have released a good amount of water. You can then remove from flame.
- At this point, you could mash the jam with a spoon. I chose to leave my jam chunky like a compote.
- Add 3 tbsp chia seeds and stir. In about 10 minutes, the mixture will become gelatinous. It will gel up even more overnight.
- Transfer to a mason jar and allow to cool overnight.
Notes
