This easy small batch strawberry jam is a great recipe perfect for making jam at home. You only need 3 ingredients and it only takes about 15 minutes. My one punnet strawberry jam recipe helps use up leftover strawberries or make a small amount of jam for when you really want it. It’s perfect on croissants, in cakes, or even enjoyed with a spoon.
A punnet is a container of strawberries you get from the supermarket and the weight of strawberries in punnets can change with each shop. In this one punnet jam recipe, I will show you how to make the perfect one punnet jam no matter what weight of strawberries you have.
Why you’ll love this small batch strawberry jam recipe
- It’s summer, the strawberries are out and they are delicious. It’s rare that I can walk past a stall without picking up at least one punnet of strawberries. This easy jam recipe takes just one punnet of strawberries so you can make a small batch strawberry jam and give it to friends, or family or enjoy it all to yourself like me!
- so quick, whip up a small batch strawberry jam for a quick afternoon tea. spread it in your sandwiches, on your victoria sponge or even on croissants if you’re feeling fancy. The easy strawberry jam is can be made in as little as 15minutes with just 3 ingredients. It couldn’t be easier to make strawberry jam without pectin uk.
- Have you, like me, been baking with strawberries left, right and centre now the summer months are upon us? If so, you’ll probably find you’ve had odd quantities of strawberries leftover. This small batch strawberry jam is the perfect way to reduce waste if you have leftover strawberries, just use equal parts strawberries and sugar and pop in a little lemon juice to thicken and voila! You have strawberry jam without pectin uk and no leftover strawberries. I love any recipe that helps me reduce my food waste.
Top Questions
What is the ratio of sugar to fruit for jam?
What happens if you put too much sugar in jam?
Why do you add lemon juice to jam?
How much lemon juice do I need for jam?
Can you make jam without pectin?
Small Batch Strawberry Jam Ingredients
For the full recipe and instructions scroll to the bottom of the page for the recipe card.
STRAWBERRIES
Fresh summer strawberries are one of my favourite fruits of the season. They smell incredible and the sweetness of this easy strawberry jam is the perfect way to use up your leftover strawberries (if you have any).
SUGAR
As if the glorious strawberry isn’t sweet enough, for the perfect small batch strawberry jam, you’ll need an equal weight of sugar to strawberries. This helps make the perfect strawberry jam without pectin uk.
LEMON
Lemon juice is a natural source of pectin, pectin helps to thicken your jam, for this one punnet strawberry jam you’ll need about the juice of half a lemon. You can also throw the rind in too whilst cooking. Just don’t forget to take the rind out before serving your strawberry jam.
How to make small batch strawberry jam – step by step
- Place a plate in the fridge to chill. You will use the plate to see how the jam sets later.
- Remove the leaves from the strawberries and slice them up. Weigh the strawberries as you will need the same weight in sugar. If you want a smoother jam use a potato masher to break the strawberries up or chop them smaller.
- Place the saucepan on low heat and add the strawberries.
- weigh and add the sugar
- Squeeze the juice from half a lemon and place the used lemon rind into the saucepan as well.
- When the sugar has dissolved turn up the heat so the jam is lightly bubbling in a rolling boil for 5 minutes and keep stirring.
- Take off the heat and add a few drops to the cool plate. After a minute push the jam with your finger and when it starts to gently wrinkle and hold that wrinkle the jam is done. If it doesn’t wrinkle put the jam back on the heat for another 2 minutes. A gentle wrinkle will give a soft set, for a thicker set get the jam to a stage where the wrinkle is very strong.
- Remove the lemon rinds and spoon the jam into warm sterilised jars (see here on how to sterilise them in the oven or sterilise jars in the air fryer if you prefer) and screw the lids on and leave to cool.
- Enjoy on your croissants, as a filling for your cakes, on your pancakes or with a spoon!
Small Batch Strawberry Jam Top Tips
No matter how many strawberries you buy or have leftover, it’s easy to work out how much sugar you’ll need for the small-batch strawberry jam. The ratio of fruit to sugar with jam is always 1:1. So if your punnet is 500gs then use 500g of sugar for your one punnet strawberry jam.
Rather than using jam sugar, use normal sugar and use lemon juice as a natural source of pectin for your easy strawberry jam. This gives you more control over the thickness of your one punnet strawberry jam and it’s a completely natural source of pectin for our strawberry jam.
If you’re not a season strawberry buyer, then here is my top ti for buying the sweetest strawberries… Smell them! You might look a little odd in the supermarket aisle sniffing the strawberries but you’ll be glad you did later. The strawberries that smell the sweetest will be the tastiest!
Serving Suggestions
SCONES
The perfect addition to an afternoon tea is homemade strawberry jam without pectin uk. I’m not here t judge if you’re a jam or cream first family, all I know is that if you’re not using this easy strawberry jam then you’re missing out! It’s perfect on scones and in jam finger sandwiches. High tea anyone?
VICTORIA SPONGE
On the subject of high tea, the table isn’t complete if you don’t have a perfect victoria sponge as your centrepiece. Simply bake and then spread the one punnet strawberry jam through the centre and sprinkle some icing sugar on the top. It’s the perfect light afternoon tea cake.
CROISSANTS
Picture this, it’s Sunday morning, the sun is streaming and after your latte, all you can think of is a perfect croissant with a small batch strawberry jam. You run to your local bakery, live your Emily in Paris moment and enjoy your croissant with strawberry jam in the early morning sun. Viola!
Equipment
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- saucepan or jam pan (jam pan would be better for larger batches)
- kitchen scales
- jam jars (depending on the size of berries and how much quantity you want to make you will need jam jars. I would recommend getting a few so you can make jam again and again. It is really addictive).
Substitutions and variations
Pectin Free Blackberry
If you’re reading this later in the season then strawberry jam may not be your best, but it could be time to go blackberry picking! I used to love going blackberry picking in late August or September and this blackberry jam is the best way to use up all those tasty berries. It’s super simple to make and, due to the high pectin content of blackberries, you won’t need any lemon juice or jam sugar.
If you’re feeling like those one punnet strawberry jam just isn’t enough for you then why not try my strawberry and champagne jam. It’s the perfect summer treat and makes wonderful party favours, especially if you make it into mini individual jars.
If you want to try this recipe but use other berries check out my blackberry jam.
Storing Small Batch Strawberry Jam / Making ahead of time options
Small batch strawberry jam can last for up to 12months in the cupboard so long as it’s unopened. Once you’ve opened it, keep it in the fridge and use it within 1 month.
This means you can make your one punnet strawberry jam for up to 1 year in advance of when you need it. You can always have homemade jam in the cupboard ready for those emergency afternoon scones.
FAQS
What is the ratio of sugar to fruit for jam?
1:1 – this means no matter how many strawberries you have you only need to measure them to match the amount of sugar you need.
What happens if you put too much sugar in jam?
If you put too much sugar in your jam simply add some extra strawberries. Nothing bad will happen to your jam, it may just be a bit sweet. But you can save your one punnet strawberry jam but adding in even more strawberries to bring the strawberry to sugar ratio back to 1:1,
Why do you add lemon juice to jam?
You add lemon juice to jam to help it thicken and set. Lemon juice is a natural source of pectin, which is the ingredient that helps jams to set. Adding lemon juice to jam means you can use an all-natural source of pectin and it gives you a little more control over the thickness of your jam in comparison to using the processed jam sugar.
How much lemon juice do I need for jam?
You will need about half a lemon’s worth of lemon juice for jam, but this will vary depending on how much jam you are making. In my easy strawberry jam recipe, you need half a lemon, but if you were to make a large batch of strawberry jam, you would want to increase the amount of lemon juice t ensure your jam thickens and sets correctly.
Can you make jam without pectin?
You can make blackberry jam without it bc it’s got a high natural content. Strawberries need a little pectin to thicken the one punnet strawberry jam. The juice of about half a lemon should do it. As blackberries have a higher pectin content, you don’t want to add anymore as your jam would become rock solid!
Other Recipes you might like
when all the new jams are done i will add them in here so leave it for now.
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Recipe
Small Batch Strawberry Jam – Easy one punnet strawberry jam recipe
Ingredients
(Easy to adapt – The amount of sugar needs to be equal to the weight of the strawberries)
- 1 punnet strawberries approximaetly 250g
- 250 g sugar I use granulated
- half lemon
Instructions
- Place a plate in the fridge to chill. You will use the plate to see how the jam sets later.
- Remove the leaves from the strawberries and slice them up. Weigh the strawberries as you will need the same weight in sugar. If you want a smoother jam use a potato masher to break the strawberries up or chop them smaller.
- Place the saucepan on low heat and add the strawberries.
- As the strawberries are softening weigh out the sugar and add it in.
- Squeeze the juice from half a lemon and place the used lemon rind into the saucepan as well.
- When the sugar has dissolved turn up the heat so the jam is lightly bubbling in a rolling boil for 5 minutes and keep stirring.
- Take off the heat and add a few drops to the cool plate. After a minute push the jam with your finger and when it starts to gently wrinkle and hold that wrinkle the jam is done. If it doesn’t wrinkle put the jam back on the heat for another 2 minutes. A gentle wrinkle will give a soft set, for a thicker set get the jam to a stage where the wrinkle is very strong.
- Remove the lemon rinds and spoon the jam into warm sterilised jars (see notes for how to sterilise them) and screw the lids on and leave to cool.
- Enjoy on your croissants, as a filling for your cakes, on your pancakes or with a spoon!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Please note that the nutrition information provided above is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
My garden is bursting with strawberries and I have already made this twice. Easy and delicious!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it and found it useful.
Absolutely delicious! So fresh tasting and I love the convenience of small batch.
Me too. It’s so wonderful to make with any leftovers.
Homemade jams are always the best. Thanks for sharing.
You are most welcome.
I love this option for creating a small batch so I can enjoy fresh strawberry jam without being in the kitchen all day to make it!
Me too. I do love big batches too but it is a lot of work.
Yum! This strawberry jam is so simple yet delicious. The flavour of the fresh strawberries really shines.
I’m so glad you like my recipe. I’m glad you found it simple.
My kids love strawberry jam, and now that I have tried your recipe, I will never buy the one from the store! It’s delicious!!!!
That is so wonderful to hear. Thank you
It tastes so delicious! My kids instantly got addicted! I can’t wait to make it again!
Homemade strawberry jam is so yum and this recipe didn’t disappoint. Easy to follow instructions made it super simple. Thanks.
You are most welcome, thank you for commenting.
this is brilliant idea and I love strawberry jam I cant wait to make this
Oh this is brilliant. I am always put off making jam because I don’t want loads leftover – so this is perfect.
It does seem daunting but this method works to just use up what you have and leaves no food waste!