This Quick One Punnet Strawberry Jam (1st prize winning) is super quick & delicious and requires no added pectin or special equipment. If you’re from across the pond a punnet is the plastic container you get strawberries in!
If you’re looking for a soft set, homemade strawberry jam recipe that is super quick and easy and requires no jam sugar or added pectin then you’ve come to the right place!
Back in July 2014 my Quick One Punnet Strawberry Jam won 1st Prize in the Byfleet Parish Day Show! It was to be my 2nd year running winning 1st prize as the previous year my Peach & Apricot Jam had won!
So as the photography was really poor and this is such a popular jam I remade it this week and took some fresh shots to give it the justice it deserves. I also updated the recipe a little with more precise information about the quantity it yields.
I am a sticker for detail and I think that is why my jam recipes are so popular or at least that’s the feedback I get from you the lovely reader!
I originally made this no pectin Quick One Punnet Strawberry Jam to put in my Victoria Sandwich.
Inspired by watching the contestants of Great British Bake Off I decided to knock up a small batch of jam using the remainder of a large box of strawberries I had in the fridge.
Not having planned my jam I didn’t have any spare jam jars to hand so just grabbed a short glass (the type you buy that famous chocolate hazelnut spread in) from my dishwasher and put it in a warm oven for 20 minutes.
The beauty of this jam is that you don’t need to own a huge preserving pan as your largest saucepan should be fine. I used half my jam in my Victoria Sandwich and the other half was enjoyed with scones and clotted cream.
My first attempt had far too much lemon juice in it so I reduced it to 1 tsp for my second attempt which was perfect; I don’t like stiff jam that you can stand a spoon up in! My husband didn’t notice anything wrong with my first batch and I overheard him raving about it and the Victoria Sandwich to his mother!
So the funny thing was that my Quick One Punnet Strawberry Jam was never intended to be entered into the Parish Show.
As my Peach & Apricot Jam had won the previous year (much to my disbelief as I’d only just started making jam) I thought I’d need to enter something along those lines again.
Hence I decided to create a Cherry & Apple Jam but my lack of experience meant that I didn’t factor in the high pectin level from the apples and I boiled the jam for far too long and ended up with jam akin to concrete.
So, with no time to start afresh I just grabbed a recently made jar of my Quick One Punnet Strawberry Jam and entered that instead, expecting it to go nowhere as it was just plain old strawberry jam and nothing fancy.
There was no-one more surprised than me when it won!
You can scale my Quick One Punnet Strawberry Jam recipe up to whatever size punnet of strawberries you have. Just use equal prepared strawberry to sugar weight and then scale the lemon juice up as necessary, a little extra boiling may also be needed to reach setting point.
However smaller batches work far better so try to keep to one punnet!
If you’ve never made jam before I hope that this small batch strawberry jam recipe will inspire you to take the plunge – you can have delicious jam potted up within 20 minutes (the actual jam only takes about 10 minutes to make on the hob)!
More Strawberry Jam Recipes:
- Rhubarb & Strawberry Jam
- Strawberry & Peach Jam
- Strawberry & Elderflower Jam
- Strawberry, Raspberry & Redcurrant Jam
- Summer Fruits Jam
- Tutti Frutti Jam
- Whole Strawberry & Vanilla Preserve
- Speedy Summer Berry Jam
Here’s a picture of my Strawberry Jam with it’s 1st Prize Winning certificate from my original post!
So if you’ve never made jam before or just need a delicious small batch of strawberry jam to fill a cake or use in an afternoon tea I can’t recommend this recipe enough.
Pin for later!
NB: Originally posted 14 May 2014.
Quick One Punnet Strawberry Jam
Super quick & delicious strawberry jam made from a small punnet of strawberries! No special equipment needed!
Ingredients
- 230 g Hulled strawberries washed & dryed (1 punnet)
- 230 g Granulated sugar equal to prepared strawberry weight
- 1 tsp Lemon juice freshly squeezed
- A knob of unsalted butter optional
Instructions
Put the strawberries in a large saucepan and crush with a potato masher (leave some texture).
- Add the sugar and lemon juice.
- Heat gently, stirring with a wooden spoon until all the sugar has dissolved.
Increase heat and bring to a rolling boil then time for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon.
- Test a drop of jam on a chilled plate and place in the fridge for 30 seconds.
Run your finger through the drop and if it forms a crinkle and is tacky it’s ready.
- If not boil for another minute and retest until ready.
Skim any scum off the top with a spoon and add a small knob of butter to disperse any remaining scum if you wish.
Ladle into a small sterilised jar (yield 210 ml) (see notes below) and seal with lid immediately. You can alternatively use a sterilised glass with a wax paper disc, leave to cool and then put cellophane on with a rubber band.
Recipe Notes
Before you start:
Put 2 saucers in the freezer.
Sterilise jars by washing in hot soapy water (or take straight from dishwasher), fill with boiling water, empty and then place in oven for 20 minutes at 140°C where you leave them until the jam is ready. Washed lids should be sterilised with boiling water and then left to drain.
Alison
Thank you so much, I was looking too use up a punnet of squashy strawberries so I googled “foolproof strawberry jam”. This is a total winner! I had to add about double the lemon juice as I only had the bottled stuff, but it still worked brilliantly.
Camilla
Excellent Alison, so glad you like the recipe. The reason you needed to add more lemon juice was because your strawberries were very ripe by the sounds of things so therefore they had a far lower pectin level (they are low in pectin to start with). So for any other jam recipe the same quantity of lemon juice should be fine providing your fruit is “just ripe”.
Eileen
hi. Made this with my 8 and 10 year old grandaughters. We try to make homemade gifts for special family and friends and thought id try it with them.They were thrilled with the results and as it was during lockdown it was a lovely new activity to do. The jam was put into a lovely cake and scones they also made themselves. We made an afternoon tea. It made for such a nice afternoon. I was just wondering as it is not made with jam sugar, will it keep well if made in a larger batch. The girls now want to make jam for Christmas gifts. Also can I use bottled lemon juice.
Thank you gor the lovely recipe.
Camilla
Hi Eileen, so glad you have been enjoying the recipe with your grand children:-) Jam sugar has pectin in it and has nothing to do with keeping quality it just makes for stiff jam in my opinion which is why I don’t use it. This jam is shelf stable and at it’s best in the first year but would keep for years in a cool dark place. The bigger the batch of jam you make the harder it will be to get a set and this is especially true with strawberry jam. I wouldn’t go any further than doubling this recipe, perhaps you could have 2 pots on the stove at once. Remember it will take longer to reach setting point ad yes you can use bottled lemon juice but I’ve only ever used fresh.
Angie Robertson
If the jam has been put in jars and gone cold,But it is too runny, Can i re boil it? It tastes delicious.
.
Camilla
Hi Angie, happens to the best of us at least once! Yes you certainly can reboil, here’s an post I wrote about this! https://www.fabfood4all.co.uk/greengage-jam-and-what-to-do-when-your-jam-is-too-runny/
Sarah
I’ve always avoided making jam Because I found it a bit intimidating… but in stumbled on this recipe and decided to give it a go. It’s absolutely amazing, the recipe itself is super easy to follow. I too had scrapings left in a chocolate spread jar that was repurposed. Thank you!
Camilla
Excellent Sarah, I hope you go on to try some more of my jam recipes now that you know there’s nothing to be scared of:-)
Rebecca
Made jam for the first time this morning following this recipe which was easy to follow and the jam tastes great – thank you
Camilla
So glad you like the recipe Rebecca, I hope you make some more of my jams now:-)
Julie wills
I like your recipes but jam is runny is this how it should be please can you help thanks julie
Camilla
Hi Julie, is it still runny after having put it in the fridge and does it run off say a scone? If the answer is yes then you probably needed to boil it a little longer. You could tip it back in a pan and re-boil for a minute at a time as it should take long to boil off the extra moisture. This isn’t a firm set jam but it shouldn’t run off the surface you spread it on either.
Shelagh in Scotland
Thank you so much for your one punnet jam recipe. This is the 3rd time I have attempted to make jam, but the first which was successful! I have made it three times now and look forward to trying raspberries next, when they are more abundant. I have your page saved to my home screen so I don’t “lose” you
Camilla
Aaw, so glad you like my recipe and honoured to be on your home screen:-)
Gary
Tried this today with my little girl (6) – first time making Jam! Can’t believe how easy the recipe it and how well it turned out!! We both enjoyed making it.
Camilla
Aaw, that’s lovely to hear. A great lesson for your young daughter, what a good dad you are!
Rachael
Just made this. Thank you for the simple steps, the jam came out beautifully and I will be gifting it to friends and family 🙂
Camilla
Excellent, so glad you like it:-)