Sponsored post for Expedia
Simple Fig Jam is an easy and utterly delicious, no added pectin recipe. Mediterranean in influence, use it as jam or enjoy with cheese which it complements beautifully!
When I think of Cyprus I associate it with lots of delicious food and produce including figs and lemons, so when Expedia asked me to take part in the World on a Plate Challenge I knew what I had to make, a Simple Fig Jam.
My husband lived in Paphos for a year as a teenager and fondly remembers the fig and lemon trees growing in the garden there.
In fact, I’m sure it’s my mother-in-law who suggested I make fig jam (when I first started making jam) as she is a huge fan of it.
I must admit to being totally unfamiliar with figs as they are not something I grew up with.
I did love Fig Rolls though as a child, until the day I saw a dried fig and then I was totally put off them (kid logic)!
So back to the plot,
Having tried some fig jam for the first time last year (that my mother brought back from a holiday), I really loved it and put it on my bucket list of jams.
I decided to keep the flavour clean and simple with just the addition of lemon juice.
As figs are low in pectin, rather than use jam sugar or pectin I upped the lemon juice in this recipe and also used the skins for additional pectin!
My simple Fig Jam turned out wonderfully and we have been enjoying it with cheese and biscuits as well as on croissants etc for a sweet treat.
What surprised me most was the colour as the fig jam I’d been given was brown but this fig jam has a beautiful deep pink colour.
More Late Summer Fruit Jam & Jelly Recipes
Once you’ve made my fig jam you should try the following recipes too!
- Blackberry & Apple Jam
- Blackberry & Apple Jelly
- Seedless Blackberry Jam
- Rosehip & Apple Jelly
- Damson Jam
- Easy Greengage Jam
- Plum & Apple Jam
- Simple Elderberry Jam
- Simple Blueberry Jam
- Easy Grape Jam
- Peach & Apricot Jam (1st prize winning)
- Easy Crab Apple Jelly
More Fig Recipes
- Fig Cake with Orange and Brown Sugar Glaze – Christina’s Cucina
- Fig, White Chocolate and Mascarpone Tarts – Tin & Thyme
- Baked Figs with Bacon, Sundried Tomatoes & Mozzarella – Munchies & Munchkins
- Fig Curd – Feast Glorious Feast
I’m sure you’ll love this fig jam even if like me you don’t like fresh figs!
Do leave a comment and rating below when you’ve made this recipe as I love getting your feedback! You can also share your pictures by tagging @FabFood4All over on Instagram.
Pin for later!
NB: I received vouchers to cover my ingredients and time making this recipe.
Simple Fig Jam
Ingredients
- 1.2 Kg Figs washed
- 600 g Granulated sugar
- Juice and skin of 2 small unwaxed lemons equating to 5 tbsp juice
Instructions
- The night before prepare the figs by trimming the stems, chopping in half and then chop each half into nine pieces, cutting in 3 both ways. (If you like a finer textured jam then chop into smaller pieces.)
- Place the halved lemon skins into a glass bowl along with the chopped figs and pour over the sugar followed by the lemon juice, cover and leave at room temperature overnight.
- Place all the fruit mixture into a preserving pan (or one of similar size) and gently heat until all the sugar has dissolved.
- Increase the heat and bring the mixture up to a rolling boil.
- Reduce the heat and simmer for 38 – 40 minutes, stirring regularly until the mixture is looking thick and syrupy. You can use a potato masher to break up the figs if you wish.
- Discard the lemon skins and pot up in hot sterilised jars and seal with lids immediately.
- Store in a cool dry place and once opened store in fridge where it will last months. Jam is best eaten in 1st year but will last years if stored properly.
- Makes 1 ltr of jam (which for me filled just over 1 large and 2 small jars).
B. Ross
Can you confirm this recipe uses 600 grams of white sugar? 21 oz of sugar seems like a lot. Thank you!
Camilla
Bi B, yes the sugar quantity is correct. Not sure why you think that that is a lot? The usual ration of fruit to sugar for jam recipes is 1:1 and this is 1:0.5. A good measure of a recipe’s credentials is to look at other comments from readers who have made the recipe.
Leila
Very good recipe, it is a little sweet but obviously that depends on the sweetness of the figs! The sugar is necessary or it will not set and anyway, I have yet to find a jam that isn’t sweet! It’s delicious, I’m a baker and I use the fig conserve/jam in tarts or cakes, with walnuts, and they go like hotcakes, pardon the pun!
Camilla
Thank you so much Leila, loving the addition of walnuts in your cakes and bakes:-)
Jane
I can’t have any added sugar, will using Splenda work???
Camilla
Hi Jane, I have researched making sugar free jam and drawn a blank on the subject is it’s not as simple as swapping out sugar for sweetener. I gave up processed sugar back in December as it was preventing me from getting to sleep. Now I follow the Glucose Goddess advice and if I want a sugary treat like jam on toast, I drink a glass of water with a tablespoon of apple vinegar in it beforehand. This tip is also on the Diabetes UK website. Exercise (like a 10 minute walk) after eating sugary/carby foods is also part of her advice. Sweeteners upset gut microbiome/gut health which in turn affect inflammation and our overall health so they’re not something I would put in my body.
Jo Putignani
I have also had to give up sugar and I have found that using Lakanto Monkfruit sugar 1 to 1 has worked in every recipe so far – I am making this jam that way soon and I will post results…It has been perfect for my Strawberry crepes and I’m hoping for some peanut better fudge
Camilla
Thanks Jo, do let me know how you get on. I imagine you’ll need to store the jam in the fridge as sugar is what acts as the preservative in jam.
Sarah Milburn
Thank you!
Why has it taken me so long to find this perfect recipe! I started by doubling the recipe and reducing the sugar a little and it was perfect, perfect, perfect! One day I found I only had the 1.2k of figs in the house and wasn’t facing the heat to go and pick more so made that quantity – painful in my preserving pan as it really was not enough to cook properly (do you have an extra small preserving pan?) without being watched the whole time – silly of me to do so little! But still the jam was delicious! Now I just wait for a similarly easy and perfect fig chutney recipe!
Camilla
Hi Sarah, so glad you like the recipe. I’ll let you into a secret, I don’t even own a preserving pan but use a very large stainless stell pot with similar capacity to a preserving pan. For my One Punnet Strawberry Jam I just used an ordinary (large) saucepan, so you could have done the same. Fig Chutney sounds good, may put that on the to do list for you:-)
James Woodfield
This is the best fig jam recipe I’ve found. Leaving overnight with the lemon seems to add layer of flavour that enhanced the jam. I’ve been using various recipes for fig jam over the years and finally found the perfect one, than you.
Camilla
Aaw, that’s so wonderful to hear James, thank you so much:-)
Joel
Been making this since 2015 following your recipe. Beautiful, delicious and my favourite jam out of many others my wife and I make. I modified it a bit by adding thyme. Thanks for sharing your recipe. Xxx
Camilla
That’s wonderful Joel, so very glad you like the recipe and love your thyme addition:-)
Izzy
A very, very, very sweet recipe. Would recommend adding sugar to taste rather than putting the 600g straight in.
Camilla
Hi Izzy, we all taste things differently but in 8 years of this recipe being made by readers, no-one else has ever said that it is too sweet so I’m afraid you’re on your own on that one. Perhaps the variety of figs you used were extra sweet?