Easiest Strawberry Jam Recipe (Sugar Free)

Have you checked the cost of jam lately? The price is astronomical! So, let me share a little secret with you. Here is the easiest strawberry jam recipe you can make at home, using only three ingredients! It is healthy, easy to make and sweet, without adding any sugar! Use it to make PB & J sandwiches, as a spread for pancakes and toast, or add it to some plain vegan yogurt for some sweetness.

Jump to Recipe

The Three Ingredients  

• Frozen Strawberries
• Chia Seeds
• Lemon Juice

Frozen Strawberries

Why use frozen strawberries?

Well, they are typically the cheaper option, unless it is strawberry season. If it is strawberry season, do yourself and your kids a favor, go strawberry picking! It’s by far one of our favorite summer activities.

Because strawberry picking is such an amazing activity, we usually go more than once during the short time frame that the berries are ripe enough to be picked. We freeze a lot of the berries and use them when we run out of fresh berries. This is another helpful budgeting tip to keep in mind when making this strawberry jam!

Chia Seeds

Chia seeds are full of health benefits that enhance a vegan or plant-based diet by adding fiber, antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids and plant-based protein. Check out this article on Forbes, which discusses the nutritional benefits of chia seeds.

The addition of chia seeds to this strawberry jam recipe not only adds nutrition, it also adds a thickness to the jam, which is what makes it have the consistency of jam.

So don’t leave this ingredient out!

Add chia seeds to your grocery list, and keep them stocked in your pantry (or fridge for longer shelf life). You can purchase black chia seeds almost anywhere, but I prefer using white chia seeds for this strawberry jam recipe, as it makes the redness of the berries pop. They can be super hard to find, though. Here is a link to a duo pack on Amazon that includes black and white, so you can stock your pantry with these amazingly nutritious seeds!

Lemon Juice

The last ingredient is lemon juice, freshly squeezed from a lemon, whenever possible.

Do yourself a favor and purchase a fancy lemon squeezer on Amazon. This is the one I have! It makes life so much easier. No seeds will fall into your strawberry jam, and you will get all the juice from your lemon, making it cost effective to have one on hand at all times. This is yet another helpful budgeting tip.

The lemon juice acts as a natural preservative. Some of the store bought jams have synthetic versions of citric acid as a preservative. I am not an expert when it comes to nutrition, but what I did learn while getting a certificate in plant-based nutrition is that whole foods are most definitely the way to go if you are seeking whole body health, so I will stick with using my freshly squeezed lemon whenever possible, and you should to!

Tips & Tricks for Making Strawberry Jam at Home

• Purchase this lemon squeezer to get all the lemon juice from your lemon, making the most of your budget
• Use a fresh lemon for whole body nutrition
• Stock your pantry with these white and black chia seeds (use the white chia seeds to make the red color pop)
• Use frozen strawberries when it is not strawberry picking season
• Go strawberry picking a lot, and freeze some of the strawberries to help with budgeting

If you are looking for more ideas for what to do with the strawberries you picked at the farm, please check out my recipe for strawberry shortcake pancakes, as it is one of my favorite recipes on my blog!

Fun Activity Using Strawberry Jam

Check out my YouTube video below for a fun activity to do with this homemade strawberry jam recipe. Be forewarned: It might get messy!