Strawberry Banana Jam – Easy Recipe with Less Sugar
The first time I cooked up strawberry banana jam, Duncan stuck his head out of the loft and said, “That smells SO good!” And what goes better with a peanut butter and banana sandwich than more banana?
We share a quick and easy recipe, plus answers to common jam questions – and links to more of our favorite jam and jelly recipes.
How to Make Strawberry Banana Jam
This recipe makes around 4-5 cups of jam. You will need these ingredients:
- 3 cups crushed strawberries (about a quart)
- 1 cup mashed banana
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- Pomona's Pectin and calcium water (both included in the box of Pomona's Pectin)
- 2 cups sugar
Before you start processing your fruit, get your jar, lids and canner ready. If you will eat the jam within 2 weeks, it's okay to keep it in the refrigerator. For longer storage, process for 10 minutes in a water bath canner.
Clean jars and keep them warm. (I use the dishwasher, or keep them warm in the canner.) Fill your canner with hot water and set to to heat up to a boil. Lids should be clean and ready to go.
Mix together two cups of sugar and 2 teaspoons of Pomona's pectin powder. Mixing the sugar and pectin before adding it to the fruit helps to prevent clumping.
Finely chop or crush 2 cups of strawberries, and add them to a large stock pot. Mash one cup of bananas and add it to the strawberries. Add two teaspoons of calcium water and lemon juice to the fruit mix. Bring to a full rolling boil over medium high heat, stirring occasionally.
Add the sugar and pectin mixture and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil the jam for one minute, then remove from heat. Skim of any foam, if desired.
Ladle hot strawberry banana jam into prepared jars, filling to within 1/4 inch of top. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with lids and screw bands. Tighten rings until snug.
Process for 10 minutes in a water bath canner. Turn off heat, let sit five minutes (optional).
Remove jars from canner and place on kitchen towel on counter top. After jars are cool, and check seals. Remove rings, date and label.
How long can I store my strawberry banana jam?
For best quality, use within 18 months. Always store your home canned goods out of direct sunlight, in a cool, dry location.
The color of the jam will fade with longer storage, but as long as the seal is intact, it should be safe to eat. Never eat canned goods with signs of spoilage or bulging lids.
Is it okay to use Frozen Bananas and Strawberries?
It is absolutely okay to use frozen fruit. this strawberry banana jam is also a great use for overripe bananas.
I buy bags of discounted bananas, but sometimes I don't have time to use them all before they get mushy. I peel them, stick them in a baggie, and stuff them in the freezer until I need them in a recipe. Simply thaw out the fruit before measuring and making your jam.
Do you wash strawberries before making jam?
Yes, I like to wash my strawberries, but don't soak them in water. Instead, place them in a colander and rinse them. This keeps the strawberries from absorbing too much water and making your jam runny.
Commercial strawberries are on regularly on the Dirty Dozen list as one of the most chemically sprayed crops. Those pesticides don't all wash off.
If possible, source your berries from small local growers. They spray less (or not at all), and the berries are allowed to fully ripen. Most commercial berries are picked green to hold up to shipping.
(I talked to a farm worker at our local you pick strawberry patch about this. He's picked in several different areas, and says that they always pick berries full size but completely green for regular grocery stores. That's why store berries lack flavor.)
Is is Safe to Can Bananas?
For safe water bath canning, the pH must be below 4.6. Plain strawberry jam has a pH of around 3.0 to 3.4. Bananas have a pH of around 4.5 to 5.2. (The riper the banana, the higher the pH.)
Bottled lemon juice has a pH between 2.0 and 2.6. Adding the lemon juice keeps the acidity of the jam in the safe range. (See pH levels of common foods.)
Do not skip the lemon juice in your strawberry banana jam.
This jam recipe was adapted from Gifts from the Harvest: Homemade Jams and Jellies.
Print Friendly Recipe
PrintStrawberry Banana Jam
Take your PB&J or peanut butter and banana sandwich to a new level with this strawberry banana jam. It's a great way to use overripe bananas.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Canning Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 5 cups 1x
- Category: Jam
Ingredients
- 3 cups strawberries, mashed or finely chopped
- 1 cup bananas, mashed
- 2 teaspoons calcium water (included with Pomona's Pectin)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 teaspoons Pomona's Universal Pectin
Instructions
- Stem and crush or chop strawberries. Measure 2 cups into 6- or 8- quart sauce pot. Mash bananas and add one cup into the sauce pot with the berries. Add calcium water and lemon juice to fruit mix.
- Prepare jars and canner. Keep lids warm until ready to fill jars.
- Measure 2 cups sugar into separate bowl. Stir pectin powder into sugar.
- Bring fruit mixture to full rolling boil on high heat, stirring constantly. Quickly stir in sugar/pectin mixture. Return to full rolling roil and boil exactly one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; skim off any foam with a metal spoon, if desired.
- Ladle into prepared jars, filling to within 1/4 inch of top. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with lids and screw bands. Tighten rings until snug.
- Process for 10 minutes in a water bath canner. Turn off heat, let sit five minutes (optional). Remove from canner and place on kitchen towel on counter top. After jars are cool, check seals. Remove rings, date and label. Best quality if used within 18 months.
Notes
Store any unsealed jars in the refrigerator and use within 2 weeks.
Low sugar jams will fade in color over time. This is normal and the product is still safe to eat, but the taste and color are best within the first year.
More Yummy Jams, Jellies, and Preserves
Are you ready to make more than strawberry banana jam? We have over 30 different jams, jellies, preserves, and spreads on the site, all listed in the Recipes index. They include:
Strawberry Vanilla Preserves (Small Batch, Low Sugar)
We also have more strawberry recipes, including:
I already have a lot of Low Sugar Sure Jel. Can I just use that? I haven’t seen Pamona’s, but I am new to making jellies.
You should be able to substitute. Just use the same proportions of fruit and juice, but adjust to the way that your pectin recommends that everything needs to be blended and cooked.
They probably have a recipe for basic strawberry jam on the box that you can use as a starter, but with the banana added, you need to include the lemon juice.
If I remember correctly from when I used the sure gel for low sugar recipes, their recipes tend to use more sugar than the Pomona’s Pectin recipes. I also like the flavor of Pomona’s pectin better, as the Sure Gel seemed to have a little bit of a metallic aftertaste.
Use what you have on hand first, but if you plan to do more canning, you may want to order some Pomona’s to compare. Since one box does multiple batches of jam or jelly, a little goes a long way.
I read about the lemon juice and was wondering how much lemon juice to add as that was not included in your recipe for the strawberry banana jam.
Oh my goodness. Sorry about that. Trying to do too many things at once. It’s 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, which I’ve added to the recipe.