Low Sugar Raspberry Jam Recipe (Seedless Raspberry Jam Tips)
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This easy low sugar raspberry jam recipe is bursting with raspberry flavor. It uses less sugar and can be made with fresh or frozen raspberries.
When spoons were passed around with samples of this homemade raspberry jam, the collective response was, “mmmmmmmmmm”.
A partial jar soon disappeared, and a second jar never made it into the canning pantry. I used to make full sugar jam, by the whole family now prefers the fruit-loaded flavor of low sugar jams.
Sometimes we have enough berries from our garden, sometime we visit a local you-pick raspberry place. You can also use frozen raspberries if you don’t have fresh available, so watch for sales.
If you Prefer Seedless Raspberry Jam
Raspberries do have a lot of seeds, and my husband doesn’t like seedy jam very much. The pulp adds a lot of flavor, so we make seedless jam (and not raspberry jelly).
To remove the seeds, clean and cook the raspberries. Then, strain the mushy raspberries though a fine mesh strainer, cheesecloth, or food strainer.
I use a food strainer to remove most of the seeds. (This is the food strainer I recommend.) If you run the berries through a food strainer once, it leaves quite a bit of pulp behind. To squeeze more pulp out, I run the berries through twice.
Using a food strainer removes all but the smallest seeds, so it’s mostly seedless raspberry jam.
I save my pulp to make chocolate raspberry granola cookies. Don’t ask me why, but my husband is fine with the seeds in cookie form. The raspberry and chocolate flavor combination is pure yumminess.
If you don’t mind seeds, just mash the cooked berries with a potato masher.
Low Sugar Raspberry Jam Recipe
You will need 3-4 quarts of fresh raspberries or two and a half 10oz packages of frozen raspberries. The exact amount depends on how many seeds you let through. You want 4 cups of raspberry puree.
Ingredients:
- 4 cups of raspberry puree (seeds removed) or mashed raspberries
- 2 teaspoons calcium water (included with Pomona’s Pectin)
- 1 cup honey or 2 cups sugar
- 2 teaspoons Pomona’s Pectin powder
Directions:
Prepare raspberries by cleaning (if needed) and gently cooking in a heavy bottom pot. I use my 8 quart stock pot. Once softened, mash berries with a potato masher or remove the seeds.
To make seedless raspberry jam, press the soft berries through a food mill or strainer to remove the seeds. Strain twice, if needed, to remove more seeds.
Measure out 4 cups of berry puree and return puree to pot. Eat any leftover puree, or use to top ice cream or stir into yogurt.
Clean and check edges on five 8-ounce canning jars, keep hot. Prepare lids and rings. Fill water bath canner and bring to boil.
In a small bowl, mix together sugar (or honey) and pectin powder. Don’t skip this step, or your pectin will clump. Set aside.
Add calcium water to raspberry puree. Bring to a full boil.
Add sugar-pectin (or honey-pectin) mixture, stir vigorously 1-2 minutes while cooking to dissolve pectin. Return to boil, then remove from heat.
Ladle jam into sterilized jars leaving 1/4″ headspace (1/4″ from the top of the jar). Wipe the rims of the jar with a clean damp cloth and screw on the lids.
Process for 10 minutes in water bath canner (add 1 minute for every 1,000 feet above sea level). (See altitude adjustments for canning.)
Remove jars from canner and place on a kitchen towel on the counter top. Allow to cool completely and test seals. Makes around 4-5 cups.
Remove rings for storage, date and label jars. For best quality, use within 18 months.
Refrigerate your low sugar raspberry jam after opening, since Pomona’s Pectin doesn’t include preservatives. The jam will last about three weeks in the refrigerator once opened.
What is calcium water and where do I get it?
The calcium powder for making the calcium water is included in the boxes of Pomona’s Pectin. In each box of Pomona’s Pectin, there are two packages of powder.
One of them is the pectin, one is calcium powder. The calcium powder allows the pectin to gel without sugar. This means you get reliable gelling for low and no added sugar recipes.
One box of Pomona’s will make several batches of jam/jelly. The pectin has a shelf life of several years unopened. Last year I bought a case of the pectin and split it with friends.
If you use a different low/no sugar pectin, you may need to use more sugar. (Check their instructions.) With Pomona’s, you can use even less sugar if you like, down to 3/4 cup sugar or 1/2 cup honey.
Learn more about Pomona’s Pectin here.
Low Sugar Raspberry Jam Recipe
This easy Low Sugar Raspberry Jam recipe is bursting with raspberry flavor. It uses less sugar and can be made with fresh or frozen raspberries.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4–5 cups 1x
- Category: Jam
Ingredients
- 4 cups of raspberry puree or mashed raspberries (will need 3-4 quarts of fresh raspberries or 2 1/2 10oz packages of frozen to start, depending on how many seeds you let through)
- 2 teaspoons calcium water (included with Pomona’s Pectin)
- 2 cups sugar or 1 cup honey
- 2 teaspoons Pomona’s Pectin powder
Instructions
- Prepare raspberries by cleaning (if needed) and gently cooking in a heavy bottom pot. I use my 8 quart stock pot.
- Once softened, run through a food mill or strainer to remove some of the seeds if you like (once for fewer seeds, twice for more seeds) or simply mash berries.
- Measure out 4 cups of berry puree and return puree to pot.
- Clean and check edges on five 8-ounce canning jars, keep hot. Prepare lids and rings.
- Fill water bath canner and bring to boil.
- In a small bowl, mix together sugar (or honey) and pectin powder. Don’t skip this step, or your pectin will clump. Set aside.
- Add calcium water to raspberry puree. Bring to a full boil.
- Add sugar-pectin (or honey-pectin) mixture, stir vigorously 1-2 minutes while cooking to dissolve pectin.
- Return to boil, then remove from heat.
- Ladle jam into warm jars, leaving 1/4″ headspace.
- Wipe rims clean and screw on the lids. Process for 10 minutes in water bath canner (add 1 minute for every 1,000 feet above sea level).
- Refrigerate open jars. Jam will last about three weeks once opened. Makes around 4-5 cups.
Notes
- Eat any leftover puree, or use to top ice cream or stir into yogurt.
It’s okay to double the recipe
I ended up making a batch and a half of homemade jam because I had six cups of puree. One of the things I like about using Pomona’s pectin is that it is okay to double or triple batches. Most commercial pectin doesn’t allow you to double the recipe.
I stick with smaller batches of jam most of the time, because they cook more quickly. Less cook time equals fresher flavor. That said, it’s nice to have the option to make a bigger batch if I have a bunch of berries.
No lemon juice needed
Some types of pectin require that you add lemon juice to your low sugar raspberry jam. Because the pH of raspberries is between 3.2 and 3.6, we don’t need to add lemon juice when using Pomona’s Pectin. (For safe water bath canning, you need a pH at or below 4.6.)
More Low Sugar Jam Recipes
The book “Preserving with Pomona’s Pectin” has over 70 recipes featuring Pomona’s Pectin for easy, low sugar canning. No more jams and jellies with more sugar than fruit.
We have over 20 different jam and jelly recipes listed on the site for you to enjoy. For a fun twist on raspberry jam, try “blushing peach jam“, which combines raspberries and peaches.
Some of my favorite low sugar jams include:
- Low Sugar Apricot Jam
- Peach Vanilla and Fuzzy Navel – Low Sugar Peach Jam Recipes
- Low Sugar Strawberry Jam and Strawberry Banana Jam
Thanks for reading, and I hope your family enjoy this low sugar raspberry jam recipe as much as we do. Don’t forget to Pin or bookmark for later, and check out the other recipes and canning tips on the site.
Originally published in 2014, last updated in 2022.
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