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Home > Condiments, Sauces & Seasonings > Cherry Jam Recipe without Pectin
45 minutes minutes

Cherry Jam Recipe without Pectin

Modified: Apr 15, 2024 · Published: Jun 13, 2018

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Gorgeous red, delicious homemade cherry jam made of fresh cherries needs just 3 ingredients and your jam will be ready in about 30 minutes. No pectin used
Gorgeous red, delicious homemade cherry jam made of fresh cherries needs just 3 ingredients and your jam will be ready in about 30 minutes. No need to use pectin!
homemade cherry jam made without pectin served in glass bowl spread on bread with text
homemade cherry jam made without pectin served in glass bowl spread on bread with text
homemade cherry jam made without pectin served in glass bowl spread on bread with text
homemade cherry jam made without pectin served in glass bowl spread on bread with text
homemade cherry jam made without pectin served in glass bowl spread on bread with text

 Gorgeous red, delicious homemade cherry jam made of fresh cherries needs just 3 ingredients and your jam will be ready in about 30 minutes. No pectin used.

jar of homemade cherry jam

The recipe was originally posted in May 2016, and updated in  June 2018.

Jump to:
  • What is pectin?
  • Is pectin good?
  • Fresh Cherries or Canned/Frozen Cherries For Cherry Jam Recipe?
  • Why Homemade Cherry Jam Is Better Than Store Bought Jam
  • Cherry Jam Ingredients
  • How To Make Cherry Jam
  • Cherry Jam Recipe without Pectin

What is pectin?

Preserving techniques usually use pectin. Jams, jellies, marmalades, and preserves call for pectin. Pectin is a starch that is naturally occurring in some of the berries, apples, and most fruits. It’s a soluble gelatinous polysaccharide that is present in ripe fruits and is used as a setting agent in jams and jellies.

It is composed of pectic acid and pectinic acid molecules. When you heat the fruit together with sugar it causes thickening, because of the pectin content in it.

Is pectin good?

Pectin is a naturally occurring soluble dietary fibers present in various fruits. It’s a dietary fiber so it passes through us. The many health benefits of pectin include improvement in digestive health, regulation of bowel movements and prevention of heart disease. While natural pectin is good for you when consumed in moderation.

A jar of fresh homemade cherry jam with fresh cherries on side

Fresh Cherries or Canned/Frozen Cherries For Cherry Jam Recipe?

Nothing, I mean nothing beats fresh fruits. When you use fresh fruits it shows in your jam. You get luscious, fruity, delicious jam.  As much as I recommend fresh cherries for this cherry jam recipe, you could still get away with canned or frozen cherries too.

Just remember that canned cherries or preserved cherries will have high sugar content that is used to preserve them.  If using frozen cherries, thaw the cherries overnight in the fridge and use them in the morning.

Why Homemade Cherry Jam Is Better Than Store Bought Jam

I won’t deny picking up a bottle of jam from the supermarket is so much more convenient, makes life easy. But homemade jam is better than store brought ones for all these reasons –

Store bought jam is loaded with sugar. Homemade jam is fruitier and definitely less sugar (quantity of sugar depends on the fruit you use). You can make just the amount of jam you need and can them.

Homemade jams are great food gifts for Christmas, thanksgivings. Those cute little gift bottles/cans of jams will make you a star among your friends and family.

You know your homemade jam has all the natural ingredients as opposed to the store bottled  ones which has all these ingredient most of it you can’t even pronounce.

Cherry Jam Ingredients

Simplest cherry jam has just 3 ingredients.

  • Fresh cherries
  • Sugar
  • Lemon juice

How To Make Cherry Jam

Remember those delicious chunky fruity jams our grandmothers made? Our grandmothers probably did not use pectin yet we had the jam consistency just right and delicious!

So we can make jam without pectin for sure, it just need few extra minutes of stirring the hot boiling pot of jam. Cook the vitamins out of the fruits slowly and stirring constantly until you get a thicker consistency jam.

For 2 cups of fresh cherries use 1 cup sugar and 3 tablespoon lemon juice.

Cook pitted cherries, sugar and lemon juice in a deep bottomed pan over medium heat stirring constantly and mashing the fruit as you stir. Continue to stir and cook for 20 – 30 minutes until cherry jam reaches thicker consistency.

Meanwhile keep 2 plates in the freezer to be used for testing jam consistency.

Drop a blob of jam on to the freezer plate and leave it for few minutes. Press the jam with your index finger and if it wrinkles even a bit, jam is set. Remove from heat immediately. Skim and pour into sterilized cans and cover once cooled.

white plate with a bread slice smeared with homemade cherry jam

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jar of homemade cherry jam
5 from 18 votes

Cherry Jam Recipe without Pectin

Jyothi Rajesh
Gorgeous red, delicious homemade cherry jam made of fresh cherries needs just 3 ingredients and your jam will be ready in about 30 minutes. There is no pectin here!
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Prep Time 15 minutes mins
Cook Time 30 minutes mins
Total Time 45 minutes mins
Course Breakfast, jam, Snacks
Servings 1 standard jar
Calories 1112

Ingredients
  

  • 1.5 lb fresh cherries pitted, halved
  • 0.7 lbs sugar adjust according to your preference
  • 3 tablespoon lemon juice

Instructions
 

Prepping work before you start –

  • Wash and clean the cherries. Pit the cherries using a cherry pitter. Chop them into half. Keep 2 small plates in the freezer to use for jam test.

Cooking the jam –

  • Place the cherries in a sauce pan and cook on medium heat stirring constantly. With a potato masher or back of a wooden spoon mash the cherries. Place a plate in freezer for testing the consistency of jam.
    When cherries turn soft, add sugar, lemon juice and keep mashing and stirring.
     Once sugar begins to boil, add lemon juice and mix thoroughly.
  • Keep a sterilized clean and dry bottle ready.

Test jam consistency –

  • At this stage take a plate from freezer add few drops of the jam on the plate. Drop a blob of jam on to the freezer plate and leave it for few minutes. Press the jam with your index finger and if it wrinkles even a bit, jam is set. Jam has reached its correct consistency. Remove from flame immediately. Do not overcook it, the jam will turn hard.
    If the freezer plate test shows jam set, turn off flame immediately and transfer it into a sterile bottle and cover it tightly.
  • Store in a cool dry place. Always use clean dry spoon to scoop out the jam.

Notes

Make sure to have a clean, dry, sterile bottles ready before starting to cook the jam. 
From the quantity mentioned I got about 1.5 standard jar approximately. 

Nutrition

Serving: 0gCalories: 1112kcalCarbohydrates: 286gProtein: 4gFat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 2mgPotassium: 1042mgFiber: 9gSugar: 269gVitamin A: 290IUVitamin C: 40.8mgCalcium: 59mgIron: 1.6mg
Did you make this recipe?Follow @CurryTrail and tag #CurryTrail to share your creation!

 

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    5 from 18 votes (10 ratings without comment)

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    Comments & Reviews

  1. Christine says

    June 03, 2024 at 9:20 pm

    5 stars
    Can this jam be canned?

    Reply
    • Jyothi Rajesh says

      June 04, 2024 at 10:58 am

      Yes, you can.

      Reply
  2. Nichon Wilz says

    April 15, 2023 at 7:22 pm

    The recipe says lime juice, but instructions say lemon juice….very different flavor profile…😉

    Reply
    • Jyothi Rajesh says

      April 18, 2023 at 7:15 pm

      Sorry for the confusion, it’s lemon juice.

      Reply
  3. Kelly M says

    November 29, 2022 at 9:34 pm

    Awful “recipe,” truly can’t believe there’s no cook time indication in the method. Just a ton of fluff information for you to plug ads around.

    Reply
    • Jyothi Rajesh says

      December 08, 2022 at 4:11 pm

      Can you please check the recipe card. There is no direct cooking time information, but you can get the idea of when the jam will be ready, it’s mentioned under section “test jam consistency”.

      Reply
  4. Moneer Ahmad Hakeem says

    June 11, 2020 at 2:31 pm

    5 stars
    Thanks for good guidance

    Reply
  5. Mona says

    July 18, 2018 at 7:11 pm

    Hi
    What will be the shelf life of the jam?

    Reply
    • jyothirajesh says

      July 18, 2018 at 7:34 pm

      When stored correctly in fridge it should stay good for atleast 3-4 months.

      Reply
  6. Neli Howard says

    June 14, 2018 at 12:10 pm

    5 stars
    Wow, how amazing does that look! I’m sure this is incredibly delicious! Now, this recipe will be one of my favorites. Looks incredible! Thank you!

    Reply
    • jyothirajesh says

      June 14, 2018 at 1:00 pm

      So glad to hear you like the recipe Neli. Hope you give it a try and enjoy it 😉

      Reply
  7. Lauren @ Delicious Little Bites says

    June 14, 2018 at 4:06 am

    5 stars
    I’ve never had cherry jam before! This recipe looks so easy and so delicious – will have to try it!

    Reply
    • jyothirajesh says

      June 14, 2018 at 7:45 am

      Thank you Lauren. Hope you like it

      Reply
  8. Lisa Bryan says

    June 14, 2018 at 1:54 am

    5 stars
    Love how simple and easy this recipe is. Will definitely have to give it a try!

    Reply
    • jyothirajesh says

      June 14, 2018 at 7:46 am

      Thank you Lisa. It’s one of the easiest jam for sure

      Reply
  9. Claudia Lamascolo says

    June 14, 2018 at 12:16 am

    5 stars
    this cherry jam must be out of the world for anything it touches! I love the cherry flavors in this and the ease of making of it! This is a easy great recipe

    Reply
    • jyothirajesh says

      June 14, 2018 at 7:46 am

      Thank you very much Claudia!

      Reply
  10. Jill says

    June 13, 2018 at 11:50 pm

    5 stars
    I am a big fan of fresh cherries – I always look forward to when they are in season. But I’ve never made jam with them. I’ll have to try this recipe!

    Reply
    • jyothirajesh says

      June 13, 2018 at 11:51 pm

      Thanks Jill!

      Reply
  11. Iryna says

    June 13, 2018 at 11:32 pm

    5 stars
    That toast with cherries look absolutely irresistible. What a perfect breakfast! I love that the recipe uses only 3 ingredients and healthier than store-bought versions.

    Reply
    • jyothirajesh says

      June 13, 2018 at 11:52 pm

      That is right, homemade jam is so much healthier than store-bought ones

      Reply
  12. Salomie says

    April 12, 2018 at 11:55 am

    Wow!! What photographs ! Amazing recipe too..

    Reply
    • jyothirajesh says

      April 16, 2018 at 5:34 pm

      Thank you Salomie! Do try this jam at home!

      Reply
  13. Sandhya Hariharan says

    May 17, 2016 at 9:42 pm

    Loving it yet again.. U re freaking out with your Whites.. I am so happy to see that.

    Reply
    • jyothirajesh says

      May 17, 2016 at 10:51 pm

      hehehe, I’m just trying to learn to shoot on white on white dear 🙂

      Reply

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Jyothi - Author of Curry Trail.

Welcome, I'm Jyothi

My food philosophy is simple, fresh and full of flavors! I love ‘spicy’ food. In fact so much so that I can skip dessert for extra spicy savory food!

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