Here's a staple for your fridge: sugar free blueberry jam! Spread on low carb bread or use it as a fruity sauce with yoghurt, pancakes or waffles.
Jam. I stopped eating it when I went sugar free. And I missed it. That glistening dollop of fruity deliciousness on a slice of toast... history. Until I started making my raw raspberry chia jam, that is, and my favourite low carb rolls.
Here is a new addition to your low carb jam repertoire that is so ridiculously easy to make you could get your kids to do it for you: sugar free blueberry jam.
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Why Blueberries Are Great
If you ask me about the one thing in our freezer that we never run out, I'd say it's frozen blueberries. We add a few to top a bowl of yoghurt or coconut flour porridge, the kids like to use them in smoothies and they give lovely little bursts of flavour in these low carb muffins.
My family finish around one bag of blueberries a week, so I have added them to my repeat supermarket delivery order.
Blueberries are high in vitamins, high in antioxidants and have a moderate amount of carbs. 100g of blueberries contain 12g of net carbs, which makes one handful of blueberries - a decent portion - an agreeable 4g net carbs. Here's a handy article about the amount of carbs in fruit.
On top of that, frozen blueberries are rather reasonable in price. And whilst you might want to decorate your showstopper cake with fresh berries, for a normal meal the frozen berries will do nicely.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
Homemade blueberry jam is easy and quick to make, and it taste absolutely delicious.
Blueberries are so sweet on their own that this jam does not even require extra sweetener. All you need to do is blueberries, lemon, some water and a couple of pinches of xanthan gum to thicken. That's it!
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you'll need for sugar free blueberry jam:
- Blueberries - fresh or frozen
- Water
- Lemon juice
- Xanthan Gum - This helps to thicken the jam. You only need a tiny amount - it's quite remarkable.
- Vanilla extract - this is optional, but elevates the taste. I recommend adding it.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Instructions
Making homemade blueberry jam is very simple. Here are the basic steps:
- Put the blueberries, water and lemon juice (and vanilla, if using) in a non stick pan, cover and bring to a boil.
- Remove the lid and cook on medium heat for around 15 minutes, stirring regularly. The mixture will reduce by â…“ and thicken. Smash the berries with a spoon while they cook.
- You can blend the mixture if you wish to have a smooth consistency. I like it the way it is, with a few bits and pieces in it.
- At the end, take a couple of pinches xanthan gum and sprinkle it evenly into the pot, stirring well afterwards.
- Pour the mixture into a clean jar and store in the fridge. This recipe fills a small (200ml) jar.
Expert Tip
Recipe Tip - How sweet your jam is will depend on the natural sweetness of your blueberries. If you find the jam is not sweet enough, feel free to add a teaspoon or two of powdered erythritol or 4 drops of stevia glycerite.
Serving Suggestion
This jam tastes great on bread such as my Rustic Paleo Bread or these low carb English muffins (they're so simple, you make them in the microwave!). It works well as a fruity sauce on almond cream cheese pancakes or these keto waffles.
I imagine it would also be delicious as a filling for low carb sponge cakes. Plus, you can use it as a filling in my Keto Pop Tarts.
Recipe FAQs
If you do not have xanthan gum, you can also thicken the jam with ground chia seeds. 1 teaspoon should be enough.
Yes. You can use raspberries, blackberries or peaches. Depending on the tartness of the fruit, add additional sweetness to taste. Or, try my sugar free strawberry jam.
I have never tried it. I recommend storing it in the fridge instead.
Storage
Store this jam in the fridge. It will keep fresh for several weeks as the acid in the lemon preserves it.
If you wish to make a larger batch, I recommend that you freeze the jam for up to 6 months. If you freeze it in ice cube trays, you'll have a steady supply of fresh jam!
More Sugar Free Breakfast Spreads
- Blueberry Cream Cheese20 Minutes
- Sugar Free Nutella15 Minutes
- How To Make Sugar Free Lemon Curd
- Sugar Free Orange Marmalade Recipe (Keto)2 Hours 40 Minutes
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Recipe
Sugar Free Blueberry Jam
from Sugar Free LondonerNote: The servings slider only changes the first amount in each line and not any subsequent amounts. Please make your own calculations where necessary.
Ingredients
- 2 cups / 300g blueberries, frozen or fresh
- 2 tablespoon water
- juice of ½ lemon
- 2 pinches xanthan gum
- optional: 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Put the blueberries, water and lemon juice (and vanilla, if using) in a non stick pan, cover and bring to a boil.
- Remove the lid and cook on a medium heat for ca 15 minutes, stirring regularly. The mixture will reduce by â…“ and thicken. Smash the berries with a spoon while they cook.
- You can blend the mixture if you wish to have a smooth consistency. I like it the way it is, with a few bits and pieces in it.
- At the end, take a couple of pinches xanthan gum and sprinkle it evenly into the pot, stirring well afterwards. Xanthan gum is a brilliant thickening agent and is also used in gluten free baking, so it does come in handy. You only need a tiny amount - it's quite remarkable.
- Pour the mixture into a clean jar and store in the fridge. This recipe fills a small (200ml) jar.
Brendamarie
Can you can this in a hot water bath canner?
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Brenda, I have never tried to can my jams. I always store them in the fridge. Since I'm adding the lemon juice they keep for a surprisingly long time - a number of weeks. But I cannot guarantee that you can keep them at room temperature for months on end since we're not using sugar as a preservative.
Karen
I was never interested in making my own jams, until I saw this simple recipe with ingredients I always have on hand. It came out great, and it fit nicely in an empty bottle of store-bought sugar-free preserves. 🙂 Hubby loves it in a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I've been making those sandwiches with 90 second bread, but I will definitely get around to making your very popular bread recipes.
MICHELLE
This recipe is so easy and delicious! Blueberries are my favourite fruit!
I've made this 3 times using frozen blueberries. And now since I know how much sweetener I like, i just added granulated sweetener right in with the berries!. it's so easy to adjust to your own personal taste!! .
Nyoka P
Does this thicken as it stands? It's little thin. I used some fresh blueberries and strawberries. Maybe the extra water from the strawberries?
Katrin Nürnberger
It will thicken a little as it cools. But I do recommend to cook it down as much as possible.
Rochelle
Trying this tonight. Plan to use chia seeds, so if I grind them best I can (no spice grinder) will it still be bothersome to teeth as I've heard? Also can I sub the sugar for honey if necessary? Thank you in advance.
Katrin Nürnberger
If you grind the chia seeds, you won't be able to see or taste them. If you don't grind them, they will be soft, but you'll have the little gloopy seeds in your jam. Either way, it won't be bothersome to your teeth. And yes, you can sub the sweetener for honey if you prefer.
Marcia Perry
Wonderful jam recipe! I used freeze-dried blueberries and several teaspoons of erythritol (I like my jam sweet LOL) and it came out perfectly. The thickness was fine, so I didn't even need any xanthan gum. I'm looking forward to summer so I can make it with fresh local blueberries.
mperry
Can one us guar gum instead of xanthan?
Katrin Nürnberger
Yes, that should work.
Leslie A Barberie
Can I make this jam in an instant pot?
Katrin Nürnberger
I haven't tried this yet because I don't have an instant pot. But I think it should work!
Kathy
I plan to make a larger amount to give away at Christmas. Is this jam safe to water bath process, so it can be kept on the shelf before opening?
Katrin Nürnberger
I have never tried to can it and would always keep it in the fridge. You'll definitely need to use lemon juice to preserve it.
Anna M
Natural and healthy like Nature intended!
Thank you for sharing
Bethany McKinven
I have just been looking for an answer to this, how did your batch fair?
Katrin Nürnberger
I find that my jams keep for a few weeks in the fridge. After that, they tend to be finished. I've never had a batch go off. I have a batch of sugar free orange marmalade in the fridge right now that I made in the middle of December (over a month ago) and it's still fine. I think the key is using lemon juice to help preserve it longer.
Audra
So glad I found this recipe!
I made it without the xanthan gum, used Chi seeds as suggested as an alternative (used a spice grinder to grind them fine). Can’t even tell they’re in the jam!
I also included the vanilla and I used about 1/3 cup confectioners Swerve (my berries were a bit too tart by themselves).
I will definitely make this again! Probably will try blackberry or mixed berry next.
Angie
I am going to use chia seeds. But question. Did u add the chai seeds while it’s boiling or afterwords?
Katrin Nürnberger
I added it afterwards, to soak up the remaining liquid.