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.
Sandy
Is this shelf stable or only refrigerated?
Thanks!
Katrin Nürnberger
I have never tried to can it and always keep it in the fridge.
Sandy
I may make 2 and see what happens with one refrigerated and one on the shelf.
Thanks!
C McElhatten
I think you could hit water bath seal this or you could freeze it! If you pour the very hot jam into hot sterile jars and hot sterile lids it just may seal on its own. Maybe extra lemon juice would help that too. If you try that experiment try not to use the sealed one and watch it closely also be sure to listen and check for the sealed lid. I am thinking of trying this. With other fruits also. I love jams and I am diabetic and blueberries are such a healthy choice for me. I may try the chia or stevia recipe also make a batch with cinnamon and do it like a butter no thickener needed.
DeAnna
Be sure to seal your jar for the shelf...or you will end up with spoiled jam. A quick way to seal things is to be sure the canning lid and ring is on but not to tight. Use a pan tall enough to cover your jar with water, and boil the water 10 to 15 minutes. Carefully take it out of the water, and set on table or counter to cool. You will know it sealed if you punch the middle of the lid and hear no sound. When cooled store on the shelf...
Katie
My 5 year old has a recipe in his school book that calls for 5 1/2 cups of sugar! I nearly fell out of my chair! I'm so glad to have found your alternative recipe for his project. We can't wait!
Katrin Nürnberger
Jeez! Let me know how you all like this one instead 🙂
Sherilee Phillips
I’d like to make sugar. Free pepper jam. Can I add jalapeños to this?
Katrin Nürnberger
That's an interesting idea! I don't know how this would taste, but from a technical standpoint it will work!
Marie
I am wondering what are those blueberry balls you show next to the jam? I searched your recipes for blueberries and did not find it, they look delicious too!
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Marie, they are just frozen blueberries! 🙂
Mary Kay
Just finished making a batch to go with me homemade bread. Used a bag of frozen blueberries from Dollar Tree. So much cheaper than store bought and so easy. Wonder how frozen strawberries will be. That’ll be next. Thanks for sharing! Delicious!
Carla
I just made this blueberry goodness and can't wait to try it. The recipe called for a couple pinches of xanthan gum and with my being Italian, a pinch for me can be as much as a teaspoon, so I used 1/4 tsp in this recipe and it looks pretty thick. Don't know if it'll continue to thicken as it cools so am unsure if 1/4 tsp was too much.
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Carla, for me, a pinch is what you can hold between two pinched fingers, so definitely not as much as 1/4 teaspoon. But I'm sure it will still taste great 🙂
Phil
A pinch is about 1/16 teaspoon so two pinches= 1/8 teaspoon. You can buy measuring spoons that are a pinch, smidge and dash.
Bev Muller
Can I freeze this jam?
Katrin Nürnberger
Yes, of course!
yvonne herbert
i am using 6 cups for this recipe so it would be 916 grams is that right
thank you
Katrin Nürnberger
That sounds about right!
Heather
Thank you! I had a mango I wanted to use for jam, so I just followed the recipe substituting it in for the berries.
Jamie Cooper
Does this jam freeze well? We have access to MANY fruit farms and would like to make big batches to freeze for my two boys (aka food vacuums).
Katrin Nürnberger
Yes, you can absolutely freeze this jam!
Katja
This is the first time I made jam, and it turned out sooo great! i was a little skeptical about the Xanthan gum because baking with it can be such a chore. But it turned out great. I'd been wanting to make my own jam for a long time but had been looking for a simple sugar-free recipe. This is it! So great. Thank you.
Oh, also, I dissolved the Xanthan gum in a little bit of water before adding it to the jam, to avoid clumping. Worked great.
Susan Gerrish
I’ve been looking for a way to adapt my jams to be sugar free. I have blueberry & raspberries bushes, so have made jam for years. I’m new to Keto & sugar free cooking. Can’t wait to try this, and figure out how adapt to the canning process.
P.S Your 90 second bread has saved my bread cravings!!!