I have a love-hate relationship with wild Himalayan blackberries. I love their luscious dark tender berries, but I hate their thorny invasive brambles taking over my yard. This morning my kids and their best friend made it their mission to pick as many plump juicy blackberries they could in our back yard. After eating handful after handful, they brought in just over two cups of berries.
When I asked what they wanted to make with them, they both said blackberry jam. So blackberry jam it is. This recipe uses no pectin and unless properly preserved, should be eaten within a week. Raspberries can easily be substituted for blackberries and the recipe itself is very easy. Just remember the number 2. I hope you enjoy the harvest of this late summer season.
*To make seedless jam, strain the berries in a medium mesh sieve before cooking.
| How to Make Blackberry or Raspberry Jam |
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- Blackberry or Raspberry Jam without Pectin
- 2 cups crushed blackberries or raspberries (I crush mine by putting all the berries inside a cup/bowl and smooshing them with a spoon)
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- In a small pan cook blackberries, sugar, and lemon juice on high heat for 5 minutes and reduce to medium heat and cook an additional 15 minutes. Skim the foam off and store in a heat-proof container. The jam will thicken as it cools.
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I’m not much of a fan of blackberries, but I bet thought would be great on some English muffins or toast or even slathered on pancakes.
Mmmmmmm berry jelly….my favorite!
That jam looks wonderful… and I love how simple the recipe is! I bet it would make a delicious cake filling, too!
I just bought blackberries today. I love the taste. Your jam looks yummy!
Kudos to you, Alice, for taking that first shot! Red and reddish/purple colors are so hard to photograph, and yours is beautiful!
I know your daughters will remember that day years and years later. I still remember making strawberry and apricot jam with my mom during the summer and I have to make us a batch or two or there is just something missing!
Looks as pretty as jewelry to me!
Mmmmm jam….just picked about 2kg/4lbs of blackberries from hedge rows (would have cost £20/$30 in my local store)….double mmmm; free jam.
So Bomb!!!!! I just made like 3 cups worth and it turned out really good…maybe a little sweet
Great recipee for first timers!!
Can your kids pick blackberries for me? I really want to make a pie! Your jam looks good!
Thanks for all the comments everyone!
Randall: So glad you liked it.. it is a very easy recipe for beginners. I think that’s why I like it so much!
Thanks for guiding me to this recipe. I can so relate to the love/hate thing. Blackberries come on the most horrible thorny vines. I’ve just been in the backyard today trimming things down (after much neglect) and I am all scratched up. Cant wait to make mincemeat of them now lol! Great pictures by the way.
GREAT photos – I love making jam such as this … made my first couple of batch a couple weeks ago – sooo good, especially if you pick your own berries!
I just made this yesterday and we love it! I almost ate the whole thing. I agree with Randall with the sweetness but we didn’t mind that. Giving some to my bf’s parents this weekend too.
Thanks everyone for your comments.
Randall and Dy: Feel free to reduce the sugar by 1/2 a cup. Just remember the sugar helps as a preservative so you don’t want to reduce by too much. Hope that helps and I’m glad you liked it!
Beautiful berries – I love blackberries – and simply gorgeous jam!
This jam looks so wholesome & exciting to me. Am sure would go great with ice cream…uuummmm. I love homemade jam. Yet to try with blackberry.
I made 3 batches for my daughter, who is off to university this fall. They turned out perfectly. Thank you for the simple, healthy recipe.
This is a fabulous recipe. I found a similar version to this once with strawberries and I’m so pleased to see you can mimic it with other fruit. It tastes divine – I’ve canned a couple of bottles of it so I can have it in the months to come!
Thanks for sharing this with all of us!
I’ve followed your recipe to the letter and by now I’ve stored a approximatly a gallon of foam in a large heat proof container, what do I do now?
Thanks everyone for your comments.. I appreciate your encouragement!
Eve: I’m not sure how you got a gallon of foam, this recipe will yield about 2 cups. You will get a little foam after you’ve cooked the fruit down. You can remove the foam or leave it. But the foam should be very minimal. Let me know if I can help anymore.. and if you could let me know what quantity you made this recipe as well as how long you cooked it, I can ask my canning expert friends how to help you.
I picked some blackberries this afternoon and made my 1st ever batch of jam following your recipe. I used a little more lemon juice and a little less sugar than you suggset, but its fantastic! I’m very proud of myself! Thank you so much for sharing such a great, simple recipe
Can you freeze this jam as well?
Stephanie, I asked Marsula, a canning expert your question and she says, ” You can certainly freeze it, as long as they leave plenty of headspace for the frozen jam to expand into.” Hope that helps!
Looks just beautiful. I’m making raspberry jam tomorrow, but I’ll see if there are some blackberries at the market too. Can’t wait to try your recipe!
I love making jam. This one has a pretty nice color.
I love blackberries though I don’t think I’d like picking them! Your jam is gorgeous! What a great color!
i made this and put it in the fridge, are u supposed to do that? it came out like hard candy after being in the fridge
Hi Michael,
The jam should thicken up but not like hard candy. If you bring it to room temperature of microwave it a little bit, it should soften up. Hope this helps.
Alice
I just made your blackberry jam with some berries that were about to go bad. It’s quite delicious! I’m now surfing your site to see what other delicious recipes you have
thank you, thank you, thank you! I live in the south east usa and can pick all the blackberries I want, and have been searching all over for a no pectin recipe. I’m old school, (when jams or preserves didn’t need pectin.)
Just the other night I had homemade blackberry jam. It was so good. She used pectin in hers. I was wondering if it could be made with Splenda instead of sugar?
Hi Paula,
I’ve never replaced the sugar with Splenda before so I don’t know how it would work. But sugar acts as a natural thickener and preservative.. I don’t believe Splenda does either of those. You could try using half sugar and half Splenda. I imagine if you did use just Splenda, it wouldn’t get as thick as normal sugar.
I tried half splenda and half sugar and it turned out like syrup. It was great on ice cream, but didn’t thicken.
You rock!! My parents had taken my sister’s kids to walking path near our house that was just overflowing with ripe blackberries. We are going up to our cabin tonight and we’re going to have pancakes in the morning and these will be perfect!! It came out a little sweeter than I thought but I also think I skimped a bit on the lemon juice. I split the recipe because I didn’t have enough blackberries left after baking blackberry muffins.
Thank you!!
I just finished picking blackberries and I got a whole gallon ziplock bag full. YIKES in a good way. It looks like I will have a gallon bag every couple of days, right now. Good gracias. Anyways, I was thankful to stumble across this recipe and am getting ready to spend a few minutes in the kitchen making this. Just wanted to say thank you for the recipe and for the readers tips on reducing the sugar a little and adding just a little more lemon juice. Takes me back to my childhood
How long dose the jam stay go for? I’m new at this. I’ve never made homemade jam before.
Hi Eliza,
The jam will keep for a few weeks unless you decide to can it. The sugar acts like a natural preservative. It should keep about the same time a store-bought jar which has been open would keep in the refrigerator. Hope this helps.
What would your instructions be for canning this recipe?
As a 40 something man, I am very ashamed to say that I had never made jam … until I found and followed your superbly simple instructions. My jam is now all over the counrty in friends’ houses. It tastes great!!!
You’re a star!!!
This recipe was so easy, and fun to make! I can’t wait to try it on ice cream, or toast in the morning! mmmmm! Thanks! The pics are gorgeous, and so acurate-our jam looks just like yours!
We were cooking this jam, and halfway through the medium-high heat, the jam started burning. 15 minutes just seems like alootttttt of time to heat it, especially on medium heat.
Hi Issy and Vanessa:
Oh no! This is not good.. sorry your jam burned. From what it sounds like, I think your burner may be running hotter than just “medium”. I suggest next time lowering the heat to medium low and see if that solves the issue of burnt jam.
Should you wash the blackberries before you make the jam?
Hi Marie,
Yes, you should gently wash them under running water. Hope this helps.
There are also thornless blackberries. My family and I planted some this year. The berries are HUGE, and NO THORNS! I’m going to try your jam tonight. My husband LOVES blackberries, but all I ever make is pie or cobbler. Hope he likes it!!!
Karalee,
My neighbor has some thornless blackberry bushes.. jealous!
Often when i try this sort of stuff it ends in tears – but this was so straight forward.
And it came out really well – thanks for the recipe!
So often simple is better.
I would recommend using small jars though, pre-heated in the oven perhaps 100C for 15 mins. And once openned store in the fridge.
Andrew: Making jam should never involve tears.. just lots of blackberry stained faces and happy bellies!
Tammy: While blackberries are the best!
So glad I found your receipe Alice! I am a first-timer Blackberry Jam/Jelly maker. Just picked a bowl of Blackberries in the back yard, wild and free! lol. Will be making your receipe with my 11yr old daughter, is her favorite on toast, (Mom’s too!).
Making this as I am typing. I have picked about 50 cups of blackberries in the past 2 days so have plenty for lots of jam. I am going to can it for winter and freeze some berries for pies. I enjoy reading everyones comments and tips they are helpful. I often make modifications to recipes myself and most of the time it works out. keep cooking creatively and enjoy your day.Many Blessings to all of you.
My 6 year old son Matthew and I have just picked the blackberries and made our 1st jar – looks good so far – thanks for an easy recipe – when buying sugar I came across COOP fair trade preserving sugar especially for jam making.
i have a question though – I removed as many worms/ maggots as I could see – would the rest be killed in cooking
thanks
Pete
Hi Pete,
We just made some blackberry jam the other day too! Good to know there is preserving sugar out there. As far as the worms and maggots, I imagine they would all be killed in the cooking process.
Last year my batch of berries had worms and maggots. We made the jam, we’ve eaten it all, and I’m still alive today. Hoping that high heat killed anything that squirms!
When picking blackberrys check the base of it if it is discoloured it contains maggots.If it is green it is clean!!Happy picking!!
I made this last week with my kids and it was amazing. I don’t even like jam because I usually find it too sweet. I put in on top of a no bake cheesecake and my husband said it was the best dessert I’d ever made!
where in the heck are you picking your blackberries
Just made three big jars of jam from this really easy to do recipe. Thanks for keeping it idiot proof. It wont surprise you to hear that it’s really delicious!!
I just made my first batch of blackberry jam. (Thank you, by the way for making is so simple). I do however want to know where these people are getting blackberries that contain worms and maggots. That’s making me a little weird about eating these things now. I usually wash and look at them very, very closely, but hearing this makes me incredibly unsure about eating them at all. Please tell me that you can see the little buggers, before plopping them into your mouth. Blaaahhh!
DeAnna,
Maggot and worms are visible. Sometimes I have found them when picking berries in the wild. But this hasn’t happened many times. I think it’s safe to say.. if you don’t seem them they are not there.
some areas have problems with bugs in their berries.. i remember when i was young in wisconsin… my grandfather taught us to drop all our picked berries into a big bucket of cold water, then we stirred gently with our hands.. and the bugs in them floated to the top .. and we poured em out… then we could drain and eat the berries…
ive done this many times .. where i live now (washington state).. and ive never had anything come out cept little leaves and debri… so i assume its a regional thing.. try it in ur area.. just to be sure if u like….
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