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This super easy Christmas Jam has sweet-tart, delicious flavor!
I know it’s Halloween today…but we’re already getting ready for Christmas! Homemade gifts for the holiday season are some of my favorites to give and receive – especially when they are as delicious as our Christmas Jam.
This simple jam is a sweet-tart mix of strawberries and cranberries (plus sugar and pectin) – and the flavor combination is out of this world. (It’s so good, my husband Jack says he doesn’t want to give any of these jars of jam away this Christmas!)
In addition to this jam being super delicious, one of the best things is that it is super easy to make! Scroll below to our recipe card to watch a video showing how it’s made.
This Christmas Jam also cans very well, so even though Christmas is still a little less than two months away, it will be here before you know it! So you can make this Christmas Jam now before the holiday rush and then you’ll be all ready for gift-giving. It’s also the perfect jam to use in these cookies.
This recipe is from the Tougas Family Farm cookbook (you can see it here). I’ve seen other versions of Christmas Jam online with orange zest or orange peel added, but we liked the simple sweet strawberry-tart cranberry contrast of flavors the best. You can use fresh or frozen strawberries and cranberries (we used a combination of both) – so use whichever is best for you!
And to make your gift-giving even easier – we’re sharing a free printable for the Christmas Jam labels you see in our photos! They are sized for these two inch round labels to stick to the top of half-pint decorative jars, or to create a gift label as shown in the photo at the top of this post. Please note: You must DOWNLOAD THE LABELS FIRST before you will be able to print them.
Christmas Jam is a simple and delicious treat that everyone on your holiday gift list will love! (And here’s one last helpful tip – this Christmas Jam is a delicious alternative to cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving! If your guests don’t like the tart flavors of cranberry sauce, they will probably love this jam instead!)
Please note: You must DOWNLOAD THE LABELS FIRST before you will be able to print them.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I freeze this jam instead of canning it? The answer is…I don’t know! We’ve only made (and canned) this jam as written so I don’t know how it will work as a freezer jam. If you try it, please let us know in the comments below.
- Does this recipe REALLY call for 5 pounds of sugar? Yes – that is the amount called for in the original recipe.
- Can I make this jam with less sugar? Yes – we’ve had several readers tell us in the comments below that they have successfully made this jam with less sugar. Some readers used low sugar pectin while others simply reduced the sugar. We haven’t done so ourselves so we can’t share our own experience, nor can we say how reducing the sugar will impact the finished texture of the jam. But feel free to scroll below through the comments for some additional information.
- Can I use sugar substitute in this jam recipe? We haven’t tested it ourselves, but I’m going to say no. Pectin needs the interaction with sugar to set the jam so you would likely need to make some other adjustments to the recipe if you cut out the sugar.
- Can I used powdered pectin instead of liquid? Again, we haven’t tested it ourselves, but we have had readers swap in powdered for liquid. Liquid pectin is added at the end of this recipe because it doesn’t need to be boiled/cooked, while powdered pectin requires some cooking time so you’ll want to add it earlier in the recipe. Here’s a great article about the topic.
- How long will this Christmas Jam keep? When properly canned and stored in a cool, dark place, we’ve enjoyed jars of this Christmas Jam for up to a year. If you don’t can the jam, keep refrigerated for about two weeks.
- Can I add other fruits to this jam? Sure. Just note that sometimes the amount of pectin may need to be adjusted depending on the natural pectins found in whatever fruit you swap in.
- My jam didn’t set. What do I do? Assuming that you followed the recipe exactly as written, if your jam didn’t set, you can try reheating it and adding some more pectin.
- I can’t print the labels. What do I do? You MUST download the labels first before attempting to print. The labels are created as a Word document so as long as you have that, or another program that can handle Word documents, you should be able to print them.
We love seeing what you made! Tag us on Instagram at @afamilyfeast or hashtag #afamilyfeast so we can see your creations!
Christmas Jam
If you are planning to can this jam, have your sterilized jars, rims, bands and canning tools ready and sterilized ahead of time.
Ingredients
- 2 packages (20 ounces each) frozen whole strawberries (fresh strawberries may also be substituted)
- 1 pound fresh or frozen cranberries
- 5 pounds sugar (This is not a typo – 5 pounds is the correct amount. Some readers have told us that they successfully used less sugar when making this jam.)
- 2 pouches (3-ounces each) liquid fruit pectin
Instructions
- In a food processor, pulse the strawberries and cranberries – you can process them to a finely chopped texture for a completely smooth jam, or leave some fruit partially chopped for a chunkier jam.
- Pour the processed fruit into a large heavy-bottomed pot. Add sugar and over medium high heat, bring the fruit and sugar mixture to a full rolling boil.
- Boil for 1 minute.
- Remove the pot from the heat and add the pectin, stirring to mix completely.
- Allow the jam to cool for 5 minutes, then skim off the foam on the top.
- Ladle the hot jam mixture into sterile half-pint jars, leaving ¼-inch headspace. Wipe jar rims clean, cover with hot lids and screw on the jar bands.
- Process the jars for 10 minutes in a water bath. (Read more how to’s here).
- Makes about 14 half-pint jars. Recipe may be halved.
Last Step! Please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
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Pasta Frolla Christmas Jam Cookies
Can I replace cranberrys with frozen cherries? I can’t find cranberries anywhere right now, fresh or frozen.
Hi Whitley – We haven’t tried making this with frozen cherries – but I suspect it will work! Please let us know how it comes out!
This is totally a wonderful, delicious and easy jam to make!
I made this for Christmas gifts and everyone loved it.
I only suggest to add a pad of butter while boiling, it takes most of the foam that gathers on the top go away.
Thanks Alice! Great suggestion!
jam is delicious wonderful.
great gifts.
Could not print labels.
thanks,
Hi Patricia – You need to download the file before attempting to print the labels.
Is 5 pounds of sugar right? That seems like a lot!
Yes – 5 pounds is correct if you are making the full recipe
Do you know if I can substitute some of the sugar with stevia in the raw? Thank you
Hi Lisa – We’ve only made the recipe as written, but if you try it with Stevia swapped in, please let us know how it comes out! (You might need to use a low-sugar pectin.)
I just made this, couldn’t find 20 ounce bags of strawberries so I used 16 ounce bags, I also just used one small bag of ocean spray fresh cranberries which was about a pound and a 4lb bag of sugar because I could not find a 5lb one. The jam turned out amazing. I am going to purchase extra bags of cranberries to freeze. It yielded 10 half pint jars.
Thanks Jan! So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Hi,
I would love to make this jam but I think I would like to use fresh strawberries instead of frozen. I’m not sure if I would need to use a different amount or still use the 20ozs.
Thank you and thanks for posting. Deb
Hi Deb – You would use the same amount regardless of whether you are using fresh or frozen. Enjoy!
I just love the look of the label at the top-what kind of paper did you use and then did you use a punch? Which size? Thank you!!!
Hi Karen – To make those labels, I just put the sticker labels on some red scrapbook paper (lightweight card stock) and then used scissors with a scallop edge (like this one: http://amzn.to/2Bw0FSc) to cut the edge around it. Hope that helps!
Hi, I was thinking of making with raspberries, would you think anything would change as far as ingredients?
Hi Marie – I’ve only made the recipe as written but some of the other readers who left comments either here below the post or on our Facebook page have successfully added raspberries. I believe many of them strained the seeds before canning, but I don’t know if they adjusted any other ingredients. I’m sorry I can’t be more help.
Could you please post the Avery label number. I have tried 2 different ones, 22807 and 22827 and the 4 labels on the left of the page are off the circle. Also if you use low sugar or no sugar pectin, it will jell up with half the sugar. Thanks
Hi Becky – We used 22807. I’m guessing there may be an alignment issue with your printer? You could try going into the word document and adding some spaces to see if that helps the alignment as it prints?