Figs are one of my all-time favorite fruits! But unfortunately, living in New England where figs are not locally grown, it is often hard to find fresh figs. And when we do find them, they are either very expensive or – being a highly perishable fruit – not of the greatest quality.
So I was extremely excited to walk into my local market last week – where I spotted a large display of fresh figs on sale for a great price. (If you see them too…buy some!) I grabbed a few pints and immediately started plotting to make this Small Batch Fig Jam recipe.
This Small Batch Fig Jam recipe makes a 1-cup jar of jam – perfect for a special treat. The jam is sweet but not too sweet, and the addition of lemon and thyme complements the flavors of the fig in a very delicious way!
This gorgeous fig jam is absolutely fantastic served on crostini with a sprinkle of bleu cheese (see note in our recipe below), spread on buttered toast or a bagel, spooned into some hot oatmeal, or used to make our Prosciutto and Fig Pizza with Arugula or these Prosciutto Rolls.
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Small Batch Fig Jam
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 1 cup
Description
Adapted from Cooking Light via MyRecipes.com
Ingredients
- 1 lemon
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1½ tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 1 pound ripe fresh Black Mission Figs, stemmed and quartered
Instructions
- For a very thick jam (as shown) simmer for the full 50 minutes. For a looser jam, simmer only for 40 minutes.
- Using a vegetable peeler, remove strips of rind from lemon, being careful not to include the white pith as you peel the strips.
- Place lemon rind strips and all other ingredients into a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Stir to combine.
- Bring contents in the saucepan to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 40-50 minutes (*see note above) or until mixture thickens, continuing to stir frequently so the mixture doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot.
- Discard thyme stems and lemon peel. Pulse jam with an immersion blender to chop up the fig skins if desired.
- Pour into an 8-ounce jelly jar. Keep refrigerated for up to one month.
- This jam may also be canned in sterilized jars using the water bath method.
Notes
To make the crostini we show in our photos above, simply slice a baguette into diagonal slices. Toast until golden brown, then (optional) rub each slice with a clove of garlic that has been cut in half. Spread our Small Batch Fig Jam onto each slice, then top with crumbled bleu cheese.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
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Prosciutto and Fig Pizza with Arugula
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Just making this recipe and also thought it had too much sugar so used 2 tsps only and added a bit of stevia. Also I’m leaving the lemon rind in cut in smaller pieces. I am also using 2 tsp of Poire Williams. There doesn’t seem to be enough moisture so I added a little water. Am I doing something wrong?
★★★★
Hi Jennifer – Hard to say – you’ve made a lot of changes to the recipe…I can only really speak to the recipe as written and haven’t tested it with all of the changes and substitutions are you trying. Sorry I can’t be more help.
I actually would give this 4.5 stars–the 1/2 deficit because it was still a little too sweet for me, even though I cut the sugar by 1/4 cup. The blend of lemon and thyme was perfect! Quite tasty! Served it over brie with bruschetta slices–it was a hit at happy hour! Not a fig fan (my husband is the one) and first timer with fig recipes–will definitely make it again! Thank you, Martha!
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Thanks for your feedback Caryn.
I used 1/2 a 6oz lemon and the it completely overpowered any fig taste.
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Hi Gina – Definitely sounds like you added too much lemon. Typically, you would squeeze the lemon juice, then measure it out and only add 1 1/2 tablespoons – not go by the weight of the lemon.
Delicious! Thanks for this wonderful recipe! I didn’t have fresh thyme and thus used dry.
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Thanks Akshaya!
I’m in the middle of making your jam right now. You don’t say to cover the pot while simmering for 40-50 min., so I did not. Is that correct?
Hi Mary – That’s correct – no need to cover the pot as it simmers.
delicious wih sage instead of thyme / lemon
Thanks for the suggestion!
The recipe is super simple! It’s even great if you exclude the lemon peals and thyme (I couldn’t taste much of a difference, so I don’t use them) Thanks so much for sharing. I, like Vince, have way too many fresh figs on my tree and they are just too sweet to be eating every day. I am curious if anyone has canned the jam, I’m new to the world of canning, and have only canned a few things. I am wondering what the processing time would be and if I need to add anything to bring the acidity up or if it’s already the right Ph to can. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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We are by no means canning experts. We always refer readers to the Ball canning site for reference. https://www.freshpreserving.com/
Canning is an exact science so in all cases, refer to a site that can offer sound canning advice.
Really delicious! I even accidentally doubled the lemon and honey and still delightful. I used it to make italian-style almond thumbprint cookies and it went fabulously.
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Ooo – great idea Helena!
Absolutely incredible! I cannot make enough! I love it thick and leave the lemon peel (cut in smaller pieces) Thank you for sharing. My first time creating jam of any kind!
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You’re welcome Charlotte! Glad you enjoyed the jam!
Perfectly delicious!! I followed the recipe exactly as written, and will do the same next time I have too many figs to eat!
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So glad you enjoyed the jam LeeAnn!
Nevermind. I googled it. If anyone is interested, a pound of figs is 2 1/2 cups chopped, or 12 small figs. Now I can make the recipe!!
Thanks LeeAnn!
I don’t have a scale. Do you have any idea how many figs are in a pound? Thank you!
Hi LeeAnn – We don’t currently have any figs on hand to estimate…plus it will also depend on the size of your figs. For something like jam, measurements in weight vs volume is the most accurate. If you are buying them at the store, you should be able to weigh them there.
Awesome!
I just made this recipe, and my first time making jam. I enjoy the addition of the lemon zest and thyme (and I used orange blossom honey because I had some).
I’ll be looking for more figs so I can have some up until next year.
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So glad you enjoyed the jam Roberto!
I loved this recipe! When the jam was done I took the lemon peels out, dipped them in sugar and stuck them in the oven to dry to make candid lemon peels. What a treat! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Great idea Rebecca! So happy you enjoyed the jam!
We have a fig tree in our yard and were surprised to see it produce so much fruit this year! For some reason, my husband and I don’t like to eat them fresh (texture maybe?) but we LOVE fig jam so I’m excited to try this recipe. My only question is how sweet is it? I’m always weary of how much sugar I add to anything, would 1/4 cup be too little? Thanks!
Hi Janet – As we mentioned in the post, the jam is sweet but not too sweet and the lemon and thyme really balance the sweetness. Could I suggest that you make a small batch as written and then decide? Also, the sugar does help the natural pectins in the fruit set the jam…cutting it back to 1/4 cup may impact the thickness of your jam.
Can you double and triple the recipe? I was wondering if it would taste the same. I have around 4 lbs of figs.
thank you
Hi Laura – We’ve only made small batches but I don’t see why you can’t make larger batches. I suspect the cooking time might vary with the larger batches.
Hi Martha,
I decided to make this jam since our fig tree is out of control and we loved the flavor! However, my jam came out more watery even though I did the full 50 minutes. I want to try another batch but any tips on what I may have done wrong? Maybe heat too high or wrong type of pot?
Thanks in advance.
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I’m not sure Daniel (it’s always difficult to troubleshoot from a distance)! Did you happen to make a larger batch than just the single recipe quantities? If so, it’s entirely possible it just needs to simmer longer with the larger quantities. One trick is to spoon a small amount of the jam on a plate and place it in the freezer to cool – after a few minutes, you can get a sense of how thick the jam will be once it cools so you know whether to simmer the batch for longer. Hope that helps!
HI Martha, I’m Dee. I’m looking for a chutney easy type of recipe. I came across yours, that’s Fig Jam. I need to do a large cheese platter for a Bridal Shower. with that said, would your Fig Jam stand up to the cheese platter I will be putting together? Or do you have a good Chutney recipe you can recommend. Need this within two weeks, if you can help me. Thank U for your time.
Hi Dee – We’ve used both the Fig Jam and well as our Tomato Jam (https://www.afamilyfeast.com/tomato-jam/) on a cheese board – neither are as a chunky as a chutney, but they both work well with the flavors of a cheeseboard or charcuterie board with meats and nuts included. In terms of recommended chutney recipes, I haven’t tried this one, but have found that Simply Recipes is always a good source for recipes and this is more of a traditional mango chutney: https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/homemade_mango_chutney/ – it looks simple, and you could probably use frozen mango chunks in place of fresh if needed.
Hope this helps!
This recipe is excellent!! I didn’t have fresh thyme, so used a little bit (1/4 tsp) dried. Really outstanding!!
★★★★★
Thanks Leslie!
This is a great recipe! Can the fig jam be frozen ? If so, what would be the shelf life .
Thank you in advance
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Hi Roberta – We’ve never tried freezing this jam ourselves.
This was the best fig jam I have ever made. I only added a pinch of salt. Thank you so much for sharing.
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You’re welcome Glorita – so glad you enjoyed the jam!
Hello from Oregon! I’ve never tried fig jam (and honestly…can’t remember a time where I have eaten a fig before today) but my sweet neighbors shared an abundance of ripe figs with us. In the recipe, the figs are stemmed and quartered – do you peel the skin off of them first as well? Total beginner to the fig world here! I’m excited to try the recipe as it sounds delish!!! Thank you in advance
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Hi Allison – How lucky for you! No need to peel the figs. Hope you enjoy the jam recipe!
This is delicious !!
I didn’t have any thyme, but other than that I followed the recipe.
Someone pass the biscuits !!!
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Glad you liked it Renee!
We were in the Netherlands and bought a fig jam and love it on our homemade burgers. Unfortunately our jar is empty now. I have not been able to find fresh figs. Was wondering if you could use dry figs for this recipe?
Hi Nancy – I’m not sure. I suppose you could try soaking the dried figs in warm water to reconstitute them a bit. And the dried figs may be sweeter overall so you might be able to get away with less sugar. I do think you’ll need to make some adjustments to the recipe as written. (But please let us know how it turns out if you try it!)
In our area (New England/United States) we usually see fresh figs towards the end of summer/early fall – so hopefully you can find them then!
Absolutely LOVE this recipe! I’d never made jam before, and this recipe proved to be super easy. I used all ingredients except for the thyme, (I didn’t have any) and the end result is DELICIOUS! Thank you for sharing!!
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You’re welcome Brenda – glad you enjoyed the recipe!
We have made this once and it was delicious. We are going to make another batch today with frozen Figs!
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Lucky you Sally! 🙂 So glad you are enjoying the recipe!
Small batch fig jam and small world!
After harvesting the last of my figs before our first hard freeze here in Cape Cod I was looking a good jam recipe since I had too many figs on hand. Followed the recipe exactly except doubled for all the figs. Cooked for the full 50 minutes to create thick and rich jam. Wow is this easy and super tasty, I have 1/2 dozen decorative jelly jars to gift over holiday season. Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe Martha!
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So glad you enjoyed the recipe Trent! (I never knew figs could grow in our area!)
I have a fig tree in my yard and got an abundance of fruit this year. I’m sick of eating them fresh, but will certainly enjoy the jam this winter. Very easy to make. Thanks
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You’re very welcome Vince! (How lucky you are!) Glad you enjoyed the recipe.
Enjoyed this recipe a lot. In my opinion, I would have left out the thyme. The jam was delicious!!
I also made cake from one of the recipes where I used the figs
Thanks for your feedback Shelly!
I made the Small Batch Fig Jam today. It is outrageously good! I am enjoying some now with goat cheese. Sophisticated, yet subtle, flavors of lemon, thyme, and honey.
Thanks Sandra!
I was so happy to find this recipe that uses just a pound of fresh figs and was really simple to make. I didn’t have fresh thyme so tossed in a cinnamon stick instead. I just finished making it and it tastes delicious! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
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You’re very welcome Jodi – glad you enjoyed the jam!
How much time in water bath for fig jam. Please.
Hi Pat – Ten minutes should be sufficient.
This was delicious! I added about a cup of pitted cherries because I had them and they weren’t getting eaten quickly enough. I loved the addition.
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Wow Heather – What an interesting combination! It sounds great!
Hi! Greetings from India. I am going to try this jam. Was wondering, no water in the recipe while boiling? Please revert so I can start making it. Thank-you.
Hi Supriya! No need to add any water – the juices from the fruit (figs and lemons) are enough. We hope you enjoy the recipe!
I’m about to make this! But I’m going to add chilies! It’s divine with blue/brie cheese avid crackers! Xoxo
Sounds great Roan!
Martha,
Like others who commented, I have never had fig jam. I like the idea of a small batch to taste
test,especially with the blue cheese. Figs are now on my shopping list, for your jam and other recipes I have collected. With summer winding down, I’m looking forward to your posts this fall.
Thanks,
Linda
Thank you so much Linda! I hope you love the jam! Enjoy the recipe of your weekend! Martha
I don’t think I have ever tried fig jam before! I am intrigued 🙂 I bet it tastes wonderful.
It is delicious Tanya! Hope you’ll give the recipe a try!
I also haven’t tried fig jam before but will be trying to follow your recipe to create some. It looks delicious! Thanks Martha
Thanks James!