Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

This sweet and tart homemade Strawberry Rhubarb Jam has a hint of vanilla and is the perfect way to preserve and can the early summer fruit.

I grow rhubarb in my home garden, and the hardy plants produce many stalks of rhubarb. Many find it mysterious to use since it’s generally not consumed raw. However, you can cook it on a stovetop with sweet and juicy strawberries, which happen to be in season at the same time, and the two balance each other perfectly in this ruby red jam.

There’s no pectin in this strawberry rhubarb jam recipe, but since strawberries and rhubarb are both low in pectin, you’ll want to make sure you cook it to its gelling point so it sets properly.

Read through my detailed guide below for lots of photos on how to cook the stovetop jam and can it in a water bath.

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🍓 Why You’ll Love This Strawberry Rhubarb Jam Recipe

• No pectin recipe using only five simple ingredients.
• Sweet and tart, making it a perfect spread on Flaky Sourdough Biscuits, Sourdough English Muffins, or a filling for these Sourdough Pop Tarts.
• Excellent way to use spring and early summer produce
• Can use fresh or frozen strawberries and rhubarb
• Lots of flavoring additions and variations so it’s very customizable.

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👨‍🍳 Stovetop Jam & Canning Tips

This recipe calls for two pounds of strawberries and two pounds of rhubarb, which will make about six half-pint jars of jam for canning.

• Sterilize your jars
  • Before canning, you should always sanitize and sterilize your canning jars, even if they’re brand new. This prevents bacteria and mold growth so your jams will properly preserve.
  • Some people use the sanitization setting in a dishwasher, but I personally don’t risk it and boil the empty jars on a rack in my boiling water canner for 10 minutes.
  • Please read sterilization recommendations for safety and other canning tips.
• Use the freezer plate test to make sure the jam sets
  • There are many ways to test if your jam is set. While temperature can be helpful, it’s not always the best indicator for knowing when your jam is set due to the ripeness of your fruit and how much pectin is in it.
  • After making lots of jams and using various tests, I think the best way to test if your jam is set is the freezer plate test. Place a small plate in the freezer when you begin cooking your jam and spoon a small amount onto the plate when it’s close to being done. After a minute rest, run a finger through the jam. If it’s done, it will wrinkle and leave a clean trail line.
  • I have included more photos and tips on the freezer plate test in the recipe guide below.
• Wear heat-proof and water-proof gloves
  • I’ve burned myself making jam more times than I’d like, so I recommend wearing heat-proof and water-proof gloves if you can! They’re really helpful for boiling water baths, hot steam, and for splashing fruit juices.
• Adjust for altitude
  • Like making sourdough bread or homemade maple syrup, altitude can affect the cooking process for jams. At higher altitudes, the boiling point of water is lower, so cooking times and exact temperatures can vary from person-to-person.
  • At sea-level, jam sets at 220ºF (104ºC) and decreases by 1ºF for every 500 feet. I’m at 1,000 ft, so my jam sets at 218ºF.
• Let jars cool completely
  • Once the jars are out of the water bath, they need to rest and cool completely to vacuum seal. Moving or shaking the jars before they have cooled can result in them losing their seal. Let them cool for 12-24 hours undisturbed.

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🛠 Tools Needed

See below for my tool recommendations for making stovetop jam and canning in a hot water bath and substitutions.

Once you have the materials for making jam, you can reuse them over and over, so it’s only an initial investment!

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam Tools

• Dutch oven or large pot, for cooking the jam
• Heat-proof spatula or wooden spoon, for stirring

Water Bath Canning Tools

• Water Bath Canning Pot (or large pot)
  • A large canning pot, made of stainless steel or graniteware, is most common for water bath canning. They’re wide and tall so they can fit a variety of canning jar sizes.
  • Use a stockpot, deep Dutch oven, or the biggest pot you have if you don’t have a specific canning pot.
• Canning Rack
  • A canning rack is important so your glass jars don’t sit on the bottom of your pot and possibly break. It also helps circulate the temperature better.
  • Make a makeshift canning rack using metal canning jar rings on the bottom of your pot.
• Jar Lifter
  • Helps handle hot, sterilized jars and dropping/removing the jars from the water bath.
  • Regular tongs can easily slip and break the jars, so having canning jar lifters with grips is essential.
• Funnel
  • A canning funnel will help direct the jam inside of the canning jars without spilling and ending up all over your jar rims.
• Ladle
  • For transferring the jam to the glass jars. I prefer metal ladles with a small spout.
• Heat-proof and Water-Proof Gloves
  • It’s easy to burn yourself with hot jams and high cooking temperatures of the canning jars, so I like to use these Lanon liquid and heat proof gloves for canning.
• Canning Jars, Lids, and Rings
  • I like 8oz or half-pint Ball Mason Jars for canning jams. However, you can make your jam in any size canning jar you’d prefer. While glass jars and rings are reusable, lids should only be used once to ensure they properly seal.
  • You can find jelly jars or canning jars at most grocery stores, online, a kitchen or canning aisle at home supply stores, or at large big-box retailers.
• Thermometer
  • An instant-read thermometer or a candy thermometer is really helpful for gauging how close your jam is to the gelling point. I use my Thermapen for everything from making jam, checking meat and candy temperature, to measuring dough temperature in Sourdough Bulk Fermentation.

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🛒 Ingredients Needed

See below for more information and jam variations and inclusions.

• Strawberries
  • Purchase the best strawberries in spring or early summer when they’re on sale!
  • You can use frozen strawberries to make this jam.
  • Other favorite strawberry recipes are Sourdough Strawberry Muffins, Sourdough Strawberries & Cream Scones, and Sourdough Strawberry Shortcake.
• Rhubarb
  • Find stalks of rhubarb at farmers’ markets or grocery stores in late spring and early summer.
  • If you purchase a large batch, make these Sourdough Blondies with Rhubarb & Almonds or chop and freeze the rhubarb.
• Granulated Sugar
  • No-pectin jams need a high ratio of sugar to fruit to help preserve the jams and make it an inhospitable environment for bacteria and mold growth.
  • You also need sugar to balance out the tartness in rhubarb, which enhances the flavor of the fruit.
  • Finally, the sugar helps gel the jam so it’s spreadable and prevents it from being too runny.
• Lemon Juice
  • Acid is important for fruit jam to balance out the sweetness of the fruit and sugar. Plus, the acid helps set the pectin for many jams and jellies and lowers the pH to help prevent bacterial growth.
  • I usually use fresh lemon juice for jam, but bottled lemon juice has a consistent acidity so it’s often recommended for canning.
• Vanilla Bean (or extract)
  • While optional, vanilla adds so much depth to this strawberry rhubarb jam. It has an intoxicating richness and perfumes the jam in a way that I think is worth using a real vanilla bean!
  • However, you can substitute the vanilla bean with a tablespoon of vanilla extract or vanilla paste.

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam Variations and Additions

• Lavender: Stir in a tablespoon of fresh lavender buds or 1 ½ teaspoons of dried lavender for a floral lavender strawberry rhubarb jam.
• Orange blossom or rose water: Add a tablespoon at the end of cooking.
• Cinnamon: Add a cinnamon stick to your jam at the start of cooking and remove before canning.
• Ginger: Grate 1 TBS of fresh ginger or add a teaspoon or two of dried ginger for a spicy kick.
• Almond extract: Instead of vanilla, stir in two teaspoons of almond extract for a slightly nutty flavor.
• Balsamic vinegar: For something more savory, balsamic vinegar adds a slight musky, acidic flavor. Add a tablespoon in at the end of cooking.
• Alcohol: Grand Marnier, Amaretto, or Bourbon are all great pairings with strawberry rhubarb jam.

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🍓 How to Make Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

Follow this visual step-by-step guide to help make and can the best no-pectin Strawberry Rhubarb Jam.

1. Macerate the Strawberries and Rhubarb

Wash your strawberries and rhubarb to remove any debris or dirt.

Chop and hull the strawberries into ½ inch chunks and slice the rhubarb into ½ inch pieces.

Add the fruit and sugar to a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottom pot. Stir with a spatula and let the fruit set for 20-30 minutes.

The sugar will soften and draw out liquid from the fruit through osmosis. The maceration will, in turn, help shorten the cooking time!

2. Cook the Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

Place a small plate in the freezer to test when the jam is done for later.

Set the large pot on medium heat and stir with a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula until boiling.

Maintain the jam at a medium boil for about 30 minutes, stirring and scraping the bottom every five minutes or so to avoid burning.

At first, the jam will have lots of bubbles and be quite juicy. However, over time, it will gradually cook off the water, reduce in size, get thicker, and turn deeper and deeper red.

If there is foam on top, scrape and skim off with a spoon and discard. Without skimming, the foam can make your jam appear cloudy.

3. Add Lemon Juice and Vanilla

I prefer adding lemon juice and delicate flavorings like vanilla near the end of cooking jam so the flavor is intact and not cooked off.

After 30 minutes of cooking, stir in the fresh lemon juice and the seeds scraped from one vanilla bean (or a tablespoon of vanilla extract).

Reserve the vanilla bean to use in your own homemade vanilla extract or vanilla sugar.

4. Finish Cooking and Freezer Plate Test

Continue cooking the jam, stirring often to avoid burning on the bottom, for another 10-15 minutes or until the jam has lava-like bubbles and is thicker.

If you’re using a thermometer at sea level, the jam should read about 218-220ºF (104ºC). This is the point when you’ll want to start testing if the jam is set (see below).

Once the jam passes the freezer plate test, immediately remove it from the heat.

How to Use the Freezer Plate Test for Jam

While temperature and time can be helpful indicators to know if the jam is close to being set, every batch of fruit cooks slightly differently due to natural pectin qualities, how ripe the fruit is, altitude, and other factors. To be most precise, use the freezer plate test to know if your jam is set properly.

Keep a small plate in the freezer as your jam cooks. Then, spoon a small amount of jam onto the plate and let it rest in the freezer for a minute.

Drag a finger through the middle of the jam. If the jam is runny and quickly fills in the trail, then it needs to cook longer for the natural pectin to set.

The jam is set when it leaves a clear line through the center, wrinkles, and is gel-like if you push the jam with your finger.

5. Canning Strawberry Rhubarb Jam (optional)

Once the jam is set, place a wide-mouth funnel on top of the sterilized canning jars and carefully ladle in the hot jam.

Leave at least ¼-inch of room on top, as the jar will expand slightly when it cools. Also, make sure to wipe the edges of your glass jars with a clean towel if there is any drippage or jam around the top of the jars.

Place the canning lids on top and tighten the rings to fingertip tight (not too tight).*

If canning the jam, boil the water in your water bath canner pot again and place the jams onto your canning rack. Slowly lower the rack into the water bath to cover them in at least 1-2 inches of boiling water.

Cover with the lid and boil the half-pint jars for 10 minutes at sea level. Add an additional minute for every 1,000 feet above sea level and more time for larger jars (refer to the National Center for Home Food Preservation or other approved sources).

Lift the hot jars from the boiling water and let them cool completely at room temperature without disturbing them for 24 hours. Within minutes, you should hear the satisfying pop of the canning lids sealing!

When done properly with new lids, I’ve never had issues with jars not sealing properly. However, you should double-check them after 24 hours to ensure the jars are sealed. To check if sealed, press the lid. The lid should not spring up, and it should curve inwards (not bulging).

Finally, be sure to label the jars and date them so you don’t forget what flavor they are or the date you made them!

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How to Store Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

This recipe makes six half-pint jars for long-term storage if canning. That way, you can enjoy the strawberry rhubarb flavor way past summer!

Canned jams can last for a year (sometimes longer) in a cool, dark pantry. The sugar and acid act as natural preservatives to keep it lasting.

Once opened, the jam should be refrigerated and will last a month in the fridge. I’ve had it last longer, but I go through jam quite quickly, so it never takes that long. If you ever see mold or it has an off taste, throw it away.

How to Serve Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

Homemade jam makes excellent gifts and party favors. During peak fruit season in the summer, I’ll buy lots of fresh fruit to make many jams, as it’s much cheaper when it’s in season and tastes so much better.

The strawberry rhubarb jam is very versatile and goes with any breakfast toast. Hearty breads like my Seeded Whole Wheat Sourdough Sandwich Bread and Spelt Sourdough Bread are particularly good with it.

It’s is also an excellent choice on these Sourdough English Muffins, Flaky Sourdough Biscuits, or homemade Sourdough Bagels with butter or cream cheese.

Finally, you can use the jam in dessert recipes like the jam swirl in my Sourdough Babka with Any Jam or the filling in these flaky Sourdough Pop Tarts.

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❓FAQs:

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