10-Minute Chia Seed Jam
This 10-Minute Chia Seed Jam recipe is my fave!! It’s super quick and easy to make, thickened with chia (instead of tons of extra sugar), totally delicious, and made with real ingredients you can feel great about.
After yesterday’s post sharing my all-time favorite healthy granola recipe, I couldn’t resist following it up with my favorite add-in when making granola and yogurt breakfast parfaits…
…ch-ch-ch-chia seed jam!
Have you guys jumped on the chia jam train yet?! I first started making it for myself three years ago, when I cut out sugar from my diet for 90 days, and have been a total convert ever since. Why?
- Chia seeds thicken the jam…not tons of added sugar! Traditional jams contain an insane amount of sugar. But not chia jam. In fact, most of the time I add zero added sweetener to this recipe, since the fruit is usually sweet enough on its own. For fruits that are more tart (i.e. raspberries), I still only add about 1 tablespoon honey.
- You can use fresh or frozen fruit. Perfect for leftover fresh fruit in the summertime when it’s in season. And perfect for digging into the freezer during the wintertime.
- No canning is required. Which is a good thing, since I’m still a canning novice.
- It’s easy to make in small batches. This recipe yields about 1 cup, or you can scale it for more/less.
- One batch only takes about 10 minutes. Easy peasy, made in the same amount of time it takes to brew your morning coffee.
- This recipe works with nearly any juicy fruit. Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, cherries, peaches, apricots, kiwi, pineapple…you name it! Just about any juicy fruit will work here. And feel free to customize yours with any other seasonings as well!
But the number one reason I love chia seed jam? It just tastes great. Specifically, it tastes like real fruit. I mean, what a concept with a fruit spread. 😆
So if you love spreading a dab of jam on your toast, in your PB&J, in a granola and Greek yogurt parfait, on your waffle, on your cheese boards, in the middle of thumbprint cookies, you name it…if you love jam, this recipe’s for you. Let’s make a batch together that we can feel great about!
Alright, so to begin, simply add about 2 cups of fruit (fresh or frozen) to a saucepan over medium-high heat. The fruit should quickly begin to warm up and break down. Then you can mash it with a spoon (or with a potato masher) until it reaches your desired consistency. I still like my jam to have a few chunks of fruit, instead of being completely smooth.
(Also note, all of those seeds in this photo below are purely from the raspberries themselves, although they look like chia!)
Then sprinkle in 2 tablespoons or so of chia seeds, and give them a good stir until combined. Remove from heat, and the jam will start to thicken quickly as it cools.
Then after only about 5 minutes or so, it’ll be ready to go!
You can either pop it into a sealed container and refrigerate for future use. (<– It lasts about 1 week in the fridge.)
Or you can go ahead and add it to your toast, bagel, waffle, pancake, sandwich, etc. I’m obsessed with using mine to make granola and Greek yogurt parfaits, which I love to meal prep at the beginning of the week by filling a few mini mason jars with chia seed jam and Greek yogurt. Then just add in your crunchy granola when you’re ready to eat and — boom — a delicious, clean, feel-good breakfast parfait is ready to go each morning in seconds.
Feel free to experiment and play around with your favorite flavors, consistency, and extra add-ins here. The sky’s the limit to what you can create. So have fun with this one!
10-Minute Chia Seed Jam
This 10-Minute Chia Seed Jam recipe is my fave!! It’s super quick and easy to make, thickened with chia (instead of tons of extra sugar), totally delicious, and made with real ingredients you can feel great about.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups fresh or frozen fruit (see suggestions below)
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds
- 1 tablespoon freshly-squeezed lemon juice
- 1-2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup (only if needed)
Directions:
- Heat fruit in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the fruit is heated through and begins to break down and bubble. Use a spoon or potato masher to mash the fruit to your desired consistency.
- Stir in the chia seeds and lemon juice until combined. Then taste, and stir in 1 or 2 tablespoons sweetener if needed.
- Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes. (The jam will thicken considerably as it cools.)
- Give the jam one final good stir. Then serve immediately, or transfer to a sealed container and refrigerate for up to 1 week, or freeze for up to 3 months.
Fruits that work well in chia jam:
- Berries (strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries), cherries, peaches, apricots, plums, pineapple, kiwi…basically any “juicy” fruits.
Optional add-ins:
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- lemon zest (to make your jam a little more tangy)
- a pinch of spices (such as cinnamon, ginger, or nutmeg, etc.)
ALSO! Keep in mind that different kinds of fruit will yield different textures, flavors, etc. So taste and adjust your jam as needed. For example…
- Some fruits may need more sweetener than others. (Ex. Raspberries are much more tart than blueberries.)
- Some fruits are juicier than others. (Ex. Pineapple will make a much juicier/thinner jam than strawberries.)
- Feel free to nix the lemon juice if your fruit is already tart.
- You get the idea. Taste…adjust as needed…enjoy.
If you make this recipe, be sure to snap a photo and hashtag it #gimmesomeoven. I'd love to see what you cook!
What a great idea! I love that it’s not full of added sugar, most fruit is usually perfectly sweet enough for me. I definitely want to try this for a yogurt mix in, along with your granola yesterday it looks like a perfect combination!
Can you freeze this?
oh my, I LOVE this…. what a great way to avoid the sugar, fantastic! I wonder… would mango work?
Confession: I’ve been meaning to try chia jam for YEARS…but still haven’t done it. 2018 it is!
This is such a great idea! I’m already imagining making this with blackberries or blueberries (or maybe a mix?)
I’m also curious about how this jam freezes.
do you think this could be canned?? ive been wanting to make canned gifts for xmas but i also love the idea of giving something considerably healthier!
What a great idea! I do fruit and yogurt bowls for breakfast all the time, topped with granola. I tend to mix in cocoa powder and serve it with chocolate granola, but should stay away from chocolate for multiple reasons. The yogurt bowls would be a good way to use up the jam my sister sends me, and making my own chia jam would easily help keep me away from the chocolate. Thank you for being such a good influence on me. I need that.
I made this with 2 cups frozen dark cherries, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 2 tbsp chia seeds, and 1/2 tbsp maple syrup. It’s perfect! I blended the cherries a little after cooking, before ending other ingredients, as the sound are a little hard for me to digest and that did nicely.
I love my chia and going to make this jam 1000%. Since I am diabetic I stopped eating commercial jams because of loaded sugar. Thanks a bunch for this wonderful recipe. I can already taste my wheat crackers with this jam. Yum .
Made it today and it was a perfect way to use an almost full box of strawberries that risked spoilage. I added more honey than I planned but it’s so tasty and I already had a nice little greek yogurt parfait with it and some homemade granola. Thanks so much for making jam-making healthy and fast :)
A-MAZING!! Definitely giving this a try. What a useful little superfood chia seeds are!
Ali, this is genius!! I just made the blueberry jam using fresh berries and it is delicious! Thanks!
I make a version of this all the time, it’s super easy! I’ve only ever tried it with blueberries, I need to expand my horizons ha ha!
I made this with a bag of frozen strawberries and I made the healthy granola recipe she recommends at the same time and have been eating delicious yogurt, chia jam and granola bowls all week! Both were delicious and I will absolutely make again and try different fruits! I did have to add a little water to the saucepan when I started cooking the frozen strawberries since I didn’t thaw first but that didn’t seem to affect the recipe.
This absolutely amazing! I will have to try it out, thanks for sharing <3
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Wooow! :) So cool! I’ve been intending to try chia jam for such a long time, I think it is high time to do it already! :)) Thanks for sharing this recipe! :)
Great way to lessen the sugar – but it isn’t sugar that thickens jam, it’s pectin. Pectin is either added to the recipe, or is already present in high enough amounts in the fruit itself. Interesting idea, though, I will have to try this sometime.
This is a strange comment. Ever had syrup? taffy? caramels? grandmas hard candy? All of these are examples of the different stages of sugar hardness. Yes, pectin adds some thickness, however, if not used correctly it will fail and not thicken at all. Depending on the amount of sugar and temperature the sugar gets to will thicken anything, always.
I absolutely love this recipe for chia jam!!! I have made raspberry (with frozen raspberries) twice now…omg, so easy and so good…I am looking forward to trying other types of fruit…a great recipe…
Has anyone tried this with ground chia seeds? I can’t wait to make it, but I just have ground chia on hand.
This was delicious! I’ve been having it on my breakfast toast all week at work and my coworkers are all so jealous! I really love getting to enjoy a jam that vegetarian friendly. :) I used frozen strawberries and they we’re extremely tart, but that’s actually how I like it. My girlfriend loved it as well but wishes it was a bit sweeter, so next time I make it for her I’ll add a bit more syrup or honey. Great recipe, thanks for sharing!
I just made it with mixed berries for my little one, big thumbs up from mommy and picky toddler.Love the fact that there are no added sugar and preservatives, will surely remake when run out.