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    Home » Recipes » Breakfast

    How to Make Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

    Published: April 22, 2020 · Updated: December 5, 2020 · By: Krissy · 264 Comments
    This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

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    Strawberry Rhubarb Jam
    Canning in jars is easy when you know How to Make Strawberry Rhubarb Jam from fresh rhubarb, strawberries, sugar and lemon without pectin.

    Make homemade Strawberry Rhubarb Jam from fresh rhubarb, strawberries, sugar and lemon without pectin!

    If you've ever made a homemade strawberry jam recipe, adding rhubarb enhances both the flavor and texture! You can easily store it in your refrigerator or freezer, or can it in a water bath to last all year long!

    homemade Jam made from strawberries and rhubarb on toast

    Why this recipe works:

    You will see that this recipe is not only incredibly simple with only four ingredients, but it is extremely easy to make.

    Strawberry and rhubarb are so amazing together. The combination is perfectly sweet and tart all at the same time.

    The jam tastes great on toast, oatmeal, or ice cream.

    Also, if you want to make a big batch, you can easily turn it into freezer jam or preserve it in a mason jar using a simple water bath canning set up for longer storage.

    Here's how to make it:

    1. Slice your rhubarb into small chunks (photo 1) and be sure to discard the tops. Likewise, prepare your strawberries by washing them and removing the stems (photo 2).
    2. Combine the fruit with the sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan (photo 3). Turn the heat to medium and when the mixture starts to bubble (photo 4), reduce the heat to low.
    3. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the jam thickens (photo 5). It can take around an hour to fully breakdown and thicken. You'll want the mixture to reach at least 205 degrees F.
    4. I like to store my jam in mason jars (photo 6). Refrigerate if you'll eat within a week, otherwise store or water bath can it.

    step by step photos of how to make strawberry rhubarb jam

    Cooking tips:

    • The quality of the jam will depend on the quality of the fruit. I used the best possible strawberries in the world - Oregon Hood strawberries. Try to find fresh rhubarb that is deep red on the outside with thick firm stalks.
    • If your strawberries aren't sweet, you may need to increase the amount of sugar in your recipe to compensate.
    • I recommend using fresh squeeze lemon juice although you could substitute with bottled.

    Fresh rhubarb and strawberries to make homemade jam

    Reasons to add rhubarb to your strawberry jam recipe:

    I actually use more than twice the amount of rhubarb in this recipe than I do strawberries.

    I do this for a few reasons.

    • First, rhubarb is much cheaper than strawberries (at least mine was).
    • Second, if you're not going to use pectin, you need a lot of sugar in order to get your jam to gel up. Strawberries are already incredibly sweet, so the addition of a ton of sugar is just nauseating. Rhubarb, however, is incredibly tart, so the addition of sugar makes everything right in the world.

    I saw a lot of recipes online that called for a heck of a lot more sugar than I used and let me tell you - if you're using good quality sweet strawberries, I wouldn't put any more sugar than what my recipe calls for. The balance was perfect as was the final consistency.

    How much does this recipe make?

    As written, this recipe makes about 4 cups of homemade jam.

    As much pleasure as I would have taken in devouring all four cups with a spoon and some crusty white bread, I decided to can four jars of this liquid gold for the winter months when I'm craving the summer bounty that had long since come and gone. I did, however, get enough extra to fill this little dish which made for some incredibly tasty treats.

    If you don't want to can the jam, it will keep in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks, but let's face it - canning is fun!  So preserve it!

    Strawberry jam and rhubarb jam come together in one great recipe

    Can you use frozen strawberries?

    Absolutely. My preference is always to make things seasonally when produce is fresh, but since both the strawberries and rhubarb are both cooked down, it makes no difference at all - zero, zilch, nada - whether you use fresh or frozen fruit.

    Finding frozen rhubarb at the store, well, that's a challenge in and of itself.

    My advice to each and every one of you is to buy as much rhubarb from the farmers' market when it's in season as your freezer can hold and freeze it yourself.

    The reason for adding lemon juice when making jam:

    Besides that glorious citrus flavor lemon adds, you need it in your recipe when making homemade jam, including this strawberry rhubarb version.

    There's a little food science involved in understanding the importance of adding lemon.

    In a nutshell, when you cook down fruit like strawberries and rhubarb with sugar, the natural pectin in the fruit breaks down, but that pectin won't bind together because the individual cells actually repel one another.

    We all know lemon juice is acidic, which means it has a lower pH. When lowering the pH of your mixture, it neutralizes the negative charges on the pectin (the thing that made the cells repel), and then the jam can come together and gel.

    What do you know? That chemical engineering degree of mine wasn't a total waste after all!

    Related recipes:

    If you love the mouthwatering combination of strawberry and rhubarb, you'll love these!

    • Strawberry Rhubarb Lemonade - This perfectly sweet and equally tart fresh squeezed Strawberry Rhubarb Lemonade is the ultimate kid friendly summer drink and will quench any thirst.
    • Strawberry Rhubarb Pie - There are few pies better than a mouthwatering, sweet yet tart, flaky crusted, warm Strawberry Rhubarb Pie. Oh yeah.
    • Strawberry Rhubarb Streusel Muffins - Indulge in this naughty summer treat. Strawberry Rhubarb Streusel Muffins are made with fresh strawberries and tart rhubarb wrapped in a brown sugar batter.
    • Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp - The fruit filling tastes like it's topped with a warm oatmeal cookie.
    • Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler - I took my super simple cobbler recipe and used a fresh strawberry rhubarb filling. Oh my!

    Strawberry rhubarb jam on biscuits for breakfast. Recipe and video.

    Step-by-step recipe video below:

    Did you make this recipe? Please leave me a comment below to let me know what you think!

    Canning in jars is easy when you know How to Make Strawberry Rhubarb Jam from fresh rhubarb, strawberries, sugar and lemon without pectin.

    Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

    Canning in jars is easy when you know How to Make Strawberry Rhubarb Jam from fresh rhubarb, strawberries, sugar and lemon without pectin.
    4.98 from 148 votes
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    CLICK TO PLAY RECIPE VIDEO

    Course: Breakfast
    Cuisine: American
    Prep Time: 15 minutes
    Cook Time: 1 hour
    Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
    Hover to scale: 32 servings
    Chef: Krissy Allori

    Ingredients

    • 5 cups rhubarb (about 3 large stalks, cut into 1⁄2" cubes)
    • 2 cups hulled and halved strawberries (about 1 pint)
    • 2 ¼ cups sugar
    • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (from about half of a large lemon)

    Instructions

    • Combine all ingredients in a medium to large saucepan over medium heat. Once mixture starts to bubble, reduce heat to medium low. You'll want the heat set to the point where it continues to bubble but not violently when stirred (you'll understand once you start cooking if jam bubbles start to pop out of the center of the pot). Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the jam has thickened. Plan on cooking jam for about an hour and temperature of the mixture is over 205 degrees F.
    • While the jam is cooking, sterilize four 1-cup jelly glass jars plus their rings and lids. I do this by boiling them in water for 10 minutes or I boil the lids and run the rings and glass jars through the dishwasher.
    • Transfer sterilized jars, lids, and bands to a clean dish towel.
    • Have a very large covered pot of boiling water ready. There needs to be enough water in the pot so that when the filled jars are submerged, they're covered by at least 1" of water.
    • Fill each jar with hot jam, leaving at least 1⁄4" of space at the top. Place lids on jars, and secure ring bands. Secure just tight enough so that they are hand tightened but you can easily unscrew.
    • Transfer filled jars to pot of gently boiling water and let boil for 10 minutes. Transfer jars, set at least 1" apart, to a dish towel and let cool, undisturbed, for 24 hours. You should hear the seals on the lids pop pretty soon after removing from the water.
    • If any jar is not fully sealed, or you chose to skip the canning process, jam should be refrigerated and used within 2 weeks. Sealed jars will keep, in a cool, dark place, for up to a year.

    Notes

    Makes about 4 cups.  Serving size based on 2 tablespoons.

    NUTRITION INFORMATION

    Calories: 61kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Potassium: 68mg | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 20IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 0.1mg
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    This post was originally created in May 2016 and has been updated with process photos, helpful information, and cooking tips. Don't worry - I didn't change the recipe!

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Karen

      May 14, 2022 at 12:56 pm

      5 stars
      1st time making jam an really enjoyed it! I was a little nervous that I had the wrong ratio of rhubarb since I had to use more then 3. Ended up using 3lbs ( I doubled the recipe) and really happy with the taste. I will defiantly be making this again and buying extra rhubarb to freeze because I don’t think I’ll ever have enough of it 😍

      Reply
    2. Laura Chaparro

      March 09, 2022 at 9:01 am

      can you make this as freezer jam and are there anything I need to do differently?

      Reply
      • Krissy

        March 10, 2022 at 7:10 am

        You can! Just like freezer jam, you'll just need to thaw before enjoying.

        Reply
    3. Maricarmen Macrina

      October 03, 2021 at 6:13 pm

      5 stars
      Made it once and about to make it again. Delicious!

      Reply
      • Merita

        February 19, 2022 at 7:28 am

        Yes i made this for my father he loved it.

        Reply
    4. Elyse

      September 21, 2021 at 8:51 am

      5 stars
      Followed this simple recipe and got a great result! Only the second time I make jam. Love that the sugar ration is 1:3. I used frozen berries since I had none fresh on hand and it's still amazing. So easy and fabulously tasty. Will definitely make again. Thank you!

      Reply
    5. GigiCT

      September 01, 2021 at 1:52 pm

      5 stars
      Superb!

      Reply
    6. Chris

      August 05, 2021 at 12:12 pm

      5 stars
      Holy moly (not the word I used when I tasted it), this jam is outstanding. Not overly sweet for my husband, but still completely satisfies my taste buds.

      Reply
    7. Katherine

      July 26, 2021 at 6:03 pm

      5 stars
      Love it! Have made multiple times.

      Note: How long you cook it at high temp at the end really correlates with desired consistency

      Reply
    8. Becky

      July 23, 2021 at 3:05 pm

      I’m wondering if the recipe can be doubled or tripled??

      Reply
      • Krissy

        July 25, 2021 at 12:50 pm

        absolutely

        Reply
      • Katherine

        July 26, 2021 at 6:07 pm

        I've tried doubling with other fruit jam and regretted it. The heat distribution is important and when you double you're twice as far from the flame or heat source. So it'd probably work if you make sure to stir a lot to distribute the heat, and use the thermometer like she recommends.

        Reply
    9. Ashlee

      July 13, 2021 at 6:45 am

      5 stars
      This was my first attempt at canning and making homemade jam. It turned out delicious and I'm happy to report that my seals set!

      Reply
    10. Phil Willis

      July 10, 2021 at 1:40 am

      I am looking forward to making this jam from home grown strawberries and rhubarb do you have the metric equivalent for the ingredients please?

      Reply
      • France

        August 01, 2021 at 6:17 pm

        5 stars
        Here are the metric equivalents (the measurements are in volume, not weight):
        1 cup = 250 ml
        1 tablespoon = 15 ml

        I made this recipe today and my husband said it was the best jam he ever tasted! It is a bit tart and perfectly sweet.

        Reply
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