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This homemade vegan Strawberry Chia Jam recipe is a no cook, 5 minute prep, delicious addition to toast, yogurt, oatmeal and so much more. Simply sweetened with maple and with chunks of real fruit, a great recipe for the whole family!
If you think making homemade jam is difficult, I promise you are so wrong.
With a some chia seeds, strawberries, maple syrup, and 5 minutes, you can have a delicious vegan strawberry chia jam that is homemade!
Blueberry lemon jam and this strawberry flavor are in constant rotation over here. Make it once and you will see why!
Why you will love this chia jam:
- It's so simple to make. I kid you not, 5 minutes, that is it. Mash and process the strawberries and then stir in the rest. Let it sit and chill for a bit and this strawberry chia jam is ready!
- You only need 4 ingredients to make it. chia seeds, sweetener, berries and lemon juice.
- It's so versatile. This jam is great on toast, swirled into oatmeal, on a classic PB and J sandwich, on ice cream, in thumbprint cookies and so much more.
Why chia seeds?
Chia seeds act as a thickening agent in this strawberry jam. No cooking or boiling is needed as the chia seeds expand as they absorb the liquid. They can absorb 12 times their weight in liquid and have a gel like texture.
This makes for a perfect fruit spread--without much work at all!
Ingredient and Swaps:
- strawberries: fresh or frozen will work well. I recommend thawing the berries before prepping the chia seed jam. You can easily sub another berry such as blueberries, raspberries or blackberries. Feel free to go for a mixed berry jam as well.
- maple syrup: a great option for a sweetener that will also add some flavor. You can add your favorite sweetener. Regular sugar or honey should also work well.
- chia seeds: you can use any kind. There are various colors of the tiny seeds, but any will work.
- lemon juice: freshly squeezed is my preference
How to make the best strawberry chia jam:
Not much to it at all! Use a food processor and process the strawberries until they are smooth. If you like your jam chunkier, feel free to pulse the processor and make sure not to break them down completely.
Transfer to a bowl and stir in the chia seeds, lemon juice and maple or sweetener. Adjust the sweetener to taste.
Chill until thickened. This will take about 4 hours.
Expert Tips:
- If your strawberry chia seed jam seems too thin after chilling for several hours, you can add a bit more chia seeds to the mix and stir. Allow to chill another hour and see if the thickness is to your liking.
- Adjust sweetness easily in this jam recipe. Start off with half the amount if you are not sure how sweet you want it. Then you can slowly add more.
- Use any berry you like in this recipe!
Related Recipes:
- Banana Chia Pudding
- Strawberry Coconut Chia Pudding
- Blueberry Chia Crumble Bars
- Almond Joy Pudding
- Creamy Coconut Chip Chia Pudding
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Strawberry Chia Jam Recipe
Ingredients
- 16 oz. fresh strawberries stems removed
- juice of ½ of a lemon
- 3 T chia seeds
- 2-3 T maple syrup or your favorite sweetener
Instructions
- In a food processor, pulse strawberries to puree. I like chunks of strawberries in my jam so I don't process them until completely smooth. Process to the desired smoothness.
- Pour into a small mixing bowl and stir in lemon juice, maple syrup and chia seeds.
- Transfer to a glass container with an airtight lid.
- Cover and refrigerate for about 2-4 hours or until thickened to the desired consistency.
- Enjoy on toast, in yogurt or straight from the jar!
Notes
- If your strawberry chia seed jam seems too thin after chilling for several hours, you can add a bit more chia seeds to the mix and stir. Allow to chill another hour and see if the thickness is to your liking.
- Adjust sweetness easily in this jam recipe. Start off with half the amount if you are not sure how sweet you want it. Then you can slowly add more.
- Use any berry you like in this recipe!
Cajsa says
Hi, I'm from Sweden and was wondering how much 3 T is? What does the T stand for??
Lorie says
Hi there! The T stands for Tablespoon. I assume you use the metric system. When I looked it up, it said a tablespoon is equal to about 15 mL. Does that help?
Lorie says
So glad you love it! I could eat PB&J every day of the week too. And I'm right with you, cooking strawberries is not my forte so that's why I went with them fresh when putting this recipe together. Thanks so much for sharing!
heal41hp says
I've been eating peanut butter sandwiches at work every day for years now. Then, a couple weeks ago, I impulse bought some blackberries that were one sale. I had no idea what to do with them so I turned them into chia jam that accompanied my peanut butter. I thought I'd be fine with going back to straight PB after that jam was gone, but alas... I liked the pairing, and I liked that I was packing more nutrients into my diet. So... I tracked down this recipe and some accompanying sale berries. Now I am back to PB&J for lunch. I over-processed it, as I like chunks in my jam, too, but I am a total n00b when it comes to the food processor... lol Oh well. I guess I'll just have to try again another time. 😀 I went with the least amount of syrup so I could retain some of the tartness of the strawberries. Tastes delicious. Thanks so much for the recipe! I specifically chose this over others 'cause there was no cooking involved. I've had nothing but bad experiences with cooked strawberries lately...
susan says
Would you be able to make this with frozen berries?
Lorie says
Absolutely, Susan! I would just let them thaw before adding them in.
tiffany says
Would agave work for this recipe?
Lorie says
Tiffany, Agave should work just fine. Really any liquid sweetener. I stay away from agave because it is highly processed but I know some people use it for the low glycemic index.
christi says
could you use honey for this instead of maple syrup?
Lorie says
Absolutely!
Connie Ruuska says
How long will this last in fridge?
Lorie says
Hi Connie! It should stay good for about a week, if it lasts that long, of course!
Lisa says
What would the caloric intake be for a tbsp?
Lorie says
Hi Lisa! I don't count calories so I typically don't calculate them for the recipes. However, This should be pretty low calorie considering the ingredients. I would assume a Tbsp is somewhere from 25-35 calories. You can always plug in the ingredients to a calorie calculator to determine more exact.
meg says
Could you freeze this?
Lorie says
That's a great question. I bet you could, but if you do, freeze it pretty quickly after making it. Since there are no preservatives it doesn't last too long. Let me know how it works for you!