Lemon Blueberry Jam made easy with blueberries, juice, sugar, pectin and a lemon. Delightfully bright, sweet homemade jam that’s the perfect addition to your morning toast and biscuits. Favorite homemade Blueberry Jam recipe with delicious flavor and is a perfect gift for loved ones!
I love slathering a large amount of Lemon Blueberry Jam over a fresh-from-the-oven muffin. The lemon really helps to bring out the flavors and freshness of the blueberries. Making this Lemon Blueberry Jam recipe is an amazing one to try for anyone wanting something new to add to their morning routine.
Making Blueberry Lemon Jam
While I am going to focus more on the recipe aspect and less on the jam preservation methods, I will still talk a little about water bath canning because that is the method that I used.
If you want to learn about the no bath method, you can look at the Inversion method here, and if you want more in-depth details about water bath canning, this is a great tutorial.
You will want to make sure that if you are water bath canning, that you use new sealing lids, and that you do not reuse lids from previous canning experiences. Reusing the rings and jars is fine, but the seals on the lids are important as they are one-time use.
Lemon Blueberry Jam Ingredients
-Blueberries: You will need 3 pints of fresh blueberries for this wonderful jam.
-Fruit Juice: Using 1 cup of no-sugar-added fruit juice will create a lovely texture. I used Welch’s Black Cherry Grape, any dark color fruit juice of your choice will work great.
-Sugar Pectin: Use 6 Tablespoons of low sugar pectin. I like to use Ball Real Fruit Low Sugar or No Sugar Pectin.
-Sugar: Using 1 – 1 ½ cup of sugar gives your jam a perfectly light sweetness.
-Lemon Zest: You will need 1-2 Tablespoons of lemon zest. This is typically using 1-2 medium-sized lemons.
-Lemon Juice: Using 3 Tablespoons of lemon juice will give the jam a great tart flavor.
Lemon Blueberry Jam Ingredients
-Blueberries: You will need 3 pints of fresh blueberries for this wonderful jam.
-Fruit Juice: Using 1 cup of no-sugar-added fruit juice will create a lovely texture. I used Welch’s Black Cherry Grape, any dark color fruit juice of your choice will work great.
-Sugar Pectin: Use 6 Tablespoons of low sugar pectin. I like to use Ball Real Fruit Low Sugar or No Sugar Pectin.
-Sugar: Using 1 – 1 ½ cup of sugar gives your jam a perfectly light sweetness.
-Lemon Zest: You will need 1-2 Tablespoons of lemon zest. This is typically using 1-2 medium-sized lemons.
-Lemon Juice: Using 3 Tablespoons of lemon juice will give the jam a great tart flavor.
How to Make Lemon Blueberry Jam
Start by washing the blueberries and remove any small stems. Place them in a bowl and either mash the blueberries with a potato masher or do what I do and use an immersion blender. I like my blueberry jam pretty well blended, but feel free to leave some chunks of blueberries. Then transfer the mashed berries to a large pot and begin heating it on medium-high heat. Begin to add the rest of the ingredients to the blueberry mixture.
First add the 1 cup of juice and the lemon zest and lemon juice. Bring the mixture to a boil, then add in the pectin, stirring well as you add each tablespoon. Bring the mixture back to a boil and then add in the sugar.
Stir in the sugar well and continue stirring the jam. At this point, you need it to heat up until it is a hard boil- meaning that it continues to boil even when you are stirring constantly. This should take about 10 minutes. Spoon a small amount of jam into a small bowl and then stick it in the freezer for a minute or two. Continue stirring the jam often while you wait for this small sample to cool off- it is an easy way to see if the jam has set.
After a minute or two in the freezer, the jam should look more set-up- mine was a tad thicker than maple syrup. When the jam is finished cooking and has cooled, it will be much thicker- this is just a way to test it to make sure it is not super runny. If your jam does not appear to be setting up well, add in another 2 tsp of pectin and cook another 5 minutes, then test it again.
Ladle the hot jam into the jars and process jars as you’d like- either by doing the inversion method, water bath canning, or you can even freeze or put the jars of jam in the fridge. They’ll last several months in the fridge.
I water-bath canned mine. It is not a complicated process but it does require a small investment to get the proper equipment. You can read more about water bath canning here.
Enjoy!
LEMON BLUEBERRY JAM
Ingredients
- 3 pints fresh blueberries
- 1 cup no-sugar-added fruit juice {I used Welch’s Black Cherry Grape}
- 6 Tablespoon low sugar pectin {I use Ball Real Fruit Low Sugar or No Sugar Pectin)
- 1- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 1-2 Tablespoon lemon zest 1-2 medium sized lemons
- 3 Tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Wash the blueberries and remove any small stems.
- Place in a bowl and either mash the blueberries with a potato masher, or do what I do and use an immersion blender. I like my blueberry jam pretty well blended, but feel free to leave some chunks of blueberries.
- Transfer mashed berries to a large pot and begin heating on medium-high heat.
- As the blueberries heat up, add the remaining ingredients. First add the 1 cup of juice and the lemon zest and juice.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, then add in the pectin, stirring well as you add each tablespoon.
- Bring mixture back to a boil and then add in the sugar.
- Stir the sugar in well and continue stirring the jam. At this point you need it to heat up until it’s a hard boil- meaning that it continues to boil even when you’re stirring constantly. This should take about 10 minutes.
- Spoon a small amount of jam into a small bowl and stick it in the freezer for a minute or two. Continue stirring the jam often while you wait for this small sample to cool off- it’s an easy way to see if the jam has set. After a minute or two in the freezer, the jam should look more set-up- mine was a tad thicker than maple syrup. When the jam is finished cooking and cooled, it will be much thicker- this is just a way to test it to make sure it’s not super runny. If your jam doesn’t appear to be setting up well, add in another 2 tsp of pectin and cook another 5 minutes, then test it again.
- Ladle the hot jam into jars and process jars as you’d like- either by doing the inversion method, water bath canning, or you can even freeze or just put the jars of jam in the fridge. (They’ll last several months in the fridge.) Enjoy! I water-bath canned mine. It’s not a complicated process but it does require a small investment to get the proper equipment.
Notes
Nutrition
Do jars need to be hot before canning?
While your jars don’t need to be incredibly hot, they do need to be sterilized and warm. Most people choose to boil their jars in a pot filled with water, with water inside the jars. Boiling for 10 minutes and then turning the heat down is a good way to sterilize and maintain heat on the jars.
Another option is to place cleaned jars in the dishwasher without soap and letting them heat up that way. As a note, all jars should be washed prior to use using soapy water.
Do you have to water bath jam?
You do not have to water bath can your jam, but it is the safest method for longer storage. By canning your jars you can get your lemon blueberry jam to last up to a year or more at room temp, whereas a fridge, freezer, or inversion method wouldn’t last nearly as long.
The inversion method also increases the risk of a false seal and that can lead to foodborne illnesses from bacteria growth.
Do you boil the lids when canning?
While you should only use lids once for canning, they should be prepped in advance. You shouldn’t boil the lids, unlike the jars, they can be kept at room temperature until use. You don’t even have to keep them in simmering water (but you can if you want to). Just wash with soapy water, dry and then set aside until ready to use.
How long does homemade blueberry jam last?
Once opened, your homemade jam can last up to 3 months inside of your fridge. Water bathed jars can last about a year and freezer jams can last a few months.
Can you overcook jam?
Yes, this is a really important thing to note. You can overcook your jam by letting it boil for too long. If this happens the sugars can either burn and give you a gross jam, or become a hard rock-solid lump. Neither of these is tasty or ideal.
Looking for more jam recipes like this Lemon Blueberry Jam? What about foods with jam in them? We have both!
- Strawberry Jam Without Pectin
- Easy Soft Jam Thumbprint Cookies
- Apricot Cherry Jam
- Strawberry Jam Thumbprint Cookies
- Raspberry Jam Ice Cream (Dairy-Free)
- Raspberry Peach Freezer Jam
- Spiced Peach Jam
- Homemade Strawberry Jam
You are going to love the freshness and sweet flavors of this lemon blueberry jam!
Michele says
I have always wanted to try making jam. This looks like the perfect recipe. Gorgeous picture!
Kara says
Oh my gosh, this sounds amazing! I've made blueberry jam before, but I love the idea of adding lemon. I love that flavor combo!
Kathy says
This is the best recipe that I have ever tried for blueberry jam! I think it is very easy & it makes a wonderful gift and who doesn’t appreciate something homemade!
Heidi Wruck says
Hi there. Are you able to tell me the amount of blueberries uses in a weight measurement? (I’m from new zealand and am having trouble converting pint into a metric measurement. Thanks!! I’m looking at making this for Christmas presents!
Denise Littlefield says
This jam tastes really great but didn’t come out as I expected. I did use water instead of juice. I think the amount of pectin is too high as the jam had an almost custard-like appearance. I added an extra half cup of sugar to balance the tartness. It also didn’t yield five pints; I got two. Overall it’s a tasty recipe but needs some tweaking.
Nan says
I made this last night and the result was, in the words of my nephew, DEEEEEELICIOUS!
I do have a question, though. I thought I followed the directions exactly, but I only netted 2 pints of jam. Did I do something wrong?
Jessica says
Hmmm…that is odd that you’d only get 2 pints! Maybe you cooked it down more? Glad you enjoyed it though!
Joann says
Delicious recipe, but the measurement is slightly off. A pint jar is different from the quarter and half-pint jars usually used for jam (my hubby goes through large quantities of jam, so I actually do put jam in pints). The actual measure is closer to 5 to 5 1/2 half-pint jars. In my case, I did a mix of half and quarters, so I netted 4 half-pints and 3 quarter-pint jars.
Jessica says
Thanks Joann! I’m glad you liked the jam!
Ellen Fourroux says
Has anyone used a sugar replacement such as Splenda or Stevia to make this jam? We are diabetics and I have experimented with Splenda (too bitter in baking) and Stevia (Not sweet enough in baking). I love making jam and I’d love to make this recipe but need to make it sugar-free. Any info on sugar replacement would be helpful and thank you in advance!