Strawberry & Vanilla Chia Seed Jam Recipe

An easy, low sugar and low calorie chia seed strawberry jam. Only 20 calories for 2 generous tablespoons of jam. Comes with free printable recipe.

Chia Seed Jam

Have you heard of chia seed jam? I'm sure you have, it's been popular for a couple of years now, but have you made any?

I've been meaning to try some of this simple strawberry jam for such a long time.

I used to make a lot of different traditional jams. Strawberry and peach jam, Scottish raspberry jam, caramelised nectarine and apricot jam, which is a personal favourite and mango and orange peel jam to name a few.

Traditional Jam vs Chia Seed Jam

The trouble with traditional jam is that it has a lot of sugar. That doesn't trouble me too much because we don't eat a huge amount of jam, but I think the sugar can sometimes overpower the flavour of the fruit a bit. Have you noticed that?

Actually now I think about it Cooper does eat quite a lot of jam. Graham and I, not so much.

Chia seed jam has a lot less sugar and tastes much more fruity.

also try - Mini Strawberry Cheesecakes (vegetarian and vegan recipes)

Scottish berries

I made this jam with the best of Scottish strawberries from M&S.

Scottish strawberries are always good, but they've been particularly good this year.

Although I'm finding the supermarket strawberries are spoiling too quickly and have to be eaten the day I buy them. so I've been buying strawberries from Marks and Spencer instead. 

If you want to use frozen berries to make jam, try my mixed berry jam.

M&S Fruit

The M&S strawberries are always delicious and they seem to have a longer shelf life. They've obviously not spent as long in storage as the supermarket berries. 

In fact year round I buy most of my fruit from M&S. Apples and bananas are fine from the supermarket, but I found the berries don't last long and the pears, peaches and nectarines are hard, hard, hard, then mush.

So I switched to buying the ripe and ready to eat fruit from M&S. I waste less and it always tastes great.

Making Chia Seed Jam

You start making this jam the same as any traditional jam with some prepared fruit, but instead of pouring in lots of sugar, you just add 2-3 tbsp of maple syrup (some people use honey or agave nectar, it's your choice) and a little vanilla extract.

Next you heat the strawberries over a medium heat. After about 10 minutes, give the strawberries a mash with a potato masher. You can mash the strawberries completely or leave pieces of strawberry in the jam. It's a personal taste.

I let it bubble away for a few more minutes, then I took it off the heat and stirred in the chia seeds. 

Chia Seeds

The chia seeds thicken up the jam as it cools, although you are still left with a soft set jam, which is my favourite anyway.

As well as thickening the jam, chia seeds are high in Omega 3 (more than salmon, which is good news for us veggies), they are a good source of fibre, protein, calcium, manganese and magnesium. They also contains some zinc, Vitamin B1, 2 and 3.

also try - Oreo Chia Seed Shake (vegan)

Sterilising jam jars

I sterilise my jam jars and jam funnel in the dishwasher. I time the dishwasher to finish when my jam will be ready, so I'm taking them out while hot.

You just have to be careful not to touch inside the jam jar or inside the lids or funnel, so they will remain sterile.

If you don't have a dishwasher you can sterilise the jam jars the traditional way in the oven.

Fruit scones

I didn't wait until it was ready to use, I was so impatient. Cooper and I had it on some scones (rhymes with gone in case you aren't sure) and it was so, so fruity. Just gorgeous!

We had the jam on M&S fruit scones, I picked up when I was buying my berries, but my vegan readers can try my homemade buttery vegan scones, which would be divine with this jam.

Strawberry jam on yoghurt

Cooper also tried some jam with yoghurt. That boy loves yoghurt! 

As you can see he wasn't keen to wait and asked if he could eat it as he'd been waiting. I'm always up for a hand shot, so I let him tuck in!

A dollop of this jam would also be good on homemade rice pudding. That was the way my mum always served me her rice pudding as a child, with a dollop of jam for sweetness. Yummy!

also try - Gently Spiced Rice Pudding (vegan)

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snack

American, British, vegan, vegetarian

Yield: 2 jars of jamAuthor: Jacqueline Meldrum

Strawberry & Vanilla Chia Seed Jam

A super fruity low calorie strawberry jam made with fresh strawberries, chia seeds and a little maple syrup.

prep time: 10 minscook time: 15 minstotal time: 25 mins

ingredients

• 500g/2 punnets/18 oz  fresh ripe strawberries
• 3 tbsp maple syrup
• a generous squeeze of fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp chia seeds

instructions

1. Wash, hull and slice the strawberries, then add them to a medium to large pan.
2. Add the maple syrup, a squeeze of lemon juice and the vanilla extract.
3. Cook on a medium heat until it comes to the boil. About 10 minutes, then, mash the strawberries with a potato masher and leave to cook for another few minutes.
4. Take off the heat, then stir in the chia seeds.
5. Pour into sterilised jars using a jam funnel, all the way to the brim, then add the lid and secure tightly.
6. Leave the jam jars out until it cools, then pop it in the fridge. The chia seeds will thicken the jam as it cool, but it is a soft-set jam.
7. This jam can be kept in the fridge and used for a week after it has been opened.
8. Enjoy!

NOTES:

Calories are for a generous 2 tbsp portion of this jam.

calories
20

fat (grams)
0.4

sat. fat (grams)
0.1

carbs (grams)
3.8

protein (grams)
0.4

sugar (grams)
2.6

Created using The Recipes Generator

Try this next

Summer Fruit Jam

This is such a quick and easy jam to make and it can be made out of season too. Just substitute the fresh fruit with frozen. It has a fabulous flavour either way!

Disclosure: I created this recipe to highlight M&S berries. I was not expected to write a positive review and any opinions expressed are my own.