Low-Sugar Strawberry Freezer Jam {10-minutes}

No-cook, 10-minute, low-sugar strawberry freezer jam. Using about a fourth of the sugar of regular jam recipes, it’s just enough to make it sweet without masking the delicious natural fresh flavor of the berries. This strawberry freezer jam is my go-to, easy jam recipe that I never seem to be able to keep stocked for long. Yummy on bread, pancakes, waffles, and more. Believe me, it’s lick-the-spoon good!

Jump to Recipe

Why hello there and welcome.

Today we’re talking about this amazing, low-sugar, no-cook, easy, 10-minute, delicious, lick-the-spoon-good, outrageously-awesome strawberry freezer jam.

Whew. Have I given you enough descriptive words in that sentence?

But I’m not kidding about any of it.

This strawberry freezer jam is the best.

First let’s talk about what I mean when I say low-sugar. Most strawberry jam recipes call for almost twice the sugar as strawberries. Can you believe that? They really should be calling it “sugar jam” instead of strawberry jam because sugar is the main ingredient. And I don’t know about you, but I don’t think “sugar jam” is very good. Like totally not worth the calories. It tastes mostly like sugar which completely masks the flavor of the fruit.

This strawberry jam on the other hand uses half of the amount of sugar as berries which is still a lot, but it works out to be about a fourth of the sugar of regular jam recipes. And it’s still plenty sweet.

What I love about this recipe is that since it is low-sugar, you can really taste the delicious natural fresh flavor of the berries. It really tastes like strawberry jam, not “sugar jam”.

Next let’s talk about the no-cook part. When I say no-cook I mean no-cook. You can make this recipe in a tent while you are camping if you want (assuming you have the ingredients and a bowl and knife).

Most jams (even freezer jams) require at least some boiling water to activate the thickening agent (usually pectin). And in my experience, heat of any kind mixed with strawberries changes their yummy fresh flavor. The fact that this is a no-cook recipe is not only awesome from the easy standpoint, but also awesome from the tasty standpoint.

The reason no-cook works in this recipe is because it makes use of a thickening agent called E-Z Gel rather than pectin like most jam recipes.

Have you heard of E-Z Gel? Or maybe you know it by it’s old name Ultra Gel? By the way the company that makes E-Z Gel is not paying me to say any of this.

E-Z Gel (formerly Ultra Gel) is a modified cornstarch that is non GMO and gluten free. It is a quick acting thickening agent that when mixed with a liquid substance, thickens it after a few minutes without the use of heat.

Benefits of using E-Z Gel vs. pectin:

1. Not having to cook or use boiling water in the jam.
2. You can get away with using less sugar (many pectin brands require a certain amount of sugar included to be able to set the jam properly).
3. I can be made fast with very little fuss.
4. And finally it makes the best strawberry freezer jam because the fresh, natural flavor of the strawberries is preserved both by not having to cook them and by being able to add less sugar.

Okay now the last thing that I want to bring out about this recipe is the fact that you can freeze this jam and how awesome is that?

And I’m not even just talking about the easiness factor here. But hello, 10 minutes? Talk about the major lazy-girl approach to the best strawberry jam ever. Oh yeah.

Berry jams are so much better as freezer jams as opposed to canned jams. Like I mentioned earlier, adding heat to berries really changes their properties and they taste so much different. Canned berry jams are really not that much better than jam from the store in my opinion. Like totally not worth the effort (that’s the lazy girl talking).

But this jam. Oh boy. Hold on to your hats if you’ve never had homemade strawberry freezer jam before. It will knock your socks off. It is so good. And it freezes for up to 6 months without a noticeable change in quality as long as you freeze it properly.

So lets talk about freezer containers for a second.

This freezer jam isn’t fussy. You can freeze it in any air-tight container you happen to have lying around.

Sometimes I use regular pint or half-pint glass canning jars. They work well as long as you leave a 1/2 to 3/4-inch space at the top to account for the fact that the jam will expand when it is frozen. I’ve never had a glass jar break from freezing this jam but I’m sure it happens occasionally so just be careful taking them in and out of the freezer and be sure to leave the space at the top.

Also I’ve mentioned this before but I love love love these plastic storage lids that fit on the glass jars rather than the canning jar lids. You don’t have to worry about rust and they are just super cute. I have a ton on these laying around.

If you prefer to use plastic freezer containers, there are some great stack-able freezer containers on the market. But any plastic Tupperware-like container with a tight-fitting lid will work.

Okay my friends. Go out and find a bargain on strawberries and make this yummy strawberry freezer jam. You won’t regret it. When we have this in stock my kids eat it nonstop. They’ve even been known to pass by a yummy dessert in lieu of a piece of bread with strawberry freezer jam. And I don’t blame them one bit. What a treat!

Recipe Source: Recipe adapted from the instructions on an Ultra Gel (now called E-Z Gel) package

All images and text ©The Cook’s Treat

Disclaimer: post contains affiliate links for items on Amazon.