Want to make the easiest jam, with absolutely no cooking or fuss involved? Doesn’t even require any equipment? Try this incredibly easy overnight jam. All you need to do is combine 2 or 3 ingredients, and put it in the fridge. I’m making this recipe with raspberries, but it works with all sorts of other fruit or fruit combinations. So get creative!
You do not need to cook the fruit. That’s right. No cooking involved. And one more huge advantage is your cost savings. Chia jams, and many “alternative” types that aren’t loaded with sugar and conventional fruit, are pretty expensive at the grocery store. This will save you money, especially if you buy in-season fruit that’s on sale or combine a bit of apple or another inexpensive fruit in the recipe.
For raspberries, as in this recipe, all I do is a quick muddle in a jar. For other fruits, a quick pulse in a food processor (don’t blend too much or the texture will be more like a smoothie than a jam).
And what to do with the jam? So many additions to your plant-based diet! You can use this jam on so much more than toast! I add it regularly to my morning oatmeals and hot cereals. I swirl it into vegan yogurt. I spread it on crackers. And of course, toast.
No sugar, no preservatives, no pectin, and raw. Doesn’t get much better than that!
Naturally Sweetened Raspberry Chia Jam
Ingredients
- 1 cup fresh raspberries
- 1 Tbsp chia seeds
- 1/4 tsp stevia extract or sweetener of choice (to taste)
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients until you reach desired smoothness: muddle in a jar, or briefly pulse in a food processor (do not overmix).
- Transfer the jam to jar(s) and refrigerate overnight.
Notes
Substitutes
There are so many different kinds of fruits you could use for this recipe: apple and grape, strawberries, strawberry and rhubarb, blackberry, blueberry – you name it. Try it out with whatever you have on hand! You will need the chia seeds in order to thicken the jam, so you won’t be able to omit that ingredient of course.
About the sweeteners
Stevia works well in this jam, and does not taste bitter due to the intense flavor from the fruit.
Erythritol is also an excellent sugar alternative, and may even be better than stevia. I am actually switching over to this sweetener for some of the things I make as I run out of my existing granulated stevia.
I have also made this jam with Bee Free Honee, and an alternate apple syrup, and it turned out great. The only drawback I have noticed is Bee Free Honee does contain a small amount of cane sugar, so it is not entirely sugar free.
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Ross Golightly
Oh my gosh what an incredible recipe. I’ve never ever come across chia jam anywhere I only ever use chia to top oatmeal with and sometimes smoothies. I’ll definitely be trying this.
Jen @ PlantBasedRecipe
Yay! Yes, it’s really hard to find the chia jam. I’ve only ever seen it at Whole Foods, and don’t doubt it could be a local thing too. But after learning how easy it was to make, no need to buy it anymore 🙂