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Strawberry rhubarb jam is easy to make at home with a bit of fresh fruit and sugar, no pectin needed. The rhubarb adds a delightful tart flavor to the jam, while the strawberry adds sweetness and helps the jam finish with a beautiful red color.
This particular recipe is actually more of a “Rhubarb Strawberry Jam” with a lot more rhubarb than strawberry.
My dad’s always talking about how much he loves strawberry rhubarb pie, and cherishes the memory of his great grandmother making it every year for his birthday. Rhubarb won’t grow in the Mojave Desert where he lives now, and it’s not exactly something you can pick up at the corner store. It’s actually pretty impossible to find rhubarb in Southern California, trust me, I’ve tried.
Every time my parents visit, I go out of my way to make my favorite strawberry rhubarb pie recipe. This year, I was planning to branch out a bit and try making them this Amish Rhubarb Custard Pie (which doesn’t have strawberries, but custard is delicious too…).
Though a once a year special pie is lovely, I’d really my dad to be able to enjoy the strawberry rhubarb flavors he loves year round. Jam is easy to ship, and definitely travels better than a pie in the mail. This batch of strawberry rhubarb jam is west coast bound…
All of it, except this one jar for my jam loving little ones.
Choosing a Strawberry Rhubarb Jam Recipe
Most strawberry rhubarb jam recipes have more sugar than fruit, and that just doesn’t sit right with me. Sure, the rhubarb is tart, but there’s no way you’re going to enjoy the flavor of either the strawberry or the rhubarb buried in that much sugar.
The problem is, strawberries and rhubarb are both low pectin, and many commercial added pectin brands require a boatload of sugar to help the jam set. In my low sugar strawberry jam recipe, I use Pomona’s pectin which can even be used in both low sugar and no sugar recipes.
My original plan was to take the strawberry rhubarb jam recipe from The Ball Complete Book of Home Canning and adjust it considerably. I’d add more rhubarb, dramatically reduce the sugar, and then substitute Pomona’s pectin in for the regular pectin.
My ideal ratio is 2 cups rhubarb for every cup of strawberries, which actually makes this more of a Rhubarb Strawberry Jam (as opposed to a strawberry rhubarb jam…) 
If you’re curious, here’s the original recipe ingredients from ball canning without any alterations:
Ball Canning’s Strawberry Rhubarb Jam Recipe (high sugar)
- 2 cups crushed hulled strawberries
- 2 cups chopped rhubarb
- 4 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 packaged powdered fruit pectin (1.75 oz)
- 5 1/2 cups sugar
As you can see…it has 4 cups of fruit, and then 5 1/2 cups of sugar. Way too much in my book. Cutting it down to 2 cups would get you a very sweet jam, and personally, I’d cut it to more like 1 cup for a low sugar strawberry rhubarb jam, so the fruit takes center stage.
That was my plan, until I found a recipe for strawberry rhubarb jam with no pectin and a reasonable amount of sugar in the book Canning for a New Generation. I’m really loving this book, and it’s much more to my taste than the high sugar ball canning book.
If I can make a strawberry rhubarb jam without pectin then I’m going for it!
How to Make Strawberry Rhubarb Jam without Pectin
The trick to getting this jam to set without pectin lies in cooking down the sugar and juices. Strawberries and rhubarb are both very soft fruits, and they’ll completely fall apart in extended cook time. Beyond just falling apart, it’s hard to cook a thick jam made from low pectin fruits enough to get it to gel, and most likely it’ll burn long before it reaches that point.
Instead, this strawberry rhubarb jam is cooked for just 10-15 minutes to extract a bit of juice, and then the fruit are strained out and set aside to be added back later. The sugary juice is then cooked down into a thick syrup and once it’s fully thickened, the fruit can be added back in for a few final minutes of cooking.
The resulting strawberry rhubarb jam thickens naturally without added pectin, and the fruit stays together to keep it a bit chunky. If you don’t like chunky jams, just mash up the fruit at the end and give it an extra minute or two to cook and the fruit will fall apart.
Strawberry Rhubarb Jam
Ingredients
- 6 cups rhubarb, trimmed & cut into 1/2'' cubes (about 2 lbs)
- 3 cups strawberries, hulled & sliced (about 1 lb)
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
Instructions
- Cook the strawberries, rhubarb and sugar with a splash of water (about 1/4 to 1/2 cup) for about 10 to 15 minutes until they release their juices.
- When the level of juice completely covers the fruit, turn off the heat and strain.
- Reserve fruit for later, and return the juice to the pan.
- Simmer the juice/sugar mixture until it's reduced to roughly 1 1/2 cups. This should take about 20 minutes, but watch the pot because if it overcooks the syrup will burn.
- Add the fruit back into the reduced juice syrup, along with the lemon juice, and cook for another few minutes.
- For a looser set with bigger fruit chunks, simmer about 5 minutes. For a firmer set, simmer up to 15 minutes. You can test consistency on a plate that's been kept in the freezer, but this jam will not "gel" fully.
- Ladle into prepared canning jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace and cap with 2 part canning lids.
- Either store in the refrigerator for immediate use, or process in a water bath canner for 5 minutes for a shelf stable strawberry rhubarb jam.
How to Make Strawberry Rhubarb Jam WITH Pectin
If instead, for whatever reason, you want to use pectin, that’s fine too. With two cups of sugar, this is technically a “low sugar” recipe but it’s very sweet in my book. If you want to make an actual low sugar strawberry rhubarb jam, I’d suggest adding Pomona’s pectin which will help it gel without sugar and can be used in low and no sugar recipes.
Pectin will give the strawberry rhubarb jam a firmer set and reduce the total cook time. If you plant to use pectin, there’s no need to strain the fruit out of the juice and cook the juice separately. Simply add the pectin in according to the package directions.
To make this recipe with Pomona’s pectin, use the same amount of fruit and add 2 tsp calcium water into the fruit and 2 tsp pectin powder into the sugar. Cook the fruit and then add the sugar/pectin in at the end. Cook for 1-2 more minutes then turn off the heat and get the jam into jars.
With this method, you can use as much (or as little) sugar as you want. Pomona’s website specifically suggests somewhere between 1/2 cup to 1 cup honey or 3/4 to 2 cups sugar.
More Strawberry Canning Recipes
Looking for more easy canning recipes featuring strawberries? Here are a few of my favorites:
- Wild Strawberry Jam
- No Sugar Strawberry Jam
- Canning Whole Strawberries
- 30+ Strawberry Canning Recipes
I made a batch of jam using this recipe. It turned out great, thanks for sharing! I am making another few batches. My question is can I double the ingredients to make more at a time?
Yes, you can double the ingredients, but don’t go beyond double. Once the batches get too big, it doesn’t heat evenly and won’t set quite right. Doubling is fine for this recipe, but that’s as big as I’d try personally.
So glad I came upon your recipe.
I live in Vermont as well.
Can’t wait to try it.
I’m making a big batch for the food
Shelf at a Church.
When my husband took very I’ll
I was getting help from the food shelf
We bring our neighbor there every week.
So this is my way of giving back.
Thank you very much for such a great recipe
That uses less sugar too.
You’re very welcome. What a wonderful way to give back.
Can this recipe be used with just strawberries and get the same result?
If you’re wanting a plain strawberry jam, we have a recipe for that here. https://practicalselfreliance.com/strawberry-jam-without-pectin/
I now have 24 half pint jars of this delicious jam for my pantry! It was so easy to make. Mine isn’t that chunky but its the way I like it on my toast! I don’t like pectin so am a happy camper. Thank you for sharing this! Five+ stars
I had plenty of juice, that was the problem! I probably simmered it for about a half hour, stirring the whole time so it wouldn’t burn.
How much did the juice reduce down to?
I just finished a batch of this and water bath canned it into 4 oz. jars. I followed your instructions, using thawed and drained frozen rhubarb, but it did not set! So I’ve got jars of strawberries and rhubarb in a watery syrup. Not sure what I did wrong!
I wouldn’t have drained the rhubarb after thawing, you want that juice in your jam. How long did you simmer the juice and sugar mixture?
Do you recommend macerating the rhubarb and strawberries first? I have frozen and I wanted to see if I could thaw them while drawing out more juice with the sugar. Also—love your website.
You could certainly do it that way, it just takes a little more time.
I’m in the UK, what is Calcium water and where is it found. I’ve been given some very odd looks asking in grocery stores and pharmacies ! I’ve found a pectin sub. in a “health-food” outlet but even they didn’t have calcium water.
Tricia
When you purchase the Pomona’s pectin, the calcium water comes with it.
How much this make?
The yield on this is 5 half-pint jars. If you scroll down to the bottom of each post, there is usually a recipe card. The yield is usually on the picture at the top of the recipe card. It’s easy to miss so I thought you might want to know for future reference.
Can I use frozen rhubarb?
Yes Barb you can definitely use frozen rhubarb.
Hi for a small batch could this recipe be halved do you think? thanks:)
Yes, that should work just fine.
I just realized as I was measuring the sugar I said 3/4 cup for every cup of fruit, what I meant 3/4 for every kilo…
That would have been a lot of sugar.
I agree 100% that is so much sugar, I like to use about 3/4 cup of sugar for every cup of fruit. I’m about to start chopping and smoothing. I’m going to also add fresh grated ginger, I love Rhubarb and ginger together. A few months back I made some Rhubarb jam with cinnamon ginger and orange. It was so good. Thankyou for sharing your recipe.
I love the idea of rhubarb with cinnamon, ginger and orange. That sounds amazing.
Can I use frozen strawberries and rhubarb to make this jam? Should they be thawed first? And do you drain off the excess liquid before starting the jam making process?
Yes you can use frozen fruit. You do want to thaw it before making the jam but don’t let it sit out too long. The more juice that comes out, the more it will affect the jams ability to gel.
What happens if we forget the lemon juice? I already put it in water bath and sealed the jars.
Thank you for a low sugar option.
Kristi
That’s totally fine, the lemon juice is optional and just for flavor (and added pectin). Both strawberry and rhubarb are acidic enough to can on their own without added acid, so it’s not going to impact safety.
Thanks for all the options. I’ve never made this jam before but I won’t be looking any further. I’ll be using the Pomona Universal Pectin recipe. LOVE. their product and they ALWAYS get back to you if you have questions. Like you, I can’t see myself using all that excessive sugar. I’m going to start making it now and I’ll get back to you with my results. Thanks again
You’re welcome. Enjoy!
I made this wonderful jam with rhubarb from a local farm and berries I picked. I didn’t have enough rhubarb so I made up the difference with strawberries for 9 c. Total.
The recipe was very easy to follow, but it took more time than stated to reduce the juice to syrup.
After adding the strained fruit, I obtained the exact spreadable consistency with 10 min of cooking.
I must say that in order to make this, I was very diligent about stirring it about every minute or two to get the syrup just right.
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe. It is now a favorite!
Wonderful, so glad it turned out for you!
How long does this last in the refrigerator? Also if water bath and canning how long will it stay fresh as well
With water bath canning it should last for 12-18 months if sealed. In the fridge, perhaps a month I’d guess? We generally can them, and once opened my kids eat the jars within a week or two, so I’ve never had one go bad. Sorry, I don’t have a more exact fridge number for you. You can also make this as a freezer jam if you don’t want to can it.
I have rhubarb in my garden. I am making this for the second time in a month. I can hopefully reproduce my first effort. Excellent taste, not overly sweet. If you like rhubarb and strawberries this is a winner recipe. Outstanding on Belgian waffles!
Delicious recipe. I chopped the fruit smaller then recommended, so I wasn’t able to strain fruit out and make a syrup. However, a very nice sauce resulted. I didn’t see the yield on the recipe….my batch produced 4 jars.
i am deaf … wonder if you make strawberry rhubarb jam so I woud love to order from you three cans.. let me know please
I’m sorry to say I’m not setup to make it for sale, just for our own consumption. You can usually find small scale makers selling it on etsy.