Strawberry rhubarb freezer jam is sweet-tart and delicious on toast, in peanut butter sandwiches, or anywhere you'd use strawberry jam!
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Why should pie get all of the strawberry rhubarb glory? This strawberry rhubarb freezer jam is easy to make and brings that same addictive flavor to toast, PBJs, pancakes, waffles, oatmeal, yogurt, ice cream and more!
This recipe is for a freezer jam, which is a little bit different from conventional jam. There's no need to worry about acidity or sterilizing and sealing your jars. In exchange for this ease, you get a jam that needs to be stored in the fridge or freezer. It feels like a fair trade-off to me!
Especially when we're talk about this sweet, tart, strawberry rhubarb freezer jam!
If you like making freezer jam at home, also try my low sugar strawberry jam, blackberry chia jam and apricot freezer jam recipes!
💖 Why You'll Love this Recipe
- sweet-tart flavors with succulent pieces of strawberry and rhubarb
- homemade jam that's perfect for PB&Js, buttered toast, or anywhere you'd use strawberry jam
- easy to make - no sterilizing jars or worrying about acidity. No cooking thermometer needed, either.
- uses everyday ingredients - no pectin or other thickeners needed!
- easy to store - refrigerate for up to 2 week or freeze for up to a year!
🍓 Ingredients and Substitutions
- rhubarb - You want to use the stems of the rhubarb only. The leaves are not safe to eat. You can use diced fresh rhubarb or frozen.
- fresh strawberries - You'll want to remove the white hull from your berries before using them, since the hull doesn't have a great flavor.
- sugar - For sweetness. Rhubarb is very tart on its own, so you do need to add sugar to make this jam. You can use maple syrup instead or a mix of half sugar and half maple syrup. You can reduce the sugar by up to ½ cup, but know that the finished jam's texture will be a little bit less sticky-shiny.
- lemon juice - Brings out the flavor of the berries and rhubarb.
- salt - Just a teeny pinch of salt really brings out the flavors in this strawberry rhubarb jam. You can omit the salt, but I encourage you to use it!
🔪 How to Make Strawberry Rhubarb Freezer Jam
Add the strawberries, lemon juice, and salt to your food processor and pulse until you reach a compote-like consistency. You don't want the mixture to be completely smooth, so leave some chunks of berry in there!
Transfer to a large bowl, stir in the sugar and rhubarb, and let the sugar mixture sit for 10 minutes.
Transfer the strawberry-rhubarb mixture to a frying pan on high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium high and cook for around 15 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is slightly sticky and very shiny with very little foam left when you stir.
When the jam has thickened and looks shiny without too much foam on top, remove the pan from the heat, and set it aside to cool for 10 minutes in the pan.
When the jam has cooled, transfer it to a heat- and freezer-safe pint jar and cover loosely with the lid. If you're planning to freeze, leave ½" of headroom at the top.
💡 Helpful Tips
- Using a frying pan instead of a saucepan reduces cooking time by increasing surface area. Excess liquid will cook away more quickly, so your jam will be ready sooner.
- If the jam is bubbling up too much and looks like it wants to boil over or you start to see brown around the edges of the pan, reduce the heat even more. Different stoves will need different heats and cooking times, so just keep an eye on things. You also might need to bump down the heat during the last 5 minutes or so of cooking time. How long you need to boil the jam depends on how juicy your fruit is, what sweetener you use, your pan, and your stove.
- Your jam is ready when the mixture is very shiny and there's very little foam when you stir.
- The jam is actually still cooking as it cools in the pan, so don't skip the cooling step.
- Don't forget to leave a little headroom in your jar if you're planning to freeze. The jam expands as it freezes, and that little bit of space gives the extra volume somewhere to go.
🫙 Storage Directions
Transfer the cooked jam to a pint size mason jar or other heat-safe container, and cover loosely.
If you're going to freeze, leave about ½" of headroom, so there's room for the jam to expand, and let it cool to room temperature before tightening the lid and freezing. If you're refrigerating, headroom isn't such a big deal, and you can tighten the lid and refrigerate once the jar is cool enough to handle.
Strawberry rhubarb freezer jam will keep for up to one year in the freezer or two weeks in the refrigerator.
💬 Frequently Asked Questions
Freezer jam is a quick preserve that doesn't need to be hot water canned. The trade-off for easier prep is that you must store it in the freezer or in the refrigerator, since it's not shelf-stable.
Rhubarb is actually a vegetable related to buckwheat, though it looks more like celery. The stems of rhubarb have an amazing, tart flavor, but don't eat the leaves. Usually, rhubarb is sold at grocery stores and farmers markets without the leaves, but just in case, I want to be sure you to know that the leaves are inedible.
Sugar is a key component in jam and helps give it that thick, shiny, sticky texture. You can use less sugar, but I would not reduce the amount by more than ½ cup.
📖 Recipe
🍓 Strawberry Rhubarb Freezer Jam
Equipment
- Pint Jar - preferably wide mouth, since it will be easier to transfer and spoon out the jam, but any heatproof and freezer-safe jar will work.
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh strawberries hulled
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- pinch of salt Just the teeniest pinch!
- 1 ½ cups sugar or use maple syrup, or some sugar and the rest maple syrup
- 1 pound rhubarb cleaned and cut into ¼" thick slices
Instructions
- Add the strawberries, lemon juice, and salt to your food processor and pulse until you reach a compote-like consistency. You don't want the mixture to be completely smooth, so leave some chunks of berry in there! Transfer to a bowl, stir in the sugar and rhubarb, and let the mixture sit for 10 minutes.
- Transfer the strawberry-rhubarb mixture to a frying pan on high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium high and cook for around 15 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is slightly sticky and very shiny with very little foam left when you stir. If the jam is bubbling up too much and looks like it wants to boil over or you start to see brown around the edges of the pan, reduce the heat even more. Different stoves will need different heats and cooking times, so just keep an eye on things. You also might need to bump down the heat during the last 5 minutes or so of cooking time. How long you need to boil the jam depends on how juicy your fruit is, what sweetener you use, your pan, and your stove.
- When the jam has thickened and looks shiny without too much foam on top, remove the pan from the heat, and set it aside to cool for 10 minutes. This is important! Do not skip.
- When the jam has cooled, transfer it to a heat- and freezer-safe pint jar and cover loosely with the lid. If you're planning to freeze, leave ½" of headroom at the top. Freeze or refrigerate until you're ready to use. If you're freezing, let it cool completely in the jar before tightening the lid and freezing. If you're refrigerating, just wait until the jar is cool enough to handle before tightening the lid and sticking it into the fridge.
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