Seedless Mixed Berry Jam (Small Batch)

With just two additional ingredients and no pectin needed, this easy Seedless Mixed Berry Jam recipe is easily adaptable to use whatever berries you have on hand. I’ve used a mix of fresh and frozen strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackcurrants and blackberries to make this simple but delicious smooth berry preserve.

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I’ve said it time and time again at this point but I really do not like bits in my jam! But I still love jam and all the berries you can make it with. It is so simple to make a seedless jam that I don’t need to miss out. And nor do you.

Or of course you may just like the variety and option of having a nice smooth preserve in which case this recipe is for you too.

There are many reasons for wanting to make a jam with a mix of fruits. I’ve used 5 because I grow some of my own berries. Because my berry bushes are small, I don’t always get a massive crop and I might only get a few berries a day. I diligently freeze them every time I harvest but when I looked at the end of the season, I really didn’t have enough to make even a small batch of jam with any single berry.

They all complement each other so making a mix is the obvious thing to do. I also added some fresh strawberries and frozen raspberries and blueberries that weren’t homegrown for good measure.

This recipe is designed to only make a small batch (around 400ml) of jam. I like to have a range of different jams in the house so I usually only make small batches. But it is incredibly simple to make a larger batch – use the servings slider in the recipe card at the bottom of this post to change the quantities.

How to Serve Homemade Mixed Berry Jam

I always suggest using jams at room temperature. Although open jars should be kept in the fridge, when eaten chilled the flavour can be dulled and it is harder to get a nice even spread.

There are lots of ways to use jam. The most obvious is to enjoy spread on bread or sweet treats. Try it on everything from Scotch Pancakes and croissants to toasted sourdough or Sesame Bagels. Lather onto buttered crumpets for a delicious snack.

You can use it to fill a Victoria Sandwich Cake or make a Microwave Jam Sponge Pudding. Add to butter and clotted cream and spread on homemade Fruited Scones for a classic afternoon tea.

Make easy jam tarts using Buttery Rough Puff Pastry or swirl into a bowl of rice pudding or porridge. Add to yogurt for a tasty breakfast or pile onto waffles with cream for a Scandi style treat.

Ingredients for Seedless Mixed Berry Jam

Berries

You really can use pretty much any berry you can think of. I’ve used strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries (brambles) and blackcurrants. Other options include redcurrants, white currants, loganberries, tayberries, cloudberries and any other similar berry or currant.

You could include more sour berries like gooseberries or cranberries but I would only mix these with a good amount of sweeter berries or your jam could be overly tart.

You can use 2 or 20 types of berry as long as the total weight matches the recipe.

It also doesn’t matter if you use fresh or frozen berries. The thing to note is that the uncooked berries are blitzed to form a paste/puree. Unless you have a super duper blender, this is best done once any frozen berries are thawed. If you want to speed up the process, you can warm them in the pan or even give them a quick blast in the microwave.

Sugar

Regular white sugar is all you need to make jam. You do not need to use specialist (and expensive) jam sugar. Jam sugar contains added pectin which is not required in this recipe.

It actually doesn’t matter if you use regular or caster/superfine sugar as it will be melting in the pan. Granulated sugar is the cheapest option so that is what I tend to use. I save the more expensive caster sugar for when it is really needed.

Please don’t be tempted to use a brown sugar or sugar alternative as the jam will either have an odd flavour or texture respectively.

Lemon Juice

Lemon juice does two things in a jam recipe. Firstly it adds a little bit of a sharp counterbalance to the sweetness. Secondly, and most importantly, it adds the extra pectin that the berries don’t contain themselves.

Pectin is what allows the jam to set. Most fruits contain some natural pectin. Some contain enough that they don’t need any help during the jam making process. But most need a little helping hand.

Using lemon juice rather than powdered pectin or jam sugar is both the tastiest and best value way of doing this.

Using too much lemon juice can therefore result in jam becoming overset. For this reason it is important to measure the juice you’re using and try to be fairly accurate about it. If you want to add more actual lemon flavour, you can add some fresh and very finely grated lemon zest instead.

Fresh, frozen or bottled lemon juice are all perfectly fine to use.

Be Flexible

You can add other flavours to the jam as you please. Citrus flavours make a lovely addition. Lemon and orange are the most obvious but you could add more tang with lime or even yuzu. I find that it is best to add the citrus zest to the jam rather than the juice as this can otherwise affect the set of the jam.

Adding an alcohol note is another option. Cassis (blackcurrant liqueur) is a lovely addition as is Cointreau or another orange based spirit. Go totally tropical with coconut spirits like Malibu or Amaretto for an almond type kick.

Adding wintery spices such as cinnamon, ginger and cloves can take the jam from summer into winter – perfect for Christmas gifts and festive baking.

Vegetarian or Vegan Berry Jam

This seedless mixed berry jam recipe is suitable for both vegetarian and vegan diets.

Is Mixed Berry Jam Allergy Friendly?

This recipe is free from egg, dairy, gluten and nuts.

Please note that this recipe may contain other allergens not referred to above and any variations suggested have not been tested unless otherwise stated. For more information regarding any dietary information provided on this website, please refer to my Nutritional Disclaimer.

Discover More Homemade Jam Recipes

Smooth & Seedless Jam Recipes

Here you’ll find all of my fabulous jam recipes in one easy place. With no pesky pips, my recipes are all written to make small batches but can easily be scaled up to make larger quantities.

Featuring mixed berry, plum, blueberry, blackberry, strawberry, and raspberry, fig and dark cherry jams plus some ideas how to use it.

Equipment Notes for Mixed Berry Jam

Jam doesn’t actually require any specialist equipment. The most important thing is to have a good sized pan. This recipe using just over one pound of fruit (500g) makes a fairly small amount of the finished product but you still need to use a good large saucepan.

You might think that I’m being excessive when you first see the amount of fruit in the pan but it bubbles up so much when boiling, you’ll soon understand why.

There are a few things that will help make your jam making easier although they’re not essential. A thermometer is one of them. It turns out that I own quite a selection and they are all suitable. My laser thermometer (centre) is mess free and fun to use.

My meat thermometer (left) posed a little more peril as I needed to hold it in the jam until it registered the temperature. And my old fashioned sugar thermometer (right) just happily sat in the pan the whole time. But it was harder to wash up!

And don’t forget something the store the jam in. I love my super cute quilted jam jar set. But you can simply use old jam jars that you’ve thoroughly cleaned.

A comprehensive list of the equipment used to make this recipe is included in the main recipe card below. Click on any item to see an example. There are no hard and fast rules so many items can be sensibly substituted to achieve the same results.

How to Sterilise Jars and Preserve/Can Jam

There is a whole world of variations and advice for how you should prepare your jars and deal with the jars once they’re sealed. They vary from person to person and country to country.

Here in the UK we largely make sure that the jars are properly sterilised, fill the jars with the hot jam, seal them and that’s that. In the US it is almost a given that the jars will then be “processed” to complete the “canning” process. I have purposely provided no links here – if you’d like to learn more about canning, Google is your friend.

There are a lot of strong feelings about this in the “jam community” (yes there is one) which I have no interest in being drawn into. All I know is that UK cooks have been making jam for a very long time without any issues. Therefore I am more than happy to follow the UK process for my jams.

Jar Sterilisation Options

There are several ways that you can sterilise your jam jars.

• Run the jars and lids through a hot wash in the dishwasher.
• Bake the jars and lids in the oven on a baking tray.
• Microwave the jars and boil the lids in water.
• Boil the jars and lids in water.

Whichever method you choose the only important thing is to make sure that the jars and lids are left to dry without being touched. And that you do not under any circumstances touch the inside of the jars or lids as this can contaminate them and undo your sterilisation. Tongs are your friend.

For the record, I usually use the dishwasher method.

How to Tell if the Jar is Sealed

It is essential to add the lid to the hot jars filled with the hot jam straight away. As the jam and jar cool, a vacuum is created in the jar and the lid will be pulled downwards. To help this, I often turn my jars upside down to cool.

This means that when you press the lid, it doesn’t move or pop. When you open a jar of properly sealed jam the lid will then pop. And an opened or not properly sealed jar will pop when you press it.

If your jars don’t seal properly, you can either keep the jar in the fridge and eat it relatively quickly or go though a canning process to seal them. The choice is yours.

Get Ahead

You can make jam up to a year in advance. Whether you consider that getting ahead or not I don’t know!

The important thing to note is that you want to be making it at least 24 hours in advance of needing it so that it has time to properly set. You can probably get away with 12 to 16 hours in the fridge if you are in a real hurry.

Smooth Mixed Berry Jam Tips

Do not touch the hot jam. I cannot stress this enough. I don’t care how tempting it looks. Or if that little bit on the side looks a bit cooler. Do. Not. Touch. It. You will regret it.

If you are using a thermometer, you can simply rely on the jam hitting temperature and not worry about doing the wrinkle test on a cold plate. I like to take a belt and braces approach so I use both testing methods. But you can just use one or the other.

I mentioned before to use a good big saucepan. This is worth repeating here!

If you don’t need to keep your jam for any length of time, you can skip the jar stage and use any old container and keep your jam in the fridge.

Don’t forget to let me know in the comments if you try making this recipe – I want to know what you think and if you made any substitutions, how did it turn out?

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