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This amazing Instant Pot Strawberry Jam recipe uses just four simple ingredients (no fruit pectin needed!) and comes together in less than 30 minutes. Making homemade jam has never been simpler or easier, thanks to the Instant Pot pressure cooker!
Homemade jam ranks high on my list of favorite “from scratch” foods. We always had different types of freezer jam on hand when I was a kid, so I became completely spoiled in my standards of acceptable jam. Store- bought jam will just never measure up.
So which type of jam do I prefer: regular strawberry jam like my mom made growing up, or this instant pot strawberry jam?
I like both recipes for different reasons.
My mom's freezer strawberry jam recipe is made with fresh strawberries and you don't cook them at all, so they have a really wonderful, bold strawberry flavor. It's my first choice if comparing the two recipes just based off of flavor. It requires sure-jell fruit pectin, and the process takes a bit longer than this instant pot version.
However, this instant pot version is much easier to make, and requires less sugar. The recipe does not use pectin, so you can use as much or little sugar as you like without having to worry that the jam wont set up. You could even substitute a sugar sweetener if you want, which would never work in my other recipe.
Both recipes are delicious, but homemade strawberry jam just doesn't get any easier or faster than with this instant pot version. Involve your kids or grandkids, and reward them with a delicious piece of toast with jam, after it's made. Perfect for a quick snack since it only takes about 30 minutes to make.
How to make Instant Pot Strawberry Jam:
Add the hulled and halved strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice to the instant pot, give everything a stir and then let it sit for 10 minutes. The sugar will help draw juice from the strawberries.
Close the instant pot lid and secure the pressure release valve. Cook on high pressure for 1 minute, followed by a 15 minute natural release.
Meanwhile, combine the cornstarch and water. When the IP has naturally released the pressure, open the lip and store in the cornstarch slurry.
Select the “saute” button on the instant pot and bring the mixture to a full boil. Boil for a few minutes, stirring constantly, until the jam has thickened slightly. It will continue to thicken as it cools. Turn the instant pot off.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Can I use frozen strawberries, or another type of fruit?
Use can use frozen strawberries. Since they will most likely be whole, you will want to increase the cook time by 1 minute and you may need to use an immersion blender when it's finished cooking to break up bigger pieces of strawberry.
I have tested this recipe substituting frozen raspberries and it worked great. I'm working on other types of fruit jam recipes made in the instant pot, and hope to share them soon! Meanwhile, try my peach, raspberry, or strawberry freezer jam recipes.
Can I double or triple the recipe?
Sure! Double or triple all of the ingredients, cook for the same amount of time (1 minute, with natural pressure release), and be careful not to fill your Instant pot past the max fill line.
Can I use less sugar, or substitute an artificial sweetener?
You could cut down the sugar to ¼ cup, or use a sugar substitute if you'd like, but you wont get the same sweetness of flavor.
Preserving and storing:
I have not tested this recipe for home preserving (so test at your own discretion), but due to the natural high-acidity of the strawberries and the addition of lemon juice, I think it would work great. Use ¼ cup of lemon juice, and saute the jam at the end until it reaches 220 degrees F. Then follow these instructions for preserving jam.
You may also store strawberry jam in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks, or freeze in freezer-safe glass jars or plastic jars for up to 1 year.
Do I need pectin or surejell to make jam in the instant pot?
You don't need fruit pectin or surejell for this instant pot recipe, since we thicken it with cornstarch instead. If you're interested in making freezer jam or canning jam using fruit pectin, try one of my freezer jam recipes.
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Instant Pot Strawberry Jam
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 pounds fresh strawberries, , hulled and halved
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 3 Tablespoons cornstarch
- 3 Tablespoons water
Instructions
- Add strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice to the instant pot. Let sit for 10 minutes. (The sugar will help draw juice from the strawberries)
- Close the lid and secure the pressure release valve. Cook on high pressure for 1 minute. Allow to natural release for 15 minutes. Do a controlled quick release when releasing the remaining pressure to make sure only steam comes from the vent.
- Combine the cornstarch and water until smooth. (If it's too thick you can add a tiny bit more water until its liquid and cornstarch is completely smooth.)
- Remove the IP lid (it will look like SOUP inside, but don't be alarmed!) Stir in cornstarch slurry.
- Select "saute" and bring the mixture to a full boil. Boil for a few minutes, stirring frequently until mixture has thickened. Turn off Instant pot.
- Pour jam into a container. Details about storing and preserving this jam recipe are above in the post.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE this recipe and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
Hi, I’m new to the pressure cooking crowd, and bought an Instant Pot electric pressure cooker. I’ve been advised to use no less than a half cup,of liquid, ideally 1 cup, so that the unit can come to pressure; your recipe only has 2.5 T of liquid. Could I place a small bowl in the middle of the berries to put additional water in, without messing up the results,of,the recipe?
Hi Marysue,
The recipe will turn out great as stated. There is so much liquid in the strawberries that the mixture will be more like a soup when they finish cooking.
Can you use honey instead of sugar and arrowroot instead of corn starch?
Hi Gloria, the honey would work fine (it would just change the flavor slightly). I haven’t experimented with arrowroot, but I’d love to hear if you try it 🙂
This looks so good! Generally when I make jam I substitute raw honey for sugar. Do you know if the honey would do the same as the sugar would for drawing out the juice??
I haven’t experimented with any other sweetener for this recipe — I agree that honey wouldn’t bring out the juices the same. But you could experiment. 🙂 Let me know if you try it!
I did everything but corn starch didn’t tbicken
Hi Lyn,just add more cornstarch “slurry” (cornstarch mixed with water), until it thickens to your desired preference. The cornstarch will thicken it, so don’t give up 🙂 Even if it’s in your fridge you could add it back to a saucepan and reheat, adding a little more cornstarch.
I have two questions:
1. Can i avoid corn starch?
2.In the last step approximately how many minutes should i let it boil?
The cornstarch is essential if you want the jam to thicken–otherwise it will be very soup-y. Allow it to boil just until it starts to thicken (probably 2-3 minutes or so). 🙂
I followed this recipe to a T, however, although my strawberry mix thickened after about 5-7 minutes of boiling and stirring, it did not completely gel and it is still fairly “soupy”. Not sure what happened since I didn’t divert from the recipe at all.
I just made this and the only complaint I had was it wasn’t enough?
Thanks Joan! Happy you enjoyed it!
Are we sure it’s 3 Tbs of cornstarch to 4 tsp of water? I checked the measurements repeatedly. Mine is not pourable or liquid, it’s powder still. I had to put mine in a blender when done cause the cornstarch clumped.
Hi Shonda, sorry you had trouble with the cornstarch. Next time just add a little more water to make the cornstarch mixture into a “slurry”.
3 Tablespoons cornstarch and 1 1/2 Tablespoons water
Wow! I can’t believe how easy this was. We had some leftover strawberries and I saw this recipie and decided to try it and I’m glad I did! So easy and delicious. Perfect sweetness.
The perfect use of extra strawberries! I’m so happy you got to try this recipe. Thanks Heather.
I made made this jam twice now! Once with fresh strawberries and once with frozen raspberries! They turned out GREAT! This is my new go-to recipes and I love that I didn’t have to use pectin!
That is so awesome that you tried it with strawberries and raspberries! Thanks for commenting, and thanks for following TBFS 🙂