EASY CHIA JAM | THE BEST FREEZER JAM YOU’LL EVER MAKE!

This chia jam takes little effort to make and freezes beautifully. It’s literally the easiest, cheapest (and healthiest) freezer jam you’ll ever make!

Keep reading to learn why this chia jam recipe makes the ideal freezer jam. Plus, ideas for how to serve and gift it too!

SKIP AHEAD

• Serving Ideas
• Gifting Ideas
• Budget-Friendly Tips
• Nutrition Facts
• Transitioning to Chia Jam
• Meal Prep Tips
• Tips for Optimal Results

Chia Jam Serving Ideas

With only 3 ingredients and 15 minutes of your time, you can enjoy this super easy chia jam whenever the mood strikes!

Use it to dress up appetizers:

• On baked brie
• On a cheese and charcuterie board
• On a breakfast or dessert board
• In puffed pastry hors d’oeuvres
• Mixed into a goat or cream cheese spread
• Mixed into yogurt or whipped cottage cheese as a fruit dip

Enjoy it as a topping on:

• Yogurt
• Oatmeal or overnight oats
• Ice cream
• Pancakes
• Chia pudding
• Cottage cheese
• Scones, biscuits, crumpets or corn muffins
• Toast, bagels or English muffins

Enjoy it as a filling in:

• Pies or tarts
• Crepes
• Baked oatmeal
• Thumbprint or sandwich cookies
• Dessert bars
• Breakfast bars
• A layer or ‘poke cake’
• A goat cheese sandwich
• A nut or seed butter sandwich

Is your mouth watering yet?

Gifting Ideas

Edible gifts are always appreciated and even more special when they’re homemade! Jam is one of those universal condiments with infinite uses, making it a perfect present on its own or as part of a larger gift. 

PLUS when you gift someone jam, they’re technically getting two gifts in one. The delicious chia jam and the reusable jar!

Mason jars are beautiful, freezer-safe and come in an assortment of sizes. And Ikea has these beautiful 4 oz jars that serve multiple uses once this chia jam has been devoured. 

The following are some ideas for gifting chia jam:

Gifting for 

• A host/hostess. 
• A family or friend who is unwell or recovering.
• A person you want to thank.
• A teacher, hair stylist, trades-person, nurse or anyone you want to show appreciation for.
• A special occasion or holiday, like Mother’s Day, Grandparent’s Day, Thanksgiving, Easter, etc.

Gift Ideas 

• On its own with a thoughtful card.
• As part of a condiment or jam trio.
• As part of a continental breakfast basket, with scones or muffins, and some fruit.
• With a loaf of artisan (or homemade) bread.
• With a bottle of wine and a wheel of Brie.
• In a box or crate, with assorted cheeses, crackers and honey.

Budget-Friendly Tips

Move over over-priced store-bought chia jam with questionable ingredients! This chia jam recipe uses only 3 common healthy grocery staples:

Frozen berries, chia seeds and maple syrup… that’s it!

Most jams use pectin to ‘gel’ and thicken, which has limited uses and can get pricey depending on the season and its availability. Whereas chia seeds are a pantry powerhouse! Each batch of jam uses less than $0.30 of chia seeds! With loads of different uses, they’re a budget-friendly alternative for jam-making.

Using frozen berries instead of fresh ones dramatically cuts down your cost and makes it possible to enjoy chia jam all year long. And if you buy your frozen berries in bulk from places like Costco, you can save even more.

Depending on where you live, another option is to buy your berries in bulk from a local farmer when they’re in season and freeze them yourself. Google search “local farm directory” to find options in your area.

Farm-to-jar chia jam definitely has a sweet ring to it!

Chia Jam vs Traditional Store-Bought & Freezer Jam

Nutrition Facts

Traditional freezer jam and store-bought jams are made with a lot of sugar. Like A LOT. That’s because jams made with pectin need sugar to help them gel and set. While there are sugar-free jams on the market, most are sweetened with artificial sweeteners like sucralose, which carry their own health risks.

Traditional jam (like the Smucker’s brand) has 10 to 15g of sugar per tablespoon. It often contains various types of sugars, including high-fructose corn syrup, conventional (GMO) corn syrup, and refined white sugar, making it a highly inflammatory condiment.

This chia jam, on the other hand, has only 2.5g of sugar per tablespoon! It’s made using anti-inflammatory ingredients that are packed with antioxidants and healthy omega-3 fats. 

This recipe is a perfect alternative to traditional store-bought and freezer jam, and is an ideal sweet-tasting condiment, for:

• Diabetics.
• People with auto-immune conditions, like rheumatoid arthritis. 
• People on low-sugar diets or protocols.
• People who suffer from chronic inflammatory conditions.
• Children over the age of one.
• Quite frankly anyone who loves eating wholesome, tasty food!

TIP: To preserve most of the chia seeds‘ omega-3 benefits, let your berries cool for 10-15 minutes after cooking, prior to adding your chia seeds. Ideally, you don’t want to cook your chia seeds, as the high heat will decrease their therapeutic effects.

TRANSITIONING FROM CONVENTIONAL JAM TO CHIA JAM

If you are just starting to introduce more chia seeds to your or your family’s meal routine, starting out with a chia berry jam might be your best option. Because traditional berry jams have loads of little seeds throughout, to begin with, the transition to a chia berry jam will be much easier. Even for those with texture sensitivities or a strong reluctance to try this much healthier option!  

And when in doubt, feel free to add a bit more maple syrup in the beginning! This chia jam is not meant to be overly sweet. But for those who may be used to a sweeter jam and are making the switch for health reasons, adding an extra tablespoon or two is still much healthier than conventional store-bought jam. 

Chia Jam Meal Prep tips

Jams of all kinds are a pantry staple in many households. With seemingly limitless ways of serving it, there’s no question why freezer jam is considered a classic meal prep staple for so many. 

BIG BATCH FREEZER JAM IN LESS TIME

This chia jam is the easiest freezer jam you’ll ever make! No pectin to dissolve or worrying whether or not it will set. Just place your berries in the pot to cook to a simmer, allow to cool for a few minutes and stir in your chia seeds and maple syrup. DONE! 

This super easy recipe doubles, triples and quadruples beautifully, and takes nearly the same amount of time to make, as a single batch. If you opt to make a big batch, your future self will thank you!    

A quadruple batch, or 16 cups of berries, fits in most large cooking/pasta pots. It may look like a lot but know that as it cooks, the volume of berries will shrink in size by about half. So feel free to make that big batch, and fill up your pot without fear of it boiling over.

STORING IN THE FREEZER

You may be wondering if it’s safe to freeze jam made from previously frozen fruit. Thankfully the answer is a big old, heck yes! That’s because when you cook the berries, you change up their composition, making them ok to freeze again.

This chia jam lasts for up to 6 months in the freezer if stored in a sealed glass container.

When ready to use, thaw it on the counter for a few hours (depending on the size of the container) or place it in the fridge to thaw overnight.  

STORING IN THE FRIDGE

Because the berries in this jam are cooked, the jam itself will last up to 10 days in the fridge when stored in a tightly-sealed glass container or jar. That is, assuming it hasn’t been devoured before then!

Tips For Optimal Chia Jam Results

The recipe calls for you to measure your berries out while frozen. It may look like a lot initially, but the volume of berries will shrink in size by about half once they’ve thawed and broken down from the heat. If you’re using smaller berries like blueberries, raspberries, blackberries or sliced strawberries, the heat alone will break them down to the perfect size for spreading.  

However, if you’re using whole strawberries or other fruit (see next point for other fruit suggestions) you’ll want to use something like a potato masher to break down the larger chunks to a more ‘spreadable’ size. 

Note, you can use an immersion blender instead of a masher just as well. Just be sure to turn off the stove first and proceed with caution, as there’s a higher probability of (hot) splashback. Ask me how I know! 

DIFFERENT FRUIT OPTIONS

If you’d like to use other fruits aside from berries, know that you’ll still see the chia seeds in the final product. White chia seeds are less visible, but you’ll still see and feel some chia seed texture. Thankfully it’s not as obvious as say, a traditional chia pudding, regardless of the type of chia seeds you use.  

Here are some other fruit options to consider using:

• Peach
• Apricot
• Plum
• Pineapple
• Mango
• Cranberries
• Cherries

If you try this delicious and easy chia jam recipe, I’d love to hear what you think! Comment below or tag me @nourashnutrition in your Instagram stories!

I can’t wait to hear all about your healthy eating journey and what you’ve been cooking! Please comment below or share your successes with me on Instagram @nourashnutrition so that I can celebrate you and your healthy eating milestones!

Also, if you have any questions about the topic and information you’ve learned today, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment or send me an Instagram direct message! ✨

Sending you strength and confidence today to fuel your healthiest tomorrow!

xo ash