Homemade Cherry Jam
on Oct 23, 2021, Updated Jun 28, 2024
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My mom’s Homemade Cherry Jam is one of the best jam recipes I have ever tried. Make this recipe in the ☀️summer, when cherries are in their peak season and bursting with juiciness. In this recipe, the jam is cooked in 5-minute intervals, which helps preserve the cherry’s whole shape and yields a super juicy, fresh jam. You can easily double or quadruple this recipe if you want to make a bulk🫙 batch of jam and enjoy it all year long.
Why You’ll Love Homemade Cherry Jam
The process of making this Homemade Cherry Jam is incredibly easy. With a little bit of prep and patience, you’ll be good to go! This is the best way to preserve those summer fresh sweet 🍒 cherries so you can enjoy the bounty even during those cold 🌨️ winter months. The results are absolutely delicious. It’s not overly sweet and bursting with pure cherry flavor. The texture is smooth, with beautiful little chunks of fruit that remind you this jam is homemade at its best.
How to Prepare Homemade Cherry Jam
💧Start by removing the stems from the cherries and then wash them well.
🍒 Use a cherry pitter to remove the pits (or remove them by hand).
🍋 Add the pitted cherries to a large pot, along with the sugar and lemon juice.
🥄 Now, bring to a boil over medium-high heat and then stir continuously for 5 minutes.
❄️ Remove the pot from the heat and then let the mixture cool completely.
✌️ Once cooled, repeat this same step again (bringing the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat and stirring continuously for 5 minutes) and then cool the mixture again.
🫧 Once the cherries cool for the second time, place the pot back on the stove and then bring them to a boil again. Stir for the last time for another 5 minutes.
🧑🍳 After boiling the cherries for the third time, skim off some of the foam and then fill three sterilized jars with the jam, leaving 1/4-inch room at the top.
🫙 Wipe the rims of the jars clean with a damp paper towel, then put the lids on tightly, and flip the jars upside down.
🌙 Cover and rest overnight.
😋 The next day, store the jars and enjoy!
Nonna’s Tip ❄️
If you don’t want to go through the work of properly canning and preserving the jam, you can store the jam in a tightly sealed jar in the fridge for a few weeks.
Variations and Substitutions for Homemade Cherry Jam
- Most jam recipes typically call for more sugar than what I use in my recipe, but feel free to adjust. This is the perfect amount of sweetness and sourness for me.
- You can use this same technique to preserve any summer fruit you love: 🍓 berries or stone fruit such as 🍑 peaches.
- For a firmer jam, you can also add pectin to this recipe, but I haven’t personally tried this.
Similar Recipes
Best Served With
- We love this Homemade Cherry Jam spread on top of buttered 🍞 toast or slathered on fresh bread.
- This Homemade Cherry Jam is heavenly drizzled on top of yogurt or 🍦 ice cream.
- My favorite way to use this jam is in my homemade crepes.
Common Questions
One of my favorite Amazon items is this OXO Cherry Pitter, which makes quick work of this job.
Line the bottom of a pot large enough to hold the jars with a rack, paper towels, or a linen towel. This prevents the jars from falling to the bottom of the pot. Then, fill the pot with boiling water, gently add the empty jars, and let boil for 5 minutes.
Properly canned, this jam will last months in a cool, dark spot.
For instructions and tips on how to properly can/preserve jam, please read this helpful resource: https://www.thekitchn.com/water-bath-canning-beginners-22936602
Cooking the cherries in three stages helps to preserve their shape and prevent them from breaking down into a puree. This method keeps the cherries intact, resulting in a chunkier jam.
Homemade Cherry Jam
Instructions
- Remove the stems from the cherries and wash the cherries. Use a cherry pitter or remove the pits yourself. Add the pitted cherries to a large pot, along with the sugar and lemon juice. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and stir continuously for 5 minutes.
- Remove the pot from the heat and let the mixture cool completely. Once cooled, repeat this same step again (bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring continuously for 5 minutes) and then cool the mixture again.
- Once the cherries are cooled for the second time, add the pot back on the stove and bring them to a boil again as you stir for the last time for another 5 minutes.
- Cooking time for this jam is 15 minutes total (5, 5, and 5 min as you cool the pot the first two times fully in between). The reason we separate the cooking time in 3 parts is to keep the cherries intact and whole.
- After the cherries have boiled for the third time, skim off some of the foam on top.
- Now fill your sterilized jars with jam, leaving 1/4 inch room at the top.
- Wipe the rims of the jars clean with a damp paper towel, put the lids on tightly, and flip the jars upside down. Cover and rest overnight. The next day, store the jars and enjoy. Once a jar is open, it must be stored in the fridge.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Made this but added hot pepper flakes to serve over cream cheese with cracker. This is a new family favourite. Thank you so much !
YUM! Brilliant
We enjoyed it! Easy to follow the recipe too.
Thank you!
Thank you Lee!
My family loved this! Thank you
Aww thank you Macarena!
I’m ready to try your cherry jam recipe. How many half pint jars do I need to prepare for 6 cups of cherries and 2 cups of sugar?
Hi Diane, I use three 250ml jars (which are equivalent to half pint jars). Happy jam making!
i didn’t think it would work but it did. set up fine and the morsels where tender and intact. It was little plain so next time i will add clove and cinannamon. Love that it uses a little less sugar.
HI Roberta, so happy to hear 😍
I would like to try this. Can I water bath the jam ti store?
Please check out one of my trusted resources for canning advice: https://www.thekitchn.com/water-bath-canning-beginners-22936602