This no pectin homemade mulberry jam recipe is easy to make with 3 simple ingredients: Mulberries, sugar and lemon juice. Perfect on toasted bread for breakfast or on cakes.
We always use this method to make jams in Turkish cuisine. Check out our strawberry jam and damson plum jam recipes too. These are made without pectin as well and packed with the flavor of fruit.
Mulberries are a sign of summer and one of the best ways to preserve them longer is to make mulberry jam. Fill your crepes with it, smear some on French toasts or mix with your homemade yogurt and enjoy it in a yogurt parfait all year round.
Ingredients
We need only three ingredients for this easy mulberry jam recipe without pectin:
- Black mulberries. We always use black to make this jam, but you can use white if it’s what you have in your area. Make sure they are ripe and sweet. Try to pick ripe and undamaged mulberries, wash them well before you start making the jam.
- Sugar. We use granulated sugar. And the ratio for a jam like this is generally 1:1. However, we reduce the amount of sugar and use 500g of mulberries and 300g of sugar. It is still fine and sweet enough for us.
- Lemon juice. We need freshly squeezed lemon juice to give the jam a nice consistency. Also, it prevents your mulberry jam from causing sugar crystals as it waits. So please don’t leave it out.
Note: You can also use a teaspoon of butter in the recipe to prevent any foams on the surface. We shared how it works in our no pectin plum jam recipe.
Alternative Add-Ins
We love our mulberry jam plain, but you can always add some more flavors to it. For example, you can throw a few cloves in it if you love the flavor of this spice.
Also, you can use fresh basil leaves or mint leaves too. Add these right before removing the jam from the heat.
How To Make
First, place a small plate or bowl in the freezer. We’ll use this to check the consistency of the jam.
Second, rinse mulberries well and cut the stems out.
Third, use a shallow pan and put half of the mulberries in it. Sprinkle half of the sugar over these. Then add the remaining mulberries as the third layer and then sprinkle the remaining sugar over them. Let them sit for 4-5 hours if you have time and then cook for 25-30 minutes.
If you don’t want to wait that long, put the pan over the lowest heat and heat it until sugar dissolves and you see the mulberries release their juice, stirring occasionally. Then bring the heat to medium high and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.
Next, add in lemon juice and cook for another 5 minutes.
Now, you can check the consistency of the jam. To do this, remove the small bowl from the freezer. Drop some jam into it and refrigerate for a minute. Check if it is still too runny or has a jelly-like consistency. Your jam is ready if it has this right consistency.
Transfer the jam into small jars, let it cool completely and then keep it in the fridge.
Tips
- If your mulberries are not sweet enough, increase the amount of sugar and use a 1:1 ratio; 500g mulberries and 500g sugar.
- When simmering the jam, remove any foams on the surface using a slotted spoon.
- If the jam is still too runny when you test its consistency, let it simmer for another 5-10 minutes.
- If you want to increase the amount and keep it for a longer time, sterilize the jars and use brand new lids.
- To have even a better result, cover the top of the pot with a very thin cheese cloth and wait it under sun at your balcony or garden. This will help your jam to get a better consistency and to get even more delicious.
As always: If you make this recipe, let us know what you think by rating it and leaving a comment below. And post a pic on Instagram too—tag @give_recipe so we can see!
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📖 Recipe
Black Mulberry Jam Recipe Without Pectin
Homemade mulberry jam recipe without pectin. Made with 3 ingredients.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 1 jar 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Cooking
- Cuisine: Turkish
Ingredients
- 500g/1 pound mulberries
- 300g/0,66 pound sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed
Instructions
- Place a small plate or bowl in the freezer. We’ll use this to check the consistency of the jam.
- Rinse mulberries well and cut the stems out.
- Use a shallow pan and put half of the mulberries in it. Sprinkle half of the sugar over these. Then add the remaining mulberries as the third layer and then sprinkle the remaining sugar over them.
- Let them sit for 4-5 hours if you have time. If you don’t want to wait that long, put the pan over the lowest heat and heat it until sugar dissolves and you see the mulberries release their juice, stirring occasionally. Bring the heat to medium high and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.
- Add in lemon juice and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Now, you can check the consistency of the jam. To do this, remove the small bowl from the freezer. Drop some jam into it and refrigerate for a minute. Check if it is still too runny or has a jelly-like consistency. Your jam is ready if it has this right consistency.
- Transfer the jam into small jars, let it cool completely and then keep it in the fridge.
Notes
- If your mulberries are not sweet enough, increase the amount of sugar and use a 1:1 ratio; 500g mulberries and 500g sugar.
- When simmering the jam, remove any foams on the surface using a slotted spoon.
- If the jam is still too runny when you test its consistency, let it simmer for another 5-10 minutes.
- If you want to increase the amount and keep it for a longer time, sterilize the jars and use brand new lids.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 jar
- Calories: 1377
- Sugar: 340 g
- Sodium: 53 mg
- Fat: 2 g
- Carbohydrates: 349.1 g
- Protein: 7.2 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Keywords: mulberries, mulberry jam, jam making
Beckie says
Hi I have plucked about 500gm Mulberries this morning. Couldn't find any pectin in our town here. So I was relieved to see this recipe from you. I have layered the sugar and fruits as instructed from your recipe. And just started to cook them now. If this jam. Is successful, I am going to link your recipes to my readers too.
★★★★★
Zerrin & Yusuf says
Hi Beckie, this is one of our favorite jams. We never use pectin when making jams. Would love to hear what you think.
Beckie says
Hi Zerrin & Yusuf, TQ for replying my comment. U r right that pectin is not necessary. I have tried and tasted your recipe. It was amazingly delicious. I will definitely link your recipe to my blog at borneoroad.blogspot.com.
Unfortunately I don't use Instagram so I don't know how to send u pictures of my tried jam here.
Zerrin & Yusuf says
Hi Beckie,
Glad to hear that you are happy with the result. This is a very traditional method of making jam in Turkey. And we are lucky enough to have learnt it from moms and grannies. We don't even know how to use pectin.
You are very kind to link back to our recipe. Thank you!
You can use our email, contact[at]giverecipe[dot]com
Can't wait to see your jam.
Cheers!
Aflyn says
Can we substitute the lemon juice with calamansi(small lime but not as sour as other limes)
Zerrin & Yusuf says
Hi Aflyn,
We always use lemon juice and have no experience with anything else, so we don't want to mislead you. That being said, we think it will probably work as all citrus fruit have pectin. Just not sure about how much lime juice you should use.
Trav says
Is there an easy quick way to remove the stems from lots of mulberries?
Zerrin & Yusuf says
Well, you can just leave them as they are. Sometimes that's what we do. Those stems are tiny indeed and they are not bothering at all, at least for us 🙂 But if you don't want any stems, the only way is to cut them off one by one.
Carmel says
Easy to make and a delicious jam - just the right levels of sugar and lemon juice to give a great flavour.
★★★★★
Zerrin & Yusuf says
Hi Carmel,
Happy to hear that you liked it. Perfect on toasted bread with some butter!
Charmaine Stavrakis says
I made the jam this morning but it took a long time to set. Cooking time says 25 to 30 minutes. I had it on the stove for an hour. What did I do wrong?? There was a lot of liquid!!!. But it tastes lovely.
Zerrin & Yusuf says
Hi Charmaine, the long cooking time for the jam to set might depend on the type of mulberries. Maybe they were too juicy. Another thing could be the shape of the pot. If you use a deep one, it takes longer. Still one hour is not too long. Did you use the same amount of mulberries or double the recipe?
Charmaine Stavrakis says
You could be right! I x 3 so there was a lot of juice. But it's divine!! I made another batch this morning. My mulberry tree is loaded. Love it!!!
K.C says
Im wondering, if this works with Dried Mulberries.
Yusuf says
Well, never tried it with dried mulberries. But remembering mom makes dried fig jam, I think you can make dried mulberry jam too. Different from this recipe, you need to add water.
Found this on a Turkish website: Soak 500g dried mulberries in warm water for 1 hour and then drain.
Put 5 cups water and 3 cups sugar in a pot and heat until sugar melts.
Bring it to a boil and add in the dried mulberries. Cook for 20 minutes.
Then squeeze half a lemon in the pot and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes. Then share it into jars.
Hope this helps.
Would love to hear how it goes if you have a chance to try it!
Jenny says
Made this with the mulberries I picked from the yard this morning. So good! Will make another batch tomorrow. Thank you for this easy to follow recipe!
★★★★★
Alf Grimbeek says
I studied Latin at school including Ovid!! I realy enjoid your beautiful background to the makig of mulberry jam !!! Very v v nice !!!! Alf
Trish in New Mexico says
Just wondered what kind of cheese you're eating it with ... looks like a hard cheese? and it looks yummy! Great recipe, thanks!
Zerrin says
Laura- Thank you for visiting my site. I was on vacation and I'm just back, so sorry for this late reply. You asked how I store the jam until winter. In Turkey, we generally make jams during summer as a preperation for winter as we consume more jam in cold days. I just put the jam in glass jars and keep these jars in a dark(away from sunlight) and dry place. Also, the covers of jars shouldn't be loose so that it doesn't take air in it. You can keep the jams in this way for months. Check your jam occasionally for about a week, if you see something bad on it, just throw that part away and put the jam in refrigerator.
Hope you enjoy the recipe.
laura says
I have 2 mulberry trees in by back yard, i have lived hrer for 8 yrs and this yr. is the first time that i have picked them. I have started freezing them for later use. I can't wait to try the jam, but how do you store the jam until winter?
thanks Laura