Is there an abundance of figs in your backyard? Make this Unripe Fig Jam Recipe with some of them before they get ripe. You will be amazed with the result. Nothing like you've tasted before. A great sweet snack or a garnish for your crepes and pancakes.
Love making jams? Check out our mulberry jam recipe, orange jam recipe, strawberry jam recipe and lemon jam recipe. All are made without pectin.
Love that green color! Most people think that unripe fruits are worthless. Wrong for unripe figs! This jam is unbelievable! Try it and see it yourself!
What Is Unripe Fig Jam?
When I saw unripe figs at the open market today, I decided to make this fig jam. A village woman was selling it. She told that she picked these unripe figs up from the tree in their village. She had no scales, just 2 bags of figs in front of her. She said each bag weighs 1 kilo (2,20 pound), and her word was enough for me, no need to weigh on a scale. I bought one of the bags, but I had never made unripe fig jam before although I ate many times. Luckily enough, that lady gave me the instructions providing that I would come back and tell her the result. Proud to say that I've succeeded. A bowl of the jam would be a nice gift for her, right?
You might find it weird to make jam of unripe figs, but I can tell that you don’t feel any unripeness when you taste it. We call it jam, but I think it can also be included in category of desserts as I love to eat it not just at breakfast but also during day with cream, ice cream or plain.
Btw did you know anything about the benefits of unripe fig sap, that sticky white liquid. It is helpful in the treatment of skin warts. Just drop it on the wart and see the result.
How To Prepare Unripe Figs
Wash the figs and clean their stems. We’ll boil the figs two times changing the water each time to lose its unripeness taste. Fill a large pot with water and boil the figs for about 10 minutes. Let it cool.
When it is cool enough to touch, squeeze the figs gently to remove the bad taste. You can make tiny holes on figs with a needle if you like and then squeeze. Then fill the pot with water again, boil again and squeeze again. This squeezing part might take a long time, but if you are passionate enough, you’ll see it is worth. Then drain.
Making Unripe Fig Jam
Meanwhile you can start to boil 5 and ½ cup water and sugar together in a different pot. After it boils, add the squeezed figs in it. You will see that these figs turn back into their original shape in this boiling sherbet. Put the cloves with the figs to give this jam an outstanding flavor. Boil them for about 25 minutes. Finally, add lemon juice and boil it 5 minutes more.
Let it cool and fill it in jars. You can keep them at room temperature, at a dry and dark place. We love it cold, so we keep it in refrigerator. This makes a wonderful breakfast when paired with a slice of fresh fig nut bread or a great authentic Turkish dessert like walnut baklava when served with walnuts and Turkish salep ice cream.
More Fig Recipes
- Simple Oven Roasted Figs
- Chocolate Dipped Figs
- Chocolate Fresh Fig Brownies
- Fig Breakfast Recipe With Oatmeal
- Fig Shake
- Fig & Ricotta Flatbread Pizza
Unripe Fig Jam
A scrumptious green jam with unripe figs.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 1 jar 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Cooking
- Cuisine: Turkish
Ingredients
- 1 kilo (2,20 pounds) unripe fig
- 1 kilo sugar
- 5 ½ cups water
- 1 lemon
- 4 cloves
Instructions
- Wash the figs and clean their stems.
- Fill a large pot with water and boil the figs for about 10 minutes.
- Let it cool.
- When they are cool enough to touch, squeeze the figs gently to remove the bad taste.
- Repeat the same step.
- Boil 5 ½ water and sugar together in a different pot.
- Add the squeezed figs in it.
- Put the cloves with the figs to give this jam an outstanding flavor.
- Boil them for about 25 minutes.
- Finally, add lemon juice and boil it 5 minutes more.
- Let it cool and fill it in jars.
Keywords: fig jam, unripe figs
Jeanne says
These are not unripe fig but "HAM İNCİR" also called "ERKEK INCIR", our locals call them "DELI INCIR". These are here in spring time like now, I have just picked 1 kilo and I am going to make a jam again. The figs to eat in autumn grow on other fig trees 🙂
Thank you for the recipe. I make them with the skin of an orange cut is tiny cubes.
★★★★
AJ says
Thanks for this post! Been given bucketloads of figs this year from someone's garden, and the last batch had a lot of unripe ones so came across this when searching for ideas. I used this recipe as a base but made up the rest lol. Probably one of my fav fig recipes so far (fig pear date nut crumble is on par!)
Here's whats I did:
SPICED FIG JAM
200g unripe figs (probably can use ripe too)
Cut up small and boil in water for 10 mins. Drain and squash as much as you can. (I got lazy and didn't do a second round, figured they were cut up so didn't need to).
Then put in pan again with:
2 pieces clove
2 cardamom
Small stick cinnamon
A few tbsp of brown sugar
1 tbsp molasses
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp butter
Small handful slivered almonds
1 handful raisins
Add some water and leave to cook on low heat with lid on for 25 mins. Remove lid and cook a little longer till thick like jam.
Sweeten more if you need to.
Nomnomnom : )
★★★★
Yusuf says
Wow! You created a completely new recipe, which is AMAZING! A brilliant twist! Thank you for the sahre!
Sue says
I boiled and tried to squeeze - nothing came out. Everything is coated in sticky sap that is difficult to get off. I had to use gloves to squeeze after an hour of boiling and got a small amount of juice out of it. I decided to boil longer as I didn't want tough skins when the sugar was added. Despite the figs being in a sweet syrup they do not really absorb the sweet taste much and are weird in texture. The jam has not set.
Stephanie says
How long should they set before eating?
Denise Heeren says
I’m confused. Why is the unripe fig jam called “jam” when in the end it seems that the figs are left whole? I have made a couple of batches of fig jam this season and hate to see my green unripe figs go to waste. Do the figs remain whole or does it cook down into jam? Thanks for your help!
Yusuf says
Hi Denise, thank you for this question. Well, in Turkish cuisine, any fruit preserve like this is called jam. We even love to see the fruit whole in jams. That's the reason we name it as jam. But you can definitely think it as an unripe fig preserve.
Christine Grogan says
hi i have my unripe figs all ready to go but have no idea what 5 1/2 cups of water means ..what size is the cup ?
using uk measurements... help please !
Yusuf says
Hi Christine. We use 250ml cup in that recipe.
Christine Grogan says
Thank you so much !
I’m going in now .... figs at the ready wish me luck 😊
Lindy Lee says
It's now Autumn in the UK and have just harvested 3kgs of unripe figs from our small fig tree. I've tried squeezing after boiling but nothing comes out, I assume this is because they are too far down the ripening process already (some are pink inside). Are the hairy bits still meant to be there? In the photo with the recipe, it looks like the centre bits are removed? Would love some help 🙂
Yusuf says
Hi Lindy! Se squeeze them just to remove the bitterness. Repeat the same steps(boiling and squeezing) two times. Nothing has to come out but water when they are squeezed. So I guess your figs are perfect for this recipe. We don't remove anything from the inside. We don't even cut them when cooking, keep them whole. Hope these help.
Lucy says
Same! Did the double boil squeeze thing. Nothing came out. Then boiled in sugar and water. Centre of figs still inedible, dry and hairy. Boiled another 30 mins checking each time. Still inedible. Did you find a solution?
rm gard says
cannot print this recipe. goes to instruction 5. rest is present on my screen, but hidden by cookies notification and nutrition facts block.
Yusuf says
Thank you for the heads up! Working on it.
TASA says
HI, So glad i saw this recipe as most of the figs on my tree have not ripened. So, I have boiled my figs twice and theres no way the contents are squeezing out without destroying the fig itself. So i cut off the stem and made a small hole in the bottom (the little scab) and boiled again. still not squeezing with destroying. I didn't have time to finish making them yesterday so kept in the fridge overnight. I've just tasted one from the fridge as i intend to finish making today without squeezing, as they taste fine. I think my main concern is that by boiling 3 times that the toxicity of the sap will be removed?
Natasha Ridley says
How long do these keep in jars ? Thanks for the recipe ! X
Yusuf says
These keep well in a dry and cool place for months.
KR says
I think the squeezing is not just to get the 'latex' like white milk out but to get the hairy 'choke' out of the middle - much like a beard/choke in an artichoke that has to be removed to best bits. I've followed directions (thank you!) with small unripe figs. Cutting one open I can taste how the external part is soft and sweet - almost like Angelica, but the centre is still pale and hairy - not bitter - but not very tasty. I can't see how you could squeeze all that hairy stuff out so I'm assuming that it is meant to suck up the sugar syrup and transform into something edible. Is that what happens? I'm tempting to cook it for a lot longer.
Christa says
Thanks for all the info as to how to use green unripe figs. I have a tree full of them and thought there is nothing I can do with them. That would be such a waste. Will go out tomorrow and pick them and use them in one of your recipes. We had a small crop ripen in early July and now this abundance. We live on Vancouver Island and it is already cold out there.
Melissa Dillon says
Hi! I'm wondering if I could can these, so they can sit on a shelf in the garage/pantry. Have you tried that?
Tim says
I've just tried this recipe but the figs are still pretty hard and taste earthy? Maybe they will mellow in the jars?
I followed the instructions to the letter. Maybe mine were too small and hard to start with?
Anita Dunne says
I use a potato masher!
★★★★★
Trish says
Hi I've just made this recipe and wondered if you removed the skins in the first photos above? Also, how long does it keep for? Thanks!
Zerrin says
Hi Trish! I didn't remove their skins, just cooked them as they were. You can keep them for several months in tightly closed jars. If you open a jar but couldn't finish it, you'd better store it in the refrigerator.
Pinny says
Do you put it warm into jars and how long does it keep
Margaret Myers says
How do you smash the figs without them splitting open?
Zerrin says
They don't split easily when you squeeze them between your two fingers but it really doesn't matter if a few of them split. The result will be still satisfying.
Lenja says
MY husband suggested squashing the figs between two breadboards. I did it in the sink. Worked beautifully. I have made this into fig compote for future desserts but we did try some tonight and it was delicious. I added lemon juice, and ginger pieces as well as the cloves.
Thank you for the recipoe.
Zerrin says
Hi Lenja,
I'm so glad you liked the recipe! Love the idea of breadboards for squashing the figs. Thanks for sharing it here! Also adding ginger pieces is such a great idea!
Lizelle says
Mine came out amazing...but I first left them overnight soaking in water with bicarb because they were very firm still. Then did the boiling the next day. Squeezed the water out. And then I added a slice of ginger, fresh lemon juice , cloves and a bit of cinnamon to the syrup from an old South African Recipe. The only thing...mine does not have the nice green colour. People add blue stone/copper sulphate but I did not want to do that. How did your figs keep their nice green colour?
Zerrin says
Glad you loved the recipe. Well, I don't use anything special for the green color. They are brighter when raw and lose their color when cooked but still green.
Constance says
I made this recipe a couple of weeks ago and the result was great. I was astounded as I always wondering what to do with my figs which never ripe in the cold summer we endure.
I would like to ask a couple of questions:
1. for the syrup, I thought it was very watery so I added another 500g sugar. Could you please convert your 5.5 cups of water in litres? (I am in Europe and we do not use cups)
2. Could I re-use some of the leftover syrup for a new batch? I have more figs on the tree and we have already eaten one large jar and we have half the jar of leftover juice...
Thanks!
★★★★★
Lynn says
I'm definitely going to have to give this a try - I've got two (cold-hardy) fig trees (planted 1.5 years ago; in northern Maryland) loaded with unripe figs - and the temperatures are predicted to go well below freezing tomorrow night! Next year I'll trim the growing tips of the branches in early-mid September in hopes more will ripen on their own. In the meanwhile, I'm hoping this will allow me to salvage what they are bearing.
Does anyone have suggestions for how to can them (safely!) in a water bath so that they'll store well at room temperature? I'd love to give them as gifts. Two trees = lots of figs.
Stephannie says
I found it very hard to press the figs, I did allow them to boil for the 10 min but they were still firm and as a result the figs split. I am wondering if I should have boiled longer?
Lara says
Giving this a go today, looking forward to tasting the results!!
Zerrin says
Hope you love it Lara! Would love to hear your feedback when you taste it.
Anita Dunne says
The figs break up when I squeeze them but that doesn't matter! Because at the end of the jam making, I tip it all into a food processor and briefly pulse, to get a coarse chopped mixture. I also add a lemon to the pan with the figs, which gives a lovely flavour and texure to the preserve. It's absolutely delicious, and such a good way of using baby figs that would otherwise go on the compost heap.
Bruce says
I was very pleased to find this recipe. My wife and I thank you. I found that a hinge type citrus juicer, lemon sized worked very well to squeeze 3 figs at a time. For American's here are the measurements I used to adapt the recipe to have a light syrup for 3 quarts of Figs, 4.5 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar. I also added 3 Tablespoons of candied ginger. Yum!
Zerrin says
I'm glad that you and your wife loved my recipe! And thanks for sharing your measurements.
Osia says
Hi Zerrin,
So good to find you here....I was looking for a recipe for the green figs that I had to cut out of my Mission Fig Tree in my backyard because they were in the way of the fence painting! I grew up in Istanbul, and I have the fondest memories of the gypsy women sitting at a doorstep selling unripe green figs while they were peeling them with their wrapped hands so they would not get the itchy "milk" on their skin! They also sold rose petals for another amazing jam, but that's another story and recipe! So, I was really excited to find your blog and your recipe, and I decided to follow it to make the fig jam. It seemed nice and simple and doable. I think the jam turned out really good, even though I think I overcooked it since I was watching the Olympics at the same time, and there was not enough liquid at the end. I also left it to cool overnight as it was late enough, and it was pretty sticky to the pot as I tried to fill the jars. All in all, very good, though I have a question and a concern. As Lora mentioned (October 3, 2011) the figs fell apart as I was trying to squeeze them after boiling both times. I don't think it has affected the taste, but I would prefer to see them whole. I read another recipe where they soaked the figs overnight in a lime solution. Would that accomplish the same purpose without having to squeeze them out? Also, would it help if I peeled them like the gypsies did? Would they still need to be soaked or squeezed to get the bad taste out?
I know it has been a while since anybody wrote to you about this subject (and, by the way, congratulations on becoming an aunt more than a year ago now!), but it would be great to hear from you. I might try posting this comment on your Facebook page as well.
Tesekurler for everything! 🙂
Zerrin says
Hi Osia, I saw those gypsy women selling unripe figs and rose petals in istanbul a few years ago. In my city, nobody peels figs to make jam. They use them as they are. I don't have an idea why yours fell apart. Could it be because you overcooked them? I've heard jam recipes with lime solution such as tomato jam, aubergine jam, watermelon jam, so I'm sure we can soak figs in lime solution too. The function of lime here is to make the fruit harder and crispy, so they don't fall apart. I used lime solution once when making pumpkin dessert, you can find it here You might have tasted it in istanbul.
lora says
I tried the recipe and it failed big time. The figs were falling apart when i squeezed them. They were also incredibly sticky. Then the syrup was not tick at all - looked more like a fig compote. Not sweet also. I have had many times unripe fig jam bought from the store but this was nothing like this. Any ideas why all this happened? Thanks
Jeanne says
Perhaps you used the figs the the female tree, the ones that grow in autumn?
dokuzuncubulut says
Tebrik ederim Zerrin. Senin adına çok sevindim:)) Allah sağlıklı, mutlu, uzun bir ömür versin minik bebeğimize...
İncir reçelini eşim çok sever, annesi yapıp verir ama, ben hiç denemedim. Çok lezzetli görünüyor, ellerine sağlık olsun. Sevgiler.
Lea says
Hello Zerrin!
Thank you so much for the recipe! My figs are no longer ripening on the tree now that the evenings are so much cooler here in California. One woman at church told me there was really nothing to be done with unripe figs (I obviously asked the wrong person about what to do!). But then I stumbled upon your site... thank you!! I am happy now that I know I won't have to "waste" the beautiful figs on my tree!
Although it's over a year since you've become an aunt, I extend my congratulations and wish your neice a long and happy life - God grant her many years!
Zerrin says
Gourmet Mama- Hope you love it when you try.
Chef chong- Yes, it definitely takes the unripeness of figs.
Jennifer- This is a great way to use unripe figs, hope you love it when you try. It can even be eaten as a dessert after meal. I know that walnut dessert you mentioned, but don't have the courage to try it yet as it is not an easy one.
Yael- I'm glad to hear that you and your family loved my unripe fig jam/dessert. It is definitely scrumptious, but I couldn't make it this summer. Wish I could taste yours:)
yael says
thanx a lot for the recipe. the family went mad about it and now making it for the second time.
great recipe
yael
Jennifer says
It has been a very mild summer here in California and our fig tree has not had anything ripe yet! I am glad to find this recipe and can't wait to try it out on all our unripe figs. On a trip to Turkey 2 years ago we ate figs like this and also eggplant and walnut. The walnuts (ceviz) were outstanding!! They, too, were made from unripe fruit. I would love to find a recipe for the walnuts too. Thank you so much for your recipe!
Chef Chong says
I love your idea of boiling the figs, to get rid of those green taste. Thanks.
Gourmet Mama says
This recipe is perfect, since I just found some fresh figs at the market. I didn't know what to look for, though, and it turns out they are all unripe. I will definitely be making this recipe!
Faith says
Congrats on becoming an aunt! I love figs, and I am always looking for new recipes to use them. This dish sounds delicious!
Zerrin says
Hi Stephanie,
I love that idea of exchanging jam, it's so exciting! I read the info about this event on your blog, you say we can join even if we're in different countries. I'm living in Turkey, please check if your post service says ok to sending something to Turkey.
I'll ask our post service, too if I can send something like food to abroad .
Then we can clarify if I can join it or not.
stephchows says
HI! Seriously interesting recipe! I'm hosting a jam exchange this month and was wondering if you'd like to join in?? I'm trying to gather a whole bunch of people and all it takes is being willing to mail 2 jars of jam to someone. All the info to sign up is here: http://stephchows.blogspot.com/2009/07/jam-exchange.html
Hope you can join in!
Magdalena says
Zerrin,
Thank you for this recipe! Since I moved to Bulgaria 4 years ago (from Southern California), it has become one of my favourites -- but until you posted this, I had never considered making it...
The next day, there were green figs at the market! And it all works perfectly 🙂
Congrats on the recipe and on being an aunt.
Magdalena
Zerrin says
Hi Magdalena,
Thank you so much for visiting my blog and writing a comment. I had a very busy and tiring day today and when I saw your very nice comment, I forgot all my tiredness. Such comments always encourage me to go on what I'm doing in this blog.
Happy to hear that you love my recipe and it worked well. I'm sure your fig jam is so yummy. If you have any questions about any of my recipes, feel free to ask.
Bulgaria is one of our closest neighbor countries and I'm so curious about it. Hope to see there one day.
Cheers from Turkey
Zerrin says
Thank you Veronica for warning. It should have been 5 and half cups of water. I'm correcting it right now.
Veronica says
5 and a half what of water? I see you have written it several places...
Bob says
It’s 5 1/2 cups! I had the same problem in finding it. The recipe is below the cooking instructions.
Zerrin says
Natasha- Thank you so much! I saw her photographs, she is so little and cute.
Oyster- Believe or not, I started to imagine the joyful times we'll have together as she grows. Maybe I'll be her secret keeper in the future. Who knows?
Daily Spud- It's every time so exciting, isn't it?
As for the lady, she will probably be surprised when she sees the jam. Then she may decide to share more recipes with me:) Such ladies at the open market always know a lot about cooking.
Lauren- Thank you so much, I'm still excited! Fig is one of my favorite fruits. I think it needs hot climate to grow up.
Jen- Thanks for sharing that tradition of yours. Chocolate cigar is a great idea! Not the real one, but a chocolate version, much healthier. Blue and pink have the same meaning here. Department stores sell blue clothes for boys and pink for girls. But I really don't understand this, and I'm totally against deciding the colors for babies.
Elra- Thank you. If you are open to new tases, you should absolutely try this jam. It has a unique taste, so different from regular jams.
Nihal- Bu incir reçelini ben de çok seviyorum ve ilk denememde hiç de fena birsonuç elde etmedim. Bu reçeli ben kahvaltıda değil de tatlı olarak her an tüketebilirim:) Hala olmak gerçekten çok güzel bir duyguymuş, hala çok heyecanlıyım. O küçük sevimli şeyi görmeye sabırsızlanıyorum.
Sophie- Glad you love it. If you can find figs, you should try it.
Vanessa- My brother's already started to change! He's become more emotional. And I'll see how more he will change as she grows.
Hillary- Believe or not, I'm still excited and I'm looking forward to seeing her. Just her photos make me so happy.
Gera- We have similar traditions then. Here new moms and dads serve their guests something sweet, in your country you take something sweet.
Gstoanthropologist- How lucky you are to have a fig tree in your aunt's garden. You can use them both unripe and ripe. I hope you love the jam when you try.
Tangled- Thank you so much! She is the sweetest thing I've seen.
You have the dried figs now, so you know what to do with them, don't you? And I hope that lady loves these figs when I take her some.
Lisa- Thank you so much!
lisaiscooking says
Congratulations on the arrival of your niece! The figs look fantastic too!
Tangled Noodle says
Congratulations to you on becoming an auntie and to you brother and his wife on becoming happy parents to a precious little girl! What a lovely way to celebrate - a sweet treat for a sweet event.
Although I'm not hopeful that I could find unripe figs here (I do, however, now have some dried figs!), this recipe is so nice; it does appear to be time-consuming but as you point out, the end result is well worth the effort. It was kind of the woman at the market to give you a recipe but even more kind for you to want to return with the results. She can taste for herself how wonderful her figs and her recipe turned out!
gastroanthropologist says
I have never seen anything like this! My aunt (congrats by the way) has a fig tree back at home in California. I'll bookmark this for when I move back - there is always so many figs...if we can get to some of the unripened ones then we won't be stressed with what to do when they all ripen!
Gera @ SweetsFoods says
Hooray for you for becoming an aunt!!
I’ve the same tradition about a birth, I must take something sweet to the happy new mom/dad 🙂
I’ve few figs here so is difficult to make fig jams but when I’ve a possibility, I’ll try it out..hope will be like yours with this recipe!
Cheers and have a great week!
Gera
Hillary says
This is very different. I love the way you described waiting for your niece's birth. I felt exactly the same way when my first niece was born 3 years ago and I was just as excited with my second niece 🙂
vanessa says
Yeah!!! Congrats! There is nothing like a little girl to change a father, they just melt!
Sophie says
Congrats on being an aunt!
I bet this unripe fig jam tastes lovely & apart!
Great idea!
Turkish Food Passion says
Zerrin, ne kadar marifetlisin! Hic incir receli yapmadim, ama tadi gercekten de guzel. Geleneklerimizi aciklama seklini de cok sevdim. Ellerine saglik! Ayrica hala oldugun icin de tebrikler! Ne guzel. 🙂
elra says
Wow, congratulation on becoming an aunt! It will really exiting to see your niece grows....
Unripe Fig Jam sounds so tempting. I have Fig tree in my backyard, and it is fruiting. Maybe I can give this recipe a try. Delicious!
Jen of a2eatwrite says
Congratulations! This looks like a lovely treat, but I wouldn't be able to find unripe figs here, although figs are among my favorite foods.
In the U.S. we used to have a tradition of men giving out cigars, but now they tend to be chocolate cigars. I think this is a tradition that maybe isn't done anymore. One tradition we do have, though, is to put a sign out at the home of the new parents - pink for girls, blue for boys.
Lauren says
congrats on becoming an aunt!!!
this recipe looks fantastic!! I love love love figs.... they are pretty much my favorite food on earth. Unfortunately the slimate here isn't right for them, so they can be hard to find.
Daily Spud says
I remember the excitement I felt the first time I became an aunt (and the second and the third and... - yes, I have a lot of nieces and nephews 🙂 ).
If I thought I could get unripe figs, I'd give the jam a go, but unfortunately unripe figs aren't too common around here. It was lovely to hear, though, that the recipe from the lady at the market turned out so well and that you'll be bringing her some of the jam next time you visit.
Natasha - 5 Star Foodie says
Congratulations on becoming an aunt! How exciting! The unripe fig jam looks very unique!
jagdish says
very good idea of using the unripen figs. i like it.
Zerrin says
Thank you 🙂
OysterCulture says
Zerrin, congratulations on being an auntie. I know I was so excited when I first became in auntie I jumped in the car and was at the hospital about 4 hours later. Your niece is so lucky, I am sure the two of you will have so much fun getting acquainted.
We have similar traditions in the states, where, typically the father brings something into work, sometimes fake cigars to pass around to announce the arrival of the newest family member.
Figs are starting to come out in the markets, and I love the unripe fig jam, I may have to try my hand at making some.