This article may contain affiliate links and if you make a purchase after clicking on a link, we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.
Raspberry jam is made with raspberry as one of its primary ingredients. The seeds are removed from the raspberries, and then the fruit is cut into smaller portions or crushed before it is cooked in sugar syrup.
To make this jam, you’ll be needing pectin, which serves as a jellying agent to give it that sticky feel, and you can use sugar or honey optionally.
Sometimes you might need your raspberry jam for your sandwiches, but what happens if they are finished at that time, and you don’t have the time to look at the stores? You can’t just decide not to have your sandwich as there are some excellent raspberry jam substitutes you can use that you can even find lying around in your kitchen.
Think of chopped fruits, fruits purees, natural sweeteners, nuts, and seed butter; they are some of the best alternatives to raspberry that you can easily settle for.
Best Raspberry Jam Substitutes
What comes to most of our minds when we dribble jam down our sandwiches is that it’s very healthy as long as it has fruits in it.
But yet still, most of these things have a low amount of actual fruit and more sugar which may be disastrous to your health.
Certain low-sugar raspberry jams are one solution to the problem, but there are a lot of other solutions that are very healthy and equally as sweet as raspberry jam. Some of these substitutes include;
1. Chopped Fruits
To get the real sweetness of your jam without any additional sugar or preservatives, you can go for homemade chopped raspberries. You could mash your raspberries and use them freshly, store them in a jar or can. You can add little sugar to this.
If you decide to use frozen fruits instead, you should try using products with little or no sweeteners, and if you desire to sweeten your peanut butter sandwich, you should try using fresh raspberry slices or apple slices.
2. Fruit Purees
Manufacturers add sugar to your jams sometimes not only to sweeten them but also to preserve them. By making your fruit purees, you can use it instead of sugar or corn syrup which is very harmful.
To do this, cook your fresh raspberries with another fruit you might like, the strawberries and apricot.
If you feel like you want to add a little sweetness to it, you can cook this with a low-sugar fruit juice, and if you want to make a spreadable puree, you should consider using less juice so it wouldn’t be too watery for you to use.
3. Nuts and Seed Butters
Instead of smearing jam on your toasts or muffins, you should also consider substituting almond butter, peanut butter, or sunflower seed jars of butter.
These jars of butter mentioned are very high in protein, and if you want to bring out the natural sweetness in these nuts and seeds, you should consider roasting them.
Nuts and seeds are very suitable options for people who watch their blood-sugar level because the healthy fats that these nuts and seeds spread keep the blood sugar level healthy.
4. Natural Sweetener
Instead of using your sugar-filled raspberries, you should consider using molasses and honey instead because they contain a healthy number of calories and are equally as sweet as the other.
It was reported by the Journal of the American Diet Association that substituting natural sweeteners like molasses and honey is equal to the daily serving of nuts and berries.
How Do I Make Raspberry Jam at Home?
To make your raspberry jam, all you need to do is heat your raspberries, lemon juice, and other fruits you might want to add(optional) in hot water.
Simmer for about ten minutes, and after that, add your pectin, or add a bit of sugar to the water to activate the pectin in it.
Continue stirring, and when the mixture finally mixes well, you pour it into a jar or any container you’re going to be using, then you store them. It’s as easy as that! Another thing is that you can use any variety of raspberry of your choice.
Are Raspberry Jams, Preserves, Fruit Spreads, and Jellies the Same Thing?
These four, although closely related, are different. Jelly is made out of strained fruit juice as there are no signs of a piece of fruit in it. On the other hand, Jams are made with mashed fruits mixed with sugar, honey, or corn syrup.
Fruit spreads are 100% fruits with no added, and if there’s a need for intense sweetening, fruit juices like white grape juice or apple juice with no or very little sugar are added. Because of the little sugar added, we cannot call some of these fruit spreads 100% sugarless.
How Do You Thicken Raspberry Jam?
There are a lot of ways you can thicken your raspberry jams. A few of the methods include;
Chia seeds.You can make a quick jam by mixing raspberries, lime, and chia seeds, as they have excellent gelling abilities. If you’re out of chia seeds, you can always cook them again to make them thicker.
Adding pectin to your jar of loose jam will thicken it and let it set quite nicely, but this trick is most likely not to work for recipes that already require pectin.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Does Raspberry Jam Taste Like?
Raspberry jam tastes like fresh fruits. Raspberry jams typically have a pink or deep red color with a rusty seeded appearance. Due to the additional sugar added to it is said to be too sweet and not suitable for people with an imbalance in their blood sugar levels. This jam has a thick and jelly-like consistency with many seeds in it.
What Is Pectin?
Pectin is a natural preservative that is provided in jams and jellies; it also serves as a gelling agent because, without pectin, jams and jellies won’t gel. Pectin occurs naturally in cells of fruits and vegetables and gives them a definite structure.
Is Homemade Raspberry Jam Good for You?
Suppose the right ingredients are used in the right proportion. In that case, homemade raspberry jams are the best you could use as they contain a high number of vitamins essential in maintaining healthy skin and overall body health. Constant intake of vitamin c is said to eliminate wrinkles in the body and slow down aging.
Is Lemon Juice Necessary for Making Jam?
For your jam to set nicely, you need the right balance of acids and pectin. If the case is that you don’t have any lemon juice available, you can always use high acid fruits like green apples, pineapples, plum, rhubarb, peaches, and strawberries.
Related Posts:
