While making boatloads of jam is a worthwhile and sustainable task, we truly don’t have patience for canning or the desire to stack our cabinets with dozens of jars. Enter skillet jam: the quicker, easier way to extend the life of the season’s bounty. There’s no vats of boiling water, no need for surgically clean tools, and no sticky, messy stress. Just yummy jam you can make with three ingredients (four or five if you’re feeling spicy) in less than 30 minutes, and with pretty much any fruit you fancy.
The secret ingredient is already in the fruit. They all have some level of pectin—a naturally occurring fiber that acts as thickener—in their skins, peels, and seeds. This is what gives jam its thick, jelly-like texture. Some fruits like apples, cranberries, and plums have a lot, so they thicken up better than others. (If you’ve ever opened a can of cranberry sauce, you know what we’re talking about.) Blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries have moderate levels, while strawberries and peaches have even less. While you can add pectin to jams made with lower-pectin fruits, it’s not really necessary when we’re dealing with small batches.
The other cheat code is that cooking things down in a wide, flat-bottom skillet helps the water in the fruit evaporate faster than it will in a pot. If you have buckets of fruit, skillet jam isn’t the way to go, but for smaller amounts (and busy schedules) it’s perfect. Think of the following recipe as a baseline you can jazz up with spices, herbs, or citrus zest. Got some bruising basil? Thinly slice and throw it in there. Cinnamon sticks, rosemary sprigs, or star anise pods add lovely depth and spice—just remember to fish them out in the end. Even a pinch of black pepper can make a simple batch of strawberry jam sing. Get creative or keep it simple. Either way, keep this recipe in your back pocket for the next time you’re in a jam-jam.
Any Fruit Skillet Jam Recipe
Yield: ¾ cup
Ingredients:
- 2 cups berries, or other fruit*
- ½ cup sugar*
- 1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (optional)
Procedure:
- Add the berries, sugar, and lemon or lime juice to a medium skillet, mashing with a wooden spoon to release the juices. If you want to add whole herbs or spices like a cinnamon stick, put all that in at this point, as well.
- Turn the heat to medium and cook, stirring, until the mixture starts to bubble and thicken, 10 to 12 minutes.* The jam is done when it’s thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, and a line drawn down the middle of it doesn’t run. You can also spoon some onto a cold plate and chill it for 5 minutes: It should be gel-like; if not, continue cooking for 5 more minutes. If you’re using whole spices, fish them out once the jam’s thickened up.
- Stir in the balsamic vinegar and black pepper, if using. Transfer to a glass jar or container and let cool completely before refrigerating.
- Store for 1 month in the fridge or up to 6 months in the freezer.
Notes and Substitutions:
- This basic recipe will work with any fruit, though cooking times may vary. Cut larger things like plums and apples into bite-sized pieces.
- For strawberries, peaches, or other low-pectin fruit, cut them small and expect them to take up to 20 minutes longer to cook down. Peach jam, in particular, will be a bit chunkier—even when cooked down—and the sugary fruit chunks can get stuck in your teeth; a quick pulse in the food processor at the end though, achieves the ideal level of jamminess.
- For a different flavor profile, you can sub the white sugar for brown sugar or coconut sugar.
- You can skip the vinegar and pepper, or swap them for any other dried spices or additional flavor agents you like. Some citrus zest works beautifully here. Stir all that goodness in at the end.
