
I love jam…namely my Mama’s Strawberry Freezer Jam. I could literally suck that stuff up with a straw. But man alive – as good as it is, it’s chock full of sugar. Most jams are.
Most jams are made with a bunch of sugar, some pectin, and a little bit of fruit. I wanted my jam to be made of mostly fruit, sweetened with stevia, and thickened with something good for me.
I had read that you could thicken jam using an apple…but I didn’t want to go that route. I saw somewhere on Pinterest that you could make RAW jam with strawberries using chia seeds – and I know chia is great for thickening smoothies and oatmeal. So, I thought I would give it a shot: freezer jam, made without sugar, thickened with chia and in the, wait for it…CROCK POT. Booya again.
This turned out well so well…well beyond my imagination. I’m SO EXCITED to share this with you today! 🙂 Especially during berry season. I’ve only made this with strawberries and blueberries so far, but I imagine it would work with any berry: blackberry, raspberry, etc.
Why in the crock? Well, I’ll be honest here…I burn stuff a lot. A LOT. Cooking things in my crock helps me be more successful…it’s harder to burn stuff in there. Possible, yes. Harder, yes…and no one wants burned jelly – that’s sacrilegious.

This recipe is really very easy. You simply wash your berries and chop them. I quartered my berries unless they were HUGE – then I cut them into smaller pieces. Add some lemon juice and stevia. Bingo. That’s it until you add the chia seeds later.
Why lemon juice? To help keep the beautiful red color…we don’t need no stinkin’ red food coloring around this joint. Booya – have I said that already?

I used stevia to taste – NuNaturals Pure White Stevia Extract that I purchased from Vitacost. You could also use sugar if you like – but you’ll need to sweeten to taste. It might take 1/4 cup or up to 4 cups – it will depend on the berry.
I used a little over 2 teaspoons of stevia for my batch, but you’ll need to use it to taste – it will depend on the sweetness of your berries. Add just a little and taste as you go to get it right.
After you put the berries in the crock with the lemon juice and stevia, you’ll cook them on high one hour – then you’ll mash them with a potato masher. You’ll cook another hour and mash again. After that you’ll cook a final two hours.
During the final two hours, you’ll want to put a spoon under the lid to prop it open a bit. That’s to help let the moisture escape so the jam can start to thicken. Make sure to tell your 3 year old why it’s there so she does not remove it and use it to torture her brother and the dog.
You’ll want to cook until it starts to thicken just a bit. This will vary based on your crock pot. Some crocks cook REALLY hot…if yours does, then keep a watch on this during the final two hours. You might only need three total hours.
When it is slightly thickened, stir in your chia seeds. I also purchase my chia seeds from Vitacost. They are such a great thing to have around for thickening stuff. Since they’re black and strawberries already have seeds, you can’t even tell that they’re in the jam. Nice!
Ladle your jam into jars and let it cool slightly. Refrigerate or freeze for longer periods. I imagine it would keep several weeks in the fridge – but I don’t know because mine didn’t last that long. I froze part of it…and I need to make MORE. We need jam to last us through the winter! What’s Christmas without a big ole delicious jelly biscuit?!
This mixture gets thicker as it sets up in the fridge – let the chia seeds work their magic. Booya.
**I store mine in the freezer in sterilized mason jars.**
Crock Pot Sugar-Free Strawberry Chia Jam
- 3 pounds strawberries or blueberries, quartered
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 1-3 teaspoons stevia extract (I use NuNautrals) OR up to 4 cups sugar (start with the small amount and taste as you go to get the sweetness right. It will depend on the sweetness of your berries – some people have reported that 1/4 cup is enough sugar.)
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds
- Lightly grease a 5 quart crock.
- In crock, combine lemon juice, berries, and stevia. Stir to coat.
- Cover and cook on HIGH for 1 hour.
- Uncover and mash berries using a potato masher.
- Cover and cook another hour.
- Mash berries again.
- Cover and cook for 2 final hours with a spoon propped under the lid to let moisture escape. You might need only 3 hours, but I needed 4 hours for mine to start to thicken.
- Stir in chia seeds.
- Ladle mixture into jars and let cool slightly.
- Refrigerate or freeze for longer periods. This mixture will get thicker in the fridge as it cools and the chia seeds work their magic.
NOTE: When making Blueberry Jam, I find that I need to cook the mixture 5 hours to thicken instead of 4.
**I store mine in the freezer in sterilized mason jars.**
Yield: 4-5 cups jam
Oh my goodness thank you for this recipe. I have started eating no grain, no dairy, no sugar and when I make a pot of vegie/bean soup I miss having something with it. I can make almond flour biscuits thanks to a wonderful recipe I found on YouTube but all the store bought “sugar free” jam has fruit juice and that too is a no no. I can have fruit along with at least a pound of vegies a day ( A Pound of Cure by Dr. Matthew Weiner) Now I can have jam on my biscuit. This is a perfect way to round out this wonderful way of eating.
So thankful to hear this recipe has been a blessing to you Martha! Enjoy – and good luck on your new healthy eating plan. Thanks for leaving a comment!
Julie, HH Team
This looks great. Excited to try it! Is there a way I can PIN this? I keep most of my recipes on Pinterest….
Absolutely. If you mouse over any of the photos, you should see the Pin button in the upper left hand side.
Thanks for the great recipe and well written blog! I didn’t have quite enough strawberries so I added blueberries and kiwi. It turned out amazing. I went light on the stevia (so I wouldn’t have to go buy more at the store) and then sweetened with a bit of agave to taste. Great on toast, even better on pork with a touch of balsamic and chilli pepper! Thanks again.
I bet it WAS delicious on pork! Yummy!
Love your recipes!
has anyone tried this with golden plums? My parents brought a huge box from the Okanagan (Canada) and they are getting super ripe!
I haven’t tried that – but it might work!
I’m all out of chia seeds, but I’m gonna try ground flax…anyone try that before?
No – I am not sure how that might turn out.
Making this now!! It smells so good! I can’t wait to try it.
I hope you love it as much as we do!
What is THM Compliant?
And what is FP Jelly?
Thank you
It’s a diet – Trim Healthy Mama. I no longer follow it.
Check out Nortwest Edible Life’s “Signature Jam Flavor Maker Chart” for some awesome additions to your jams. I made bluberry Chia jam in the crockpot and added some cinnamon and agave nectar.
I just made this the other day. I was so happy with it, I decided to write a blog post on it, and give you the credit for the recipe of course! Thanks so much for this super easy and yummy recipe. 🙂 http://feelingdomestic.com/slow-cooker-blueberry-chia-jam/
Thanks for the shout out. 🙂
Could I can this to avoid having to freeze it?
I have not done so, but you could try it.
I couldn’t possibly get through all the comments to see if someone else asked! How would you recommend doing this with frozen strawberries? I’m still toying with stevia too and I’m not sure how to use it. I have SweetLeaf clear drops and truvia. I also thought about using a smidge of honey instead. Thougths? P.S. I’m so happy to find things to do with Chia seeds! I have a bag and don’t know what to do with them all!
Frozen berries are going to be a lot more watery – so it might require additional cooking time. SweetLeaf is good, but not as sweet as some other stevia extracts. Truvia isn’t as sweet as stevia, so it will take more of that. Hope that helps a little bit. 🙂
If you use Truvia you will need 96 of the packets or 1 1/3 cups + 3/8 cup of the spoonable Truvia to equal the sweetness of 4 cups of sugar. Using 2 cups of Domino brand stevia/sugar blend would also equal equivalent sweetness to 4 cups of sugar. It wouldn’t be completely sugar-free but it would be reduced sugar. I think though that if the strawberries were replaced with an equivalent amount of cut up oranges that you might be able to make a sugar-free orange marmalade with this recipe. 🙂
Notes on experiment making sugar-free orange marmalade with the raw jam/jelly recipe linked by Stacy at the beginning of this blog post: Cut off ends of navel oranges and discard, then cut up navel oranges, skin and all, put into the blender and puree with lemon juice, chia seeds, and Truvia is NOT a way to make orange marmalade, at least not the way the store-bought stuff looks like anyway. And definitely nothing I would spread on toast. Of course it’s still chilling in the fridge so I will take another look at it tomorrow. However it’s a good thing I’m not using it on toast. I will be using the approx. 1-lb. batch of what basically came out like orange puree rather than orange marmalade in a crockpot recipe for Chinese orange chicken that called for orange marmalade. I contemplated buying the sugar-free orange marmalade but wanted to try my hand at what I hoped was an easy sugar-free marmalade without artificial sweeteners. It will probably still work in that chicken recipe though even though it looks nothing like marmalade. Stacy’s crockpot method might work better for making something like orange marmalade. Pureeing in a blender like in the raw jam recipe you can get away with for things like berries and grapes. But it does not work for oranges LOL!
I make mine with frozen berries. 2 cups thawed berries, 3 tbsp raw honey ( to taste), 2-3. Tsp chia seeds. Process all ingredients in blender and refrigerate overnight to thicken. Makes 2 cups. Keep up to 2 weeks in fridge.
Thanks Mrs. B. – those are great tips. Hope y’all enjoy the jam!
Julie, HH Team
Would you be able to can this jelly as opposed to freezing?
I have not tried that.
I’m new at this jam making business…wondering how long it will stay good in the fridge AFTER being frozen? Thanks 🙂
Several weeks at least. Sometimes I’ve kept it longer than that.
Could I use Low or No-Sugar Pectin instead of the chia seeds? When would I add it and how much?
I have no idea. I’ve never made it that way.
Has anyone tried this with citrus? I love orange, lime all citrus. Do you think it would work?
I sure would give it a try!
I have made this and it is DELICIOUS! This winter I had extra when I thawed some from my freezer, so I added balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and olive oil for a delicious S salad dressing. YUM
What about blackberries? I bought some blackberries today at the farmer’s mkt that I thought we could eat on for a few days. Well, on the way home they got a little smooshed and now I’m not sure what to do with them.
Sure! 🙂 And I have a Blackberry Syrup recipe coming out Friday!
You could try either one of those. Just use them to taste because it all depends on the sweetness of your berry. 🙂 Good luck! And I’ve eaten it straight out of the jar too – your son and I would get along. 🙂
We LOVE strawberry freezer jam – my youngest son could bath in it. (Now that I think of it, I do believe I have caught him hiding in the corner with a spoon in the jar.) . Since I just started THM, I figured that would be one major loss to deal with but you have saved the day. I love you forever! *Happy Dance* Now to find strawberries – LOTS of strawberries! Have you tried using Truvia in this recipe? I only have the Sweetleaf Stevia drops & Truvia. To date, I have only used the Truvia to make skinny chocolate & sweeten my coffee. (Prior to this I have never used any sweetener other than sugar & honey so this is a bit of a learning curve.
I am really excited to try this recipe! I have been cooking with stevia for a number of years; successfully canned peaches last year and was so happy! I have made jam/jelly with only stevia but found it molded if put in too big a jar and wasn’t eaten quickly enough because it was missing the preservative action of the sugar!
Freezer to the rescue!
I made this yesterday and only used 1/4 c of sugar – it came out just sweet enough!
That’s great! I’ll make a note in the recipe.
Stacy, not trying to sound ignorant, but what is the difference between freezer jam and regular jam? I’ve never had freezer jam before, so I really don’t know 🙂 couldn’t you just can the jam after putting it in the sterilized mason jars?
Not ignorant at all. 🙂 Most “freezer” jam is uncooked fruit – but my mom’s recipe from the Ball book calls it freezer jam even though her version is cooked. You could most likely can this one very successfully – I just prefer to freeze it.
guess what I made last night? Strawberry/blueberry jam! It came out absolutely delicious and the thickness from the chia seeds is just perfect!!!! Thanks so much for this recipe!
We like the blueberry too! I’m going to try a combo of blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries when I can get to Sam’s for a bag!
I realize this question is 2 years old, but in case anybody else wonders this in the future, freezer jam is jam that is not canned, thus must be frozen to be preserved for longer.
Wow! Awesome! Thanks so much! I’m very honored. 🙂
Yum- I love homemade jam but am always too scared (or lazy?) to make it myself! Love that you make this in crock pot, I might have to try it now! Thanks for sharing at Pin It Thursday, you were featured this week!
I know, I can’t quit making it either…I’m addicted. I put it on everything. Save me!
I have now made 2 double batches of strawberry jam and 1 double batch of strawberry-blueberry-cherry jam. I’ve taken it to 2 different parties and it’s been a total hit. Now I see fruit, and I just want to stew it in my crockpot with some chia and see what wonders come out!!!! Thanks for the recipe!
Congratulations!
Your recipe is featured on Full Plate Thursday this week. Hope you have a great 4th of July and enjoy your new Red Plate!
Miz Helen
WOW!!!!! 🙂 Thank you ,Miz Helen!
I use my kitchen scale to measure.
How much would 3 pounds be? I am thinking of just experimenting with the chia and mashed strawberries. I do not use any sweetener.
I just made some strawberry chia seed jam without heating it at all. It came out pretty good. Interesting to see the differences in your recipe. I almost want to try it with the blueberries to see the difference from heating or not. any ideas?
Not sure – I linked a recipe for uncooked jam up there…but I haven’t tried it. 🙂
You don’t need any canning supplies for this. 🙂 Fix, cool, and freeze!
I just let mine cool a bit and then stick them in the fridge to cool completely – I always do that instead of sticking them straight in the freezer to avoid glass breaking. 🙂
Just the equivalent of 4 cups of sugar…and honey is about twice as sweet, so I would only use 2 cups. Maybe less. Honey is pretty strong and might overwhelm the taste of the berries instead of letting it shine through.
Would you be able to use honey instead of stevia? If so any idea how much…
I forgot one thing. I do not have a canning pot thingy…. anyway, I am hoping I can screw the top on and simply freeze.
I do not know anything about canning. After I sterilize my jars in the oven and put the jam into the jars what do I have to do? I want to be able to keep one jar in the fridge and freeze the others. Thanks for your help and your wonderful, fun site.
Strawberry Soup?! I would consider that a WIN! 🙂
My last freezer jam in the crockpot attempt failed, and I ended up with more of a strawberry soup…it was great for flavoring things though, lol. I love that you found a way to use less sugar, and no pectin! Thanks for sharing on foodie friday
YES! That’s how i like it best…or over Greek yogurt!
Yum, yum! I must try this. I think it would be fabulous on my grain free pancakes. Thank you for sharing with us on Wellness Wednesday! I can’t wait to try it 🙂
Yes you do!
Yum! I need to try this!
I didn’t notice a crunch…but just for you and because I have to take one for the team, I went and ate a spoon full of the strawberry and blueberry. Because, that’s just a sacrifice I was willing to make. There is a bit of bite, but I THINK that’s just the strawberry seeds – because it’s hardly detectable in the blueberry.
Good luck! Report back. 🙂
LOL This makes me laugh. I’m always saying something wrong. 😉 But, since my Mama calls this freezer jam, it’s gonna be freezer jam for me.
And yes, we’ve had it uncooked – we prefer cooked jelly.
I was wondering if the chia seeds soften up, or will they always have a “crunch” or seed texture to them? We prefer seedless jams, which is why I was wondering this. Thanks!
Another old-fashioned way to thicken cooked jam is to just let it simmer and cook longer. A dear, old friend of mine showed me how to do this years ago without using pectin. However, that jam had quite a bit of sugar in it, so it’s possible that making jam without sugar in it wouldn’t actually jell as well without it. I’d have to give it a try!
I’m not sure – you’d likely have use a ricer because of the thick skins on the grapes. And the stevia amount will vary GREATLY because the sweetness of grapes is very different per batch. 🙂
I can’t wait to try this!!! Thanks SO much for sharing! What are your thoughts on trying this with grapes? I’m thinking eh, but two of my kiddos don’t like strawberry jam…Only grape. :/
Brilliant! I love both the crock pot and the chia seed idea.
Thank you, my dear! I love when you call me brilliant. 🙂
I wouldn’t use flax in place of the chia for this recipe…just my thought. 🙂 I’m making a batch of blueberry right now.
I use xylitol and erythritol for baking. 🙂
Got it! I’ll be looking for some at the grocery store today!
If you can’t find them there, check Vitacost. 🙂
This looks so easy! I am inspired to make some blueberry freezer jam as soon as I go picking again. I already have flax seed, which thickens things, too. I wonder if that would work? Probably not… what do you use to sweeten baked goods? That’s always what gets me when I go sugar free, I miss baking.
Lorri, I’m so sorry. 🙁 That’s why I mentioned in the blog that you really had to use the stevia to taste based on the sweetness of the berry. Mine weren’t overly sweet. My NuNaturals chart says that 4 cups of sugar = 3 teaspoons of extract. You could try making another batch without any stevia and mixing them together? I think that would work the best. 🙂
Also, I updated the recipe to reflect what the post said about adding stevia to taste. Thanks for letting me know! 🙂 I’m currently making another batch.
2 tsp of stevia was too much for my taste. Is there a way I can salvage this? I’ve already cooked it and put in the chia seeds.
Thanks! I’m really enjoying your blog, Stacy!
This may not be a great question, but do you have to sterilize the jars beforehand or is dishwasher ok? Thanks!
You don’t need to sterilize if you’re not going to can them. 🙂 Great question!
This looks like something I’d actually be able to do! I’ll have to try it with blueberries!
Trying it with blueberries today. 🙂
What a wonderful jam! I never thought to make it in the slow cooker. Pinned and sharing on Facebook tomorrow! Have a wonderful weekend!
Julie @ This Gal Cooks
Thank you, Julie!!! I’m honored! 🙂 🙂
I think I want to hug you.
Hooray!!! Ours are almost gone here, but it was a good season.
Sam’s!!!! 🙂 Still $3.98 for 2 pounds.
Yum! Can’t wait to get me some blackberries!
Could you use frozen berries? Would that change any of the directions?
I’m sure you could…but you might have to cook longer to get it to thicken since the frozen berries will have water. I will likely make it that way during the winter. 🙂
I use blackberries & chia seeds for my jam. Just smash the blackberries with a fork & add the seeds…thickens up just right. I do make sure the berries are sweet enough. 🙂
Oh goodness this look totally amazing. Wowza! You know I have been looking for reasonably priced flats of strawberries. If I find them I am making this for sure! Perfect for my pancakes and the girls pb&js!!
I’m so happy that I could cry! My sweet husband is so supportive of THM, (I/we just started!), but he loooooves my strawberry freezer jam n toast. AND strawberry’s in MN are ripe for the pickin’ next week!
You are a GENIUS! ♥
This looks awesome! Love the chia seeds idea. It blows my mind how much sugar is in regular jam. Unless you are having your peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dessert instead of lunch, it is not an ideal situation! Can’t wait to try this, thanks! 🙂
I don’t think most people think about how much sugar is in jelly – I know I didn’t!
I’ll have to try this next strawberry season. We just picked 43 lbs and I made a batch of canned jam and a batch of freezer jam with the low sugar pectin but it was still a lot of sugar! Thanks for sharing. We also made two freezer pies and I froze 3 quarts. We couldn’t eat them fast enough!
I’m going to try this with other berries as they come along – next to try…blueberries!
I am confused, freezer jam is for uncooked berries. Why did you put your cooked berry jam in the freezer, couldn’t you have just sealed them while they were hot and made shelf stable jam?
My mom has always made freezer jam with cooked berries. If you want to seal them, that should be fine. 🙂 I just didn’t want to go into that for this post.
I think what Beth is referring to is actual freezer jam, a style of jam that has a completely different taste and texture than cooked jam. I don’t know if you’ve ever tasted freezer jam that is made from uncooked fruits, but it is delicious! 🙂 It retains much more of the nutrition from the fruit, since it isn’t cooked, and it does have a completely different texture and taste. Our family loves it!
I had the same thought…all the freezer jam that I’ve ever had has always been from raw berries, not cooked berries. I think that basically, this recipe is a cooked jam recipe that is frozen for convenience’ sake instead of being canned the old-fashioned way. 🙂 My husband really enjoys cooked jam, while I enjoy uncooked freezer jam, so I’m planning to make uncooked freezer jam for myself and my girls, and make him some cooked jam with this recipe. However, I think I’m going to can it to save the room in my freezer. Thanks for the great recipe, Stacy! 🙂
Ha, ha! I just know I’m doing it the way my Mama does it. 😉 Who cares as long as it’s jam? Right? Hahahaha!
I have never wanted to go to the trouble of making jam, plus I don’t want added sugar in my jam. This sounds so easy, I think I am actually going to give it a try! Thanks!
It’s really not hard! Good luck! 🙂
I’m definitely going to have to try this!
What type of container do you use for freezing your jam?
Blessings, Janet……
countrylivingmama.blogspot.com
The smaller mason jars in the photos. 🙂
Yay! My first recipe to drop on to PlantoEat…now to figure out a picture. Can’ wait to try this.
Plan to Eat should be able to pull a photo from the post. 🙂
I’d love to try this, but I wanted to confirm the 4 cups sugar substitution is just 2-3 tsp of Stevia????? We’re a family that likes sweet jam, and I can’t believe that 3 tsp stevia would make it sweet enough. How exciting, because I’m trying to limit the sugar in my sugar-addicted family.
That is from looking at recipes online for that amount of berries. Most of them came out to that much sugar. It’s shocking.
My stevia extract chart says that 2 cups sugar is 1 1/2 teaspoons stevia. So, I just almost 3 teaspoons of stevia. Hope that helps!
4 cups does sound like a ton of sugar…you could cut back and see if that’s enough for y’all. 🙂
Great recipe! I can’t wait to try it!
What else do you use chia seeds for?
Smoothies, oatmeal….anything that you need to thicken. 🙂
BUT, they will leave black specks…so maybe not sausage gravy. lol
And that’s why I enjoy your comments. Crock pot love all around!
Thanks for this recipe. I like the idea of using chia seeds and need to try this soon. Do you think it would work for pineapple? I made some pineapple butter just by placing fresh pineapple in my VitaMiix and then cooked it it a pan on the stove until it decreased the liquid down. It turned out pretty well but I bet using chia seeds would thicken it up better.
I don’t know….I’ve never made pineapple jam. We’re not huge fans of pineapple here. 🙂 You could try!
I love that it has chia seeds. I use my crockpot for everything 🙂