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Disclosure: Fruit provided by The Fruit Club & contains affiliate links. All opinions are mine.

When I tell people I regularly make homemade jam for my kid’s peanut butter and jelly sandwiches they think I must spend all day in the kitchen. What they don’t know is that freezer jam is ready in minutes with no cooking time and is as simple as chopping fruit and mixing up ingredients.

The Fruit Club provided me with 20 pounds of delicious, ripe cherries that are perfect for homemade jam. That’s alot of cherries, so we typically eat some, freeze some and make a big batch of jam. You will be amazed at how easy freezer jam is to make!

cherry freezer jam

Gather Ingredients:

  • Cherries – I recommend purchasing your cherries in bulk from The Fruit Club if they deliver to your area. The quality is amazing and the fruit always taste great.
  • Ball RealFruit Instant Pectin – Make sure to get the instant fruit pectin, not classic pectin for this recipe. The 4.7 oz jar of instant pectin will make 15 half pint jars of jam.
  • Sugar – Pick up a bag of plain, granulated sugar.
freezer jam ingredients

Gather Supplies:

  • Cherry Pitter – You can pit cherries by hand, but it will take forever. I have this simple 4-slot cherry pitter that works great, but you can get a much fancier one if you want.
  • Freezer Jars – I buy the Ball 16 oz freezer jars that are reusable.
  • Blender or Food Processor – Easily chop the fruit with your blender or food processor.
  • Mixing Bowl, measuring cups, spoon & ladle
cherry pitter

Homemade Cherry Freezer Jam
Adapted from Fresh Preserving

Homemade Cherry Freezer Jam

Ingredients

  • 1 2/3 cups Diced Cherries
  • 2 Tbsp Instant Fruit Pectin
  • 2/3 cup Granulated Sugar

Instructions

  • Wash, stem and pit the cherries.
  • Finely chop cherries using blender or food processor.
  • Mix sugar and pectin in bowl.
  • Add finely diced cherries and stir for 3 minutes.
  • Spoon or ladle into freezer jars (leave 1/2 inch space on top of jar for expansion) and let stand 30 minutes before eating.

Notes

Makes 1- 16 oz jar.
Store in refrigerator for up to 3 weeks or freezer for up to 1 year.

 

cherry freezer jam pin
{ 15 comments… add one }
  • Dee June 13, 2016, 3:42 pm

    PERFECT timing!!! Now I have something else to make with my 10 lbs of cherries I pick up tomorrow from the Fruit Club.

    Can this method be used with fruit, in general?

    Thanks for sharing!,,

    Reply
  • Dee June 13, 2016, 3:42 pm

    PERFECT timing!!! Now I have something else to make with my 10 lbs of cherries I pick up tomorrow from the Fruit Club.

    Can this method be used with fruit, in general?

    Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Nicole June 13, 2016, 10:51 pm

      Yes, I’ve used this recipe for strawberry jam as well.

      Reply
  • Cindy June 13, 2016, 10:51 pm

    Has this ever been done with a sweetener other than sugar, like honey or Stevia?

    Reply
    • Nicole June 14, 2016, 8:35 am

      There is a low or no sugar pectin, but it’s for canning, not freezer jam.

      Reply
      • Gail Sype October 24, 2020, 7:57 pm

        I have used low-sugar pectin in freezer jams. It works just fine.

        Reply
  • Dorie Piskorski June 13, 2016, 11:27 pm

    Can’t wait to try this! Thanks, Nicole.

    Reply
  • Dorie Piskorski July 4, 2016, 11:52 am

    I just put up 5 pints. Thanks, Nicole!
    I was also lucky enough to win 5lbs of cherries from The Fruit Club.

    Reply
  • DBray June 26, 2019, 11:05 am

    We hand picked 22 lbs of cherries and used this recipe for homemade jam. Delicious and so easy!

    Reply
    • Nicole June 26, 2019, 9:05 pm

      Wow! That’s a lot of cherries! Glad you enjoyed the jam recipe.

      Reply
  • Kristi Thielbar March 3, 2020, 5:09 pm

    Can this recipe be used to do water bath canning?

    Reply
    • Nicole April 9, 2020, 7:59 pm

      I’ve only used this recipe for freezer jam. 🙂 Sorry, I can’t give you a definitive answer.

      Reply
  • nicole o June 2, 2021, 7:59 pm

    Would it be possible to use the liquid fruit pectin for this recipe? I’m not sure I can find this particular pectin in my area. Thanks.

    Reply
  • normapowrie July 13, 2021, 11:41 am

    wnhen do you use the freezer pectin? your recipes on jars are terrible Im back to sure jel . same recipe on freezer pectin and classic pectin. really? . Thank God your phone rep was very helpful

    Reply
  • Marilyn June 25, 2023, 12:47 pm

    Do you drain the juice after chopping them?

    Reply

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