Before we left for our trip, I found myself with a couple pints of blueberries and a few spotted bananas to use up. I’ve been meaning to make my strawberry chia seed jam for a while now, so I ended up adapting my recipe using blueberries, all-natural sweetener, and a touch of vanilla. It turned out lovely and was ready in 20 minutes flat!
This is the strawberry chia seed jam that I made a couple years ago:
Chia seeds are magic. I love using them as thickeners in all kinds of foods from homemade jam to vegan overnight oats to pasta sauces.
This strawberry chia seed “jam” is a tasty filling for my Healthy Strawberry Oat Squares! You can use any kind of filling that you like in these oat squares. They remind me a lot of a healthy nutri-grain bar.
This is not a traditional jam recipe by any means, but then again I’m not one for following traditions all that often when it comes to food. Instead of using white sugar, I used maple syrup to lightly sweeten the berries. The maple and vanilla extract do a great job of bringing out the flavours in the blueberries without overpowering them. Chia seeds thicken the mixture nicely while adding a tasteless burst of nutrition in every bite.
If you’ve got 20 minutes, you can make this jam. It’s a snap. All you do is add blueberries and a touch of maple syrup into a pot. Bring it to a low boil and then reduce it to simmer for about 5 minutes or so. Then stir in the chia seeds and simmer it for another 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently until it’s as thick as you desire.
Before adding the chia seeds, the blueberries will be quite watery.
Have no fear chia is here!
After adding in the chia seeds and cooking the mixture down, it thickens up beautifully! Hence, the name – magical jam. You won’t believe your eyes how thick this gets. Thanks to the chia seeds, we’re also pumping up the jam with all kinds of healthy omega fats, iron, fibre, protein, magnesium, and calcium. Who knew jam could be so healthy?
Enjoy this on toast, oatmeal, vegan overnight oats, thumbprint cookies, tarts, in smoothies, and so much more. Also, feel free to try this out with any seasonal fruit you wish.
Magical Blueberry Vanilla Chia Seed Jam
Yield
1 cup
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Adapted from my strawberry chia seed jam.
Ingredients
- 3 cups fresh blueberries
- 3-4 tbsp pure maple syrup, to taste (or other liquid sweetener)
- 2 tbsp chia seeds
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Directions
- In a medium-sized non-stick pot, bring the blueberries and 3 tbsp of maple syrup to a low boil. Stir frequently, and reduce heat to low-medium to simmer for about 5 minutes. Lightly mash the blueberries with a potato masher or fork, leaving some for texture.
- Stir in the chia seeds until thoroughly combined and cook the mixture down until it thickens to your desired consistency, or about 15 minutes. Stir frequently so it doesn’t stick to the pot.
- Once the jam is thick, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Add more maple syrup to taste if desired. Enjoy on toast, English muffins, oatmeal, vegan overnight oats, oat bars, tarts, cookies, banana soft serve, smoothies, and more. The jam should keep for at least a week in an air-tight container in the fridge.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
A breakfast sandwich sounded like a good idea.
Banana slices, sunflower seed butter, and blueberry jam all sandwiched in a toasted English muffin….I couldn’t wait a second longer.
*Poof*…it was gone just like a magic trick.
~~~
We’re off for our flight back home this morning! I think my first meal back will be banana bread oatmeal with blueberry jam & sunbutter to top it all off…yum. And then about a week’s worth of salads because I kinda got off track with the salad-a-day challenge a bit. Whoops.. This last week of June is going to be a leafy one…
Hi Angela, I’ve been silently following your blog for some time. You’ve inspired me towards a largely plant based way of eating, and I am feeling so much better for it, thank you! And this jam looks amazing, I’ll certainly be giving it a try.
Thank you, I’m so happy to hear that! Hope you enjoy the jam.
This looks delicious! Any idea of how well it would freeze? I have a bunch of blueberries in my fridge right now and worried I won’t use them up before vacation.
I have the same question :)
I’d also like to know… :)
Good Q! I’m wondering the same. I’m not sure as I haven’t frozen it before, but now that I’m home I will try it out and see. I will update the recipe when I find out.
A little late in noticing this … but if nothing else freezing the blueberries before making the jam is always an option (until you have time to make it). I made this jam with previously frozen blueberries and it turned out wonderfully. I used it as a topping for a tart and sweetened it with agave nectar instead of maple syrup. It was my first time cooking with Chia seeds and I’m very glad to have tried it! Thanks for sharing your adventures with us :-)
Im curious also, so I wil test that now that im back home. Ill update the recipe!
I made a quadruple batch of this the end of July with raspberries my husband and I picked at a near-by farm. I kept one pint in the fridge and froze the rest in pint portions. We flew through the first pint (omg, so yummy, and I love how little sugar there is!!!) and I took one out of the freezer a couple of days ago to thaw in the fridge. Ate some this morning in my oatmeal, and it’s wonderful! So, I would say this recipe makes a great freezer jam! Can’t wait to try it with some other fruits!
This post made my day, I was going to add lemon, but I might freeze out instead :) anyone have any opinions on adding lemon?
Allie,
citrus is high in pectin and works well as a setting agent for jams. You can make your own pectin from unripened citrus, however, the chia is by far a more nutritious way to thicken your jams/jellies without the need to add sweetener.
I’m dragging the boyfriend to a blueberry farm this weekend to pick our own – we’ll definitely be making this! I’m also trying to eat more chai seeds since I keep hearing how amazing they are so this is just perfect :)
I love using chia seeds to make jam…actually, I love chia seeds for everything! This one looks fantastic, I’ll have to give it a try!! :)
Girl, you are GENIUS! I saw a pint o’ blueberries at the farmers market last weekend and didn’t know what I’d do with all of them and here you are giving me the nudge I need. Blueberry english muffin, here I come!
Oh My! This is amazing! I will definitely try it. I’m planing to make it from blackberry!
That would be great :)
Angela, this is marvelous! I’ve made freezer and traditional jams in the past. Though I loved them, I know now that those recipes have way too much white sugar. I love how fresh and quick this chia jam looks. I will certainly be trying it with the strawberries we just picked! :) By the way, I didn’t have a chance to write back but I tried the layered raw taco salad, and it was fantastic! http://ohsheglows.com/2012/06/12/layered-raw-taco-salad-for-two/
I’m glad you enjoyed it!!
This looks amazing, any ideas on a different sweetner? I cannot use maple syrup, would Splenda work?
I think you could use any sweetener you want probably. I dont have any experience using splenda but I cant see why it wouldnt work too. My original strawberry jam recipe used dry sweetener.
You could try blackstrap molasses (excellent with cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg) for a dark, rich taste, or homemade date syrup for something lighter – both highly nutritious. Until I saw Dr Greger’s short video on sweeteners, I’d thought maple syrup, agave nectar, and brown rice syrup were healthy, and was shocked to find that they’re pretty much empty calories. Blackstrap molasses and dates, though, are not just great sweeteners, they’re amazingly nutritious.
I am so excited to try this! Looks delicious.
Could you use frozen? I don’t make jam that often, so I really don’t know, but I really want to try this.
Someone else commented below that they used frozen blueberries and it worked. :)
This is nothing short of brilliant. I can’t wait to give it a try! I can see I’m going to have to order more chia seeds! Well worth it!
This looks amazing and easy enough to get my 13 year old son into the kitchen to help me out with this. Thanks!
What a fantastic idea to thicken up a jam with chia seeds! Genius!
Mmmm that sandwich looks so good! I’m not really a huge jam girl but I really like the idea of using it as a vehicle for chia seeds!! If you’re near a David’s Tea at all, go in and try (or at least) smell their Blueberry Jam tea…. it’s lovely and would probably pair very nicely with your sandwich! :)
bluebery jam tea?? I’m all over that… :)
I love the idea of adding chia seeds! I bet it makes it so nice and thick!
This is genius! I have tons of blueberries in the fridge and love to make low-sugar jams for the kids. Excellent use of chia!
This reminds me of my grandma’s homemade jam : )
I was just thinking about trying to find a healthy jam recipe. This definitely fits the bill! I love the idea of using chia seeds to thicken the jam; makes me feel good about eating it.
Love this idea! Amazing! I’ve been following your blog for a long time!
Chia jam is one if my all time favorite things to make! I love how easy it is to mix up a quick healthy topping for my oats, pancakes, waffles and toast! People are always shocked that it doesn’t have gelatin in it. I have some cherries that need to be used up…I’m thinking it’s time to make some jam!
chia seeds truly are magical, aren’t they? i am definitely pinning this to make later this week!
I can’t wait to try this, I am on my last jar of homemade blueberry jam from last week and was wondering how i could make it more “naturally” so this is perfect timing! I am 8 months pregnant and have been cutting out a marjority of my processed foods, meat and sugar and boy do i feel good! Needless to say your blog has been a blessing for me over the past few months so THANK YOU!
Thank you Sara! Congrats on your pregnancy :)
This looks heavenly. You continue to amaze me with your creativity using Chia seeds. Thank you so much.
This looks delicious- you just can’t beat chia seeds! Now I want to try this in a blueberry pie-ish dessert. :)
Chia seeds make everything better! I will have to add this to my list of recipes to make for brunch one day.
I too love chia seeds and sneak them into almost every dish! Haha :) But this is such a great way of using them, let a lone sounds and looks amazing! Thanks for sharing.
I completely forgot about chia jam! This looks so good. I just picked up a bunch of peaches that would make a rocking’ jam… Maybe with some ginger?
Peach ginger sounds scrumptious. One of my faves is peach-banana. Fig is also an eye-roller- and naturally sweet. Just add a touch of lemon for the contrast. Oh, yum!
Yes please! I love jam, and this is PERFECT for making it more nutritious! I am excited about making this with raspberries.
how have I not made overnight oats yet this summer?!? Special weekend breakfast with some yummy jam! Can’t wait. Have a beautiful day!
How long does this keep while refrigerated? Normal jam seems to last quite awhile, is it similar?
It has lasted 1 week in my fridge so far and its still going strong. I would expect 2+ weeks, but I will update the recipe when I know.
This looks amazingly delicious! I AM going to try this soon… i just need to get my hands on some berries! :)
Oh my gawsh this is the BEST idea ever. Enjoy your flight home!
Yum… I feel like this jam is a requirement in my life!!
YUM! Such a good way to use chia seeds! And that breakfast sandwich looks out-of-this-world ridiculous! I’m thinkin’ I’ll have to crank out the recipe and a copy-cat sandwich of yours for breakfast tomorrow.
Hope you enjoy it!
So simple and sounds so delicious!
There’s a blueberry u-pick farm close to where we live & I’ll be taking my kids there this week. This is a great recipe to do after our little excursion. I too, love those little amazing chia seeds!
Hey Angela! I made some jam yesterday ( little redberries i do not know the name in english) and it is sooooo liquid. Do you think i can reheat it and add the chia seeds then? I might just try it and see what will happen. Thanks for the idea!
Yes I think you probably could try that. It thickens things quite well.
What a great recipe to have for the season of summer. I know for fact I’ll need to get rid of some berries at some point and fast too! you weren’t kidding, this looks so easy and hello…very delicious too!
oh yes, that would definitely qualifiy as magical! it looks so delicious! yummmm!
I’m so excited to have seen this – chia seeds for thickener – brilliant :) And, I’m about to make plum jam today with plums from our trees. Great photos!
WOW what a brilliant idea. I cannot wait to get blueberries at the farmers market this weekend and make this! Thanks so much for another great recipe!
That looks suuuuuuuuuuper yummy and so easy to make.
Thanks Angela, can’t wait to try !!
Isa
This recipe has made me cry.
When I was at “blueberries”, my eyes became misty. Then, at “chia seeds”, tears were rolling down my cheeks. Then, at “vanilla”, I broke down and cried.
Think I could use Raspberries for this instead??
I can’t see why not!
I made raspberry and its wonderful!
I am so pinning this!! Love this idea!
That’s incredible! Is the finished texture quite bitty though? Or do the seeds soften enough that you don’t notice? And how well do you think it would stand up to being blended to make a smooth jam?
I dont mind the seeds in there and yes you do notice them. I would suggest using ground chia seed if you dont want the seeds in there.
Yum! I’ve been meaning to try a chia seed jam. I’m so impressed with how much it thickens! Loooooove blueberries too :D
I’m going berry picking next weekend and wanted to make my own jam from what I pick. Because I can’t handle white sugar I decided to make my own, naturally sweetened jam and was looking around for a good recipe. Love that this one includes chia seeds and uses whole sweeteners. Thank you! I’m pinning it as we speak :).
I LOVED your strawberry version last year, can’t wait to make this jam! Never will I buy it at the store again, what’s the point when I can make this deliciousness?! I honestly can’t get enough of chia seeds either, so versatile!
Enjoy your last few moments in Calgary!
this is perfect! love the easy jam-making method and no pectin needed; just…chia seeds! It’s amazing how thick they make things (and keep on making it thicker in my experience even a day or two later…chia seed pudding is super thick on day 3 compared to day 1 when stored in my fridge, at least for me). Wondering if the jam keeps on getting a bit thicker as time passes or if it levels off?
Either way…it looks fabulous!
It seemed to level off :) But if you stopped cooking it while it was still thinned out, I’m sure it would thicken up in the fridge.