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.
Featuring all new, protein-packed salads, hearty toppers, flavour boosters, and dressings you'll want to drink, my new cookbook will transform the way you think about salads. Oh, and be sure to flip to the back for a surprise dessert chapter!
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.
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!