This Homemade Elderberry Jam Recipe is the perfect way to preserve the luscious taste and health benefits of the prized elderberry. Use fresh or dried elderberries to make a jam you can enjoy year round, even when the berries are out of season!
It's absolutely that time of year again when a simple visit to the playgroup, daycare, or classroom can put the whole family under the weather for a week.
And every time this happens, I chide myself for not having dosed us all up sooner with a generous helping of Elderberries, or any of these other immune boosting herbal recipes for kids.
Hands down my favorite go-to plant for staying healthy during cold and flu season, Elderberry is a powerful little berry jam-packed with antioxidants, and well studied for its protective effects from viruses. A smart little berry indeed, Elderberry flavonoids trick flu viruses by binding to the proteins on their viral envelopes. Those nifty proteins are the ones that viruses use to bind to our cells and cause infection. Successfully duped, the viruses are thus deactivated from reproducing in the body, and are then easily flushed out by our body's natural immune defenses.
Clever berries.
Although I love Elderberry, and although my little one will readily consume anything tasting even remotely sweet, I'm not quite thrilled about pumping my child full of sugar in order to get this lovely berry to do its job. Furthermore, sugar has been shown to lower the body's immune response, so it just seems silly to give an overly sugary syrup to a sick child.
I'm also not a huge fan of vegetable glycerine – it's a highly processed and refined product, and there's no guarantee which plant it's derived from, with soy, palm, and coconut being likely contenders. Furthermore once questions around GMO safety arise, I start looking for more natural solutions.
Although there are many ways to introduce herbal preparations to child, I particularly appreciate food-based herbal recipes that are also low on the glycemic index. Hence my quest for the perfect sugar-free Elderberry jam recipe.
A Few Important Notes about Elderberries and This Recipe
1. First and foremost, Elderberries must always be heated, since in their raw form, they contain a constituent similar to cyanide. Although some sources say that fully ripe elderberries and dried elderberries are okay to consume raw, I prefer to be on the safe side and treat my berries to a nice, hot bath.
2. Ripe Elderberries are lovely to the point of being intoxicating, however they can be hard to source unless you know your plants, and are confident with your identification skills. {Hmmm...From Adrienne: I'm thinking it would be easy to pick a poisonous berry instead. No thanks. I just bought these Organic Dried Elderberries a few months ago and will be using them :)!} Luckily, Elderberries retain much of their potency when dried, and can easily be rehydrated to make a delicious jam
Dried Elderberries--Just waiting to be made into jam!
Recipe Notes
1. Juice Substitutions
Apple juice is a popular choice for making jams, and will also serve as a natural sweetener for your juice. I would also recommend juices such as pear, mango, and grape. My juices of choice are unsweetened berry juices because they are high in antioxidants, and give the jam a deep purple color. However, unsweetened berry juices will generally result in a jam that is less sweet.
2. Sweetener Options
A couple of low-glycemic syrups are yacon syrup (glycemic index of 5) and Brown Rice syrup (glycemic index of 25). Stevia is also a great choice since it has a glycemic index of 0, but this will also impart its own flavor to the jam. I personally don't like the taste of stevia, but most people don't seem to mind. Another great option is to sweeten your jam with a dried fruit paste, which can easily be made with dates, apricots, figs, or raisins.
The popular agave syrup has been featured in numerous reports questioning whether it is indeed a safe and healthy choice. Although it has been shown to have a low glycemic index, questions have surfaced around whether its effects on the body are actually equivalent to that of high fructose corn syrup.
Furthermore, agave nectar is produced through a highly refined chemical process in which the starch of the root is reduced to syrup; it is not actually derived from the natural sap of the plant, as the word "nectar" would have us believe. Since there are lots of other safer and more natural sweetener options, I generally steer clear of this one.
{Note from Adrienne: Jerusalem Artichoke Syrup is another GREAT choice. I've read it is a pre-biotic sweetener (helps your body's gut) and has a glycenic index of only 6. I haven't tasted it yet, but I am going to buy it soon!}
Recipe Notes
For juice, I use pure blueberry juice. Use lemon or lime juice for a low-carb option.
Sweeteners: Vegetable glycerine would be a good low-carb sweetener option if you can have it. Otherwise you can use 4 scoops of stevia extract. See How to Use Stevia here.
Any sweetener can be used for this, but you will almost always use the same amount of another sweetener when substituting for the date paste.
Elderberry Jam
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup dried elderberries (or 1 1/2 cups fresh)
- 3/4 cup filtered water
- 1 1/2 cups juice
- 3 tsp sugar-free pectin
- 1/2 cup date paste (see recipe below or use 1/2 cup this low-carb sweetener for lower-carb, or see notes for other alternatives)
Instructions
- Soak elderberries in water overnight.
- Bring berries, water, and juice to a boil.
- Remove one cup of jam mixture from heat, add pectin and date paste or syrup, and blend until smooth.
- Return blended ingredients to pot and bring to a boil once again. Reduce heat slightly and keep stirring for 10 minutes.
- Remove pot from heat and pour jam into canning jars. The sugar-free pectin will harden the jam as it cools.
Ingredients
- 1 cup dates
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Soak dates in water overnight.
- Separate the dates from water, and place dates in blender or food processor.
- Blend on medium speed adding date water as necessary to form a thick paste. You shouldn't need more than ½ cup of the date water, and even less for a thicker paste.
- Store in fridge or freezer. Dates can be substituted with other dried fruits, however you may need to boil tougher dried fruits such as apricots and figs for 30 minutes before blending.
Elderberry Jam--All done and ready to fight germs--deliciously!
What do YOU use to boost your immune system?
This post was updated with new images in March of 2020. This is the original image for reference:
Mélanie Pulla is an herbalist, mamma, radical homemaker, and entrepreneur. She has a BSc in Wellness and Alternative Medicine, holds several diplomas in herbal medicine, and is the founder and editor of Herb Geek, an online educational resource for natural healing. Mélanie is happiest when exploring the natural world, crafting herbal concoctions in her kitchen, and sharing her herbal musings with the world.
Help! I followed this recipe today, using dried elderberries. I didn't use any sugar but instead used the date paste and even added a little honey. After it cooled it still remains a liquid. What did I do wrong? Should I have used sugar? Can this be fixed or should I start over. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
Hi there. I'm not sure what happened---is it still really liquid?
Yes, unfortunately I tried to redo several times and just had to throw it away and go with a different recipe.
Hmmm...that's odd - did your other one work out? And what kind of juice did you use? I would love to try to figure this out. Thanks!
I used POM juice. I tried it again following the directions of the pectin box but couldn't bring myself to use 7+ cups of sugar for 4 cups of elderberry juice! To me, that makes a healthy product unhealthy. So needless to say I have syrup instead of jam. It tastes great though...lol. I'm just not cut out for making jam. Thank you for keeping in touch.
Hi there. I think I found out what your problem is. Sounds like you were making 3.5 batches, am I correct? Let me know, but I think I figured it out.
Yes, I was using 3-4 cups of product.
So you need acidity, sugar, and pectin to make jam thick. And the right amount heat for the right amount of time. Typically, if your jam is too thin, you didn't use enough of the pectin, sugar or acidity or you didn't get a hard boil. However, there's more. I don't know what the exact measurement should be, but if your batch is too big, you won't get effective pectin penetration no matter how much you stir. I'm guessing that this is what happened. Does that sound right?
You can remake it if you haven't tossed it all yet. Let me know if you'd like help with that. Hope this helps!
Hi, this looks great! But to clarify, you say “take one cup of the mixture and blend”? Are we blending all of the berries eventually, or leaving some whole?
Hi there! Just blend one cup so that you still have a lot of body to the jam. You could blend all of it if you prefer. Hope you like it!
Have you tried using Swerve or Monkfruit for the sweetener?
I have done 1/2 stevia but not monkfruit yet - I am going to put a link in for Lakanto, however. You can actually use code wholenewmom to get 20% off on their site too :).
Where do you find the dried elderberries? Are they bitter?
Hi there - there's a link in the recipe card. They are bitter but I kind of liked them - if you read the post you will see that they aren't OK to eat raw, however.
Hi! I'm getting ready to make some elderberry jam with some dried elderberries I just bought. so just to clarify when making the jam I do not need to strain the berries out right? I can keep them in the jam?
Hi there - correct, you don't have to! Jelly is the product of juice, whereas jam includes the fruit as well. Enjoy!
Can you use honey as a substitute?
Yes, you can do that. I just updated the recipe and put the information in there for you. Good question and hope it turns out well for you!
Do you use a hot water bath for canning your jam?
I haven't done it yet but I think that would work. Is there another method you were thinking of?
What kind of juice did you use?
Sorry I'm not following what juice you are referring to--can you help with that, please?
Have you ever done anything with the berries that after they've been strained? It seems such a waste to throw them away. Thanks
I've read you can use them to flavor kombucha....I would bet you could flavor tea with them as well....or just boil in water to make "elderberry tea" :).
I re-read the recipe several times and at no place does it mention straining the elderberries out of the syrup. Please clarify =)
Hi there! I see what you are talking about! Perhaps the reader who commented meant to post the comment on this post: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/easy-homemade-elderberry-syrup-low-carb/ Hope that helps!
How would I adjust the liquids when using fresh elderberries? I am not a jam expert, but LOVE your sugar free approach and have 2 ripe bushes in my back yard.
I don't think that you would have to reduce the liquids that much...maybe a little bit if you want to account for the lost volume of the berries. Fresh to dried results in a reduction of about 3/4 in volume. Does that help?
We have burgeoning elderberry trees near our house!!! Raining manna from heaven... I love your coverage about the different sweeteners... and feel really good about your recipe - which I will try. Then, I see you name near the bottom, and Really like you!!! 🙂
Wow - you are so blessed!! Sorry for the delay in responding--comments vanished off my blog for awhile and I just got them back recently. Trying to catch up!
What is the shelf life on this?
I think it would depend on what sweetener you use since honey is a natural antibacterial and regular sugar helps preserve things too. I haven't studies the differences, however. Sorry about that.
Just found your great post on elderberry jam right after I finished making a quart of elderberry-rosehip syrup. Now I'm eyeing the leftover mash and wondering if I could turn it into jam instead of just depositing it in the compost pit. I'd love to hear your thoughts on that.
Hmmm...I think the sweetness will be gone along w/ a lot of the benefits, so no. You could dry it and use it for something.....
Hi mine hasn't set even though its cooled. Should i reboil and add more pectin please?
I'm sorry but I'm not sure. I would look up other jams trouble shooting and see what is recommended.
How long does the jam keep for please?
Hi there. I can't make shelf life claims and it will vary based on the sweetener you use. Hope you like it!
Do you use the calcium that's in the Poms pectin??
Sorry but I don't follow your question.