Jam, Jelly, and Preserves Recipes to Elevate Breakfast and Dessert

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Enjoy the flavor of in-season fruits all year long by turning them into delicious jams, jellies, preserves, and marmalades. The recipes in this collection are easy to make and often require little more than four ingredients, including your fruits of choice, sugar, salt, and lemon juice. Whether you're looking for something to spread on toast, muffins, bagels, and more or you need a filling for a cake or tart, these recipes can do it all.

The focus here is our beloved jam recipes which highlight a variety of fresh fruits. Beginners and expert jam makers alike will appreciate the Quick Strawberry Jam, pictured here. It's a straightforward recipe that requires just three ingredients: whole, hulled strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice. This recipe is like a lesson in the basics of making jam, which will translate to the rest of the recipes in this collection. It starts by adding the strawberries to a food processor until coarsely chopped. Then spooning the fruit into a large skillet with the sugar and lemon juice. Stirring the ingredients until the jam thickens and bubbles completely. Once done, the jam is transferred to a jar and cooled to room temperature.

We also include some fruit jelly recipes in this collection. While jam is produced from chopped or puréed fruit, jelly is firmer and smoother as it's made from fruit juice that's typically extracted from cooked, crushed fruit. Additionally, preserves and marmalade recipes are featured into this roundup. Preserves contain larger pieces of fruit that are often held together in a loose syrup, while marmalade—which is similar to preserves—uses the rinds of citrus fruit as well as the flesh and pulp.

All of these homemade fruit spreads involve some combination of fruit, sugar, and heat. Their straightforward cooking instructions and minimal ingredients list will make them a new favorite in your kitchen. Let these recipes serve as your guide!

01 of 15

Sarah's Berry Jam

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Bryan Gardner

Did you buy too many raspberries from the farmers' market and now you don't know what to do with them? Turn to this three-ingredient recipe that calls for mashing the raspberries with lemon juice, sugar, and salt and boiling the mixture down until it has a thick consistency. Once it's done, transfer the jam to jars and store in the refrigerator.

02 of 15

Raspberry-Orange Zest Jam

Raspberry-Orange Zest Jam
John Kernick

Take raspberry jam to the next level by adding a secret ingredient: orange zest. The citrus fruit adds a refreshing burst of tartness and a layer of texture to an already delicious pantry staple.

03 of 15

Fresh-and-Dried Peach Jam

double-crusted jam tart topped with finely ground berries
Paola + Murray

The perfect summer jam, dried peaches are reconstituted and puréed—adding an extra dose of potent fruit flavor—then added to a pan with fresh peaches, sugar, salt, and lemon juice until the mixture boils down to a thick nectar.

04 of 15

Classic Seville Orange Marmalade

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This recipe makes use of every part of an orange, including the peel, flesh, and juice. Choosing Seville oranges—the best known citrus or making marmalade—will ensure the condiment is infused with a slightly sour flavor that offsets the sweetness from the sugar.

05 of 15

Rhubarb-Raspberry Jam

Strawberry-Rhubarb Rolled Pavlova
Kate Sears

Two fruits are better than one! Two seasonal favorites—rhubarb and raspberries—come together to form an incredible jam. It's incredible spread over toast or muffins, but we also love it as a dessert filling.

06 of 15

Blueberry Preserves

jar of Blueberry Preserves

Three ingredients—blueberries, sugar, and lemon juice—are all it takes to make an incredible jar of blueberry preserves.

07 of 15

Frozen-Berry Jam

frozen-berry jam
Lennart Weibull

Put the bag of berries that's been sitting in your freezer to use by making this quick and fuss-free recipe. We're working with raspberries here, but you can use any type of berry. The steps are no different than a jam recipe that works with fresh fruit, just bring the components to a boil and mash them until a thick consistency is achieved.

08 of 15

Rhubarb Jam

Strawberry Layer Cake
Petrina Tinslay

Elevate your morning bowl of oatmeal with a dollop of our rhubarb jam. The beloved spring vegetable imparts a blend of tart and tangy flavors when it's boiled down to a spreadable mixture.

09 of 15

Raspberry Jelly

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Christopher Testani

Eliminate the fuss of getting raspberry seeds stuck in your teeth by turning the berries into jelly. First the fruit is added to a saucepan with water and brought to a boil, then the raspberries are mashed until very soft and transferred to a fine mesh sieve where the seeds are strained out. The result is a smooth, spreadable jelly.

10 of 15

Plum Jam

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Christopher Testani

The flesh of plums gives this jam a cloyingly sweet taste while the skin imparts a contrasting burst of bitterness. The end result is a stunning purple jam that has the perfect balance of flavors.

11 of 15

Sour-Cherry Preserves

sour-cherry preserves in a glass jar
Mikkel Vang

Your taste buds will thank you when you add these sour cherry preserves to a bowl of ice cream or yogurt. The tart fruit is brought to equilibrium when it's combined with sugar, lemon juice, and salt and boiled down to a thick syrup with pitted cherry solids studded throughout.

12 of 15

Quick Raspberry Jam

Quick Raspberry Jam
Jonny Valiant

Fifteen minutes is all it takes to make this incredible raspberry jam. Use it to elevate your peanut butter and jelly sandwich and you'll never go store-bought again.

13 of 15

Blackberry-Bay Leaf Jam

blackberry jam on toast
JOHN KERNICK

Blackberries make a delicious jam all on their own, but you won't regret adding a bay leaf to the mixture for a subtle flavor change that brings on a herbal, almost floral bite.

14 of 15

Nectarine-Raspberry Jam

Nectarine-Raspberry Jam
Christopher Testani

We love the bright color that the skins of stone fruit add to jam, as evidenced by this stunning nectarine-raspberry jam. If you prefer a smoother consistency, however, feel free to peel the nectarines before adding them to your saucepan.

15 of 15

Peach-Plum Jam

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Christopher Testani

Combining peaches and plums into one delectable jam provides the perfect balance of sweet and tart flavors. The duo will quickly be your new favorite spread when it's time for your morning piece of toast.

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