Recently I shared a recipe for blueberry crumble bars that I made with homemade blueberry jam.
Our dear friends moved away but frequently stay at our house when they were back in town. She always leaves something delicious behind and her strawberry jam is the bomb. I was lamenting the final teaspoon of her jam and decided it was time to make my own. Alas, the strawberries at the store were awful, just awful but the blueberries were big, bright and juicy. I switched gears and decided to try my hand at blueberry jam.
We have a new cooking school in town and I’ve taken a couple classes, macaron cookies and a new way to make scones. In the scones class, the instructor shared two Instant Pot recipes, raspberry jam and lemon curd. She did all the work but it didn’t look that hard. Surely I could manage it.
Not only did I manage it, if I can brag a bit, I rocked it. Add this to the growing list of “I can’t believe I didn’t try this sooner” recipes. This jam is a snap to make, seriously. If you travel with an Instant Pot, you can make this at the campground just as easy as you can at home.
I like my Instant Pot, I really do but I don’t use it as much as I should. So, that means every time I take it out it’s like the first time. It takes me a minute to get my bearings with it. The good news, I figure it out faster with every use. If you’re like me, step one will be to get it out and re-familiarize yourself with it. Then, it’s jam time.
Rinse two pounds of blueberries, removing any remaining stems and pour them into the big inner pot.
Add sugar and lemon juice then give it all a good stir.
Close the lid and set the steam release knob to SEAL position.
Turn on the Instant Pot and put in pressure cook mode (manual) then select 2 minutes, high pressure. On my machine, I push the + button two times, yours may be a dial. When the timer dings, let the pot sit for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, turn the steam release knob and release remaining pressure. It smells so good!
Mix together corn starch and water in a small bowl.
Turn on the Saute feature on LOW. Mine has three lights, one for low or medium or high. When it starts to simmer, stir and cook for five minutes.
Add the cornstarch mixture, stir and cook two more minutes until thickened.
Turn off the machine and carefully remove the big inner pot. Set on a wire rack and cool completely. As I gazed into the pretty jam in the pot, I thought how good it would be on pancakes. Next time I’ll make it in the morning so I can do just that.
When it’s cooled, pour into mason jars. Since it’s just the two of us at home now, we can’t go through a large jar before it spoils. I use small mason jars and keep them in the freezer. I pull out a jar when we are ready.
Store in the refrigerator and use within two weeks. It freezes well. Remember to leave empty space for expansion, a blown out jelly jar would be a nightmare to clean up in the freezer.
I’m excited to make a lot come Christmas time. This year’s fresh baked treats will include blueberry jam.
Easy Instant Pot Blueberry Jam
Recipe Credit: Simply Happy Foodie
- 2 pounds fresh blueberries, rinsed.
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 1/2 Tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 Tablespoons water
Put blueberries, sugar and lemon juice in the inner pot and stir. Close lid and set steam release knob to SEAL position.
Press the Pressure Cook (Manual) button or dial and press the +/- button to select 2 minutes, high pressure. It will take a few minutes for the pot to get to pressure.
When cook time is finished, let the pot sit undisturbed for 10 minutes (10 minutes natural release). Turn the steam release knob to VENT and release remaining pressure.
Stir water and cornstarch together until smooth, have ready.
Turn pot to Saute, low temperature. When it starts to simmer, stir and cook for five minutes.
Stir cornstarch mixture into blueberries and cook two more minutes until thickened.
Turn off Instant Pot, carefully remove inner pot and place on wire rack. Allow to completely cool. When cooled, pour into mason jars.
Store in the refrigerator for two weeks or freeze for later use.
Looks delicious! We use a Instapot Mini. Will this recipe fit in a min?
Hmmm, good question. I would try halving the recipe for the first try. I’d hate for you to have a big blueberry mess on your hands. Let me know how it works and I’ll add the 1/2 option to the post!