Whether you prepare this Persimmon Jam recipe for yourself, or to give out to friends, you'll find this recipe both easy and delicious! My favorite way to enjoy persimmon jam is on sourdough toast with a light layer of cream cheese, yum!
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Lately, I have been making a lot of jams. Today, however, we're focusing on Persimmon Jam! We'll be using a combination of Hachiya and Fuyu Persimmons to make this jam. Although there are other varieties including Cinnamon, and Sweet Pumpkin, I have not tried this recipe with them.
I follow a similar ratio for most of my jams (apple preserves, fig preserves, plum preserves, and strawberry-fig preserves) to name a few. So get your hands on some ripe orange Hachiya and Fuyu persimmons and let's get this party started!
🫙 How to Make Persimmon Jam
Step 1: Rinse, peel, and pulp enough Fuyu and Hachiya persimmons to yield 2 pounds of pulp. Use a kitchen scale to get an accurate weight. Puree using a food processor or blender.
Step 2: Add persimmon pulp to a medium-sized saucepan and cover with 3 cups of sugar. Sprinkle with cinnamon, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Stir all the ingredients and bring the mixture to a rolling boil over medium-high heat.
Step 3: Stir the jam occasionally to prevent burning, and simmer for an additional 25 minutes, or until thickened. Because of the high content of pectin in persimmons, this jam thickens up a lot quicker than most jams.
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Step 4: Ladle hot jam into sterilized jars and process in a boiling water bath for an additional ten minutes. For higher altitudes, add an additional 5 minutes.
🤷🏻♀️ Recipe FAQs
Persimmons are native to China and come in many varieties; the two most common being Hachiya and Fuyu.
Hachiya persimmons are very astringent because they contain a high content of tannins. As a result, they are undesirable to eat until very ripe and mushy. They are perfect for making Persimmon Bread!
Fuyus, on the other hand, have fewer tannins and may be eaten while crisp. If you have the Fuyu variety, be sure to check out my Fuyu Persimmon Preserves recipe.
Hachiya persimmons have shiny skin and a sweet, jelly-like texture. When ripe, they taste super sweet and don't even require teeth to enjoy; I'm not kidding! You can literally suck the pulp right out of the soft skin.
Fuyu persimmons, on the other hand, have a firmer texture, similar to juicy apples. Fuyu persimmons taste good even while firm, while Hachiya persimmons need to be very soft in order to avoid the astringent taste.
Persimmon skin is very soft and delicate and easy to eat. Although, some choose to peel the skin and eat the flesh inside. In the end, it's a matter of preference.
• Persimmons boast a wealth of health benefits including the following:
• A great source of antioxidants.
• Abundant amounts of vitamins B, C, and thiamin.
• Aid digestion
• Improve eyesight
• Reducing the risk of cancer
• Build up the immune system
• Lower blood pressure
• Aid weight loss.
If you'd like to grow a persimmon tree, I'm happy to report that they do well in the U.S., in Zones 4 through 9.
👩🏼🍳 Pro Tips
- If you don't use ripe Hachiya persimmons, the end result will be an astringent tasting jam that's hard to eat.
- Because persimmons have high pectin content never add extra pectin to persimmon jam or the texture will be too thick.
- If you have a large harvest of ripe persimmons, you can peel and puree the persimmon flesh and freeze in one to two cup portions. The pulp can be used to make persimmon bread, jam, and protein shakes.
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📖 Recipe
Persimmon Jam
Ingredients
- 2 lbs persimmon pulp (combination of Fuyu and Hachiya)
- 3 cups sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon powder
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice (fresh)
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
Instructions
- Rinse, peel, and pulp enough Fuyu and Hachiya persimmons to yield 2 pounds of pulp. Use a kitchen scale to get an accurate weight. Puree using a food processor or blender.
- Add persimmon pulp to a medium-sized saucepan and cover with 3 cups of sugar. Add cinnamon, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Stir all the ingredients and bring the mixture to a rolling boil over medium-high heat.
- Stir occasionally to prevent burning, and simmer for an additional 25 minutes, or until thickened. Because of the high content of pectin in persimmons, this jam thickens up a lot quicker than most jams.
- Pour jam into sterilized jars and process in a water bath for an additional ten minutes.
Notes
- If you don't use ripe Hachiya persimmons, the end result will be an astringent tasting jam that's hard to eat.
- Because persimmons have high pectin content never add extra pectin to persimmon jam or the texture will be too thick.
- If you have a large harvest of ripe persimmons, you can peel and puree the persimmon flesh and freeze in one to two cup portions. The pulp can be used to make persimmon bread, jam, and protein shakes.
Thea says
Have never made persimmon jam. Tried this recipe today. DELICIOUS! And extra easy.
Hilda Sterner says
Thank you, Thea! Glad you like it, thanks for the review!
Linda says
Just made this jam today using only very ripe Hachiyas from my tree and followed the recipe exactly. The flavor was excellent! Loved the addition of the cinnamon. I'm rating 3 stars as the texture was very grainy and the color of the jam was a golden brown caramel color, not the appealing reddish-orange as shown in the recipe.
Hilda Sterner says
Thanks for your feedback, Linda. I've never had it be grainy before so not sure what happened there. I'm glad you like the flavor at least!
NorCalMichael says
Just want to say thanks for this recipe. We have a Hachiya persimmon tree in our yard and, in a good year, it'll produce bushels of fruit. This is our favorite answer to what to do with them. We've made this recipe with all Hachiyas and it turned out fine. The flavor is surprisingly complex. You'd swear that there were more spices in there, but it's just cinammon. Really delicious!
Hilda Sterner says
Thank you for the review, I really appreciate it!
soohum says
Questions! I haven't tried the recipe yet. Ok so one year I made a persimmon jam with skins on and it was horrid, so I just took our bountiful tree harvest and de-skinned them. It's all hachiya, no fuyu available, all ripe and delicious. It's going in the freezer while I figure out what to do.
1. Can maple syrup be used instead of sugar?
2. Really really no pectin? I've seen other recipes with pectin.
3. Can this be made ONLY with Hachiyas?
Thanks!
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Soohum, I've found you get better results by adding both Fuyu and Hachiya persimmons. I've never tried making the jam with maple syrup so I can't really comment on that. This is one of those recipes that works great for some people and others don't have success with it. I'm convinced it's based on the batch being used. I would advise trying a small batch to see how it comes out and go from there.
Charles Hudson says
I just made this jam and it was an easy to follow. It turned out delicious. Next time I will scale back on the sugar a bit because I only had very ripe Hachiya persimmons to use. Thank you very much.
Hilda Sterner says
Thank you, Charles, I appreciate the review. Enjoy!
Lisa says
Hi Hilda—I made this recipe with ripe hachiya persimmons but it was still a little astringent (I will eat it, but I won’t be giving it as gifts as I had initially planned!). I have more ripe hachiya pulp in the freezer, but before I thaw it and try again, I wanted to ask you: when you’ve made this recipe using hachiyas and fuyus, what sort of ratio of the two varieties do you use? I do have some fuyus available and so was thinking of adding some but wondered how much of each you use. Thanks!
-Lisa
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Lisa, So sorry to hear that, it's a bummer when the jam turns out astringent and there just seems to be no rhyme or reason for it. The ratio is usually 50/50. Maybe try another recipe online and see if you have better luck? Since you have Fuyu persimmons, you may also want to try the Fuyu Preserves recipe (https://hildaskitchenblog.com/recipe/persimmon-preserves/). Although Hachiya persimmon jam sometimes ends up astringent, I've never had that happen with the Fuyu preserves recipe. Good luck!
Tonia says
I put astringent varieties of persimmons in the freezer, whole. I move them to the fridge to slow thaw once I'm going to make something like this jam. I find it works well and the persimmons last a good time.
Hilda Sterner says
Thanks for the great tip!
Karrie says
Hi Hilda, I made the jam with Hachiya persimmons and it worked out well.
I did reduce the sugar to two cups and it was just fine.
Thank you.
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Karrie,
Thank you so much for the review and the comment! 🙂
JOSEPH says
I have a Hychia persimmon which bares levely large fruits every year. The secret to reducing the astringency is to let the fruit ripen until the skin is nearly red, translucent, and VERY soft to the touch. At that point you can take a knife, cut the fruit in half, and scoup the flesh out with a tablespoon. The flesh will be gelatinous and flow through your fingers. All of the flesh can be removed right down to the outshine skin and remove the seed if in fact it got polinazed. Now you are ready to make the jam but not before
Hilda Sterner says
Thanks, Joseph, that's a great way of explaining it!
Anne-Maree says
I tried to make jam using Hachiya variety, fruit was very ripe and sweet but I noticed after cooking up with sugar and other ingredients the final jam became astringent . Did you experience this ? How can I prevent from happening ?
Philip says
Same here! I used completely ripe Hachiya pulp, and the other ingredients and the jam is extremely astringent. What a bummer.
frangiapani says
I made this twice. Both times the persimmon jam broke into "curds and whey", except it was clumpy persimmon-solids with persimmon-water at the bottom of the jars. It. Was. Hideous. Yes, the persimmons were perfectly ripe and lovely to eat raw (no astringency at all).
I make jam all the freakin' time: apple, blueberry, Seville and bergamot marmalade, pear quince, prickly pear (with and without jalapenos), etc. I've never had a jam split like this. So weird.
The first time, I made it in my copper jam pot. Since the jam broke that first time, I used completely non-reactive stainless steel the second time. Didn't matter - as soon as the jam boiled, it broke into curds & whey again.
So, unless anyone has any other ideas, it's my view that Hachiyas don't make jam. Period.
Hilda Sterner says
Hi,
Sorry that you didn't have success with this recipe. Some seem to love this recipe and there's been some who haven't had success with it. I haven't made it in a while since I lost my persimmon connection. Maybe try another recipe, there's plenty of them on the internet, and see if you have better luck. Or, stick with making jam with the other fruit you mentioned and enjoy the persimmons fresh.
Janelle Mashtal says
I looked all over the internet to figure this out! I just made a batch using Hachiyas and it did the SAME exact thing. Mine were extremely ripe and I left the skins on. I used a big anodized Calaphon stock pot.... hmmm.... There has to be some scientific explanation!
Susan Mauriello says
I have a terrific harvest of Hachiya this year. can i use these proportions for a larger batch?
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Susan,
I would try the original recipe to see if you like it before you tackle the bigger batches.That's just my humble opinion.
Susan Mauriello says
Well that was a good suggestion. It turned out the tannins made the first batch taste like a combination of chalk and astringent... I think they could have been riper and maybe I didn't remove enough of the core. Another batch is ripening and I am going to let them get super ripe! fingers crossed. Happy holidays!
Hilda Sterner says
Happy Holidays and good luck!
David Ploessel says
Great recipe! I have a "giant fuyu" (Honestly think the nursery made it up, but whatever) variety of persimmon that produces 12-24 oz non astringent persimmons and used those. Great jam. I did add about 25 g of pectin to the second batch and subbed in orange zest and some shredded garlic for variety, but both turned out amazing!
I need to add that I very much appreciate how you don't have like 17 pages of story before getting to the recipe. Thanks!!
Hilda Sterner says
Hi David,
Wait, did I read that correctly? Did you say GARLIC? I can't even being to imagine that would taste like, but I'm so glad that you liked it and I really appreciate the review. Enjoy!