Wild Huckleberry Jam

Name: Wild Huckleberry Jam Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 35 min
Ingredients: 4½ cups huckleberries; 2 Tbsp water; 4½ cups sugar; 1 small lemon ((juiced and zested)); 4 Tbsp RealFruit pectin ((or 1 packet))

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This Wild Huckleberry Jam recipe is made with hand-picked wild huckleberries that are cooked down with other simple ingredients to make one amazingly delicious jam. Enjoy this Huckleberry Jam on toast, ice cream, waffles, and more!

This has been a crazy-busy summer! Although we had big plans to do a lot of huckleberry picking, we only got to go picking a few times. How am I supposed to make Huckleberry Pie, Huckleberry Cheesecake, and Gourmet Grilled Cheese Sandwiches all year?

Luckily, we got to go out one more time last week. We took our son, Scott, on his first huckleberry picking adventure. Although we got 2-½ gallons between the three of us, my husband decided to go one more time and brought back another gallon. He's so sweet! I think I'll keep him.

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🧐Why This Recipe Works
🛒 What You Need To Make This Recipe
🔖 Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
🔪 Suggested Equipment
🫐 How to Make Huckleberry Jam
🤷🏻‍♀️Recipe FAQs
👩🏼‍🍳 Pro Tips
🍓 Related Recipes
📖 Recipe

🧐Why This Recipe Works

If you're thinking that I already had a huckleberry jam recipe on this blog, you're kind of right. My Mountain Berry Jam recipe does have huckleberries. However, it also includes serviceberries and Oregon grapes, both were non-existent this year thanks to the high heat early in the summer and the lack of rain.

What I like about this recipe is that it doesn't require you to use a ton of your precious huckleberries AND you don't need to add other berries to the jam. All we need is one quart of huckleberries (4 cups).

The recipe is kept pretty simple by not adding any spices like cinnamon or cardamom, which I usually love to add. I do this on purpose to allow the flavor of the delicious huckleberries to shine through.

The pectin ensures that the jam will thicken upon cooling, even though the huckleberry jam will look very liquidy when you pour it into the jars.

🛒 What You Need To Make This Recipe

🔖 Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

Huckleberries — Fresh or frozen huckleberries may be used in this recipe.
Lemon — You'll need one fresh lemon to make this jam. Although you can use bottled lemon juice for this recipe, we need the zest of one fresh lemon to add to the jam.
Pectin — I added 4 tablespoons of RealFruit Classic Pectin, which is equal to the amount in one packet of pectin. Although I haven't personally tried it in this particular jam, liquid pectin should also do the job.
Butter — A teaspoon of butter can be added to reduce foaming. Another option is to skim the foam off before canning the jam.

🔪 Suggested Equipment

🫐 How to Make Huckleberry Jam

Step 1: Add cleaned huckleberries to a medium saucepan. Add water simmer for a few minutes. If using frozen berries see pro tips on the bottom of the post.

Step 2: Add zest, lemon juice, and sugar. Simmer for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with pectin, whisking quickly to dissolve. Bring to a rolling boil for a few additional minutes and either skim the foam off of the surface or add 1 teaspoon of butter.

Step 3: Ladle the hot huckleberry jam into sterilized jars, leaving ½" headspace. Wipe the glass jar rims with a damp cloth or napkin and hand-tighten the lids.

Step 4: Add jars to a canner filled with water and make sure the water level is at least a few inches over the jars. Process the jam in boiling water for a minimum of 10 minutes, adding 5 additional minutes for every 1000' above 3000' in elevation.

processing jam in boiling water — Once a jar is filled, carefully lower into boiling water.

3 jars of jam on the counter — Once a jar is filled, carefully lower into boiling water.

What if the jam doesn't set?

If you're unsure if the jam is set, you can put a few tablespoons of jam into a small dish and place it in the refrigerator for 10+ minutes. Once the huckleberry jam is cool, you'll see what the final consistency will be like. If it's not thick enough, try one of the following:

Add another cup of sugar
Add another tablespoon of pectin
Reduce the jam further by cooking it longer

huckleberry jam on toast with more on the side — Huckleberry Jam on toast

🤷🏻‍♀️Recipe FAQs

Where do huckleberries grow?

Huckleberries grow in the Northwestern part of the United States in the Rocky Mountains. More specifically, you can find huckleberries in the mountains in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana, at 3500' elevation and higher in.

What is huckleberry jam made of?

Huckleberry Jam is made of huckleberries, lemon juice, and pectin. Sometimes cinnamon and similar spices are added for additional flavor. Other times additional fruit is added to stretch the huckleberries so that you don't need to use too many of the precious berries.

What does huckleberry jam taste like?

Huckleberry Jam tastes tart (from the huckleberries) and sweet (from the sugar). It is slightly reminiscent of cherry jam in both texture and taste.

How do you thicken huckleberry jam?

Huckleberry Jam can be thickened with pectin or by adding other fruit with higher pectin content. For example, shredded apple is sometimes added to huckleberry jam to thicken it.

👩🏼‍🍳 Pro Tips

Fresh or frozen huckleberries can be used in this huckleberry jam recipe.
If using frozen huckleberries, you will not need to add water since they will release a ton of juice as they defrost. You'll only want to strain the juice (see next tip).
Mix the extra strained huckleberry juice with sugar or sweetener to make huckleberry juice.
Don't overtighten the lids before processing the jam. You can tighten the lids further after they seal.
Make sure you hear the lids click and/or see the indentation in the center of the lids to confirm the jars are sealed. If I find an unsealed jar, I either process it longer or put that jam jar in the refrigerator to be eaten first.

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