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, Pfannkuchen (German pancakes), and more!
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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, huckleberry curd, huckleberry cookies, huckleberry wine, and gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches all year? Not to mention, my new favorites, huckleberry chicken and huckleberry ice cream!
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.
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 grape holly, both of which were nonexistent this year thanks to the high heat early in the summer and the lack of rain, which is why I created this recipe.
Make your huckleberry jam even more special with these adorable, vintage printable labels!
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🔖 Ingredients & Substitutions
- Huckleberries: Fresh or frozen huckleberries may be used in this recipe. Frozen berries may require a little extra cooking time.
- Lemon: You'll need one medium fresh lemon to make this jam. Although you can use bottled lemon juice for this recipe, you'll need the zest of one fresh lemon, which helps with thickening 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, but it is totally optional.
🔪 Suggested Equipment
🫐 How to Make Huckleberry Jam
Step 1: Clean huckleberries in a bowl of water to remove any unripe berries, stems, leaves, and pests. Strain berries and add to a medium saucepan.
Pro Tip: If using frozen huckleberries, there's no need to defrost them.
Step 2: Add lemon juice and zest to the huckleberries and simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with pectin, and whisk to dissolve. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil over medium-high heat for one minute.
Pro Tip: Don't walk away from the boiling jam as it needs to be stirred to keep it from bubbling over and making a big mess!
Step 3: Whisk in sugar, then bring back to a rolling boil. Boil for 1 to 2 additional minutes. Skim foam off the surface if necessary, or add 1 teaspoon of butter.
Step 4: Ladle the hot huckleberry jam into sterilized jars, leaving ½" headspace. Wipe the glass jar rims with a damp cloth or paper towel, then add lids and screw bands hand-tight.
Step 5: Add jars to a canner filled with hot water and make sure the water level is at least a few inches above the jars. Process the jam in boiling water for 15 minutes over medium-high heat.
Pro Tip: For higher altitudes, add 5 additional minutes for every 1000' above 3000' in elevation.
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
🤷🏻♀️ Recipe FAQs
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' and higher.
Huckleberry Jam is made of huckleberries, lemon juice, and pectin. Sometimes cinnamon and similar spices are added for additional flavor. Other times, additional fruit, such as wild blueberries, is added to stretch the huckleberries.
Huckleberry Jam tastes tart (from the huckleberries) and sweet (from the sugar). It is slightly reminiscent of cherry jam in both texture and taste.
Huckleberry Jam can be thickened with pectin or by adding other fruit with higher pectin content. Shredded apple is sometimes added to huckleberry jam to thicken it. Saskatoon berries can also be added because they're high in pectin.
🍓 More Jam & Jelly Recipes!
If you're into jam and jelly-making, you're in luck! I have so many recipes for you to try. Here are some of my favorites!
👩🏼🍳 Pro Tips
- Fresh or frozen huckleberries can be used in this huckleberry jam recipe.
- If you want a smoother consistency, feel free to mash the berries as the jam cooks or even use an immersion blender.
- 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 jar of jam in the fridge.
- Processed huckleberry jam is good for up to a year or longer.
🍓 More Jam Recipe
If you enjoy this huckleberry jam recipe, check out these related posts!
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📖 Recipe
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Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Clean huckleberries in a bowl of water to remove any unripe berries, stems, leaves, and pests. Strain berries and add to a medium saucepan.
- Add lemon juice and zest to the huckleberries and simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with pectin, and whisk to dissolve. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil over medium-high heat for one minute.
- Whisk in sugar, then bring back to a rolling boil. Boil for 1 to 2 additional minutes. Skim foam off the surface if necessary, or add 1 teaspoon of butter.
- Ladle the hot huckleberry jam into sterilized jars, leaving ½" headspace. Wipe the glass jar rims with a damp cloth or paper towel, then add lids and screw bands hand-tight.
- Add jars to a canner filled with hot water and make sure the water level is at least a few inches above the jars. Process the jam in boiling water for 15 minutes over medium-high heat.
Nutrition
Video
Notes
- Fresh or frozen huckleberries can be used in this huckleberry jam recipe.
- If using frozen huckleberries, there's no need to defrost them.
- Don't walk away from the boiling jam as it needs to be stirred to keep it from bubbling over and making a big mess!
- For higher altitudes, add 5 additional minutes for every 1000' above 3000' in elevation.
- If you want a smoother consistency, feel free to mash the berries as the jam cooks or use an immersion blender.
- Make sure the jars are sealed before storing. If you find unsealed jars, either process longer or refrigerate.
- Processed huckleberry jam is good for up to a year or longer.
- Don't overtighten the lids before processing the jam. You can tighten the lids further after they seal.
Christina Cossairt says
Hi, I am going to make this recipe, but my question is, should I defrost the berries for the best results? I don't want to mess it up.
Thank you 🙂 I found this recipe on our Facebook page: Huckleberry Hunting & Recipes! I am excited to use it as our first recipe. I have never canned before, so I just want to make sure I do it correctly.
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Christina, I only rinse them if they have a lot of ice formed on them just so I don't add to the water content of the jam. Othewise, use as is so you don't rinse off the juice/flavor. Good luck!
Sydney says
Can I use citric acid instead of lemon?
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Sydney,
I've never tried using cirtic acid to make this jam, but if you want to try it, for every tablespoon of lemon juice, you can substitute 1/4 teaspoon of citric acid. So for 4 Tablespoons of lemon juice, you'll need 1 1/4 teaspoon citric acid.
Sydney says
Thank you!
Mick Dimond says
FYI, when amounts are changed such as (10 8 oz. jars), only the ingredients changed, the equipment didn't change. I had to really hustle to get 5 more jars, lids and rings prepared to finish up. Maybe it would be a good idea to change your website format to show that.
Hilda Sterner says
Unfortunately, that feature is not built in into the template. Besides, if the jars doubled, so would all the other equipment, which wouldn't make sense. I guess they expect you to know that if you double the jam you'll need twice as many jars.
Robyn says
Do the pits need to be removed before making the huckleberry jam?
Rick says
Can you double the recipe with out a problem
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Rick, I haven't tried doubling it, but it's usually not recommended.
Hilda Sterner says
Is this a trick question? Huckleberries don't have pits!
Mary says
Thank you for this easy to follow huckleberry canned jam recipe however I could not imagine this amount of sugar in ratio to these beautiful and tart berries. I only added half and next time I will decrease the amount of sugar even more.
Hilda Sterner says
Thanks, Mary, thanks for the review. Unfortunately, when I've reduced the amount of sugar, it has a runnier texture. How did the texture turn out for you with less sugar?
Mary says
Hi Nina, I apologIze for not responding sooner. The jam came out fantastic with using half of the sugar and the jam set up nicely My family all stated that this was the best huckleberry jam they have ever eaten. I just canned another 8 jars this afternoon! Thank you again for your recipe with my sugar tweak!
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Mary, Hilda here, so glad you had success with this recipe. I'm really surprised that it jelled with 1/2 the sugar! You must be clearing out huckleberries from your freezer, getting ready for a new year of picking, I can't wait!
Twyla Haskett says
I tried this recipe and things came out beautifully i just tweeked it a little i used 8 cups of berries to 5 cups of sugar. And i also made some huckleberry bbq sauce and omg it was to die for so yummy and i also made huckleberry syrup nothing went to waste and nothing went wrong. So don’t forget your lemon juice and my sugar was the last to go in . Good luck ever
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Twyla,
Glad to hear everything went as planned! I'm getting ready to make some huckleberry wine to make room in the freezer. 🙂
Mandy says
I want to supplement with some raspberries added to the huckleberries. Should I make any alterations to the recipe or can I keep everything the same?
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Mandy, I would keep everything else the same. Good luck!
Laurie says
This recipe is fantastic!! Even better than my absolute favorite Huckleberry preserves from the Huckleberry Patch near Glacier Park in MT!! My husband and son agree with me! Loved all of the extra tips like straining the juice from frozen huckleberries (we picked the huckleberries in MT this summer but had frozen them) and the high altitude notes which were so appreciated as I live at 6,000 ft in COlorado. So excited to have found this recipe! Thank you!
Hilda Sterner says
Thanks, Laurie, I'll take that as a compliment, since I love the Huckleberry Patch, especially their pie! When I lived in San Diego, I used to pay a lot of $ to have them ship me a pie every year to give my husband for Father's Day! Anyhow, thank you very much for the review!
Dianna says
Added a little habanero, just enough for a taste. Very good!
Hilda Sterner says
Oooh, Dianna, I LOVE the way you think. I've been meaning to do the same. Enjoy & thank you for the review!