The sweet summery goodness of Blueberries, the tangy taste of lemon and the sweet spiciness of basil combines in this gorgeous and very delicious jam. Blueberry Lemon Basil Jam will quickly become a favorite!

Our garden has been over flowing with blueberries this summer, so we set out to do some canning to preserve some.
This wonderful Blueberry Lemon Basil Jam was born by our overabundance of these blueberries and our basil which is also growing like a weed.
I love canning so I was pretty excited to find out that was our theme this week for our Sunday event.
Our garden is overflowing with vegetables this year and I know we will be canning a lot of it.
This year we added three blueberry bushes to the mix, and have not been disappointed.

We wound up with so many blueberries I was actually afraid we would not be able to use them all up.
So we’ve been freezing a lot of them, but I’ve also been making jams.
This Blueberry Lemon Basil Jam is our favorite we’ve made so far this year.
So full of flavor and tastes great on toast, waffles, bagels, sandwiches and even smothering a grilled chicken breast!
Soooo good!

Looking for some more recipes so you can preserve your harvest? You’re sure to find something below!
Cool Condiments:
Chow Chow Relish
Homemade Hot Dog Relish
Apricot Ginger Jam
Banana Jam
Candied Watermelon Rind
Mixed Berry Rhubarb Jam
Quick Peacharine Chutney
Fermented (Sour) Pickles
Fire Roasted Salsa
Hot and Spicy Giardiniera
Jalapeños en Escabeche (Pickled Jalapeños)
Oi Kimchi (Korean Cucumber Kimchi)
Spicy Sweet Tomato Chutney
Blueberry Lemon Basil Jam Recipe
Sweet, summery goodness in a jar. Lovely flavor, goes great on anything you’d use jam on!

Blueberry Lemon Basil Jam
The sweet summery goodness of Blueberries, the tangy taste of lemon and the sweet spiciness of basil combines in this gorgeous and very delicious jam. Blueberry Lemon Basil Jam will quickly become a favorite!
Ingredients
- 3 pounds of blueberries, stems removed
- 1 ½ cups of sugar
- 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice
- Zest of 2 lemons
- ¾ cup of water
- 10 basil leaves
- 1 tablespoon of powdered pectin
Instructions
- To start, stick a small plate into your refrigerator to chill. This is used to test the jam constancy later on.
- In a great big bowl, you're going to mix up the blueberries with the sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest. Allow to sit for a bit. While it's sitting, get your jars together and start preparing them.
- Prepare your jars for canning - I use a ball canning kit so I just followed the directions on the insert. I used two mason jars and 2 old small jelly jars I'd been saving for the photos. (seen in photo) Four Mason jars should work sufficiently for you. Depending on your canning equipment on hand, you might need to purchase a canning kit to properly prepare your jars for canning.
- In a small piece of cheese cloth, lay the basil leaves on top and smash, and slice them up a bit so they release their full flavor. Tie the cheesecloth closed with some kitchen twine or string.
- In a medium pot on medium heat on the stove, add the blueberry mixture and the basil cheesecloth package with the water.
- Heat the mixture to a boil.
- Once the mixture is boiling, mash the berries up so they are no longer chunky. You can use whatever you want to mash them, I just used the back of a spoon.
- You want the mixture to be much smoother. Don't hesitate to smash that bag of basil down into the blueberry either, just to get some more of that flavor in.
- Boil the entire mixture for about 20 minutes or so. Be sure and stir it up frequently so it doesn't stick and it's evenly cooked.
- At the end of 20 minutes, use a spoon to skim off the foam that collects on top. Remove as much as you can. It all has to go.
- Reduce your heat to a low simmer (make sure it's still bubbling) and continue skimming off the foam and stirring often until the jam thickens. If you don't stir often enough, and the jam begins to thicken, you will burn the jam. To get to the properly thickened stage, it took me to about the 45 minute mark but can take more than an hour to accomplish.
- Stir in the pectin at this point and stir well.
- You can now test the jam with the plate we put in the refrigerator.
- Grab the plate and plop a small spoonful onto the plate and then stick it back into the refrigerator for about a minute. Remove and tilt the plate a bit to the side. If the jam runs, it's not ready. It should stay right where it is. If it's not ready, continue cooking and stirring and add a little more pectin if needed, but often if you just give it a bit more time it will thicken and gel.
- When the jam is finally ready, remove the cheesecloth filled with the basil with a slotted spoon. You can throw this all away.
- Using a ladle with a spout, ladle the jam into your jam jars leaving about a ¼ inch of room between the jam and the top of the jar. Screw on the lids (be careful jars are VERY hot).
- Submerge them in rapidly boiling water for an additional 5 minutes.
- When they are done, remove them from the water and listen for the audible sound which will let you know they are sealed. It's a weird kind of pop sound with a little metal ring to it and sometimes isn't very loud.
- Allow the jam to sit for at least 24 hours before using.
Corey
Friday 17th of September 2021
What can I do if I don’t have a cheesecloth handy? Guess I should’ve read the instructions before buying the ingredients.
Renee
Wednesday 28th of August 2019
It's too hot where I am so no abundant blueberry plants. Can I substitute with frozen blueberries? Do I need to alter anything else in the recipe if I do? Thanks in advance.
Nicole Cook
Sunday 1st of September 2019
Renee, I have not tried this recipe with frozen blueberries, so I actually cannot say how this particular recipe will turn out. HOWEVER I do know it can be done, and here is an article that might help you. https://www.leaf.tv/articles/how-to-make-jam-from-frozen-fruit/ Good luck and enjoy!
Emily
Sunday 11th of August 2019
Hi! How strong is the basil flavor? We LOVE basil so considering using more than you call for... Thanks!!
Nicole Cook
Tuesday 13th of August 2019
Hi Emily, the flavor is meant to be light and so yes if you love basil and want it to really shine through, feel free to use as much as you'd like.
chrissy
Wednesday 15th of August 2018
What size jars are these?
Nicole Cook
Wednesday 15th of August 2018
The jars I used are approximately 8 ounces - a standard jelly jar.
cindy uffelman
Monday 9th of June 2014
I have read this recipe 10 times and can't figure out when to add the water...
TRACEY
Tuesday 10th of September 2019
Check out #5.