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!
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:
Homemade Hot Dog Relish
Banana Jam
Candied Watermelon Rind
Mixed Berry Rhubarb Jam
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
Ingredients
- 3 pounds of blueberries stems removed
- 1 1/2 cups of sugar
- 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice
- Zest of 2 lemons
- 3/4 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 1/4 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.
We have one blackberry bush in our yard and I love it. I’m hoping to add a blueberry and raspberry bush next year. I love blueberry lemon jam, it’s one of my favorite. Great twist with adding the basil, I bet that gives it a great flavor.
Oh how I wish I had the blueberry plants like you. What a wonderful jam to make from the harvest. Love that it has basil in it because it is one of my favorite herbs.
I love it! Looks mighty delish!!
OH MY GOODNESS!! This looks soooo good! We both know how I feel about blueberries – I’d be licking the jar clean!
This is me…being VERY jealous of your garden. Send me jam…it’ll make me feel better. 😀
I have recently become obsessed with lemon basil combinations…and now blueberries! Where has this been all my life?! Yum!
Great idea! I even have lime basil growing in my backyard… I might just try a twist!
I ended up putting half of my basil plant into this and the basil barely came through at all and I have a pretty refined palate. My boyfriend however doesnt and couldnt taste it at all. Any tips on how to make it come through more prominently? I tried expressing the oils and finely chopping it and ended up using over 30 leaves.
There are a lot of flavors going on in this jelly, so yes the Basil was meant to be a light aftertaste. I use very large leaves so I get the hint of flavor I was going for, but if you want more flavor, you will definitely have to use more leaves. I am a bit surprised that you used 30 leaves and still couldn’t get much flavor. I get light flavor with 10 large leaves and have made this a couple of times. I also make a lemon Basil Jam where I use about 25 leaves and it gives a LOT of flavor.
I would maybe suggest using less blueberry and lemon to help boost the basil flavor and of course use more basil. I hope you find the balance you are looking for. If not, I’ve seen some pretty yummy Basil Jelly recipes running around on Pinterest, so I’m sure you can find something that suites your taste. 🙂
Yum!!! This is such a creative mix, and can imagine it now on a lovely Panini with chicken, spinach and brie… wow, I need to make this jam now!!!!
Blueberries, lemon, and basil is a perfect combo. All of those flavors belong together. This jam looks so good. I love that you’re growing blueberries. I’m super jealous right now.
Never thought to put blueberries and basil together. Sounds intriguing.
I love blueberry jam. The addition of lemon and basil sound out of this world.
Such a beautiful color Nicole.
Oooh, you sold me when you mentioned the chicken breast, Nicole! This lovely jam would indeed be great on everything!
I love blueberry jam, but this one sounds completely wonderful! What a great idea to use basil!
Nicole, holy yum, woman! This sounds incredible! What a fabulous combination of flavour – I love basil with fruit. That long list of instructions freaks me out a bit, I’m not going to lie. I really want to try my hand at making jam though so I’m just going to have it suck it up!
I wish I had blueberries growing in my garden… so jealous! This looks amazing and that color is stunning!
Nicole, it not only sounds like it will be delicious, it’s gorgeous! Love your pictures and I can’t wait to try the recipe.
One time, just one time do I want to be able to say, “my garden is overflowing with blueberries.” I love them and your jam looks so good!
This jam looks amazing! Blueberries are one of my favorite fruits! That is awesome that you have them in your garden.
It’s beautiful! !
Looks and sounds delicious! We’re going blueberry picking this Saturday and maybe we’ll get enough to make some of this. Great flavors!
How beautiful! I adore home made jam xxx
What incredible flavour combinations you have in this preserve. I can’t wait to try it.
I just recently discovered how awesome blueberries with lemon is. Such a good combination. I plan on using some of my recently acquired purple basil to make this up. Yummy! Thanks for a very good recipe.
I live on an Island a just drove 10 miles to get the lemons . after reading the comments it sold me, my friend and I are excited to try the blubbery lemon with the basil : )
I live on an Island a just drove 10 miles to get the lemons . after reading the comments it sold me, my friend and I are excited to try the blubbery lemon with the basil : )
I have read this recipe 10 times and can’t figure out when to add the water…
Check out #5.
What size jars are these?
The jars I used are approximately 8 ounces – a standard jelly jar.
Hi! How strong is the basil flavor? We LOVE basil so considering using more than you call for…
Thanks!!
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.
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.
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!
What can I do if I don’t have a cheesecloth handy? Guess I should’ve read the instructions before buying the ingredients.