Easy-to-Make Recipe for Homemade Mulberry Jam

By
Leda Meredith
Leda Meredith
Leda Meredith
Leda Meredith is a food writer and certified botanist who has written five books on foraging and preserving food.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
Updated on 08/25/21
Easy-to-Make Recipe for Homemade Mulberry Jam

The Spruce / Kristina Vanni
Prep: 30 mins
Cook: 10 mins
Canning Time: 5 mins
Total: 45 mins
Servings: 32 servings
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
167 Calories
0g Fat
43g Carbs
0g Protein
Show Full Nutrition Label Hide Full Nutrition Label
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 32
Amount per serving
Calories 167
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g 0%
Saturated Fat 0g 0%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 9mg 0%
Total Carbohydrate 43g 16%
Dietary Fiber 1g 3%
Total Sugars 40g
Protein 0g
Vitamin C 12mg 59%
Calcium 12mg 1%
Iron 1mg 3%
Potassium 60mg 1%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

Mulberries are an underappreciated fruit, often cursed by homeowners because when they're ripe, they can fall to the ground and make a mess on patios and walkways. Instead of allowing the berries to litter your outdoor space, why not harvest this delicious fruit and make jam? It's abundant enough that you should be able to harvest some for jam, eat some fresh, and freeze some for later.

The tricky thing is that mulberries don't all ripen at the same time. That's one of the reasons you'll rarely see them as a commercial crop—that, and the fact that they are delicate and don't ship well, which reduces their shelf life.

An easy way to harvest them is to lay down a ground cloth underneath the tree and shake the lower branches—the ripe berries will fall off onto the cloth. If you don't own any mulberry trees and don't have access to fresh mulberries, you can use frozen mulberries for this recipe.

Mulberries don't have enough pectin on their own, which is why you need to add pectin for this recipe to make sure the jam thickens and sets.

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds (900 grams) mulberries, fresh or frozen

  • 6 cups (1.35 kilograms) granulated sugar

  • 1/2 cup (120 milliliters) fresh lemon juice

  • 1 pinch freshly ground nutmeg

  • 1 (3-ounce) pouch liquid pectin

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Easy-to-Make Recipe for Homemade Mulberry Jam ingredients

    The Spruce / Kristina Vanni

  2. Sterilize the canning jars in boiling water.

    Sterilize the canning jars in boiling water

    The Spruce / Kristina Vanni

  3. While the jars are sterilizing, put the mulberries, sugar, and lemon juice into a large, nonreactive pot. (Do not use aluminum or nonenameled cast iron as these can create off colors and flavors in your jam; stainless steel or enameled cast iron are fine.)

    put the mulberries, sugar, and lemon juice into a large, nonreactive pot

    The Spruce / Kristina Vanni

  4. Bring the mixture to a full boil over high heat, stirring constantly to prevent scorching and to help the sugar dissolve.

    jam cooking in a pot

    The Spruce / Kristina Vanni

  5. Once the mixture has come to a full boil and the sugar is completely dissolved, add the pinch (a couple of scrapes on a grater) of freshly ground nutmeg.

    jam cooking in a pot

    The Spruce / Kristina Vanni

  6. Add the liquid pectin. Boil for 1 minute while stirring constantly. Remove from the heat.

    jam cooking in a pot, add the liquid pectin

    The Spruce / Kristina Vanni

  7. Skim off any foam that may have formed on the surface of the jam.

    skim foam off the jam

    The Spruce / Kristina Vanni

  8. Ladle the jam into the sterilized canning jars, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace. Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean damp cloth or paper towel.

    pour jams into jars

    The Spruce / Kristina Vanni

  9. Secure the canning lids, and process in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes.

    closed jars of jam

    The Spruce / Kristina Vanni

  10. Remove the jars from the water bath using a jar lifter or tongs. Set on a cooling rack or towels 1-inch apart. Let cool completely without disruption for 12 to 14 hours. The lids will pop or ping as they seal.

    jars in a water bath

    The Spruce / Kristina Vanni

  11. Test the seal by pressing down on the center of the lid; it should feel solid. If you remove the ring, the lid should not come off. Any jars that fail should be refrigerated and eaten right away or, if it has been less than 24 hours since canning, reprocessed with a new lid (and jar, if necessary).

    jam in jars

    The Spruce / Kristina Vanni

  12. Store in a dark, cool place for up to 1 year. Enjoy.

    Easy-to-Make Recipe for Homemade Mulberry Jam, jars in a box

    The Spruce / Kristina Vanni

Recipe Variation

Mulberries are a low pectin fruit, and the downside of this is that commercial pectin requires a lot of sugar to produce a gel. If you'd like to avoid using liquid pectin, you can combine the mulberries with a high pectin fruit such as apples, pears, oranges, and gooseberries. For a lower-sugar option, try using low-methoxyl pectin. You may also want to try mulberry jam made with homemade pectin.


The canning process makes the most sense when you have a large amount of jam—too much to eat in the near future and over a short period of time. But mulberries aren't sold in large quantities and ripen at different rates, so you may not have enough. If that's the case, it's just not worth it to go through the canning process. Simply spoon the cooked and cooled jam into small containers and freeze. Thaw as needed. It should keep for at least a year.

How Do You Get the Stems Out Of Mulberries?

If you have harvested your own berries, follow these steps to prepare them for making the jam. Even very ripe mulberries usually come off of the tree with a little bit of stem attached. It is a bit of work to remove the little stems, so it's up to you whether to take the time, but if you do, your jam will have a better texture.


  • First, you need to remove any leaves, sticks, and unripe (pink) berries from the bunch. (Don't eat any of the pink berries as they can make you sick.) 


  • Next, you need to wash the mulberries. Place them in a colander and rinse well with water, or put the berries in a sink or bowl of water, and then drain well in a strainer.


  • Treat them gently so you don't squish them and release their juices. Now you are ready to cook them down into jam.