مربى الفراولة والراوند
Sweet strawberries and puckery rhubarb collapse into a jewel-red jam with a soft, spoonable set — no boxed pectin required, because rhubarb carries plenty of its own and lemon juice switches it on. A short maceration draws the juices out first, so the fruit boils hard and fast in a wide pot and the flavor stays bright and tangy instead of turning caramel-dark.
Toss 450 g (1 lb) each of sliced rhubarb and quartered strawberries with 500 g (2 1/2 cups) sugar and a pinch of salt, then let the fruit macerate 30 minutes until syrupy. Stir in 45 ml (3 tbsp) lemon juice and boil hard in a wide, heavy pot, stirring often and mashing lightly, for 15-20 minutes until the jam reaches 104 C / 220 F or a dollop wrinkles when nudged on a freezer-chilled plate. Rest 5 minutes off the heat, skim the foam, and ladle into warm jars — about 3 half-pints, no added pectin needed.
- Macerating first pulls the juice out of the fruit, so it boils in its own syrup instead of scorching on the bottom of the pot.
- Use the widest pot you own — more surface area means faster evaporation and a set in 15-20 minutes instead of a long, flavor-dulling simmer.
- Trust the plate test over the clock: jam thickens dramatically as it cools, so pull it the moment a chilled dollop wrinkles.
Equipment
- Wide, heavy-bottomed pot (5 L / 5 qt or larger)
- Kitchen scale
- Heatproof spatula or wooden spoon
- Instant-read thermometer (optional but helpful)
- Ladle
- 3 half-pint (240 ml) glass jars with lids
- Small plate, chilled in the freezer, for the set test
المكونات
Jam
- 450 g fresh rhubarb stalks, leaves discarded, stalks trimmed and sliced 1 cm / 1/2 inch thick
- 450 g fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
- 500 g granulated sugar
- 45 ml fresh lemon juice, from about 1 large lemon
- 2 g finely grated lemon zest, optional, brightens the finished jam
- 1 g fine sea salt
الطريقة
- خطوة01
Trim the rhubarb, discard every bit of leaf (the leaves are not edible), and slice the stalks about 1 cm / 1/2 inch thick. Hull the strawberries and quarter them, halving any small ones. You want pieces roughly the same size so they break down at the same rate.
- خطوة02
In your wide, heavy pot, combine the rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, and salt. Stir well, then let the mixture sit at room temperature for 30 minutes, stirring once or twice, until the sugar is mostly dissolved and the fruit is sitting in a pool of syrup. (You can also cover and refrigerate it overnight.)
- خطوة03
While the fruit macerates, put a small plate in the freezer for the set test and wash the jars and lids in hot, soapy water. Rinse and leave the jars filled with hot water, or hold them in a low oven at 120 C / 250 F, so they are warm when you fill them.
- خطوة04
Stir the lemon juice and zest into the pot and bring everything to a full, rolling boil over medium-high heat. Boil, stirring more and more frequently as it thickens and mashing the fruit lightly with your spatula, until the bubbles turn glossy and slow and the jam reaches 104 C / 220 F, about 15 to 18 minutes. Lower the heat slightly near the end if it starts to spit or catch.
- خطوة05
Pull the pot off the heat. Spoon a little jam onto the frozen plate, return the plate to the freezer for 1 minute, then push the blob with a fingertip. If the surface wrinkles and your finger leaves a clean track, it is done. If it floods back in, boil 2 to 3 minutes more and test again.
- خطوة06
Let the finished jam rest off the heat for 5 minutes, then give it a stir — this keeps the fruit from floating to the tops of the jars. Skim any pale foam from the surface and ladle the hot jam into the warm jars, leaving about 1 cm / 1/2 inch of headspace.
- خطوة07
Screw on the lids and let the jars cool to room temperature on the counter; the jam will continue to thicken as it cools. Refrigerate once cool. For shelf-stable jars, process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes instead of counter-cooling.
Make ahead
You can macerate the fruit and sugar up to 24 hours ahead — cover and refrigerate, then proceed straight to the boil. The finished jam is a make-ahead by nature: its flavor is even better after a day in the fridge, so it is an easy do-ahead for brunches and gifting.
Storage
Refrigerate sealed jars for up to 3 weeks, or freeze for up to 6 months (leave 1 cm / 1/2 inch extra headspace so the glass does not crack). Jars processed in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes keep in a cool, dark pantry for up to 12 months; refrigerate after opening.
Variations
Vanilla Bean
Split half a vanilla bean, scrape the seeds into the pot with the lemon juice, and drop in the pod while the jam boils. Fish out the pod before jarring. The vanilla rounds off rhubarb's sharp edge and makes the jam taste almost like strawberry-rhubarb pie filling.
Ginger-Spiked
Add 1 tbsp (about 8 g) finely grated fresh ginger with the lemon juice. The gentle heat cuts through the sugar and plays beautifully with rhubarb's tartness — excellent on buttered toast or stirred into plain yogurt.
Lower-Sugar Chia Fridge Jam
For a refined-sugar-light version, simmer the fruit with just 60 ml / 1/4 cup maple syrup for 12-15 minutes, then stir in 2 tbsp (20 g) chia seeds off the heat and let it thicken for 15 minutes. It will not be shelf-stable or as glossy, but it keeps a week in the fridge and stays vegan and gluten-free.
Serve with
Nutrition per serving
Nutrition values are estimates based on the metric measurements. Adjust as needed.
الأسئلة الشائعة
Do I need added pectin for strawberry rhubarb jam?
No. Rhubarb is naturally rich in pectin, which is exactly why it is such a good jam partner for strawberries, which have very little. The lemon juice lowers the pH so that pectin can gel, and boiling to 104 C / 220 F concentrates the sugar enough to lock in a soft set. Skip the boxed stuff and you also skip the extra sugar most commercial pectins demand.
Can I make strawberry rhubarb jam with frozen fruit?
Yes, and it works well out of season. Use the same weights, macerate the frozen fruit with the sugar until fully thawed (about an hour), and expect the boil to run 3 to 5 minutes longer because frozen fruit releases more water. The set test works exactly the same way.
Why didn't my jam set, and can I fix it?
The usual culprits are pulling it off the heat too early or using a narrow, deep pot that evaporates slowly. Jam also looks deceptively liquid when hot — it thickens a lot as it cools. If it is still runny after fully cooling, scrape it back into the pot, boil hard for 3 to 4 minutes, and re-test on a chilled plate. And if it stubbornly stays loose, rebrand it: runny strawberry rhubarb jam is a fantastic pancake and ice cream sauce.
Is this jam shelf-stable, or does it have to live in the fridge?
As written it is a refrigerator jam. To make it pantry-stable, ladle the hot jam into sterilized jars, wipe the rims, apply two-piece canning lids, and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. The sugar level and added lemon juice in this recipe keep the acidity in safe territory for water-bath canning.
Can I reduce the sugar?
You can trim it to about 400 g (2 cups) and still get a decent, slightly softer set, though the jam will be tarter and should be used up within 2 weeks refrigerated, since sugar is part of what preserves it. Going much lower than that without pectin or chia (see the variation) usually yields a sauce rather than a jam.
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