This is my easy homemade plum jam recipe made with fresh plums, fragrant cardamom pods, and sugar. Three ingredients are all you need, and no pectin! I’ll also show you how to preserve this juicy, old-fashioned plum jam using my grandmother’s no-fuss canning method.
Plum jam makes a great addition to cheese boards, and I love spreading it on everything from dinner rolls with butter to silver dollar pancakes.
Fun fact: We have a little fruit orchard in our backyard. It’s where we grow pears, peaches, quince, grapes (that I stomp myself to make wine!), and the biggest, juiciest plums. When I’m not baking those plums into plum cake, I’m turning them into jam using my family’s plum jam recipe.
This homemade plum jam is so special. It’s spiced with cardamom, tangy-sweet, and spreadable. Perfect with a chunk of brie cheese and warm homemade bread on the side.
Why I Know You’ll Love This Plum Jam Recipe
- No peeling or pectin. You don’t need to peel the plums or add pectin to your jam.
- Beginner-friendly. This is a great small-batch plum jam recipe for beginners. My grandmother taught me how to make her strawberry jam using a similar method. It’s all but foolproof.
- No special equipment. You don’t need any water baths or preserving pans for this recipe. You will need canning jars if you plan to preserve your jam.
- Canning is optional. I include my quick method for canning jam at home using the oven. It’s an optional step, but great if you’d like to preserve this plum jam for pantry storage, since this recipe makes about 4 to 5 cups of jam.
Gather Your Jam Ingredients
I’ve made this plum jam with only fresh plums, sugar, and water, and it’s delicious! One day, I added cardamom pods, and the smell was heavenly. They’ve stayed part of my recipe ever since.
- Fresh Ripe Plums – Pick up plums from the farmer’s market, or, if you’re lucky enough to grow your own, you can pick them fresh. Just about any type of plum works in this recipe. Japanese plums are often what you’ll find in stores, and Damson plums are my personal favorites for jam. But you can make wild plum jam or use any available variety.
- Cardamom Pods – I prefer using whole green cardamom pods. If cardamom isn’t available, you can replace the pods with a tablespoon of nutmeg, or this plum jam recipe still tastes amazing without it.
- Sugar – Many jam recipes go pound-for-pound with their fruit and sugar (i.e., 1 pound of sugar for every 1 pound of plums in the recipe). I use less sugar in my plum jam; however, if you like a sweeter jam, feel free to add up to 1 extra cup of sugar.
Optional Add-ins and Variations
- Lemon juice. Lemon juice can help thicken and preserve the jam while brightening up the flavors. I don’t include it, but you can add up to 1 large lemon’s worth of juice to your jam, to taste.
- Warm spices. Add fresh or ground ginger, or make a spiced plum jam with cinnamon and cloves. You can strain out ingredients like cinnamon sticks and whole cloves with the cardamom pods.
- Fruit blends. Try plum and apricot jam, or make plum and apple jam with sweet-tart apples, like Granny Smith and Honeycrisp.
- Honey. You can sweeten this plum jam with honey instead of sugar. You’ll need slightly less, about ¾ cup of honey for every 1 cup of sugar.
Serving Suggestions
Plum jam goes well with cheese, desserts, and breakfast. I love smearing fresh plum jam over slices of zucchini bread with a cortado coffee in the morning, or I’ll use it as a topping for pancakes. But don’t stop there. These are just a few easy ways to use plum jam:
- As a spread. Spread this homemade plum jam on toast, croissants, or biscuits. Try it with a grilled cheese or feta-stuffed Macedonian dinner rolls (kifli) for a sweet and savory combo!
- Baking recipes. Plum jam makes a delicious filling for desserts like cakes, kolacky cookies, and muffins.
- Cheese boards. Sweet-tart plum jam is a great cheese board pairing with mild and sharp cheeses like goat cheese, gorgonzola, cream cheese, brie, and cheddar.
- As a glaze for meats. Use your plum jam in savory recipes, like pork medallions or roast pork loin brushed with plum jam glaze.
- Stockpot – I use a heavy 6-quart stockpot. You can cook jam in the same stockpot you’d use to boil pasta (nothing fancy).
- Wooden Spoon – For stirring. Wooden spoons have antibacterial properties and don’t conduct heat, which can affect the texture of the jam.
- Colander – For straining the plum mixture.
- Canning Jars with Lids – Since I’ll show you how to sterilize jars in the oven, the jars must be oven-proof.
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Prepare the plums. Place the rinsed and destemmed plums in a 6-quart stockpot. Stir in the water and the cardamom pods.
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Boil. Cook over medium heat and bring to a boil; reduce the heat to low and simmer for 1 hour. Remove from heat and allow the plums to completely cool.
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Strain. Place a colander on top of a large, deep bowl. Once the plums have cooled, pour them into the colander. Press the plums with your hands or a large wooden spoon against the colander to strain them.
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Squeeze out the pulp. Pick up the remaining fruit slurry in the colander by the handfuls and squeeze the pulp, skins, and cardamom seeds into the bowl with the syrup, retaining the pits and cardamom shells and then discarding them.
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Cook the jam. Put the plum mixture back into the stockpot, stir in the sugar, taste for sweetness, adjust if needed, and bring the mixture to a boil over medium-low heat. Turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for 3 hours, or until the mixture has thickened. Stir it every 20 to 30 minutes.
Canning Plum Jam
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Prep. Preheat oven to 200°F.
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Heat the jars. Wash the jars with soap and water, dry them, and place them mouth side up, without lids, in the oven for 10 minutes.
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Sterilize the lids. Sterilize the lids by putting them in a bowl and pouring boiling water over them. Allow to dry.
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Fill the jars. Spoon the hot plum jam into the hot, sterilized jars and seal. Allow jars to cool to room temperature.
Storage. Store canned plum jam in a cool, dark pantry for 6–12 months. Once opened, refrigerate and use within 2 weeks, checking for any signs of spoilage before serving.
Serving: 0.25cup | Calories: 137kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 0g | Fat: 0g | Saturated Fat: 0g | Cholesterol: 0mg | Sodium: 0mg | Potassium: 139mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 33g | Vitamin A: 295IU | Vitamin C: 8.2mg | Calcium: 7mg | Iron: 0.2mg
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
How to Make Plum Jam
It takes a bit of patience to make plum jam, but my family’s jam recipe is as foolproof as it gets. The stove does most of the work. Plus, the more jams and preserves you make from scratch, the better you’ll be at it. Here’s a look at the steps to set yourself up for success:
- Prepare the plums. Wash the plums well and remove the stems. Don’t pit the plums at this stage. Rather, you’ll boil the fruit and press out the pits later. So, add the plums whole to your stockpot.
- Boil the plums. Next, pour water over the plums and stir in the cardamom pods. Bring the pot to a boil over medium heat, then lower the heat and simmer the plums for 1 hour. Take them off the heat afterward and allow the plums to cool completely.
- Strain. When the plums are cool, strain them over a colander set over a deep bowl. Now, for the messy bit! Using your hands, press the plums down through the colander. Then, squeeze the leftover pulp by the handful. You want to press the pulp, skins, and cardamom seeds into the bowl below, while leaving the plum pits and cardamom shells in the colander to be discarded.
- Cook the jam. Return your plum mixture to the stockpot. Now, you’ll stir in the sugar and bring the jam to a boil over medium-low heat. Then, lower the heat and allow the jam to cook for 3 hours, stirring every 30 minutes or so, until thick.
How Long to Cook Jam
The best way to tell when your plum jam is ready is to perform a setting test. Chill a plate in the freezer. Dollop a spoonful of jam on the cold plate and let it sit for a minute. Then, gently pass the tip of your finger through the jam. If it wrinkles and gels, it’s ready! If the jam seems loose and liquid, it’s a sign that it needs to cook longer. Retest the jam every few minutes until it passes.
Canning Plum Jam, Step-by-Step
Once the jam has thickened to the right consistency, you can choose how you’d like to store it. Without canning, fresh homemade plum jam lasts in the fridge for about one month. For long-term pantry storage, here’s how to preserve plum jam in jars:
- Prep. Preheat your oven to 200°F. Wash the jars thoroughly with soap and water, and then dry them.
- Heat the jars. Arrange the jars inside the oven, mouths facing up and lids off. Heat the jars for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, sterilize the lids. Pour boiling water over the jar lids in a heatproof bowl. Afterward, allow the lids to dry.
- Can the jam. Once you’re ready, spoon the hot plum jam into the hot, sterilized jars and seal them tightly. Leave the jam jars to cool to room temperature.
Our family pantry is stocked with jams, fruit preserves, and red pepper relish every year! Properly sealed and preserved plum jam will last in a cool, dry place, like a pantry, for up to 12 months. Of course, always inspect your jars when you open them. If something smells off or looks discolored, discard the jar for safety’s sake.
Storage and Shelf-Life
- Pantry storage. Canned plum jam can be kept in the pantry out of direct heat or sunlight for 6-12 months.
- Refrigerate after opening. Keep any cans of jam refrigerated after opening. Plum jam lasts in the fridge for a couple of weeks. Always check the jam for signs of spoilage before serving.
