Pineapple Jam Recipe

This Pineapple jam recipe is simple, with only three ingredients, and adds a unique flavor option to your repertoire. 

I love having a variety of jams and jellies on hand – as a little perusal of this blog will show you. Our collection of jam and jelly recipes here has gotten fairly large. 

It’s just a lot of fun to be able to pull out whatever flavor sounds good on a given morning, and have something different to be able to give away as a small gift. 

Pineapple jam is something you don’t see every day, but it’s a really taste treat, and super easy to make! This one is especially good as an ice cream topper, cake filling, or used to flavor pork or chicken. It’s also great on toast or in yogurt!

3 Ingredient Pineapple Jam

In general jam is easy to make, but it usually does require pectin to help it set up. 

However, while pineapple jam can be made with pectin, it doesn’t need it. In fact, using pectin requires using a higher percentage of sugar, which just makes it incredibly sweet, and less fruity. 

So this recipe is going to use three simple ingredients: 

• Pineapple. You can use fresh pineapple, but because I live in an area where pineapples don’t grow, I usually opt for the ease of crushed, canned pineapple. 
• Lemon juice. To offset the sweetness of the pineapple and sugar, we add a little bit of lemon or lime juice
• Sugar. Since we’re not going to use pectin in this recipe, the sugar and pineapple work together both to create the flavor, and the perfect jammy consistency. 

Swaps and substitutions

There isn’t a lot of substitutions to be made here, but there are some additions. 

Brown sugar. The one main swap you can do easily is subbing some or all of the white sugar for brown sugar. 

Add spices. Either whole spices tied up in a cheese cloth while the jam simmers, or a small amount of ground spices added to the jam adds a lot of flavor! I recommend 1-2 cinnamon sticks, a knob of ginger, and some lemon zest. 

You can also add some larger pineapple chunks to create more of a pineapple preserves consistency. 

Equipment Needed For making Pineapple Jam

The equipment you’ll need partly depends on whether or not you plan to can your jam. 

For making the jam itself, you’ll only need a pot and measuring cups. If you’re using canned pineapple, you’ll need a can opener. If you’re using fresh pineapple, you’ll need a knife and cutting board. 

For canning the jam, you’ll need jelly jars. In these pictures you’ll see that I used a mix of 4 oz. jars, and 8 oz. jars. 4 oz jars are great for putting in gift baskets, so I like to use a few of them in nearly every bath of jam or jelly I make. 

You’ll also need lids and rings. If your jars are new, they likely came with lids and rings. But lids are single use, so if they’re used, you’ll probably need replacement lids. You can pick up new lids at most stores, but I like to order mine through Denali Canning. They have a money back guarantee, and virtually always seal. I should note also that I’ve bought some of Walmart’s house brand jars in the past, and their lids didn’t seal worth a darn, so just skipped straight to Denali lids with those. 

A water Bath Canner. This can be a simple stock pot, or any pot that is at least a few inches taller than your jars so that they can be completely submerged in water. Make sure you have a rack in the bottom of your pot, whatever you choose to use, so that you have even heating, and don’t break any jars. I have this stainless steel pot, which I use most of the time, and also this enamel one as my backup (it’s handy when I’m doing a lot of canning!. They both work equally well, but I do like being able to see inside the pot with my glassed lidded canner. 

Homemade Pineapple Jam

1. If using fresh pineapple, peel and core your pineapple, and cut into chunks. 
2. Use an immersion blender or food processor to blend the pineapple down to smaller chunks, resembling crushed pineapple. Add up to half a cup of pineapple juice per pineapple to the food processor to make it blend smoothly if needed.
   
3. Add pineapple, lemon juice, and sugar to a saucepan, and heat to a simmer over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved
   
4. Simmer for about 30 minutes, until the jam has reduced significantly, and no longer appears to contain excess water. If in doubt, remove a small amount of jam on a spoon, and let cool for a minute or two, and observe how much it thickens as it cools. 
   
5. Remove jam from heat and let cool before transferring to refrigerator containers, or proceed to canning. 

How to can pineapple jam

1. Ladle jam into jelly jars, wipe rims clean, place lids, and screw down rings firmly. Side note: Since jars are reusable and lids are not, I typically bulk order Denali Canning lids to replace whatever came with the jars after their first use. I love them because they have a money back guarantee! I do a lot of canning, so it’s important to me to have a reliable seal. 
   
2. Once jars are prepared, prepare a water bath canner with hot water, and place jars in canner. Make sure water covers jars by at least an inch. 
3. Place lid on pot, and bring to a rolling boil over medium high heat.
4. Process Pint jars for 10 minutes, or half pints and smaller for 5 minutes. 
5. After processing time, remove canner from heat and let cool. If you need to use the canner for more batches of jam, Use a jar lifter to remove hot jars from the water. Protect the jars from drafts, and yourself with a towel as you carefully move them to a place where they can cool, undisturbed. Cover jars with a towel to protect them, and let cool completely.
6. After 24 hours, check seal, and store in a cool place out of direct light. 

More jam recipes to enjoy: 

• Raspberry Peach Jam
• Cranberry Jam
• Orange Jam
• Strawberry-Rhubarb Jam
• Cinnamon Pear Jam

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