Monday, August 12, 2019

Strawberry Jam - Low Sugar - Instant Pot

One of the things I don't personally like about Weight Watchers is so many pre-made food are either high in points or if you want a lower point choice, you have to get the sugar free option. "Sugar-free" is a misnomer, really it means "artificial sweeteners." There are varying opinions on artificial sweeteners and which ones, if any are ok. I do eat them but I try to do it in moderation.

The other option, one I have often employed, is it make my own from scratch foods when I can that just use less real sugar or in some cases a sugar replacement, like monkfruit, that I am ok with.

With this in mind, I set out to make some low sugar strawberry jam in my trusty Instant Pot.

This jam is 1 point for up to 4 tablespoons, the recipe makes about 5 cups of jam.

Ingredients
4 quarts of strawberries, hulled and sliced in quarters
1/2 cup of sugar
1 medium lemon, juiced
4 tablespoons of cornstarch

Directions
Put strawberries in the bottom of Instant Pot, sprinkle sugar on them and stir. Allow the berries to sit in the sugar for 30-60 minutes. The sugar will draw out the juice from the berries.

Using a small strainer, squeeze the juice from the lemon on to the berries and stir. Set the Instant Pot to pressure cook, high, for 1 minute.

After the cooking cycle has completed, allow it to naturally release the pressure for 20-25 minutes. Should any pressure remain, you can quick release it.

Change the Instant Pot to saute, normal. Stir the berry mixture to break up any large strawberry pieces or if you want a less chunky jam, you can use a potato masher or immersion blender to get a smoother consistency. I prefer it with some berry chunks.

Scoop out about a cup of the berry mixture's liquid into a small bowl. Do this carefully as it's extremely hot. Wisk in the cornstarch until smooth. Return the corn starch mixture to the Instant Pot and stir well.

The mixture should begin to thicken, continue to stir until it's slightly thinner than jam and then turn off the heat. It will thicken a little bit more as it cools.

After it cools, pour it into jars or other containers and store it in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks or the freezer.

I split mine into several containers and put one in the fridge and the remaining ones in the freezer for future use. This jam is a little more tart than you will be used to with store purchased jams, if you want, you can add more sugar but it will increase the points per serving.


This blog is not affiliated with Weight Watchers in any way. This post may contain affiliate links, if you make a purchase using one of these links this blog may receive a small commission. Thank you for your support.