Chia seeds have come a long way since the chia pets of our youth. At some point in the last five years, we wised up to the fact that these little gray-colored seeds are way better as food than they ever were as pet of eternally growing hair— something the Aztecs figured out centuries ago.
If anything is a superfood, it's chia seeds. They're packed with omega-3 fatty acids, rich in fiber and protein, and — most important for our jam-making purposes — they turn any liquid into a thick gel. That's right — chia seeds will absorb several times their mass in liquid, creating a jelly-like substance in the process.
When making fruit jam with chia seeds, the seeds do all the work. Instead of cooking fruit down, relying on pectin, and adding sugar to help it set, like traditional jam, all you need to do is mash up some fruit and stir in a few tablespoons of chia seeds. Within a few minutes, the chia seeds will absorb the fruit juices and thicken it to a jammy consistency.
The best ratio of fruit to chia seeds is two cups of fruit to two tablespoons of chia seeds. Start with this ratio, then if your fruit was very juicy or you'd like a thicker consistency, stir in more chia seeds one teaspoon at a time.
Chia jam is a bit looser and more sauce-like than the kind of traditional, fully-cooked jam you buy at the store or make yourself when canning. It gets a bit thicker after some time in the fridge, but will never thicken to quite the same sturdy, sticky consistency of regular jam. But you can still spread it on toast, spoon it over yogurt, or stir it into oatmeal, just like usual!
Chia jam is — or at least can be — much less sweet than regular jam. Since we're not relying on sugar to help set the jam, we can add as much or as little sweetener as we want. Honey, agave, maple syrup, or regular sugar can also all be used.
For a more jam-like flavor and consistency, I recommend cooking the fruit briefly on the stovetop before mixing in the chia seeds. I think this helps extract the juices better than simply mashing the fruit in a bowl, and it also softens the fruit into a jammier texture. The color of cooked fruit is more vibrant and the flavor is more deeply fruity. If you'd rather skip this cooking step, expect your jam to be somewhat looser and more syrupy.
The chia seeds will stay visible in the jam after mixing. This isn't a big deal with darker-colored fruits or fruits that also have seeds, like strawberries and blackberries, but you might not want them speckling your jar of peach jam.
If you'd prefer not to have visible chia seeds in your finished jam, puree the jam in a blender or with an immersion blender. You'll still see some small flecks of seeds, but they will be much less obvious than before blending. If you'd like to keep a somewhat chunky texture, blend just a portion of the jam with the chia seeds, then stir it back in with the rest of the jam. Personally I don't care if I see little flecks of the seeds.
That's it. Toss 2 Cups of your favorite berries into a blender with 2 Tbsp of chia seeds, add any sweetener if you like to the taste you prefer. I add 2 Tbsp's of honey. Happy Jamming!
