Make Homemade Raspberry Preserves at home with fresh or frozen raspberries in less than 30 minutes with ingredients you already have in your kitchen with no pectin required. It’s sweet, tart, flavorful and the perfect topping for sourdough bread, biscuits and scones.
I love making homemade fruit preserves, with only a few ingredients I can have a delicious spread without having to go to the supermarket to buy a jar. Another benefit of making raspberry preserves at home is you know exactly what is going into your food, no preservatives or harmful chemicals. The only preservative in this recipe are sugar and lemon juice.
Looking for delicious filling recipes? Try my recipes for Blueberry Preserves, Cultured Butter, Cranberry Jam, Honey Butter and Cream Cheese Crepe Filling.
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What are raspberry preserves?
Raspberry Preserves are a mixture of fresh raspberries, sugar and lemon juice that’s cooked until the berries are mushy and the sugar is completely dissolved. This creates a sweet and tart spread that can be eaten with bread. Preserves are much easier to make than jams and jellies since it doesn’t require really strict temperature control.
No pectin needed!
I don’t normally stock pectin in my kitchen, but that’s never stopped me from making yummy homemade preserves. Some fruits like blueberries are naturally high in pectin, which naturally thickens the preserves, while fiber in raspberries and strawberries help create a chunky mixture without needing thickener. I love using a little cornstarch in my raspberry preserves because I love the texture and shine it imparts. If you don’t have any on hand you can leave it out, your preserves may not be as thick or glossy, but it will still be delicious.
Small Batch Recipe
This recipe makes a small batch, about 10 oz, so I don’t usually bother going through the effort of canning or doing a hot water bath. I usually make this recipe with pints of overripe raspberries that I forget in the refrigerator. This is enough to have for breakfast with a little bit leftover to enjoy for up to two weeks. You will have to refrigerate any leftovers.
If you’d like to make a larger quantity, this recipe doubles easily. Store the preserves in a plastic container in the freezer to keep it for up to a year.
What You Need
Raspberries - both fresh and frozen work great for this recipe
Sugar - granulated sugar works best in preserves, and acts as a natural preservative
Lemon juice - acts as a natural preservative and adds more tartness without making the preserves too acidic
Cornstarch - helps thicken the fruit mixture and adds shine, feel free to leave it out if you don’t have any on hand
Step-by-Step Instructions
STEP 1: Combine raspberries, sugar, lemon juice and cornstarch in a small saucepan
STEP 2: Stir the ingredients until all of the cornstarch is dissolved
STEP 3: Cook the mixture over medium heat until thickened
STEP 4: Store in a 16 oz jar or another airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks
How to Enjoy Raspberry Preserves
- Slather it on sourdough scones or sourdough biscuits.
- Make blintzes with sourdough crepes and cream cheese filling.
- Spread it on sourdough dinner rolls or sourdough discard sandwich bread.
- Add a dollop to your overnight sourdough waffles or sourdough buttermilk pancakes.
- Swirl it with chocolate ganache on top of sourdough chocolate cake.
Recipe FAQs
Raspberry preserves are made of fresh or frozen raspberries, sugar, lemon juice and a little bit of cornstarch to add shine and thicken the mixture.
Raspberry preserves are excellent with scones, biscuits, sourdough bread or used in filling for breads, pies or tarts. You can even add it to sauces for meat!
No, preserves contain whole pieces of fruit while jelly does not.
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Raspberry Preserves (no pectin)
Equipment
- small saucepan
- spatula
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Ingredients
- 175 grams raspberries fresh or frozen
- 200 grams granulated sugar
- 38 grams lemon juice 1 medium-sized lemon
- 2 grams cornstarch optional
Instructions
- Combine the ingredients: With the heat turned off, combine raspberries, sugar, lemon juice and cornstarch in a small saucepan. Stir the mixture thoroughly to ensure all of the cornstarch is fully incorporated, otherwise you’ll get tiny cornstarch dumplings in your preserves.
- Cook the mixture: Over medium heat bring the mixture to a boil. Turn the heat down and bring the mixture to a simmer for 15 to 25 minutes or until thickened or it has reduced to about a little over a cup. Use a heat-proof spatula to scrape the bottom of the pot to prevent the mixture from sticking and scorching.
- Enjoy: Take the mixture off the heat, transfer to a jar and allow it to cool for 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy the preserves with sourdough toast, biscuits or scones.
- Store: Store any leftovers in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. Or freeze for up to a year (make sure you leave room in your jar for expansion if you want to go this route).
Tips
These recipes were developed and tested using grams for precise measurements. To increase your chances of success, I recommend investing in a kitchen scale. I've included rough volume estimates (in tablespoons and cups), but they might not be totally accurate.
Remember all ovens are unique, these recipes were tested in my oven which runs cooler than others. You might need to lower the temperature if your bake appears to be browning too quickly. Monitor your bake closely and make adjustments if needed.
Rufus Reed says
Followed the recipe to a “t” and it came out perfectly. Keep stirring and don’t overheat and you will have an amazingly tangy, tart preserve.
Lynda Golden says
Can I use the lemon juice from a bottle or do I need to use a lemon ?
Hannah Dela Cruz says
Yes - lemon juice from a bottle would work perfectly.
Debra says
will this work well if I hot water bath?
Hannah Dela Cruz says
Yes! It will absolutely work with a hot water bath/canning. I just never do it since I usually make such a small batch.
Hannah @ Make It Dough says
Cooking berries is a way of preserving them so they do not go bad. Heat will of course cause any fruit to breakdown, causing their appearance to change. The tartness of your raspberries depends on the particular fruit you purchase.
Virginia Hunter says
Easy and delicious! Thank you
Hannah @ Make It Dough says
thank you for the feedback! So happy you enjoyed this recipe!
Matt from Pennsylvania says
just made this recipe when I had a local farmers market doing boxes of raspberries cheap. all were super ripe so needed to be processed quickly. This was perfect! Made mine seedless bc of health issues and it turned out great!
Hannah @ Make It Dough says
Hi Matt! Ripe raspberries from the farmer's market, how lucky. I bet your preserves tasted excellent. Thank you so much for the feedback.
Hannah
Empressio says
really lovely simple recipe which was perfect for glut of raspberries in garden.Nice sharpness I made mine seedless and very pleased with result thanks.
Hannah @ Make It Dough says
Thank you for trying this recipe and I'm so glad you loved it!