Low Sugar Peach and Pineapple Jam Recipe
This page may contain affiliate links. More Information.
Peach and pineapple jam recipe. Jam in the middle of winter—it’s like a little burst of sunshine right in your kitchen. Sweet peaches and tangy pineapple make a great jam with low sugar!
Low Sugar Peach Pineapple Jam
Know your Canner
Good news—this is a water bath or steam canning recipe. If you’re new to canning , don’t worry— I’ve got full water bath steps on this page below. You can also find more information on both steam canning and water bath canning in these links.
- Step-by-step water bath canning guide here to walk you in detail through the process. It’s much less intimidating than you might think!
- How to use a steam canner here. Packing your jars, and processing time are the same as if you are using a water bath. The use of the canner is a bit different.
Ingredients and Notes
These are the ingredients for my single batch. Pomonas is flexible on the size of your batches. Check the package instructions for specific amounts of different batch sizes.
- 4 cups fruit – You can adjust the ratio of fruit if you like. I used the following.
- Peaches: 3 cups, peeled and chopped — Choose ripe peaches. Jam is a good way to use up very ripe fruit, but do not use spoiled fruit. Remember there is a difference between overripe and moldy! No mold or black bruising please.
- Pineapple: 1 cup, crushed (fresh or canned) — If using fresh pineapple, make sure it’s fully ripe. I used canned crushed pineapple and kept the juice.
- Sugar: 3/4 cup to 2 cups — To taste. Pomona’s Pectin lets you use much less sugar than traditional pectin. You can adjust anywhere from no sugar to the full amount, depending on your taste. I used 1 cup sugar.
- Lemon juice: 1/4 cup — Helps balance the sweetness and ensure proper acidity so the jam sets up nice.
- Pomona’s Pectin: 1 package, including both the pectin and calcium water. (Details about Pomonas below.)
Peeling the Peaches
- Peeling peaches: To easily peel peaches, blanch them in boiling water for 30- 60 seconds, then plunge them into ice water. The skins should slip right off. For pictures of this process see my canning peaches page where I have detailed the steps.
- Do you have to peel the peaches? Safety wise, no. However. The peels are unappealing in your jam. I do leave my peels in apricot jam… but peach peels are thicker and leave a poor quality. I suggest peeling them.
Alternative Sweetener:
You can also substitute other sweeteners when using a low sugar pectin like Pomonas. Honey is a favorite for us. Maple syrup is another. Obviously flavors will change.
Tips for using Pomonas Pectin
- Making the Calcium water: When I first heard of Pomonas I was a bit put off by reading about calcium water.
What?? What is calcium wanter? Is this going to make it difficult??
Don’t worry, it’s very easy. You will simply measure and mix the powder with a little bit of water. I keep mine in a small jar. It can be kept in the refrigerator for use next time too. - Mixing Pectin with sweetener: Don’t skip this step! Pomona’s Pectin needs to be mixed with the sugar first to prevent clumping when added to the fruit. (ask me how I know!). If you are using honey, or a different sweetener, mix the pectin with that.
- Mixing pectin if you are using NO sweetener: If you are making jam with no sweetener at all you can dissolve the pectin in water or juice (apple or grape). Bring ¾C water or juice to boil. Turn off heat and add pectin. Blend (in a blender or with a stick blender) until dissolved with no lumps. Be very careful blending hot liquids! Personally I think its much easier to simply mix the pectin with a small amount of sweetener.
Don’t forget to mix the pectin in the sweetener first!
Peach Pineapple Jam Recipe
Now your jar is ready for the canner.
Low Sugar Peach Pineapple Jam Recipe
Sweet tangy peach pineapple jam recipe. Low sugar makes the fruit shine. Whether you’re spreading it on toast or gifting a jar to a friend, this jam will make you smile.
Print Recipe
Equipment
- Water Bath Canner Or a steam canner
Ingredients
- 3 cups Peaches peeled and chopped
- 1 cup Pineapple crushed, canned or fresh
- 1 cup Sugar or to taste
- ¼ cup Lemon Juice bottled – will help your jam set
- 1 package Pomona's Pectin
Instructions
- Start by preparing jars and getting water in the canner heating.You want the canner hot, but not boiling, when the jars are ready to be processed. See full water bath canning instructions here.
Prepare your canning equipment.
- Gather equipment needed.
- Wash jars in hot soapy water.
- Fill you canner about half full and heat to hot not boiling.
- Place jars in the water bath canner to keep warm. The goal is hot jars when the jam is ready to go in the jars. I use the canner rack and simply place the jars upside down in the rack above the steamy water.
Prepare Ingredients:
- Make the calcium water: (don't worry this is very easy!) Mix the calcium powder with water in a small jar. Package directions will have amounts. You will not use all of it in a single batch of jam. Save extra for your next batch.
- Mix the pectin and sugar: In a separate bowl, thoroughly mix 2 tsp Pomonas pectin powder with your chosen amount of sugar. Don’t skip this step! Pomona’s Pectin needs to be mixed with the sugar first to prevent clumping when added to the fruit. If you are using honey, or another alternative sweetener mix the pectin with that.
Cook the jam:
- In a large pot, combine peaches, pineapple, lemon juice, and 2 tsp calcium water. (you won’t use all the calcium water that you made)
- Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. I like to use a masher to encourage the peaches to start smushing.
- Gradually pour the pectin-sugar mixture into the peaches. Stirring constantly until fully dissolved.
- Return to a full rolling boil and boil for exactly 1 minute. Remove from the heat.
- At this point your jam is done and you can just cool and store in the refrigerator or freeze it if you want.
Peach Pineapple Jam, Water Bath Canning Instruction
Fill the Jars:
- Remove hot jars from the canner. You can use pints or half pint jars
- Using a funnel, ladle hot jam into jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. (the space between the jam and the lid)
- Wipe jar rims clean. If there is sticky jam on the rim it might interfere with the seal.
- Place lids on jars and screw on bands until fingertip tight.
Process the jars:
- Place jars in the water bath canner.
- They should be covered by at least 1 inch of water.
- Bring to a rolling boil and process for 10 minutes. Adjust for altitude. (adjustments in the recipe card below)
- When your time is done, turn off the heat and let the canner rest for 5-10 minutes.
Cool and store:
- Remove jars from canner and let cool on a towel for 12-24 hours. I do overnight.
- Check seals—lids should not flex up and down.
- Store sealed jars in a cool, dark place. Don’t forget to label them!
Notes
Processing time for 1/4 or 1/2 pints in a water bath or steam canner
Process jars 10 minutes. Add one minute more for every thousand feet above sea level.
Adapted from: Pomonas Pectin Instruction Sheet
Servings: 1 quarts
Troubleshooting Tips
- Floating fruit: If the fruit floats to the top, it’s still safe to eat—just stir the jam once opened. I have not had this issue with this recipe.
- Jars not sealing: If you’ve discovered a loose seal right away you can simply put that jar in the refrigerator. With a jam recipe a likely cause of this might be food or stickiness on the rims of the jar. Wipe it all up cleanly.
Low-sugar jam shelf life: Something to keep in mind—low-sugar jams don’t last as long. Without all that sugar acting as a preservative, they tend to brown in the jar sooner. The upside? You can actually taste the fruit! For this reason, use small jelly jars. 1/4 or 1/2 pint jars.
Enjoy your Jam!
And there you have it—sweet, tangy peachy pineapple jam. Low sugar makes the fruit shine. Whether you’re spreading it on toast or gifting a jar to a friend, this delicious jam will make you smile.
If you’re looking for more canning recipes, check out these related posts:
Pin this for Later
