Last Updated on September 4, 2019 by Diane Hoffmaster
Fig jam isn’t something you normally see when you stroll down the peanut butter and jelly aisle at the grocery store. In fact, I am pretty sure I have never actually had fig jam in my entire life. Other than Fig Newtons I don’t know that I have ever even eaten a fig, much less try my own fig recipes! Ok, maybe once as an appetizer at a friend’s house? (update… I made a prosciutto fig pizza with fig jam and it was heavenly! )
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Table of Contents
What Do You Do With Fresh Figs?
I have never bought fresh figs because, quite honestly, I have never come across one at the grocery store. But, I was at the farmer’s market last weekend and low and behold there was a guy there selling figs! If you have a ton of figs, check out The Complete Book of Home Preserving to find out how to preserve them for use all year round.
Nutritional Benefits of Figs
So, are figs healthy? The certainly have quite a few nutritional benefits, the biggest one being that they are very high in fiber. Figs are a great source of soluble fiber. This helps keep you full longer and helps relieve constipation. They are also rich in many important vitamins and minerals. For example, figs are loaded with Vitamins A, B1 and B2, manganese, potassium, magnesium, copper, iron, and phosphorus. So, spreading a little fig jam on your toast is a great way to start your day!
The Fresh Fig Tree Battle
My husband has been trying to convince me to put in a few fruit trees for years. One of the fruits he comes back to time and time again is the fig. Did you know that figs were one of the first plants cultivated by humans? How crazy is that? And apparently growing figs here in Georgia is relatively easy.
After my incredible luck with this fig jam recipe, I am seriously considering letting my husband have a go at growing our own. Of course, with a few fig trees in the yard, I would probably get more fig jam than I could use in a lifetime but I bet I would have some seriously happy neighbors! Isn’t the inside of the fig beautiful?
Other Easy Fruit Recipes to Try
- Frosted Grapes Recipe for Healthy Snacking
- Apple Rhubarb Crisp Recipe
- This Southern Peach Cobbler Recipe
I Don’t Know How to Can!
So, the thing that turns me off from making most jam is the whole pectin and canning thing. I have tried it once or twice with very little luck. I know some people think it is incredibly easy but I am not one of them! This fig jam is not canned! You just cook the figs down on the stove for an hour with some water, sugar and a bit of lemon juice. Mash with a potato masher to make it a tad bit less lumpy and let cool. That is it! Then just chill and use wherever you want a bit of fig jam!
I will be making a fig jam appetizer with it this weekend so make sure you stop back by next week for the recipe. But, even if you don’t want to get very creative with your homemade fig jam, it tastes delicious on a plain old English muffin.
Can I freeze fresh figs?
Fig season is rather short and you rarely find them in the grocery store. Learning how to freeze figs can help you have a nice supply of them year round. Freezing figs is very easy. Just slice them in half and lay them on a cookie sheet line with wax paper. Stick them in the freezer overnight. Then, remove the frozen figs carefully from the wax paper. Place them in freezer safe plastic storage bags. Store frozen figs in your freezer. Remove them from the freezer and thaw them in your refrigerator before use.
How do you eat fig jam?
So, once you make this homemade fig jam, what do you do with it? Here are a few ways to use up a jar of jam (and not just the fig kind!)
- Make your own fruit-flavored yogurt. (just spoon it onto plain or vanilla yogurt)
- Bake some on brie. Top a wheel of brie with a few spoonfuls of jam. Wrap the whole thing in phyllo dough or puff pastry. Bake at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes
- Add some to a pan sauce for meat. Fig jam makes a nice glaze!
- Top creamy desserts with it like cheesecake or pudding.
- Make stuffed French toast. Just use a thick slice of bread and use a knife to slice it open and spread the jam inside.
Easy Fig Jam Recipe
Easy Fig Jam Recipe
This fig jam is sweet and easy to make with no canning required!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup water
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 16 ounces (1 pound) figs, cut into wedges
Instructions
- Into a medium sauce pan place the water and sugar
- Heat over medium high heat until sugar is dissolved
- Add figs and lemon juice
- Bring to a boil
- Reduce heat to a simmer and cook one hour, partially covered
- Mash with a potato masher if you prefer a slightly less chunky fig jam
- Let cool and store in a glass jar in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
24Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 25Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 1mgCarbohydrates: 7gFiber: 0gSugar: 6gProtein: 0g
Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.
Inspired by WeeklyBite.com
Diane is a professional blogger and nationally certified pharmacy technician with two teens, one husband and more pets than she will admit to. She has a BS in Microbiology and is a Nationally Certified Pharmacy Technician but left her career in science to become a stay at home mom. Years of playing with LEGO and coloring with crayons had her craving a more grown up purpose to her life and she began blogging full time. She currently deals with emotional teens, suburban politics, and middle aged metabolism while sharing her opinions in an honest and down to earth fashion on her blog. You can learn more about her HERE.
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