When you want an easy way to preserve fresh figs, make this delicious fresh fig freezer jam! It’s sweetened with just a little honey, letting the natural fig flavors really shine through! Store in the freezer for an easy spread for toast or a cheese and charcuterie board whenever you’d like!
Fresh fig season is one of my absolute favorite times of year! You’ve heard me wax poetic before in previous recipes – like these honey grilled figs with goat cheese – but each year brings new excitement. And inevitably, I get really excited and buy a few too many. But it’s okay because as with all fruits, there are great recipes for preserving figs, like this tasty freezer jam!
When are fresh figs in season?
Dried figs are very easy to find year-round, basically anywhere. Most recipes that use figs will call for dried figs. Fresh figs have a pretty short growing season, from about mid/late-June to October. The exact variety of fig you’ll find at a given time varies, but each variety is only in season a few weeks. So like garlic scapes, asparagus, and watermelon, you want to make the most of fresh fig season while it’s here.
The challenge with this is that figs don’t last too long once they’ve been picked. At best a few days; so there isn’t a lot of time to get them from the farm to the market to your kitchen. Once you bring fresh figs home, they have a shelf life of 1 day on the counter or 2-4 in the refrigerator. Fresh figs should be stored in an airtight container in a cold spot in your fridge to last the longest.
How do I preserve fresh figs?
But if you buy in bulk and want to save some fresh figs for later, how do you do it? You can just wash, dry, and freeze the figs, whole or sliced. But since you can’t thaw the figs and keep the same texture as fresh, I prefer to cook them down into a freezer jam.
Freezer jams are great! They require no special equipment, no pectin, and very little sugar. You don’t have to can anything, and after thawing the jam, it’s ready to use any way you’d like. There’s the usual cookie and cake fillings, toast of course, but I keep my fig jam for cheese boards!
Why should I make this easy fresh fig freezer jam?
One of our favorite special “family meals” or “date night in” meals for the Godfather and I is a cheese and charcuterie board. Sometimes they’re planned and fancy, most of the time they’re a little assortment of odds and ends in the fridge and pantry. That doesn’t mean they aren’t beautiful, but we use what we have. I talk about that in my ultimate cheese board tutorial video – it’s worth a watch. You’ll see that a small jar of fig freezer jam is just the thing to elevate a cheese board!
If you browse the specialty cheese section at the store, you’ll see jars of fig jam for about $6 each. I think the total cost for this recipe is about $4 total? Naturally, this varies with the price of the figs. I know my fig jam is low sugar when compared to most recipes out there. I love dessert and all, but you all know low-sugar jams are my favorite so that the fruit shines through!
This fresh fig freezer jam recipe isn’t too sweet. The honey adds just enough sweetener to make it feel like a “jam” without overpowering the fig flavor. If you don’t want to use honey, you can substitute sugar. Light brown, granulated, or even your favorite 1-for-1 sweetener will all work. You’ll probably want to add a little more water so the jam isn’t too thick. Maple syrup might also work, but I haven’t tried it yet. Please let me know if you do!
I hope you love this easy freezer jam recipe, darlings. Grab a pot, your fresh figs, and let’s make some jam!
Fresh Fig Freezer Jam
When you want an easy way to preserve fresh figs, make this delicious fresh fig freezer jam! It's sweetened with just a little honey, letting the natural fig flavors really shine through!
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh figs (about 4 cups, chopped)
- 1/3 cup honey or sweetener of your choice
- 1/2 cup water (see notes)
- juice from 1 lemon (about 1 1/2 tablespoons)
Instructions
- Wash and dry your figs, remove the stems, and coarsely chop.
- Place the prepared figs, honey, water, and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, and bring to a boil. If needed, mash the figs with a potato masher or fork to help break up the fruit.
- Reduce the heat to a medium-low and simmer until thickened. This will take 30-40 minutes. Stir frequently, especially towards the end when the mixture is very thick. This will prevent burning. If you notice the jam is becoming too thick, add additional water as needed, one tablespoon at a time.
- Remove the jam from the heat and transfer it to your containers. Allow the jam to cool to room temperature and then either place in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks or freeze up to 6 months. Enjoy!
Notes
- If you are using a dry sweetener, you might want to add 2 more tablespoons of water to provide enough liquid for the sugar to dissolve.
- Depending on the type of fig you are using, you might need to add a little more water as the mixture cooks. You don't want the jam to be runny, but it will thicken as it cools.
- I like my jam to be pretty smooth, so I use a potato masher to help break up any clumps. If you cut your figs finer than I did - I just quartered them - this might not be a necessary step.
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