How do I make apricot jam?

Apricot jam is one of the few fruit jams with a tested no-pectin recipe that makes a full batch. The National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP) version is 2 quarts of crushed, peeled apricots, 1/4 cup lemon juice and 6 cups of sugar, boiled until thick, about 25 minutes, for about 10 half-pints. The lemon is not optional, because apricots need added acid to set. This page walks through that recipe, a smaller version from NCHFP's table, how ripeness, skins and cooking affect flavor and color, the sugar range the tested recipes allow, and processing by elevation.

What apricots bring to the pot

NCHFP puts apricots in its "always needs help" band, fruit that always needs added acid, pectin or both [1]. In apricot jam without added pectin, the acid comes from lemon juice and the body comes from cooking the fruit down with sugar. For flavor, NCHFP says to use fully ripe fruit when making jam without added pectin [2].

Ripeness pulls two ways. Fully ripe apricots give the best flavor and color. Fruit past ripe has weaker pectin and will not gel as well on its own [1]. Choose apricots that are ripe and fragrant but still hold their shape, and cut out any bruised or soft spots before you measure.

On the label side, apricot is a federal Group II fruit, so jam sold under the standard name needs at least 45 parts fruit to 55 parts sugar [3].

NCHFP apricot jam without added pectin

From NCHFP, adapted from So Easy to Preserve (2014) [4].

Ingredients

• 2 quarts crushed, peeled apricots
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 6 cups sugar

Yield: about 10 half-pints.

Method

1. Sterilize canning jars.
2. Combine all ingredients. Slowly bring to boiling, stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves.
3. Cook rapidly until thick, about 25 minutes, stirring frequently as it thickens to prevent sticking.
4. Remove from heat. Fill hot jam into hot, sterile jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.
5. Wipe the rims with a dampened clean paper towel, adjust two-piece metal canning lids, and process in a boiling water canner (chart below).

University of Wisconsin Extension prints the same quantities (2 quarts crushed, peeled apricots, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 6 cups sugar, for 10 half-pints) and adds a step: mix the sugar with the fruit and let it stand at least 1 hour before cooking [5]. Standing draws juice out of the fruit and starts the sugar dissolving before the heat goes on.

Knowing when it is thick enough

Treat "about 25 minutes" as an estimate. Pan width, the juiciness of your apricots and your stove all change it. NCHFP's general method for jam without added pectin gives two tests [2]:

• Temperature: cook to the gel point for your elevation, 220 degrees F at sea level and lower as you go up, down to 205 degrees F at 8,000 feet.
• Cold plate: put a spoonful of boiling jam on a cold plate in the freezer for a few minutes. If it gels, it is ready.

NCHFP adds a reminder that jam thickens as it cools [2], so stop at the set point instead of cooking until the pot looks like finished jam. Overcooked apricot jam turns stiff and dark. How to choose and read the tests is on how to tell when jam is done.

A smaller batch from the same source

NCHFP's table for jam without added pectin gives a smaller apricot batch: 4 to 4 1/2 cups crushed fruit, 4 cups sugar and 2 tablespoons lemon juice, for 5 to 6 half-pints [2]. It cooks by the same tests. A smaller batch cooks down faster, which helps keep the color bright.

Skins, color and flavor

Skins. NCHFP's recipe calls for peeled apricots [4]. The recipe was tested that way, so peel. Peeling methods are on preparing fruit for jam.

Color. Apricot jam darkens with long cooking and with warm storage. NCHFP lists overcooking the sugar and fruit, and storing too long or too warm, as causes, and recommends small batches that cook quickly and storage in a cool, dry, dark place, used within a year [6]. Light-colored jams lose quality in storage faster than dark ones [7].

Flavor. A long-boil apricot jam tastes deeper and more caramel than a pectin jam. That is the trade you make for skipping pectin. The comparison is on added pectin or long boil.

How much sugar apricot jam takes

The two NCHFP versions use about 3/4 cup of sugar per cup of crushed fruit (6 cups for 8 cups of fruit) to about 1 cup per cup (4 cups for 4 cups of fruit) [2] [4]. That range is what the testing covered. Cutting below it in a no-pectin jam changes more than sweetness: sugar is part of the gel and part of what keeps the jam, and NCHFP advises against substituting sweeteners such as sucralose in long-boil jams meant for the shelf [4]. The reasons are on why you can't just cut the sugar.

For a lower-sugar apricot jam, change methods instead. Pomona's published directions for its calcium-set pectin give, per cup of mashed apricot, 3/4 teaspoon pectin, 1 teaspoon calcium water, a scant 1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon lemon juice, which it marks as required [8]. Those amounts belong to that pectin only. The methods are compared on low-sugar jam.

Processing apricot jam

That is NCHFP's chart for this recipe, in sterilized jars [4]. NCHFP says jars must be pre-sterilized for any process under 10 minutes [9]. Unsterilized jars need a longer process, set out on how long to process jam.

Other apricot preserves

NCHFP also publishes an apricot-orange conserve [10]; conserves and how they differ from jam are on conserves. Apricot is one of the fruits named in the federal fruit butter standard [11], and apricot butter is covered on apple butter and other fruit butters. For the closest fruit in method, see peach jam.

References

1. National Center for Home Food Preservation, Jellied Product Ingredients, accessed October 2026. https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/make-jam-jelly/jams-jellies-general-information/jellied-product-ingredients/
2. National Center for Home Food Preservation, Making Jam without Added Pectin (Table 1 and doneness tests), accessed October 2026. https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/make-jam-jelly/jams-jellies-general-information/making-jam-without-added-pectin/
3. U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, 21 CFR 150.160, Canned fruit preserves and jams (Cornell LII text, current). https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/21/150.160
4. National Center for Home Food Preservation, Apricot Jam without Pectin, adapted from So Easy to Preserve, 6th ed. (2014). https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/make-jam-jelly/jams/apricot-jam-without-pectin/
5. University of Wisconsin Extension, Ingham, Making Jams, Jellies & Fruit Preserves (B2909), undated. https://iowa.extension.wisc.edu/files/2021/08/Making-Jams-Jellies-Fruit-Preserves-B2909.pdf
6. National Center for Home Food Preservation, Causes and Possible Solutions for Problems with Jellied Fruit Products, accessed October 2026. https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/make-jam-jelly/jams-jellies-general-information/causes-and-possible-solutions-for-problems-with-jellied-fruit-products/
7. National Center for Home Food Preservation, General Jams and Jellies FAQs, accessed October 2026. https://nchfp.uga.edu/faqs/general-jams-and-jellies/category/faq-jams-and-jellies
8. Pomona's Universal Pectin, Create Your Own Recipe: Developing or Converting Recipes for Cooked Jam or Jelly Using Pomona's Pectin, modified August 24, 2023. https://pomonapectin.com/?p=21164
9. National Center for Home Food Preservation, Do I Need to Pre-Sterilize My Jars before Canning?, May 21, 2014. https://nchfp.uga.edu/blog/do-i-need-to-pre-sterilize-my-jars-before-canning
10. National Center for Home Food Preservation, Jams & Jellies recipe index (conserves), accessed October 2026. https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/make-jam-jelly
11. U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, 21 CFR 150.110, Fruit butter (Cornell LII text, current). https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/21/150.110