For a more nutritious fruity spread, make jam with chia seeds and strawberries for a fresh and simple alternative.
I’ve been on a chia seed kick lately. There are two recipes I’ve shared within the past month—Nut & Seed Granola and Cocoa Banana Chia Pudding—I’ve made a lot more than that though.
As I mentioned in my February Favorites, I’ve been making a lot of homemade bread lately. So to help use it up, I’ve been eating toast almost daily as a mid-morning snack. Usually I make either avocado toast (with TJ’s Everything but the Bagel Seasoning) or classic butter and jelly.
Although I’m a huge fan of jelly on toasted white bread, I always crave something more nutritious that will help keep me full longer. That’s what inspired me to finally make something I’ve been wanting to try for awhile now: chia seed jam.
By replacing my normal sugary jelly with this strawberry chia jam recipe I made, I’m getting a nice addition of fiber, protein, and healthy fats from the chia seeds, plus the vitamins and minerals that come with the strawberries.
I love how simple this recipe is, yet how good it still tastes. Plus, the chia seeds create a jam-like consistency as they expand in the moisture.
A lot of the other recipes I saw for chia seed jam included fresh fruit, but I knew I didn’t have enough fresh strawberries to make this. So I pulled from our stash of frozen strawberries, which worked perfectly.
You could also use other fruits, like blueberries or raspberries, but I wanted to establish this recipe with the classic strawberry flavor—one of my favorite jam/jelly types.
I’ve been eating this on toast, biscuits, and PB&J sandwiches—and also on PB&J toast, which is weirdly delicious. Having this alternative to normal jam/jelly has been a nice change of pace, and I’m excited to try new flavors in the future!
Strawberry Chia Seed Jam
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh or frozen strawberries, stems and leaves removed
- 2 Tbs chia seeds
- 1 Tbs fresh lemon juice
- 1 Tbs pure maple syrup
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, heat the strawberries over medium heat, until they begin to break down and soften. Mash to desired consistency with a spoon or potato masher.
- Stir in chia seeds, lemon juice, and maple syrup. Let cool before serving.
- Store in a sealed container in the fridge (it will continue to thicken).
This was the last piece of the most recent loaf of bread I made. There was JUST enough left to test this chia seed jam on. And now that I have a full jar of chia seed jam, I felt inspired to make more bread for the sole purpose of holding jam. It’s a vicious but delicious cycle.
