Nature is so, ugh, inconvenient at times.
It is mango season. My favorite fruit. After waiting and waiting for my tree to let loose its bounty, it’s here, toppling all over my backyard. In the past few weeks I have made mango cake, mango sorbet, mango smoothies, black bean and mango quesadillas, mango shrimp pasta salad, mango salsa, and finally, mango jam.
In other words, I have mangoes out my eyeballs.
I’d love to take a break. Cherries are on sale, as are blueberries and raspberries. I also want to make something new for you, for Making Groceries, but I have to process so many mangoes that I don’t have time for much else. So, although I am not going to turn this into the making jam column, I will share another jam recipe with you.
This mango jam is so delicious! If you live in the tropics, you should definitely make it. If you live elsewhere, go ahead a feel envy, but then go to your farmer’s market and get some berries or stone fruit. You have the best stuff this time of year. In another week, the searing summer sun will kill off any lingering fruits and veggies in Florida, while you will just begin your harvest.
This recipe makes 8 6-oz jars.
6 c mango puree (about 8-10 mangoes)
1 c filtered water
juice of 1/2 lemon
3 T Low Sugar Fruit Pectin
1 c sugar
1. Prepare your jars and lids by sterilizing them in hot water.
2. Add pureed fruit, water and lemon juice to a large pot and heat over a medium high flame. Gradually stir in the fruit pectin. Stir vigilantly as you bring it to a full, rolling boil.
3. Add sugar and return to a rolling boil for 1 minute. Stir constantly.
4. Turn off flame. Ladle jam into hot jars leaving 1/4 inch space at the top. Wipe rims and secure with lids and rings. Place jars into a canner and make sure they are covered by an inch or two of water. Place lid on canner and bring to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes.
5. Carefully remove jars and allow them to cool on a towel or rack. Give each jar a few inches of space and don’t fiddle with the lids for 24 hours. Then carefully check that they are sealed. Label and date jars. Enjoy for up to a year.
The Bottom Line
To make this jam, I already had everything on hand. It cost pennies for the sugar, bit of lemon juice and pectin. The mangoes were free. This is an excellent recipe if you have a lot of mangoes on hand, but the key is to use your own seasonal fruit. A cornerstone of the slow food movement is using the food you have. It is inexpensive and the freshest available. It is, however, inconvenient. You are subject to the winds of nature, which means you have to drop everything at harvest time. You know, like people have always done.
Making jam is pretty easy. Every time I can, I realize that again. It took me about an hour to make 8 jars of jam, not counting cutting the mangoes. Mangoes are a labor intensive fruit because they must be peeled and have an odd, mysterious and slippery pith in the middle. If we don’t blow through all this jam right away, it’ll be lovely to taste them next winter when every bite will echo sunshine.
Next week Making Groceries will explore something entirely different. For now, I have a heap of ripe mangoes calling for my attention. Gotta go.
Yes! 3 Tablespoons. There are several acceptable ways to abbreviate tablespoons. One is tbs and the other is a capital T. Teaspoon can be abbreviated tsp or a lowercase t. I mention this incase you run into other recipes here or elsewhere.
Sonya, I’m so sorry you had a problem. This recipe is tried and true. I’ve used it successfully for years. It sounds like your jam got too hot. I would recommend turning down the heat. Of course it is not supposed to boil like lava.
Please I don’t get what you mean by 3 T for the pectin is it 3 table spoons or what
The Alphanso mango is yellow in color, oval in shape and lacks the stringiness of the Orange/red mango. They make wonderful jam. I make many types of fruit jam. Peach, pineapple, blueberry, seedless raspberry. Apricot is next on my list. I do not use pectin and about 1 to 1-1-2 cups sugar. I do add the juice of one lemon. You cannot taste the lemon, but they are high in pectin. Boil for quite a long time until thick. I process the jars in boiling water and they keep for about a year on the shelf.
This was a disaster! I have successfully made all types of jam in the past. I have never had a recipe throw boiling fruit all over my kitchen. I am burnt on my arms, face and feet. Part of the reason I make my own jelly is to cut down on sugar and I love that about this recipe. The end product tastes great, but I’ll provably never attempt mango again. I’m going to be cleaning mango puree of my ceiling forever!
Hi Jenn, thanks for reaching out. I have never been too picky with my pectin. I just buy what I find in the grocery store, which is usually Sure Jell. Let me know if you have any more questions. It’s a fun adventure!
Hi, I’m rather new to canning/jamming and was wondering what brand of fruit pectin you use. The only recipes I’ve tried were the ones from the Certo or Bernardin box and I while I don’t know a whole lot, I do know that all pectins are not made equal, lol! I love mangoes and would love to try making your recipe but I don’t want it to flop. Please help! Thanks 🙂
Marianne, Yes! I have used this recipe for years and never had a spoilage problem. Mangoes are just so sweet, they don’t need the extra sugar. Spoilage usually has to do with improper sterilization and canning. I hope you try the recipe out.
I am loving your recipe. I am up to my eyeballs in mangos also. Have already made many jars. Have enough in freezer to make a hundred more jars. One thing though. Every recipe, I have found calls for lots of sugar. I mean more sugar than mango. I wasn’t happy about it, but I made mine with one to one measurements. 1 cup mango to one cup sugar. I usually do a batch of 3 cups of mangos and 3 cups of sugar for 6 1/2 pint jars. Other than the sugar amount, the recipe is the same. Does using only one cup of sugar to 6 cups of mangos ok if you’re making so much that it will have a shelf life up to a year? I would LOVE to use your recipe, but am concerned about it lasting. Thank you in advance for your recipe and for your response.
Marianne