Old Fashioned Grape Jam

Make your own old fashioned grape jam at home with this delicious recipe and step-by-step tutorial that requires just a few simple ingredients and time.

Did you know ….

…that there are over 8,000  varieties of grapes worldwide?   Grapes are one of America’s oldest cultivated crops. Columbus brought grapes to North America from Europe –  in the mid 1800’s the first commercial table grape vineyard was started in California.

While California might grow 98% of grapes in the U.S, they certainly don’t grow them all. Here in Arizona Seedless grapes and Thompson seedless grapes grow wonderfully. Despite the heat and (sometimes) lack of moisture, they do incredibly well with heat. Grapes are ready to be picked in June and boy are they delicious!

Not that long ago, the kids and I recently spent an early evening at a community farm that distributes food for donation in our area. After an hour,  we returned home with over 30 pounds of peaches and grapes.

We used the peaches to make Peach Simple Syrup, Peach Jam and Peach Butter… then got started with the grapes. It took us me a few hours  to remove the grapes from the stem, and give them a good dunk in water to rinse them off.

Of course, I devoured many of them as I cleaned them off but I kept a good majority for jam.

Old fashioned grape jam. Who doesn’t love a good spread of jam on toast?!

These Thompson seedless grapes were small – but sweet in taste. While the actually process of making jam didn’t take very long at all, it was the cleaning and rinsing of the grapes that did.

After 2 hours of pulling baby grapes off of the  stem and cleaning them off, they were ready for their big debut.

I decided to freeze some, then use the remaining for jam. After shoveling quite a few handfuls  in my mouth while I was cleaning them, I knew that the jam would be delicious because the grapes were very very sweet.

Don’t bother peeling the grapes — it’s not necessary at all  (and just adds extra time). The peels are more tart – but when you keep them in the jam it balances out the sweetness so it works out quite well.

Some grapes are naturally high in pectin (Eastern Concord), but not all varieties are. If you don’t have that variety, then I would definitely make sure to include it  in your jam.

Old Fashioned Grape Jam

Place all your grapes in a large (preferably deep) stockpot on the stove. Crank the heat to medium – the grapes will slowly pop as they break open. Over the next 5-10 minutes, water will release from the grapes as they continue to break down.

Pour in your measured pectin, and give the mixture a good stir. Add butter (if using).  Bring the mixture to a full rolling boil that can’t be stirred down over high heat.

Add the entire measure of sugar, stirring well to dissolve. Return the mixture to a full rolling boil until it reaches a temp of 220 degrees F. Once there, boil hard for two minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and ladle into sterilized canning jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Wipe rims thoroughly and then apply lids and bands (finger tight).

Process in a Water Bath Canner

Lower the filled jars into a hot water bath, cover with 2 inches of water. Carefully place the lid on the water bath canner, and bring water to a steady boil.


Process the jars for 15 minutes (pints), adjusting for altitude. Turn off the heat, remove the lid and allow the jars to rest for 5 minutes. Then remove the jars entirely and allow to cool. Check lids for a good seal after 24 hours. Lids should not flex up and down when center is pressed. 

Store jars  in a cool place for up to 2 years.

Each pound of grapes gave us one pint of this old fashioned grape jam with six jars over the course of our jam-making session. It’s incredibly 

Did you make this recipe? Please rate the recipe & share a comment with me to let me know how your jam turned out.