Clean Eating Strawberry Chia Seed Spread Recipe
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This Clean Eating Strawberry Chia Seed Spread was supposed to be jam.
A reader emailed me and asked me if I had ever made jam using chia seeds. The theory being that the gel from the seeds would thicken the jam.
I had been thinking about making strawberry jam so I decided to try it her way.
The results were not what I expected, but delicious just the same. This is NOT a really sweet spread. It’s mildly sweet and would perfectly compliment some nut butter on a rice cracker. In other words, a fantastic addition to any nut butter snack. It’s great for a low sugar spread on whole grain toast or even complimentary to vanilla ice cream if you don’t want to get too sickeningly sweet with ice cream toppings.
It keeps in the fridge for about two weeks, give or take, and is an all-around good spread for most foods that call for a sweet topping.
YOU MIGHT ALSO ENJOY THESE CLEAN EATING RECIPES:
CLEAN EATING STRAWBERRY CHIA SEED SPREAD RECIPE:
Clean Eating Strawberry Chia Seed Spread
Ingredients
- 2 cups strawberries (cleaned and chopped)
- 1 cup water
- ¼ cup chia seeds
- ¼ cup honey
Instructions
- Place all ingredients into a metal pot and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat slightly so the contents of the pot don't splatter all over your stove, but still bubbles in the pot.
- Stir constantly! The chia seeds burn on the bottom of the pot very easily. So keep stirring (I had to change pots half way through because the seeds burned so easily).
- Stir and boil until the mixture has reduced by half and has thickened. Again, it will not be as thick as jam, but it sill definitely thicken.
- Pour into a clean glass jar and allow to cool for 1 hour. Place in the fridge overnight to continue cooling.
Notes
Nutrition
you can add a couple apple seeds so it can thcken up like jam…
srnapa – That’s interesting! I’ve never heard of that.
This recipe really got me thinking. Well every morning I take 1 TBS Chia seeds 1TBS ground FLAX seen 1TBS Hemp seed soak in 3/4 cup of water for 30 minutes and have a thick sort of porridge. So I wondered why not try it witihout cooking. Perhaps some Stevia or Agave instead of honey.
I also thought when cooking why not try a tablespoon of unflavored geletan when cooking. I am going to try these and let you know..
Marsha – Please do!
Just made this recipe for the second time. This time I used frozen blackberries instead of strawberries. Let me tell you, it doesn’t disappoint!
Ashley – Fantastic!!! 😀
Thanks for the great idea. I just made it from this weekend’s leftover strawberries. It didn’t come out quite as vibrant red as yours pictured, but tastes really great. Can’t wait to spread it on my English muffin tomorrow morning. Keep the ideas coming!! <3
Krys – I’m so happy you enjoyed it! I loved it on toast. 🙂
I just made a jar of blueberry and a jar of strawberry using the no-cook method. I also added the juice of half a lemon to brighten the flavors. It’s in the fridge now. But it tastes AMAZING already! Imagine actually tasting the fruit and not the sugar! What a concept! LOL
Denise – Hahaha!!! Ya, amazing what you can taste when you get rid of the garbage! 😀
Hello all, I wanted to know the canning answer so, from Colorado University here’s the information about canning without sugar or salt.
Toni – Great! Thanks! 🙂
I’m making this right now and can’t wait to try it! I am somewhat confused about refined sugar (I’m on a no added sugar diet, but honey and 100% maple syrup ok). Does the process of heating the strawberries mean that it’s more “processed” only because some of the vitamins and minerals are lost in the cooking process and making it harder for the body to digest the sugars?
Kate – Cooking is a form of processing. But not the type of that clean eating avoids. Cooking is fine. 🙂
I wonder if adding tapioca flour would help thicken it.
Angie – I’m sure it would!
I noticed the comment Jodi made (comment #2) about homemade pectin. Truthfully I would use this over chia in my jams as I don’t care as much for the texture of chia, but prefer that to massive amounts of sugar. My question is how much /how long do you boil down the apple skin/water to get the right consistency for the pectin?
I’m interested in canning this recipe but have seen your replies to the previous posts. How long would this spread last in the refrigerator without spoiling?
Heather – It didn’t last long enough here for me to find out. Everybody scarfed it down. But I would guess a week or two at most. Though honey is a preservative, so it may last a little longer than that. You can always cut the recipe in half if you are really concerned about it going bad. Hope that helps!
Can I make this jam with frozen fruits?
Carolle – If you thaw them first, sure! Just make sure you strain off any excess water.