- Ninja Foodi pressure cooker (or any electric pressure cooker with a Sear/Sauté function)
- Mix & Chop
- Box grater
- Paring knife
- Chef's knife
- Wide mouth funnel
- Small jelly jars with lids
- Heat resistant glove
- Large bowl for an ice bath
If you have a container of strawberries on the counter you need to use, but don't have pectin in the pantry, this no-pectin strawberry preserves recipe is perfect for you!
Strawberry basil preserves come together in the Ninja Foodi in about 20 minutes of cooking, using fresh strawberries, sugar, a spoonful of lemon juice, and a grated Granny Smith apple to do the thickening. The basil is the part that surprises people, and it is delicious.
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Most strawberry preserve recipes have you boil the fruit down on the stovetop in a heavy bottomed pot and then test it with a thermometer or a cold plate to see if it is ready. We are not doing any of that. The Ninja Foodi does the work under pressure, five minutes of pressure cooking keeps the strawberry flavor tasting fresh, the grated apple helps it set and the preserves thicken even more on their own as they cool. If you enjoy making preserves this way, my Quick & Easy Orange Marmalade uses the same pressure cooker method with citrus.
Suggested Kitchen Tools for Strawberry Basil Preserves
- Ninja Foodi pressure cooker (or any electric pressure cooker with a Sear/Sauté function)
- Mix & Chop (for breaking up the strawberries)
- Box grater
- Paring knife (for peeling and coring the apple)
- Chef's knife (for chopping the basil)
- Wide mouth funnel
- Small jelly jars with lids
- Heat resistant glove
- Large bowl for an ice bath
Ingredients & Substitutions
The strawberry base here is just three ingredients: strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice, and then half a grated apple does the job that commercial pectin usually does. The basil is optional. Let's take a closer look at each one.
Fresh Strawberries
Used in Recipe: 1 pound of fresh strawberries, tops removed and cut into quarters. That is about 3 cups, which is one of the standard containers you find in the grocery store.
What it Does: The strawberries are the whole point, and they are also the only liquid in this recipe. Cutting them into roughly ½-inch pieces and breaking them up in the hot pot pulls the juice out, and that juice is what brings the Ninja Foodi up to pressure. Smaller pieces also spread better, because nobody wants a whole quarter of a strawberry on a piece of toast.
Substitutions: If frozen berries are what you have on hand, my Strawberry Preserves with Frozen Strawberries walks you through what changes. Thaw them first and cut any large pieces down, and keep in mind they will already be quite soft. Fresh strawberries at the height of the season give you the brightest flavor, and this is a great recipe for a container you found on sale.
Granulated Sugar
Used in Recipe: 1 cup of granulated white sugar goes in with the strawberries.
What it Does: Sugar sweetens the preserves, and it also draws the juice out of the strawberries as the pot heats up, which is exactly what we need before the lid goes on. It is part of how the preserves hold together and keep once they are in the jar.
Substitutions: Cane sugar works the same way as granulated white sugar. I would not change the amount in this recipe, since the sugar is doing more than adding sweetness here.
Lemon Juice
Used in Recipe: 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. I used fresh squeezed lemon juice for this batch.
What it Does: The lemon juice brightens the strawberry flavor and adds acidity. A little also goes on the cut side of the leftover apple half so it does not brown before you eat it as a snack.
Substitutions: Fresh squeezed is perfectly fine here because these preserves live in the refrigerator and are not canned. If you are making a batch to can in a hot water bath, use lemon juice out of the bottle instead. Lemons vary in acidity quite a bit, and canning needs a reliable acid level, so this is one of the times I recommend the prepackaged product over the fresh one.
Granny Smith Apple
Used in Recipe: Half of a Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and grated right into the pot.
What it Does: This is what thickens the preserves. A Granny Smith apple has natural pectin in it, so it does the job a packaged pectin would do, and it gives us the set we need without anything from a box. Grating it instead of chopping it gives you more surface area, which releases more of that pectin. You cannot tell it is apple in the finished jar, it just adds a little extra fruity flavor.
Substitutions: Stay with Granny Smith. A sweeter apple does not carry the same amount of pectin and might not work as well. If you would like some apple texture in your preserves you can chop it instead of grating it, though grating is what I recommend for the best set.
Fresh Basil (Optional)
Used in Recipe: About ¼ cup of roughly chopped fresh basil, added before pressure cooking.
What it Does: The basil is the flavor that makes these strawberry basil preserves different from every other jar of strawberry jam. It goes in before the lid, not at the end, so the flavor infuses all the way through the fruit while it cooks under pressure.
Substitutions: Use any basil you like. I used a little of three kinds, the regular sweet basil we are all used to seeing, Thai basil, which has almost a licorice smell to it, and a pretty variety called pesto basil. One kind or all three, it really doesn't matter. If you add a little more it will be a little more basil forward, and if you add less it will be less, so there are no worries on the amount. You can also leave the basil out completely, since it is not an ingredient that has to be in here.
How to Make No-Pectin Strawberry Preserves in the Ninja Foodi
From start to finish this is about 15 minutes of prep, a few minutes on Sear/Sauté, 5 minutes of pressure cooking, and then 15 to 20 minutes of natural pressure release. The jars need a couple of hours in the refrigerator before the preserves are set. Here is everything you need to know!
Prep the Fruit and Start the Strawberries on Sear/Sauté
Get your mise en place done before the pot goes on, because this moves along quickly once it heats up.
- Remove the tops from 1 pound of strawberries and cut them into quarters, about ½-inch pieces. You should have roughly 3 cups.
- Measure out 1 cup of granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice.
- Cut a Granny Smith apple in half. Peel and core the half you are using, and put a little lemon juice on the cut side of the other half so it does not brown.
- Pick the leaves from enough basil to give you about ¼ cup once it is chopped.
- Have your Mix & Chop, box grater, and a wide mouth funnel within reach, and set out 2 or 3 small jelly jars.
Turn the Ninja Foodi on, select Sear/Sauté on High, and press Start. High is fine here. Add the quartered strawberries to the inner pot, then add the sugar and the lemon juice. There is nothing else going in the pot at this point, no water and no other liquid at all.
Once you hear the pot getting hot and starting to sizzle, take your Mix & Chop and break up the strawberries. Push straight down and give it a twist. You are doing two things at once here, distributing the sugar through the fruit and getting the strawberries to let go of their juice. Breaking them up creates more surface area so the juice comes out quicker, and it also means you will not be spreading a whole quarter of a strawberry on your toast later. Let it continue to cook for a few minutes while you get the apple ready.
Quick Tip
No water goes into this recipe. The juice the strawberries give up on Sear/Sauté is the only liquid in the pot, and it is what allows the Ninja Foodi to come up to pressure. Break the fruit up well and give it a few minutes before the lid goes on.
Grate in the Granny Smith Apple
Cut your Granny Smith apple in half, then peel and core the half you are using. Grate it directly into the pot with a normal box grater. You could chop it if you want some apple in your preserves, but grating is what I recommend. More surface area releases more of the pectin, and grated apple melts right into the fruit so all you notice is a little extra fruity flavor.
Chop the Basil and Stir It In
Give the strawberries a stir and take a look at what you have. They will have cooked down and there should be plenty of juice in the pot. Roughly chop the basil with a chef's knife and stir it into the pot. Ordinarily I always recommend putting fresh herbs in at the end of cooking, but this is the exception. I want the basil flavor to infuse throughout the strawberries and into the preserves, so it goes in now, before pressure cooking.
Pressure Cook, Fill the Jars, and Let Them Set
Put the pressure lid on, make sure the black valve is turned to Seal, select High pressure, set the time to 5 minutes, and hit Start. Because the mixture is already boiling, it comes up to pressure in about a minute.
Quick Tip
No matter what you do, let this one release all of the pressure naturally. I tried a 10 minute natural release thinking everything would settle down, and when I flipped the valve to vent I had strawberry preserves sprayed through the air. Wait for the red float valve to drop on its own, which usually takes about 15 to 18 minutes.
When the 5 minutes is up, leave the pot alone and let it release all of the pressure on its own. The red float valve dropped somewhere between 15 and 18 minutes for me. Open the lid and take a look. The preserves will be very hot and will look really liquidy, and that is okay, that is exactly what they should look like at this stage. Set a wide mouth funnel over a small jelly jar and ladle the preserves in. This batch makes about 2 jars, maybe 2½. The glass gets hot as you fill it, so keep a heat resistant glove nearby.
Set the filled jars into an ice bath to bring the temperature down quickly, then move them to the refrigerator for a couple of hours. This is the part that turns thin, hot fruit into a spreadable preserve, so give it the time. If you want to pour some over ice cream or pancakes as a hot strawberry syrup right now, that is delicious too, but a preserve needs to cool to set up.
Quick Tip
Give the preserves a full couple of hours in the refrigerator before you decide anything about the texture. Straight out of the pot they look prettythin, but they set up perfectly as they cool.
Strawberry Basil Preserves
Equipment
- Ninja Foodi pressure cooker (or any electric pressure cooker with a Sear/Sauté function)
- Mix & Chop
- Box grater
- Paring knife
- Chef's knife
- Wide mouth funnel
- Small jelly jars with lids
- Heat resistant glove
- Large bowl for an ice bath
Ingredients
Strawberry Base
- 1 pound fresh strawberries, tops removed and quartered about 3 cups, or one standard grocery store container; cut into roughly ½-inch pieces
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice fresh squeezed is fine for refrigerator preserves; use bottled lemon juice if you plan to can
Natural Pectin
- ½ Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and grated do not substitute a sweeter apple; Granny Smith has the most pectin
Optional Add-In
- ¼ cup fresh basil, roughly chopped sweet, Thai, or pesto basil, or any combination; the preserves are delicious without it too
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Instructions
- Remove the tops from 1 pound of strawberries and cut them into quarters, about ½-inch pieces. You should have roughly 3 cups. Peel, core, and set aside half of a Granny Smith apple. Pick the leaves from enough basil to give you about ¼ cup once chopped.
- Turn the Ninja Foodi on, select Sear/Sauté on High, and press Start. There is no need to preheat any longer than it takes you to add the fruit.
- Add the quartered strawberries to the inner pot, then add 1 cup of granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice.
- As the pot heats and begins to sizzle, use a Mix & Chop to break up the strawberries. Push straight down and twist. This distributes the sugar and pulls the juice out of the fruit. No other liquid goes into this recipe, so that juice is what brings the pot up to pressure. Breaking the fruit up also means you will not be spreading a strawberry quarter on your toast later.
- Grate the half apple directly into the pot on a box grater. Grating releases more of the pectin than chopping would, and it disappears into the preserves so all you taste is a little extra fruitiness.
- Roughly chop about ¼ cup of basil with a chef's knife and stir it into the pot. Fresh herbs usually go in at the end of cooking, but here the basil goes in now so its flavor infuses all the way through the fruit while it cooks under pressure.
- Put the pressure lid on, turn the black valve to Seal, select High pressure, set the time to 5 minutes, and press Start. Because the mixture is already boiling, it will come up to pressure in about a minute.
- When the 5 minutes is up, let the pot release all of the pressure naturally. Do not flip the valve to vent. The red float valve usually drops in about 15 to 18 minutes.
- Open the lid. The preserves will be very hot and will look thin and liquidy, which is exactly right at this stage. They thicken as they cool.
- Set a wide mouth funnel over a small jelly jar and ladle the hot preserves in. This makes about 2 to 2½ small jars. The glass gets hot, so use a heat resistant glove if you need one.
- Set the filled jars in an ice bath to bring the temperature down quickly, then move them to the refrigerator for a couple of hours to finish cooling and set up before you use them.
Video
Notes
• Have the apple peeled and the basil picked before you turn the Ninja Foodi on. Once the pot is hot, the strawberries move quickly.
• Cut the strawberries into roughly ½-inch pieces. One pound gives you about 3 cups, which is one of the standard containers from the grocery store.
• The preserves need a couple of hours in the refrigerator to cool and set up before you use them. That time is hands off and is not included in the total time on this card. COOKING TIPS
• No water or other liquid goes into this recipe. The juice the strawberries release on Sear/Sauté is what brings the pot up to pressure, so give them a few minutes and break them up well.
• Let the pressure release naturally, all the way. I tried a 10 minute natural release once and flipping the valve sprayed strawberry preserves everywhere.
• The basil goes in before pressure cooking, not at the end. It is the one time I break my own rule about adding fresh herbs late, and it is worth it for the flavor all the way through. PECTIN AND SETTING TIPS
• Grate the apple rather than chopping it. More surface area releases more pectin, and grated apple melts right into the preserves.
• Use a Granny Smith apple. Sweeter apples do not carry the same amount of pectin and will not set the preserves as well.
• Straight out of the pot the preserves look far too thin. They are supposed to. The set happens as they cool, so give them time in the refrigerator before you decide anything about the texture. VARIATIONS
• Leave the basil out entirely if you like. It is not an ingredient that has to be in here, and you will still have delicious strawberry preserves.
• Use one kind of basil or a mix. Sweet basil, Thai basil, and pesto basil all work. More basil gives you a more basil forward spread, less gives you a hint of it.
• To triple the batch, use 3 pounds of strawberries, 3 cups of sugar, 1 whole Granny Smith apple, and 2 tablespoons of bottled lemon juice. I would leave the basil out of a tripled batch that you intend to can.
• Serve it warm straight from the pot as a strawberry syrup over ice cream or pancakes instead of letting it set. SERVING SUGGESTIONS
• Spread it on toast, a biscuit, or a scone. Lemon basil scones are what we served ours with and the two are wonderful together.
• Spoon it over vanilla ice cream, yogurt, or cheesecake.
• Put a jar on a cheese board next to something sharp or salty. STORAGE
• Refrigerator: These are refrigerator preserves. Keep the jars covered in the refrigerator and take out only what you need.
• Not shelf stable: This batch is not canned, so it does not store at room temperature. If you want shelf stable jars, use bottled lemon juice for consistent acidity and follow a recipe that has been tested for canning.
• Freezer: Leave headroom in the jar if you freeze a batch, and thaw it in the refrigerator. NUTRITIONAL DISCLAIMER
Nutritional information provided is an estimate based on typical ingredient values and standard portion sizes. Actual nutritional content may vary significantly depending on specific brands used, ingredient substitutions, preparation methods, portion sizes, and individual cooking techniques. For precise nutritional information tailored to your specific ingredients and preparation, please consult with a registered dietitian or use laboratory analysis. This information should not be used for medical nutrition therapy or to manage medical conditions without professional guidance.
Nutrition
Alternate Cooking Instructions
- Another electric pressure cooker: Any electric pressure cooker with a sauté function will make this recipe. Sauté the strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice to release the juice, grate in the apple, stir in the basil, then pressure cook on high for 5 minutes and let the pressure release naturally all the way.
- A tripled batch in the Ninja Foodi: Use 3 pounds of strawberries, 3 cups of sugar, 1 whole Granny Smith apple, and 2 tablespoons of bottled lemon juice. The pressure cook time stays at 5 minutes, but a fuller pot takes longer to come up to pressure and longer to release naturally.
- A shelf stable batch: If you want jars you can store outside the refrigerator, use lemon juice out of the bottle rather than fresh, and follow a recipe that has been tested for canning. Canning is one of those activities where I really suggest following a tested recipe, and I would leave the basil out of a batch you intend to can.
Storage & Reheating Instructions
How to Store Leftover Strawberry Basil Preserves
Let the jars cool down in an ice bath and then finish in the refrigerator so the preserves can set up before you store them. This strawberry basil jam was made with fresh lemon juice and was never processed in a hot water bath, so the refrigerator is where it belongs.
- Refrigerator: Keep the jars covered in the refrigerator and take out only what you need for the moment. This is how I store mine, and it is what this recipe is written for.
- Not shelf stable: Because this batch is not canned, it does not belong in the pantry. If you want jars you can keep on a shelf, use bottled lemon juice for a reliable acid level and follow a recipe tested for canning.
- Freezer: Preserves freeze well in a jar with a little room left at the top for expansion. Thaw in the refrigerator before using.
How to Serve Strawberry Basil Preserves
- Straight from the refrigerator: Preserves are meant to be spread cold, so no reheating is needed. Take the jar out, spread what you want, and put it back.
- As a warm syrup: Warm a few spoonfuls gently in a small saucepan or in the microwave in short bursts, stirring between them. Warming loosens the set and turns the preserves back into a beautiful strawberry syrup for ice cream, pancakes, or pound cake.
- Room temperature: If you would like the preserves a little softer for spreading, let the jar sit on the counter for 10 or 15 minutes before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Grated apple. A Granny Smith apple has natural pectin in it, so half of one, peeled, cored, and grated right into the pot, gives you the set you need without any commercial pectin. Grating rather than chopping creates more surface area, which releases more of that pectin. You cannot tell it is apple in the finished jar, it just adds a little extra fruity flavor.
Because the preserves are still boiling hard when the 5 minutes is up. I tried a 10 minute natural release once, thinking everything would settle down, and when I flipped the valve to vent I had strawberry preserves sprayed through the air. Let the pot release all of the pressure on its own before you open the lid. The red float valve usually drops in about 15 to 18 minutes, and you can open it as soon as it does.
You can make a shelf stable batch, but two things change. Use lemon juice out of the bottle rather than fresh, because lemons vary in acidity quite a bit and canning needs a reliable acid level so nothing grows in the jar. This is one of the times I recommend a prepackaged product over the natural one. I would also follow a recipe that has been tested for canning, and I would leave the basil out of a batch you plan to can. The version on this page is made with fresh lemon juice and lives in the refrigerator.
Not at all. The basil is not an ingredient that has to be in here, and the preserves are still delicious without it. If you do use it, about a quarter of a cup of chopped basil is right for this batch. A little more will be a little more basil forward and a little less will be less, so there are no worries on the amount. Sweet basil, Thai basil, and pesto basil all work, and you can use one kind or a mix of all three.
That is exactly what they should look like. Straight out of the pot the preserves are very hot and quite liquidy. All of the thickening happens as they cool, so fill your jars, bring the temperature down in an ice bath, and let them finish in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. If you want to use them warm as a strawberry syrup over something, that is delicious too, but a spreadable preserve needs that cooling time.
I would stay with the Granny Smith. The only reason the apple is in this recipe is the pectin, and a Granny Smith carries more of it than a sweeter apple does, so another kind might not set the preserves as well. You only need half an apple, and the other half is a snack. Put a little lemon juice on the cut side and it will not brown while you finish the recipe.
Variations
- No basil at all: Leave it out and you have a straightforward no pectin strawberry preserve. Everything else in the recipe stays exactly the same.
- Pick your basil: Sweet basil is the one most people have. Thai basil brings an almost licorice note, and pesto basil is a lighter green with a little white on the leaves and is very pretty. Use one or use a little of each.
- More or less basil: A quarter of a cup gives you a clear basil flavor without taking over the strawberries. Add more for a more basil forward spread, or just a few leaves for a hint of it.
- Apple you can see: Chop the apple instead of grating it if you would like little pieces of apple in your preserves. Grating gives the better set, so this one is a texture choice.
- Triple the batch: Use 3 pounds of strawberries, 3 cups of sugar, 1 whole Granny Smith apple, and 2 tablespoons of bottled lemon juice, with the same 5 minutes of pressure cooking.
- Strawberry syrup: Warm preserves spooned over Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream is about as strawberry as a dessert can get, and it is delicious.
What to Serve With Strawberry Basil Preserves
These strawberry basil preserves are wonderful on toast, on a biscuit, or on anything you would normally reach for a jar of jam to finish. We ate ours on Lemon Basil Scones that I made the same afternoon, and I would plan on making both together again. A spoonful over vanilla ice cream or stirred into plain yogurt is delicious, and a small jar next to something sharp or salty on a cheese board disappears quickly.
More Jams and Preserves You Will Want to Make
Once you see how easy a small batch of preserves is in the pressure cooker, it is hard to stop at strawberry. These are the other jams and preserves I make the same way, and every one of them is delicious on a warm biscuit. Pick whichever fruit you have the most of and start there.
About the Recipe Author, Louise Long
Louise is a full-time recipe creator and food blogger @ The Salted Pepper. She has over 30 years of experience with cooking and recipe development. She owned a restaurant for several years and was a full-time RN until retiring to blog full-time.
She published her first cookbook in the Fall of 2018 and is very interested in writing several more.
Louise is also the creator of an online Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooking Course with over 100 instructional step-by-step videos. People absolutely rave about the course and all the value they have received from it.
Louise has several very active Facebook groups that help people with the basics of cooking and learning more about the appliances they love.
Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooker & Air Crisper 101
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Louise is also a YouTube creator and you can find most of her recipes in video format on The Salted Pepper YouTube channel.
She is very responsive to messages and eager to help in any way she can. Get more Information about Louise & contact information
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