These old-fashioned fig preserves require just 3 ingredients — and no pectin! One of the easiest jams to make, there’s very little prep work necessary. Just simmer a pot on the stove for a couple of hours and you’ll have a few jars of beautiful, preserved fresh figs to enjoy with cheese on your next charcuterie board, to spread on biscuits, cornbread, or toast, to elevate sandwiches, or to use in baked goods like cakes.
Table of Contents
Figs generally ripen twice a year: the first or “breba” season is typically in early June, while the second or “new wood” season generally runs from August through October. When my neighbor’s Brown Turkey figs ripened early this year (thanks to a warm winter in Virginia), she was happy to share some with us. There’s no better way to enjoy a bunch of figs than turning them into fig preserves!
Old Fashioned Fig Preserves
This is a standard, old-fashioned fig preserves recipe, which includes equal amounts of both figs and sugar. It’s easy to scale up or down, depending on how many figs you have, or how many jars you plan to make. The thinly-sliced lemon is another classic ingredient, which adds acidic brightness to balance out the sweetness of the figs.
I’ve included instructions for canning fig preserves below, but you can also skip the step of processing the jars in a hot water bath and just store the preserves in the refrigerator if you prefer.
Fig Preserves vs. Fig Jam
Fig preserves are not technically the same as fig jam, although this particular recipe yields a jar of preserves that’s quite similar to jam. In general, jam is made with mashed fruit while preserves have whole fruit or large pieces of fruit throughout.
This whole fig preserves recipe starts with the whole fruit (just the stems removed). You don’t need to chop, peel, mash, or process the figs before adding them to the pot.
As the figs cook, soften, and break down, I like to use my wooden spoon to break apart some of the larger pieces of fruit. In the end, you have a chunky fig spread that actually resembles jam more than preserves. If you prefer whole fig preserves with large chunks or the fruit intact, that’s fine…just don’t break them apart as much when you’re stirring the pot.
Ingredients
This is an overview of the ingredients that you’ll need for an old fashioned fig preserves recipe without pectin. As always, specific measurements and complete cooking instructions are included in the printable recipe box at the bottom of the post.
- Fresh figs: I use Brown Turkey figs, but you can use Black Mission figs or just about any other fresh figs available.
- Granulated sugar: this classic Southern recipe calls for an equal amount of sugar and figs; however, you can see my note below to adjust the recipe for less sugar.
- Lemon: gives the spread a bright, acidic note that balances the sweetness of the figs and helps to make the preserves safe for shelf-stable canning.
Equipment Needed
- 3 sterilized half-pint mason jars and lids: this recipe yields enough for about 3 (8-ounce) jars of jam. I like the half-pint jars because it’s just the right amount of jam to keep in the fridge after it’s opened, but smaller 4-ounce jars are also a great option.
- A sterilized funnel: this makes it easier to get the jam inside the jar without spilling; however, it’s fine if you don’t have a funnel — you can carefully spoon the jam into the jars instead.
- Tongs: canning tongs are incredibly helpful when taking the jars in and out of the boiling water.
- Stock pot, saucepan, or Dutch oven: for cooking the preserves.
- Canner or large pot for boiling jars: this needs to be very deep so that you can cover the jars with at least 1-2 inches of water. I use my deepest stock pot for this step, since I don’t have an official canner to process the jars.
- Wooden spoon: to stir, stir, stir so that the jam doesn’t stick to the pot!
How to Sterilize Jars and Lids for Jam or Preserves
It’s a good practice to sterilize the jars and lids before canning in order to kill any bacteria, fungi or yeast. There are a variety of ways to sterilize the jars (here’s a helpful article with different options). I typically use the dishwasher, or just boil them for 10 minutes in the same big pot of water that I’ll use for processing.
How to Make Fig Preserves
This recipe is incredibly simple — no peeling, mashing, or chopping necessary! Just remember to plan ahead and let the figs sit in the sugar overnight. The fruit will release juices as it sits, and you won’t need to add any water to the pot in the morning.
I’ve included the detailed directions in the recipe card below, but here’s the quick overview:
- Cut off the stems from the figs.
- Place figs in a large pot or Dutch oven and cover with sugar.
- Cover the pot and let the figs sit in the sugar overnight.
- Heat the pot on the stovetop over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves (this only takes a few minutes).
- Reduce the heat to low, add the lemon slices, and cook for about 2 hours.
- Divide the figs and syrup between sterilized jars. Wipe rims clean with paper towels, then secure lids and rings.
How to Thicken Fig Preserves
You don’t need added pectin to thicken this fig preserve recipe. Instead, the slow cooking process allows the figs and sugar to naturally thicken on their own.
The longer you simmer the pot, the thicker the jam will be. This typically takes about 2 hours, but it might be a bit less or a bit more. As a result, I find that it’s most helpful to use a candy or deep-fry thermometer to know exactly when the mixture reaches the jelling point of 220-225°F.
It’s important that you don’t cook the preserves for too long, or the mixture will be too thick to spread once it cools.
Canning Fig Preserves
Once the sterilized jars are full and sealed, set the hot jars on a rack in a canner or in a large pot of boiling water. Make sure that the pot is deep enough so that the jars are covered by at least 1-2 inches of boiling water. Boil for 10 minutes (or 15 minutes if your altitude is above 6,000 feet).
How long does it take for easy fig preserves to set?
Once the jars are filled and processed in the hot water bath for 10 minutes, place the jars on a dish towel on the counter. The jam will not set immediately, so it’s important to allow the jars to rest without interruption at room temperature until cool (or overnight), about 12 hours. Don’t forget that the preserves will continue to thicken as they cool and set.
Storage
Once the jam has had a chance to cool, you can check the seals on your jars. The lids should be down in the center or stay down when pressed. Unsealed jars should be refrigerated and used within 3 weeks. Properly sealed and processed jars of fig preserves should be stored in a cool, dark, dry place (such as a pantry) for up to 8 months.
If you choose not to process your jars of preserves in a hot water bath, they need to be stored in the refrigerator. These jars will stay fresh for up to 3 weeks. To freeze unprocessed jars of preserves, be sure to leave about 1-inch of headspace at the top of each jar to allow for expansion.
What do you eat fig preserves with?
This versatile fig spread is delicious in a variety of dishes. Try serving the preserves:
- Spread on flaky biscuits, 7up biscuits, cornbread, sour cream muffins, or toast.
- On a cheese plate at your next cocktail hour.
- On top of brie cheese.
- Stirred into oatmeal for breakfast.
- Over vanilla ice cream for dessert.
- On sandwiches for a sweet contrast to smoked turkey, country ham, roast beef or Swiss cheese.
- In baked goods such as cakes and bars.
Fig Preserves Recipe Variations
- Less sugar. While many old time fig preserves recipes call for equal parts figs and sugar, some folks prefer a less-sweet jar of preserves. Feel free to play around with the ratio and reduce the amount of sugar in your pot to suit your taste preferences — especially if the figs that you’re using are already very sweet on their own.
- Fig preserves without lemon. The lemon adds a nice acidic balance to the sweet figs, and gives the spread a marmalade-like taste. It’s also an important ingredient if you want your preserves to be shelf-stable. If you’re just planning to refrigerate your preserves for up to 1 month (and skip the hot water bath), then you can omit the lemons if you like.
- This recipe yields a small batch of just 3 jars; however, you can scale the recipe to make a larger batch. If you have a bunch of figs available, just multiply all of the ingredients to create more preserves. For instance, use 3 lbs. of figs, 3 lbs. of sugar and 1 whole lemon.
- If you don’t want to bother with canning the jars in a water bath, no problem! Just transfer the jam to jars, let them cool completely at room temperature, and then store in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.
- I used Brown Turkey figs here, but you can substitute with Black Mission figs or just about any other fresh figs available.
Tips for the Best Fig Preserves Recipe
- Do not overcook the preserves or the mixture will become too thick to spread. The preserves thicken significantly as they cool and set, so don’t worry if the syrup still looks fairly thin at the end. The total cooking time may vary — in some instances you might need less than 2 hours, in some instances more. This is why I find a candy thermometer to be so helpful — you’ll know exactly when it reaches the jelling point of 220-225° F.
- If possible, weigh your fruit after trimming the stems. This will give you a more accurate measurement to make sure that you have the correct amount of fruit. For instance, I started with about 1 ¾ lbs. of fresh figs before trimming, which left me with 1 ½ lbs. of fruit to use in the recipe.
- Slice the lemon paper-thin before adding it to the pot. This way you’ll end up with bits of lemon throughout, but you won’t have any big chunks to bite into.
- Use a wooden spoon to break up the large figs as they cook if you prefer a jam-like consistency. For whole fig preserves, leave the figs intact (they will still be soft and spreadable).
- Leave ¼-inch of headspace in each jar. The proper amount of headspace is important to ensure a vacuum seal. If there’s too little headspace, the preserves may expand and bubble out when air is being forced out from under the lid during processing.
More Homemade Jam Recipes to Try
Blackberry Jam (without Pectin)
12 hours hrs 55 minutes mins
Spiced Apple Pear Jam
45 minutes mins
Blueberry Jam without Pectin
12 hours hrs 55 minutes mins
Did you make this recipe?
If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a comment with a 5-star review at the bottom of the post. Thank you!
Fig Preserves Recipe without Pectin
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs. fresh figs, stems removed
- 1 ½ lbs. granulated sugar (approximately 3 ¼ cups)
- ½ of a lemon, sliced paper-thin and seeds removed
Instructions
- Place the figs in a large pot. Pour the sugar over the figs, cover the pot, and let sit overnight.
- Heat the pot on the stovetop over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves (this only takes a few minutes). Reduce the heat to low, add the lemon slices, and cook for about 2 hours (or until the syrup is thick). If the figs are particularly large, I like to use a wooden spoon or a potato masher to gently break apart the big chunks as the figs soften. If you have a deep fry or candy thermometer, you’re looking for a jelling point of 220-225°F.
- Divide the figs and syrup between 3 sterilized 8-ounce glass jars, leaving ¼-inch of headspace at the top of each jar. Wipe the rims clean with a damp cloth, then secure the lids and bands.
- Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes (or 15 minutes if your altitude is above 6,000 feet). Carefully remove the jars to a towel on the counter. Let stand, undisturbed, for 12 hours at room temperature. Check the seals after 12 hours by pressing the center of the lids. If the lid gives or the center button remains popped up, store in the refrigerator for up to 1 month. Properly sealed jars will keep in a cool, dark place for up to 8 months. Refrigerate after opening.
Notes
- Less sugar. While many old time fig preserves recipes call for equal parts figs and sugar, some folks prefer a less-sweet jar of preserves. Feel free to play around with the ratio and reduce the amount of sugar in your pot to suit your taste preferences — especially if the figs that you’re using are already very sweet on their own.
- Fig preserves without lemon. The lemon adds a nice acidic balance to the sweet figs, and gives the spread a marmalade-like taste. It’s also an important ingredient if you want your preserves to be shelf-stable. If you’re just planning to refrigerate your preserves for up to 1 month (and skip the hot water bath), then you can omit the lemons if you like.
- Scale the recipe to make a larger batch. If you have a bunch of figs available, just multiply all of the ingredients to create more preserves. For instance, use 3 lbs. of figs, 3 lbs. of sugar and 1 whole lemon.
- If you don’t want to bother with canning the jars in a water bath, no problem! Just transfer the jam to jars, let them cool completely at room temperature, and then store in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.
- I used Brown Turkey figs here, but you can substitute with Black Mission figs or just about any other fresh figs available.
- Do not overcook the preserves or the mixture will become too thick to spread. The preserves thicken up significantly as they cool and set, so don’t worry if the syrup still looks fairly thin at the end. The total cooking time may vary — in some instances you might need less than 2 hours, in some instances more. This is why I find a candy thermometer to be so helpful — you’ll know exactly when it reaches the jelling point of 220-225° F.
- If possible, weigh your fruit after trimming the stems. This will give you a more accurate measurement to make sure that you have the correct amount of fruit. For instance, I started with about 1 ¾ lbs. of fresh figs before trimming, which left me with 1 ½ lbs. of fruit to use in the recipe.
- Slice the lemon paper-thin before adding it to the pot. This way you’ll end up with bits of lemon throughout, but you won’t have any big chunks to bite into.
- Use a wooden spoon to break up the large figs as they cook if you prefer a jam-like consistency. For whole fig preserves, leave the figs intact (they will still be soft and spreadable).
- Leave ¼-inch of headspace in each jar. The proper amount of headspace is important to ensure a vacuum seal. If there’s too little headspace, the preserves may expand and bubble out when air is being forced out from under the lid during processing.
- Recipe adapted from Jan Karon’s Mitford Cookbook & Kitchen Reader.
I can’t seem to find it, so I can print it.
Hi Marie! If you scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of the page, there should be a “print recipe” button at the top.
Please let us know if you still have trouble with it!
Newbie here. 🙂 Thank you for the details! Am I reading correctly that I want to slowly work my way up to 220° over 2 hours? At first, I thought I had to get 220 and then wait two hours, so I think I might’ve heated too hot too fast, but I just turned it down to low when I realized I might be doing it wrong. Advice needed. Thanks.
Hi! That’s correct — you’ll want to slowly work your way up to the jelling point of 220 degrees (which will likely take about 2 hours). Hope you enjoy the preserves!
Hi Blair, Do I let the sugar covered figs sit in room temperature overnight or in the fridge?
Thanks!!
Hi, Wennie! I always leave them at room temperature. Hope you enjoy!
Hi Blair,
I doubled your recipe, with more figs and less sugar. And I cut lemon in half. It turned out great for me!
I see you have a no pectin Blackberry recipe. Can I do the same for Raspberries jam?
Thank you for sharing!
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Wennie! Yes, you can follow the same steps, using raspberries in place of blackberries.
Good Morning! I don’t have fresh figs where I live so wondering if I can use figs from Costco for this recipe. Thanks!
Hi Debbie! Any figs will work as long as they aren’t dried.
Hi Blair! I’m fixing the preserves right now — I put them in the fridge overnight (I didn’t read the comments), and they’ve been cooking for two hours but haven’t gotten above 200° yet. I turned up the heat to medium-low so hopefully soon! My question is, would it be okay to remove the lemon rinds before canning? Lemon can really over power other delicate flavors… thanks, Alanna
Hi, Alanna! Just give them time — they’ll get to 200 and they’ll be perfect. 🙂 Yes, you can absolutely remove the lemon rinds before canning. Hope you enjoy them!
I made a batch of fig preserves with this recipe. I had more figs than the recipe called for. I adjusted the recipe and made 8 half pints. I left out some of the sugar because I did not want them overly sweet. They turned out great.Thanks for all the instructions and notes.
Wonderful, Regina! I’m glad that they worked well with less sugar. Thanks for letting me know, and have a great week!
Thanks! It turned out AWESOME!
We’re so glad it turned out well for you, Karen!
Sugar is meant for the canning prosses, however its too much sugar by how much can one reduse the amount of sugar and still have a successful outcome???. Im using figs too and they are sweet like honey. I have about 4-5 lbs
Oh and can organic fine cane sugar be used instead of white??I, don’t like white sugar there is no nutritional benefits already stripped and bleached?
Oops im using 9lbs how much sugar and can fine organic raw sugar be used?
You mean 9 pounds of figs? We would use 9 pounds of sugar as well. Fine organic raw sugar should be fine.
Good morning from New York,
May I use 1 cup of brown sugar as I ran out of white sugar?
Thank you for sharing;)
Hi, Amelia! I haven’t tried it myself, but I think that should work as an equal swap. The brown sugar will change the flavor and color slightly, and the syrup may be a bit thicker, but I think it will be tasty!
This turned out great. I added a little vanilla, cinnamon and a pinch of sea salt to it.
Sounds perfect, Kimberly. Thank you for letting me know!
Is the large amount of sugar the reason you don’t need pectin to thicken the preserves?
Yes! The figs and sugar help thicken the mixture in the slow cooking process.
Hi Blair,
Thank you for the recipe! Can I cook these and then put in the refrigerator and can/water bath the next day? Mine won’t be done until 10:30pm and I don’t have the strength to can tonight lol
Hi Sophia,
Yes, you can cook the fig preserves and then store them in the refrigerator overnight before water bath canning them the next day.
However, to ensure safety and quality, it’s recommended to reheat the preserves to a boil and then fill the hot jars immediately before water bath processing.
Hi! I used this recipe as my first time jarring. And within a week im not sure if i should toss it. It looks like something is growing in it
We’re sorry to hear this, Reagan. If you’re unsure, we probably wouldn’t eat it.
Just wondering. My Mom used to slice the figs and left the slices intact rather than breaking them apart. Would this recipe need any adjustments if I did that? Also, If I used Splenda instead of sugar, would it work and if so, how would I figure out the amounts since yours are in pounds, not cups? Thanks.
Hi Chuck,
It should be just fine if you keep the figs intact. We haven’t tested this recipe with Splenda and can’t guarantee the results. One pound of figs is usually roughly 12 figs. So, 1 1/2 pounds would be roughly 18 figs. We’d love to know how it turns out if you give it a try!
I love these preserves! The lemon adds so much and they’re very easy to make. This is my second year making them with this recipe and I have noticed that each time, I’ve ended up with more preserves than I had prepared jars for. Could it be because my figs are a different variety?
We’re so glad you enjoy the recipe and appreciate you taking the time to leave a review!The excess could definitely be a result of the different figs and their size.
A friend gifted me over seven pounds of assorted figs and your recipe for preserving this amazing harvest was perfect. I will cut the amount of sugar to about 70% next time as I thought the 1:1 ratio yielded a very sweet jam. However, the cooking instructions were perfect! I got a little antsy waiting for the temperature to reach 225 degrees, but it did, right at the two-hour mark. I also noticed that as it got closer to being done, the foam magically disappeared. Very cool! Seven pounds of figs gave me five pint and ten half-pint jars. Guess what everyone is getting for Christmas?
The perfect Christmas gift! We’re so glad it turned out well for you, Kim. Thank you for trying the recipe and taking the time to leave a review.
Thank you, Blair! This is a really great recipe. I have mountains of a green honey fig variety from my daughter’s orchard. It’s a fairly sweet fig.
In the first batch I followed your recipe it with 1/3 less sugar which turned out scrumptious and sweet! Today’s batch has 17 cups of figs and 5 cups of sugar, 1 and 1/2 lemons using all the juice. I add vanilla to all of my fruit jams, approximately 1 teaspoon per 8 cups of fruit and sugar mixture.
Cathy B.
Thank you for your feedback, Catherine! We’re so glad you enjoyed the recipe.
Hi there,
I am concerned about the large pieces of fig skin that remains as I get close to the desired temperature. Is this normal in fig preserves? I am imagining you would get a large piece of skin when you put your knife in for some to spread?
This is also my first time making something like this. I have a couple fig trees and really want to find a way to utilize them!
Recipe was so easy to follow-thanks so much! I had 7lbs of figs from one of my trees so ended up with 14 jars! I think they will be Christmas gifts this year. I did use alot less sugar and substituted some of the sugar with honey which gave it a wonderful flavor with great depth.
Thank you for the feedback, Alexa! We’re so glad you were able to make the recipe work for you.
It does make for fantastic Christmas gifts!
Everyone loves these preserves! Thank you for this easy to follow delicious recipe!
We’re so happy to hear this, Sherri! We’re glad you enjoyed it.
It would probably do you better buy weighing your figs. One to one and a half pound. I have celestial figs and that’s how I would have to do it too. Plan on doing some this year 2025. Every time I get ready to do them I get sick unfortunately. Hope that helps. Good luck.
Easy and delicious
Thank you, Sam!
I happily give this 5 stars. I have made 3 batches. The first time, I paid more attention to that 2 hour cook time. The jam was way too firm. I cooked it closer to 1-1:20 mins which was perfect for my stovetop and settings. I love that this is small batch, but I doubled it once with great results as well.
Thank you so much, Joy! I really appreciate your feedback!