Strawberry Spread with Honey and Chia Seeds

Name: Strawberry Spread with Honey and Chia Seeds
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1 cup strawberries; ½ cup water; 3 tablespoon Chia Seeds (32g); 2 tablespoon Honey (42g)

Updated: Aug 16, 2023 by Veronica Noone · This post may contain affiliate links · 23 Comments

I've discovered Chia Seeds at my local grocery store and now there is no going back. These things are awesome! Even the baby thinks so.

At first I didn't know what do with them but now I can't think of ways NOT to use them.

Wait.

Did that make any sense?

Anyway, I'm in love. They add a fun texture and are a good source of healthy fats. According to the package I bought,

Chia seeds are a great source of Omega 3's similar to flax seeds, however Chia seeds also contain much higher amounts of antioxidant than do flax seeds, so they can be stored for long periods of time without becoming rancid. Chia seeds are also high in protein and very high in fiber. Unlike flax seeds Chia seeds are easy to digest and don't needs to be ground or mashed to release their nutritional benefits.

Now of course they are touting the benefits over flax on the package as they are trying to sell me Chia but I'm impressed by the nutritional profile. 3 tablespoon are 160 calories, 10g of fat (mostly Polyunsaturated), 12g of fiber and 5g of protein. As someone who is feeding kids, adding some seeds seems like a super easy way to up the nutritional quality of their food.

That's where the Jelly comes in. I have an almost 7 year old who loves jelly. He loves it on his toast. He uses it on waffles. He'd take a spoon to the jar if I let him. So when I saw this The Gracious Pantry I had to give it a try. Chia Jelly.. Genius!

I knew Chia seeds naturally made a gel when added to water so this made perfect sense. The result was delicious! I added a little honey to enhance the natural sweetness of the strawberries and the seeds made the perfect jelly texture. When The Little Guy asked what they were I told him seeds from the strawberries and he said, "Oh yea.. they have little seeds on them."

I didn't want to be sneaky but in this case I wanted him to try it with no preconceived notions of "it's weird."

Well, it worked! He loved it and we both enjoyed a PB&J made with our homemade Strawberry Spread. How stink' cool is that?!

Ingredients

1 cup strawberries
½ cup water
3 tablespoon Chia Seeds (32g)
2 tablespoon Honey (42g)

Instructions

Start with a cup of berries. Unfortunately, I didn't weigh them so I can't give you the gram amount but this is how I measured them.

I had fairly small berries. If yours are larger, I'd cut before measuring.

Put everything in a small saucepan.

Bring to a boil and them lower to medium-low. You want to keep it boiling, but gently, so it thickens without burning.

Using a fork, whisk or potato mashed gently squish the berries and seeds. Just a few times, making sure there are no large chunks.

Continue to gently boil until it reduces to jelly thickness. I cooked for 20 minutes.

Pour into a container and let it cool in the fridge.

My batch fit perfectly into a small 10oz jelly jar. I can't believe I made that..

Looks like it belongs in there! 🙂

As for nutritional information, it's hard to say as the number of servings will vary based on how much you reduce. So I'll provide for the entire batch and compare it to the jelly that was originally in the jar and give you an estimate for my batch.

Original strawberry fruit spread in the jar…

480 calories, 0g of fat, 128g of carbs, 128g of sugar, 0g of fiber, 0g of protein

My strawberry spread recipe above…

335 calories, 10g of fat, 60g of carbs, 42g of sugar, 15g of fiber, 6g of protein

Based on a serving size of 1 tablespoon as listed on the original jar my batch ends up with this profile.

UPDATE: The finished product lasts approximately 2 weeks. I left a bit in the jar and by the 16th day it was a rancid. Hope that helps!

📖 Recipe