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Cucumbers can be a very abundant garden harvest. We eat them fresh by the bushel and can up dozens of quart jars of pickles and yet there are still so very many. Cucumber mint jam is a fun, tasty, and unusual way to use a few up.
A Quick-Cook Jam
Use pectin in this recipe instead of cooking until gel point is reached. A long cooking to reach gel stage is going to cook the cucumbers to death and likely leave a watery final product. Keep it quick with the addition of commercial pectin.
Sugar & Vinegar
Cucumbers are a low-acid vegetable. The addition of sugar and vinegar is key to raise the acidity level for canning. As much as I prefer a low-sugar jam, this is not the place for it.
The vinegar helps with acidity and mellows out the sweetness giving the final jam a great sweet and savory combination.
Pickling Versus Slicing Cucumbers
Pickling cucumbers tend to have less water than the slicing/salad types. It is for this drier texture that I choose to go with pickling cucumbers in this jam. One could try using slicing cucumbers but the additional water might make the final product a little less firm than a traditional jam.
How to Use Cucumber Mint Jam
This isn’t a jam, that a person is likely to slather on a peanut butter sandwich. It is a jam, however; that would:
make an excellent sandwich with some goat cheese and / or turkey
go wonderfully with some cheese and crackers
be delightful mixed in with some plain yogurt for a sweet / savory and filling lunch or snack
mix up well in this vinaigrette recipe (just swap out the strawberry jam for the cucumber mint)
Before all those summer cucumbers fade away consider whipping up some jam with this easy and quick recipe.
Cucumber Mint Jam
Make the most of an abundant cucumber harvest with this deliciously unusual and oh-so-easy- cucumber mint jam recipe with canning instructions included.
Ingredients
- 4 Cups Chopped Cucumber, peeled & seeded
- ½ Cup Lemon Juice
- ½ Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
- 4 Cups Sugar
- 1 Box (1.75 oz) of Powdered Pectin
- 3 Tablespoons Finely Chopped Mint
Instructions
- In a large pot, combine cucumbers, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, and pectin. Bring to boil, mashing slightly with a spoon. Keep at a rolling boil for 1 minute.
- Add the sugar, all at once and bring to a boil again. Boil for 1 minute.
- Remove from heat, skim off foam. Stir in mint.
- Pour into jars, leaving 1/4" headspace. Process for 10 minutes (adjusting for elevation) in a boiling water bath.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
96Serving Size:
1 TablespoonAmount Per Serving: Calories: 37Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 2mgCarbohydrates: 9gFiber: 0gSugar: 9gProtein: 0g
We try our best but cannot guarantee that nutrition information is 100% accurate.
Sounds interesting! How much does this recipe yield?
About 6 half pints. I can’t believe I forgot that in the recipe. Enjoy!
@Homespun Seasonal Living, I got about a pint at the most!!
There’s a measurement wrong somewhere. 4 Cups of sugar alone should give you way more than a pint of finished product.
@Homespun Seasonal Living, rather than chopping would the recipe be the same with cukes done in the food processor for a smoother jam?
Maybe – I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for certain. One of the other commenters said she made it with grated cucumber and it worked well.
I am excited to try this. Can lime juice be substituted for lemon juice, or maybe a lemon/lime combo?
I didn’t try it but I don’t see why not.
Sounds like a keeper. Must try..
I just made this today using cucamelons in place of the cucumbers. I halved the recipe just because I wasn’t sure, but now I wish I had made the whole recipe. It was fantastic! Thanks for a great recipe!!
Oh I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed it!
i dont like it
It is a different flavor, I’m sorry to hear you didn’t like it.
Just wanted to let you know that I came across this recipe last year and made it — and now I’m going to make it every year. Everyone we gifted with this jam LOVED it. Thank you for putting it out there!
Thank you so much for letting me know. I’m so glad to hear that it was such a hit!
Any reason that you can’t mix pickling cucumbers with salad cucumbers when making jams?
I don’t see why you couldn’t mix the two. Salad cucumbers tend to have more water so it might affect how well it gels but for sure it would work flavor wise.
I made this today and have to say that it is AWESOME!!! Everyone loved it! Will be making this again for sure! Love the mint!
Thanks so much for letting me know!
Thank you Kathie for the idea! I am using this in an informal work cooking competition, the theme is “Sweet and Savory on a Cracker” the presentation will be:
RainCoast Fig Crisps
Cold Sliced Lamb
Goat Cheese
Warm Mint Cucumber Jam
Your recipe should be the perfect topper, I’ll let you know how it goes!
Yum! Good luck. I can’t wait to hear how it goes.
I made this yesterday, it tasted good but it didn’t thicken up. It is more like a syrup. What did I do wrong?
It’s hard for me to say exactly. There are many different reasons why jam doesn’t set… was the pectin old. Are you sure you kept it at a full rolling boil (a boil that can’t be stirred down) for a full minute after adding the pectin? Did you add the sugar all at once?
try letting the jars sit for a week or two or more. Lately I have experienced pear jam and plum jam that appeared too runny at first but when using them a month later – they were set up just fine. In fact I had designated a few jars of pear jam as “pear syrup” as they were too runny to qualify as jam. Upon opening them, I found they had turned into the perfect jam consistency.
I made this today! I grated the cucumber instead of chopping and used lime juice instead of lemon. Ots tangy and delicious on cream cheese and crackers!
Thanks so much!
Oh, I’m so glad to hear it and what a good idea to grate it!
Just made my second batch of this yesterday. It is so good! Told my husband about it. He said, “that sounds disgusting”. Let him taste a little today as I was jarring it up…”okay, I was wrong. That is really good”, was his response. I have over 30 jars of bread and butters left from last year and have already put up over 20 jars of dill pickles this year. So, I am very grateful for another canning option for cucumbers. Thank you!!
I’m so glad to hear this, thank you! Enjoy.
Can you use liquid pectin instead of power if so how much liquid.
Thanks
I’ve never tested it that way, so I don’t know. I’m sorry I can’t be more help.
I was wondering if you could make this jam into a jelly, by straining it?
I’m sure you could but I’ve never tried it. If you do give it a go, let us know how it turned out for you.
Can I make this and not do the bath at the end and just eat it up fresh?
Sure, Just keep it in the fridge instead of on the shelf.
Have you ever tried this without the mint?
I have not and I’m thinking it would be pretty bland, honestly.
Hi! Just tried this and doubled the recipe! This is sooo incredibly good!! So glad I came across this! Never would have thought to add mint to something like this! Thank you!!
I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed it! A long time ago, I had a cucumber, yogurt salad that was paired with mint and ever since then I’ve just loved the cucumber & mint combination.
OMgosh Kathie. This is too good to be real! LOVE love love this Jam and so does my family. I had 5 full 8oz jars with a little bit left over. So easy. This was actually the first time I’ve ever canned anything so I tried to seek out an easy recipe to cut my teeth on. Perfect. Image my thrill as I heard each jar top PoP as they cooled. I was a bit worried at first when the ‘fruit’ appeared to have settled to the top. However, once we opened the first jar we simply stirred it up and constancy was perfect. SO good on a turkey and goat or sheep cheese sandwich. For those not wanting the bread just use a good sized piece of sliced turkey (lunchmeat style slice) and spread the jam on, add your cheese and roll up, enjoy. I might even save a jar to use with the roasted turkey on Thanksgiving Day. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Thank you so much for letting me know how it turned out for you. And congrats to you on your first canning adventure – here’s to many more!
Made this today, I omitted the lemon juice and doubled the vinegar. Also substituted 1 1/2 Tbsp. red pepper flakes for the mint. We love hot pepper jelly over cream cheese, and I have a ton of cukes to use. Tasted good out of the pot. Hoping it turns out amazing!!
Let me know if that works out well for you. My only concern is that lemon juice is often very helpful / necessary in getting the pectin to set the jam. Omitting it might mean you have something kind of loose but I can’t say for sure and I’m curious! Thanks for letting me know what you did.
I made this jam and it is so good. My husband likes it in his buffalo burgers!!
I meant to say on his buffalo burgers 😁
I’m so glad to hear that you all like it!
I have both peppermint and spearmint in my garden – which do you recommend for this?
I think both would work wonderfully but I’d probably use the peppermint first.
Thanks!
Making this now, with 9 1/2 pints bubbling away in the canner. There would have been 10 jars, but my husband and I are eating it- it is delicious! Refreshing and so good, just on a wheat cracker with cream cheese. Personally, I would definitely eat this on toast :)
1.75 oz of pectin doesn’t seem much. Is this the correct amount?
That’s a pretty standard amount (box size) of pectin for a jam recipe – it is definitely correct.
I have SOOO many cucumbers, and my pantry is full of pickles. So my last few larger cucumbers will be done this way. I want to try it during holidays poured over a block of cream cheese, and served with crackers for an appetizer. Never tried anything with mint, but will give it a go and see. Hate to waste all of the last larger cucumbers I have, and we are pickled, and saladed out (if that is a word!)
I hope you enjoy it!
I found this recipe to use our abundance of cucumbers. I really didn’t think it sounded good. 😉 HOWEVER, oh.my.goodness! This is my new favorite recipe! I grew mint this year for the first time. So I actually got to use our home grown mint AND cucumbers. So very yummy! Thank you for the recipe.
Thanks so much for taking the time to come back and letting us know!
Thank you for this wonderful recipe Kathie. Tried it for the first time as our cucumbers overwhelmed us. All the friends who tried it are in love with it. We are going to make obe last large batch and give away for christmas. One thing i did differently was a salt bath to pull some of the liquid out of cukes for about 4 hrs worked great.
I’m so glad to hear that you all enjoyed it – thanks so much for sharing your adjustments too!
Way too sweet, not enough mint or cucumber and far too much pectin!
Still, I might try it again and change the amounts. Thanks for posting the recipe even though I didn’t like it 😂❤️
It is sweet, admittedly. HOwever, Cucumber is a very low acid food and sugar and vinegar raise acidity to make it safe for canning. I’m sorry to hear you didn’t like it – it is generally a well-liked recipe but not for everyone.
I’m trying to “toast” the cucumber a few minutes in the oven to try to dry them out. Hope it works!
Let us know how that works out for you, please.
Can I use Pomona Pectin for this recipe? With Pomona you stir the pectin in when the mixture comes to a boil then stir for 2 minutes.
I have used Pomona’s for other things but not this recipe. I can’t say for certain if it will work.
I actually just came across this recipe the other day and made it yesterday using Pomona’s since that’s my preferred pectin brand. I just followed the instructions from Pomona’s for plum/peach type fruits and it came out wonderful. It also let me reduce the amount of sugar down to three cups, since 4 cups was too sweet for my tastes!
First of all, I want to say that this is surprisingly delicious so thank you for it! I doubled the recipe and, otherwise, followed it. The jam did not set up at all so the next day, I strained out the solid bits and cooked the juice down to less than half, re-added the solids and re-canned/processed it. The jam is still more like a sauce than jam but is now usable. Even with doubling my yield was 6 half pint jars. Not sure what I did wrong. We have had a lot of consistent rain so maybe my cucumbers were extra juicy??
It could be they were extra juicy. Doubling jam with pectin can sometimes cause trouble with set. I don’t know why doubling didn’t get you more final product thought. Thanks for trying it!
I’ve read over 150 canning books. This is the most unique recipe I’ve ever co.e across. You have my interest peaked…
What’s your thought on using sweet basil in place of the mint? I have a lot growing in my herb garden. Thanks!
It would probably work and be quite different.
@Lynne A Fong Sam, I just made this with Thai Basil, and it turned out great!
Hi is there an option to make this low sugar? I have ball powdered pectin for low sugar. How do I convert this? Any suggestions welcome. Thank you Kim
I don’t have a low-sugar version of this, cucumbers are low acid, the sugar helps bring up the acidity level to make it safe for water bath canning.
So I HATE cucumbers. And i HATE mint. Like, I use children’s toothpaste I hate mint so much. But I also have a massive garden and like to see what fun things I can grow! We did lemon cucumbers this year as an experiment. And one can only make so many pickles (at 50 pints and counting), so I needed something new. Picked up some mint at the farmers market and tried this! I totally didn’t read the instructions and just went for it. Forgot to add pectin early on, and I didn’t peel my cukes! I ended up boiling them to soften, then threw them in my blender. I wouldnt have even tried this tbh, due to my hate of both ingredients, but I accidentally got some on my thumb and without thinking, I licked it. Omg. This is surprisingly delish! I probably won’t be eating it by the spoonful, but I’m shocked by the fact I actually liked it! Def going to make again and give away to friends and family!
Thank you so much for this very honest review. I’m so glad you liked it even if it isn’t quite your thing.
Not bad! I used what I had on hand, green cues and white vinegar. Quite nice with cheese and biscuit. Christmas presents this year!
So glad to know that you enjoyed it!
Just got it made and it’s beautiful. I added fresh mint, dried mint and dried rose petals. Very yummy. It jelled right away. I’m a little disappointed the cucumbers just disappear and it’s quite sweet. I know my family will love it as syrup and stir it into drinks.
I got 5 half pints. Nice. I think I’ll play with sweet and the cucumber ratio. Just to see. Thanks for this!
The thing is – cucumbers are a low acid food. To make it safe for water bath canning, you need to add acid in the form of sugar or vinegar.
I made this jam last year and couldn’t find the recipe, so here I am again printing it off, lol! I absolutely love this recipe! Thank you!
I’m so glad to know you enjoyed it!
I must need glasses. At what point do you add the mint.
Step 3.
this recipe looks very delicious. Thanks for sharing it. I have a question, How many half pints for this recipe? 1, 2, 6?
It says at the top of the recipe card: 6 half pints
I am making The Cucumber and Mint Jam at the end it says to pour into jars and Process for 10minutes in boilng water. Sorry but I dont know what I have to do
It’s a canning process – you need to can the jam / jars.
I am a diabetic, so I am wondering, can the sugar be replaced with a sugar substitute such as Splenda or the Great Value powdered stevia?
I can’t say with certainty, I’m sorry. I know there are places online that talk about substituting sugar in canning recipes but I can’t say for sure in a way that makes me feel safe about suggesting it.
I made this earlier this week. However it didn’t gel as I expected with the sure gel. It’s a little runny, but I love the flavor. Any suggestions as to why it didn’t congeal.
I’m going to guess it’s the water content in the cucumbers you used. It’s hard say sometimes, jam doesn’t gel because it wasn’t boiled hard or long enough. AGain, it’s tough to say exactly.
Pleasanlty surprised! I don’t like cucumbers, but had a large amount to process (already did pickles). I came across your recipe and gave it a go. It’s really good! I think it’d be great as a baste for a lamb roast or with cream cheese and crackers. Thanks for sharing!
So tickled to hear it!
@Kathie Lapcevic, have you ever brined the cucumbers for a few hours? I used burpless cukes, deseeded, and soaked in 2 qts water with 4 tbs salt for 6 hours. Drained and rinsed. I used in a watermelon rind preserve recipe as a substitute for the wm rind. Making a new batch today. Going to have to try this combination. Sounds great.
I’ve brined cucumbers for pickles but never tried it for this recipe. If you try it, let us know.
I have a bunch of cucumber juice I made with some extra from the garden. I think I’m going to try this recipe with the juice rather than chopped! I will definitely do the chopped as well eventually but I’m working with what’s on hand today! I hope it turns out, it sounds incredible!
I can’t see why it wouldn’t work as a jelly. I look forward to hearing the results.
Made this last night with what I had on hand (white vinegar for cider and lime juice instead of lemon) and the taste is to die for. I’m wondering if I can swap out the vinegar entirely and just use one cup of lime juice? It’s a little syrupy but I’m thinking that’s because of the watery cucumbers I have (Richmond green apple) …but what do you think about the safety of swapping vinegar out altogether?
Check the label, I suppose if the juice is 5% acidity it would be the same as vinegar – but I don’t know for certain.
I just found this today while I was frantically searching for ways to preserve my cucumbers. I made a couple of mistakes but even so it came out great! I only got 4 half pints but I think it’s because I boiled it down quite a bit. Oh so good! Thanks for this recipe.
Oh I’m so glad to hear it!
I was wondering if you thought substituting Basil for the mint would create a nice flavor. I have lots of basil and only dried mint.
I haven’t tested it but I think it would work. Different for sure.
WOW, just tried this recipe with a bumper harvest of Lemon Cucumbers.
It turned out great! Just used a bit less mint, because hubby is not a fan (2 tbsp. instead of 3) and added a drop of Peppermint extract.
It’s a pale golden color instead of green. And Lemon Cucumbers are pretty much truly “burpless”, so I can tolerate them.
Thanks for this unique recipe!
I’m so glad to hear it!
I have made 2 batches of this jam this year and they are such a hit I will be making more this weekend. The cucumber is so mild in this recipe that I think it is a great base for other herbs too. I am considering a lemon thyme and lavender and can’t wait to try a couple batches with basil and jalapeño.
Oh I definitely think it would be good with other herbs. If you experiment let us know. I’m so glad to know that you liked the recipe.
This is delicious. Shared with the ladies crochet group at the library using crackers and cream cheese with jam on top. They Loved it. I like it on peanut butter sandwich too. I know it would be fantastic with a meat dish but we don’t cook as much any more. Making more today. Thinking Christmas presents. Thank you so much.
Oh, I’m so tickled to hear it. Thank you for letting me know.
I know this is an old post but….. I substituted the pectin for chia seeds and it’s a hit with everyone I gifted it to. This could also help with the thickening issue some people are having.
I came across your recipe this summer with an abundance of cucumbers from the garden. We love it, especially poured on top of cream cheese and served with Wheat Thin crackers (though I can eat it with a spoon too).
The first time I made it, it was too liquidy after canning. I let it set for 2 weeks hoping it would gel. I realized that I shouldn’t have doubled it together and figured that was the problem. It did not set so I rebatched it with added sugar and pectin. Perfect! I peeled and seeded a ton of cucumbers and froze them to make more later.
I made a new batch yesterday for Christmas gifts. I didn’t double and it still turned out too liquidy. So I’ll rebatch and probably just go ahead and add more sugar and pectin to the recipe in the future so that hopefully this won’t happen again.
Thank you so much! We love it!
What a different option from making more pickles! I made this with some extra Persian cucumbers from my garden. I also had both spearmint and peppermint, so I opted to use both. I decided also that a jalapeño would go well with this recipe. I was so pleasantly surprised. It is really good. I will make this again for sure.
What a delicious combination!
I’m definitely making this when the cukes come in. I love it for being different from the usual pickled/fermented cucumber recipe. So different.
7/6/2024 I made this. I used small pickling cucumbers, amounts as listed and followed directions. Mine also, as one person noted was pretty loose. I got 7 1/2 pints. Also, the mint seems to overpower the cucumber flavor. Next time I will boil it for a while and then add powdered pectin and leave out the mint. Will let you know how that turns out.
Oops, it was 7 1/2 half pints.
I made this using grated cucumbers and it was a big hit. Now I have a ton more cucumbers and no time to can them. Can I freeze them, either whole, sliced, or grated, and make the jam later?
Maybe. I haven’t tried but I don’t see why you couldn’t grate, freeze, and then make the jam. I would make sure to drain it well after thawing to avoid too much extra water but I think it could work. I can’t promise but I would sure try. If you do, let us know how it works.
I know this is an old post, but I thought I’d ask a question anyway. I don’t have any mint in my garden this year, but I have a ton of Basil. I’m wondering if a cucumber basil Jam would be good. Any idea? I love some of the new recipes out there using basil in sweets and desserts. I’m thinking this would be no exception.
I haven’t tried it but I think it would likely be a tasty combination.
I just made this using basil in place of the mint since I have so much in my garden. I also pureed the Cucumbers first and only used about 2 tbsp of vinegar. It came out great! Makes an awesome cucumber and cream cheese sandwich!