Primarily found in Northern Europe, lingonberry jam is made using the small, red lingonberry. It is a popular jam in Swedish cuisine but is infrequently used outside of Northern Europe.
Despite being a rare ingredient, lingonberry jam can be used in both sweet and savoury dishes. It is especially favourable as a side for meat-based dishes but can also help to accentuate the taste of a range of vegetables.
If you have ever travelled to Northern Europe and have used lingonberry jam, the chances are that you will want some for your own pantry. Luckily there are a few common substitutes that can work instead.
Our 3 Substitutes for Lingonberry Jam
When you first taste lingonberry jam, the sourness will be the most prominent flavour, followed by a slight sweetness from the jam base.
This is what allows lingonberry jam to pair so well with a range of dishes: the sour and sweet balance. It is also what gives the jam such a strong yet unique aroma.
Here are our top 3 substitutes for lingonberry jam:
1) Cranberry Sauce
Known in the UK as the cousin to lingonberry jam, cranberry sauce has a lot of the same elements as the jam, just slightly different.
Most obvious is the fact that it is a sauce and not a jam. Though very sour, the jamming process of lingonberry jam means that it does carry a nice sweetness.
Cranberry sauce isn’t made in the same way as lingonberry jam. Instead, its sweetness is added as an extra ingredient rather than as its base.
As such, you can get both sweetened and unsweetened cranberry sauce. The sweetened kind is very sweet, overly so in comparison with lingonberry jam. However, the unsweetened cranberry sauce will be too acidic to replace lingonberry jam effectively.
Some people love the sweetness of commercially sweetened cranberry sauce. But for a lingonberry jam substitute, it is better to get the unsweetened kind and add your own honey or sugar to sweetener in measured amounts.
Break Down the Sauce
Because it is a sauce and not a jam, cranberry sauce is much chunkier than lingonberry jam. This won’t be an issue in most cases, but to replicate the jam’s texture, simply blend up the cranberry sauce for a few moments until the desired consistency.
2) Apple Sauce
Some people think that apple sauce tastes too different from lingonberry jam to be a suitable substitute as it is usually a sweet treat.
However, apple sauce has been used for years as a savoury pairing for an array of meat dishes as well as being used for sweet dishes – much like lingonberry jam.
When it comes to appearances, apple sauce looks very different from lingonberry jam. But because it already pairs so well with savoury dishes (mainly pork and turkey dishes), the aesthetic differences can be overlooked.
Apple sauce does tend to be sweeter than lingonberry jam which causes an unbalance in your dish. If you don’t mind the sweeter taste, you can make full use of apple sauce as a lingonberry jam substitute.
Opt for Organic
The main benefit of apple sauce is that it is very cheap and readily available. However, organic apple sauce is less likely to have a copious amount of sweeteners added to it and will therefore make a better lingonberry jam substitute. Though buying organic does tend to be more expensive.
3) Red Currants
As far as appearances go, red currants look the most like raw lingonberries. They are small and red but are more widely available than lingonberries, adapting to climates outside Northern Europe.
Red currants also share similar tastes to lingonberries. They are very tart, turning sourer once cooked.
You can buy red currant jam, which would be the better substitute in this case, but in some areas, it is just as rare as lingonberry jam.
Creating your own red currant jam at home is not too difficult and can make a near-perfect substitution if you get the balance of sugar to fruit right.
Don’t Buy Too Many
Nobody wants to waste money, so make sure to only buy as many red currants as you know you are going to use. They will become unusable after a few days and even quicker if you store them in a fridge. So buy red currants the day of making your dish if you can.
Other Substitutes for Lingonberry Jam
It may be that your local supermarket supplies a lingonberry product but not the jam specifically. Here are a few other lingonberry products you can use instead of the jam:
- Lingonberry Concentrate – A strong fruit drink, you will need to add both water and some sweetness to combat the lingonberry tartness that the concentrate holds onto.
- Lingonberries and Sugar – A very basic jam recipe, mixing raw lingonberries and sugar at a 1:2 ratio will give you an intense but sweet lingonberry taste.
Summary
Lingonberry jam is such an uncommon and unique ingredient that it can be hard to find a substitute outside Northern Europe with the same versatility and flavour.
However, other sour and tart condiments, such as cranberry sauce, will work just as well when paired with a range of dishes. Just so long as they are not commercially sweetened.