Rose Hip Jam substitute

Best substitute

Apricot jam with lemon juice

Use the same amount plus 1 tsp lemon juice per ¼ cup as the rose hip jam you are replacing

Best for paczki and filled doughnuts

Different taste

The nearest colour and the nearest acidity once the lemon goes in, with a mild stone-fruit flavour that sits close enough to pass in a filled doughnut. What it is missing is the floral, tea-like edge that makes rose hip distinctive.

Other rose hip jam substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Quince or crabapple jelly
Different texture
Use the same amount
Rose hips, quinces and crabapples are all in the same botanical family and the flavours genuinely rhyme: faintly floral, tannic, honeyed and sharp.
What changes
It sets firmer than jam, which means it holds beautifully inside a doughnut rather than leaking.
Best for
paczki and filled doughnuts, filled cookies, cheese plates, glazing
The closest option on flavour character among things you can actually buy. Warm it briefly and stir to loosen it before piping, or it tears the crumb.
3Red currant or lingonberry jam
Different taste
Use the same amount
Right level of sharpness, right red colour, distinctly berry rather than floral.
What changes
This is the standard swap in Nordic and Baltic recipes where the sourness matters more than the specific fruit, and it works particularly well in soups and sauces.
Best for
rose hip soup and nyponsoppa, filled doughnuts, sauces for meat, pancakes
Lingonberry is more bitter and tannic, red currant sharper and cleaner. Both are usually less sweet than jam, so you may not need to add lemon at all.
4Rose hip syrup or puree, cooked down
Close match
Use the same amount once reduced
Rose hip syrup is sold in some pharmacies and health shops as a drink concentrate.
What changes
Simmer it with a little sugar until it coats a spoon and you have the real flavour: the exact floral, apple-and-tea note that nothing else reproduces.
Best for
paczki and doughnuts, rose hip soup, cake fillings, glazes
The only substitute that tastes genuinely of rose hip. Watch it, since syrups catch and scorch quickly once they start to thicken, and let it cool fully before filling anything.
5Homemade rose hip jam from picked hips
Close match
Use the same amount
Simmer 500g of topped, tailed and deseeded rose hips in 250ml water until soft, push the pulp through a sieve, then cook with 300g sugar and a tablespoon of lemon juice until thick.
What changes
This is the real thing and nothing else compares to it.
Best for
paczki, rose hip soup, cakes and pastries, spreading on bread
Non-negotiable: the seeds and the fine hairs surrounding them must be removed. Push the cooked pulp through a sieve or a mouli and never simply blend the whole hips, because those hairs are irritating to the mouth and gut.
6Strawberry or raspberry jam with lemon and a drop of rosewater
Different taste
Use the same amount plus ½ tsp lemon juice and one drop of rosewater per ¼ cup
The honest least-bad option.
What changes
Berry jam supplies the sweetness and the sourness once you add lemon, and a single drop of rosewater gestures at the floral note. It will taste like a good berry doughnut rather than a rose hip one.
Best for
emergencies, filled doughnuts, filled cookies, cakes
One drop of rosewater, then taste. Used with any generosity it tastes of soap and turkish delight rather than fruit, and the mistake cannot be undone once it is in.

What is Rose Hip Jam?

Rose Hip Jam is Rose hip jam, also written rosehip jam and known as hagebutte in German and macies dulceata in Romanian, is a thick tart-sweet orange-red preserve made from the sieved pulp of rose hips, and it is the traditional filling for paczki and the base of Nordic and Baltic rose hip soup.

Cooking tips

Rose hip seeds and the fine hairs around them are irritating to the mouth and digestive tract, which is why every traditional recipe sieves the pulp. If you are making your own, push the cooked hips through a sieve or a mouli, and never simply blend whole hips and use the result.
For paczki and filled doughnuts the filling has to be stiff or it runs straight back out of the hole. If your substitute is loose, simmer it for five minutes to reduce it and cool it completely before filling, and pipe it into the doughnut only once both are at room temperature.
Rose hip jam is more tart than most preserves, which is why it works against a rich enriched dough. If you swap in a sweeter jam, add lemon juice a teaspoon at a time until it tastes bright rather than sugary, or the doughnut ends up cloying.
For nyponsoppa, rose hip soup, you want a thin puree rather than a jam. Thin any of these swaps with water, add a small pinch of cinnamon, and thicken very slightly with potato starch, which is the traditional thickener and leaves the soup clear rather than cloudy.
Do not adjust the sugar or the acid in a tested canning recipe in an attempt to make a preserve taste more like rose hip. In water-bath preserving, that balance is what keeps the jar safe rather than a matter of taste, so follow a tested recipe as written and check the National Center for Home Food Preservation for current guidance.

Frequently asked questions

What can I use instead of rose hip jam?

Apricot jam with a squeeze of lemon is the closest easy swap, matching the colour and the tartness and reading as similar in a filled doughnut. Quince or crabapple jelly is closer on the floral, tannic character because rose hips are in the same botanical family as apples and quinces. Red currant or lingonberry jam is the usual choice in Nordic and Baltic recipes.

What does rose hip jam taste like?

Tart and only moderately sweet, with a distinctive floral note that people often describe as somewhere between apple, tea and crab apple, plus a faint tannic dryness on the finish. That floral quality is the part no substitute reproduces, which is why apricot jam plus lemon gets close on structure without ever tasting quite the same.

Can I leave the rose hip jam out of paczki?

Not from the recipe, since a filled doughnut needs a filling, but you can swap freely for another one. Plum jam, apricot jam, thick vanilla custard and lekvar are all traditional paczki fillings, so choose one you can actually get rather than trying to bake the doughnuts empty and adding something later.

Can I make rose hip jam from fresh rose hips?

Yes, and it is the only way to get the real flavour. Pick them after the first frost when they have softened, top and tail them, and remove the seeds and the hairy interior. Simmer until soft, push the pulp through a sieve, then cook with sugar and lemon. The sieving step is not optional, because the internal hairs are irritating if eaten.

Where can I buy rose hip jam?

German, Polish, Hungarian, Romanian and Scandinavian grocers stock it, sometimes labelled hagebuttenmarmelade or as a rose hip preserve, and health food shops occasionally carry rose hip syrup, which reduces down into a very good substitute. It is genuinely hard to find in mainstream American and British supermarkets, which is why apricot jam with lemon is the practical answer.

Related substitutes

More preserves substitutes

Rose Hip Jam substitute

Other rose hip jam substitutes

2Quince or crabapple jelly

3Red currant or lingonberry jam

4Rose hip syrup or puree, cooked down

5Homemade rose hip jam from picked hips

6Strawberry or raspberry jam with lemon and a drop of rosewater