How to Make Jelly: 7 Easy Jelly Recipes (2024)

Perhaps the prettiest sight in the kitchen is homemade jelly. There is nothing like a row of jars full of translucently colorful jelly. Learn how to make jelly at home with this beginner’s guide, including tips on water-bath canning for storage.See our basic jelly recipes—classic grape, apple, blackberry, cranberry, mint, anddandelion!

What IsJelly?

Jelly contains three basic ingredients: fruit juice, sugar, and pectin. When cooked together and allowed to cool, they thicken to form thesweet, spreadable substance we know asjelly.

We use the whole fruit, including the peel and core, to make jelly from scratch. The fruitis cooked down and strained. To the resulting juice, we addpectin. Pectin is the natural fiber (starch) within a fruit that helps to solidify the liquidjuice.

Jam vs. Jelly: What’s theDifference?

Although the process of making both jams and jellies involves using the whole fruit, the finished jelly productcontainsjust the juice of a fruit, whereas finishedjams and preserves contain bits and pieces of the fruit itself. This is why jelly is smooth (without lumps), and jam contains somefruit.

Jelly-MakingIngredients

1. Fruit that is fresh and high-quality.Better quality ingredients yield better jelly. Always use the exact amount of fruit noted in the recipe—no more, noless.This helps to maintain the correct balance between ingredients.If your schedule doesn’t allow you to make jelly when the fruit is fresh, freeze the extracted fruit juice and make the jelly another day. Freeze juice in straight-sided containers filled to about ½-inch from therim.
2. Sugarincreases the volume of the juice, sweetens it, sets the jelly, and helps to prevent mold and fermentation. Use the exact amount ofsugar givenin the recipe. If you want less sugar, use a recipe specifically developed to get your desired taste. Be aware that sugarsubstitutes such as corn syrup and honey maskthe fruit’sflavor.
3. Pectinjells the juice when it is cooked. Some fruits contain plenty of natural pectin; othersrequireadded pectin to jell properly. You can buy pectin in both powdered and liquid form. Be sure to follow the manufacturer’sdirections.
4. Acidthickens the fruit juice. As with pectin, some fruits will have enough natural acid, and others must be supplemented.You can use lemon juice fortheacid.

Which Fruits Will Need AdditionalPectin and/orAcid?

• With some fruits, you have enough natural acid and pectin without supplementing. Examples are tart apples, crabapples, blackberries, cranberries, gooseberries, and somegrapes.
• Other fruits will need added acid, pectin, or both. These includeapricots, blueberries, peaches, raspberries, strawberries, andpears.

The recipe will indicate theneed for extra acid and/or pectin. If acid and/or pectin are not listed as recipe ingredients, do not addthem.

Jelly-MakingSupplies

1. Use a heavy, 8- to 10-quart stainless-steel potwith a flat, heavy bottom andhighsides.
2. Have jelly jars, bands, and lids on hand. Lids must be new. Jars and bands can be reused; check that they’re in good condition with no cracks or chips and clean thoroughly after use. Use only the jar size specified in your recipe. For most jellies,half-pint (8 oz.) or smaller jars areused.
3. A damp jelly bag or cheeseclothis needed when extracting juice for jelly. Firm, unbleached muslin or cotton flannel with the napped side turned in,or four thicknesses of closely woven cheesecloth may beused.
4. A jelly, candy, or deep-fat thermometer can be used to determine doneness in jellied products without added pectin. This is not necessary when you supplement with commercialpectin.
5. A boiling water bath canner is necessary for processing all fruit spreads to prevent mold growth.A deep cooking pot with a rack that fits the bottom of the pot may be used for a canner if it’s deep enough to allow 1 or 2 inches of boiling water above the tops of the jars. Be sure the pot has a close-fittinglid.

Basic Jelly-Making Process andTips

Our specific recipes can be foundfarther down the page, but this is the general jelly-making process.It may look like many steps, but the processmoves quickly. We simply wantto provide plenty ofdetail!

Preparation

1. Get out your recipe. Remember: Only prepare ingredients for one recipe at a time. Do not double. If alarger quantity of juice is used, longer boiling is needed, which can cause aloss of flavor, darkening of the jelly, and toughening of thejelly.
2. Wash your jars, lids, and bands before jelly-makingin hot, soapy water and rinse. Sterilize the jars by heating them in a pot of water that is gradually brought to a boil for 10 minutes. (No need to sterlize lids.) Turn off the heat and leave the glasses in the pot until you are ready to use them. They need to be hot when you pour in the jellylater.
3. Always wash fruits right before cooking, no earlier.Wash under cold, running water; do notsoak fruits, especiallyberries.Wash your fruit.Remove the stems, skins, and pits from the fruit; cut the fruit into pieces and crush them. For berries, remove the stems and blossoms and crush them. Seedy berries may be put through a sieve or foodmill.

Extracting the FruitJuice

1. In your heavy, 8- to 10-quart saucepot, add fruit and only the amount of water called for in the recipe. Too much water will require longer cooking time and longerstraining time; too little water may result in scorching (burning) thefruit.
2. Cover, bring fruit juice to a rapid boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat, cover loosely, and continue cooking, stirring,and crushing the fruit until it is soft and the juices are flowing. Berries need only a couple of minutes, and hard fruit like apples may need anywhere from 15 to30minutes.
3. Over a colander or sieve, suspend a damp jelly and jam strainer or use wet cheesecloth. Place the colander or sieve over a large bowl and pour the cooked fruit into the bag or cheesecloth to strain into the bowl. For the best results, let it strain (drip) without forcing the liquid. This may take 2 hours or longer. If you squeeze the bag to extract the juice faster, you’ll get good juice, but it will be cloudy,and so will yourjelly. Tip: If the yield of juice is slightly less than the recipe quantity required, add ½ cup boiling water to the remaining fruit pulp to extract additional juice or use unsweetened apple or white grape juice to extend thequantity.

Cooking theJelly

1. In a large, deep stainless-steel saucepan, place the fruit juice and lemon juice, if needed, per recipe directions. If pectin is added, whisk the pectin into the fruit juice until it is dissolved. Bring it to a boil over high heat, stirringfrequently.
2. Add the sugar allat once, stirring until the sugar dissolves, and return to a rolling boil. Tip: Low-pectin fruit jelly can be made by combining the low-pectin juice with homemade apple juice—proportioned 1:1, plus⅔ cup of sugar for eachcup of juice. If you are using blueberries or strawberries, add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice for every 2 cups of jellyjuice.
3. Continue boiling the jelly and stirring for aclear-finished product. As the fruit mixture begins to thicken, stir frequently to prevent sticking and scorching. Tip: From the point at which you combine the juice, acid, pectin, and sugar to the temperature at which you heat your jelly, everything has to be exact. In general, when no pectin is added, the jelly stage is reached at 8°F above the boiling point of water. (The boiling point for water is about 212°F at 1,000 feet or less.) You can use a candy thermometer to determine the actual temperature at which water boils in yourkitchen.
4. If not adding pectin, you need totest whether or not your jelly has jelled. You can use a candy thermometer, but if you don’t have one, here are a couple of ideas. Remove a spoonful of the juice 5 minutes after you’ve added the sugar, let it cool for a minute, then tip the spoonback into the saucepan. If the juice runs together at the edge and “sheets” off the spoon, then you’re ready to pour it into the jars. Another jell testinvolves the freezer. Pour a small amount of boiling jelly onto a plateand put it in the freezing compartment of a refrigerator for a few minutes. During the freezer test, remove the panful of jelly mixture from the heat. If the chilled mixture jells, it should be done. (Note: If you’re adding extra pectin, you don’t need to do a jelltest.)
5. Remove your hot, sterilized jelly jars from the pot.Drain the jars and place them on a levelsurface.
6. Fruit juice cooked with sugar produces considerable foam or scum on the surface of the liquid. Skimscum off quickly before ladlingthe hot jelly into the hot jars. Tip: Alternately, you may add ½ teaspoon of butter or margarine when adding the sugar and before bringing to a boil. Do not add more butter, or it will interfere with thejelling.
7. As you ladle the jelly into the jars, leave a¼-inch headspace. Be careful not to spill any over the sides. If you do, wipe it off before you put the lidson.
8. After you pour the jelly, stir it gently around the sides of the jars with a plastic wand or spatula, to eliminate airbubbles.
9. Place lids that have been washed and dried on the jars. Add screw bands and tighten until finger-tiptight.

Processing the Filled Jars forStorage

In order to keep homemade jellybeyond a few weeks, the filled jars must be processed usingwater-bath canning.

1. Place jars into a boiling water bath canner, making sure the jars are completely covered with water (1 to 2 inches above thejars).
2. Cover with lid and bring the water back to boil, processing half-pintand 8-oz. jelly jars for 10minutes.
3. When the time is up, turn off the heat, remove the lid—take care to ventthe steam away from you—and wait for 5minutes.
4. Remove jars to a wooden trivet or kitchen towel on the counter and let sit for 12 to 24hours. Remove the screw bands and check the seal by pressing gently on the center of the lid. Store only jars that are sealed.If the lid wobbles, refrigerate the jelly and enjoy it within a fewweeks!

These are general guidelines for makingjelly. You should always follow the recipe. What’s that? You don’t have a jelly recipe? Borrow one ofours!

Homemade JellyRecipes

Prepare only a single batch at a time. Doubling the recipe can cause jellingissues.

1.Easy Grape Jelly Recipe (2ingredients)

2.Apple Jelly (or Crabapple Jelly)Recipe

3.Blackberry Jelly

4.Spiced GrapeJelly

5.CranberryJelly

6.MintJelly

7.DandelionJelly

Do you have any questions about the jelly-making process? We can help! Post them in the commentsbelow.