Canning Recipes

Did you know...

Canning was actually introduced by Nicholas Appert in 1795 as a challenge by Napoleon Bonaparte.   Napoleon offered a reward for whoever could develop a safe, reliable food preservation method for his constantly traveling army.

Canning produce is a great way to enjoy fresh veggies all year long!

If you have a tried and true recipe you would like to share with our readers, send one in - we would love to try it!

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Bread & Butter Pickles

Prep: 45 min. + standing

Process: 10 min./batch.

Yield: 11 pints.

20 c. sliced cucumbers (about 12 med.)

3 c. sliced onions (about 4 med.)

1 med. sweet red pepper, sliced

1 med. green pepper, sliced

3 quarts ice water

1/2 c. canning salt

6 c. sugar

6 c. white vinegar

3 T. mustard seed

3 tsp.  celery seed

1-1/2 tsp. ground turmeric

1/4 tsp. plus 1/8 tsp. ground cloves

Place cucumbers, onions, and peppers in a large bowl. In another large bowl, mix ice water and salt; pour over vegetables. Let stand 3 hours.

Rinse vegetables and drain well. Pack vegetables into eleven hot 1-pint jars to within 1/2 in. of the top.

In a Dutch oven, bring sugar, vinegar, mustard seed, celery seed, turmeric, and cloves to a boil. Carefully ladle hot liquid over vegetable mixture, leaving 1/2-in. headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot liquid. Wipe rims. Center lids on jars; screw on bands until fingertip tight.

Place jars into canner, ensuring that they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil; process for 10 minutes. Remove jars and cool.

Pickled Green Beans

Prep: 20 min. 

Process: 10 min. 

Yield: 4 pints.

1-3/4 lbs. fresh green beans, trimmed

1 tsp. cayenne pepper (Optional)

4 garlic cloves, peeled

4 tsp. dill seed or 4 fresh dill heads

2-1/2 c. water

2-1/2 c. white vinegar

1/4 c. canning salt

Pack beans into 4 hot 1-pint jars to within 1/2 in. of the top. Add cayenne, garlic, and dill seed to jars.

In a large saucepan, bring water, vinegar and salt to a boil.

Carefully ladle hot liquid over beans, leaving 1/2-in. headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot mixture. Wipe rims. Center lids on jars; screw on bands until fingertip tight.

Place jars into canner with simmering water, ensuring that they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil; process for 10 minutes. Remove jars and cool.

Spiced Pickled Beets

Prep: 1-1/4 hours 

Process: 35 min. 

Yield: 4 pints.

3 lbs. small fresh beets

2 c. sugar

2 c. water

2 c. cider vinegar

2 cinnamon sticks (3 inches)

1 tsp. whole cloves

1 tsp. whole allspice

Food prep gloves

Scrub beets and trim tops to 1 in. Place in a Dutch oven and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until tender, 25-35 minutes. Remove from water; cool. Wearing food prep gloves, peel beets and cut into fourths.

Place beets in a Dutch oven. Add sugar, water, and vinegar. Place spices on a double thickness of cheesecloth; bring up corners of cloth and tie with string to form a bag. Add spice bag to beet mixture. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 10 minutes. Discard spice bag.

Carefully pack beets into 4 hot 1-pint jars to within 1/2 in. of the top. Carefully ladle hot liquid over beets, leaving 1/2-in. headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot mixture. Wipe rims. Center lids on jars; screw on bands until fingertip tight.

Place jars into canner with simmering water, ensuring that they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil; process for 35 minutes. Remove jars and cool.

Canned Tomatoes

Prep: 1 hour. 

Cook: 45 minutes. 

Total: 1 hour, 45 minutes.

2-3 lbs. tomatoes per quart

2 T. lemon juice per quart

1/2 tsp. salt per quart, optional

Blanch and peel tomatoes

Chop tomatoes into desired size

Add 2 T. of lemon juice to each canning jar.

Add 1/2 tsp. of salt to each quart jar (optional)

Add chopped tomatoes

Pour boiling water over tomatoes. Fill making certain you leave 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles by running a debubbler or plastic knife around inside of jar and tapping bottom of jar gently against counter.

Wipe rim of jars clean and add lid and band

Place jar in a water bath canning pot half filled with warm water. Add additional water so the water cover the jars by 1-2 inches.

Cover pot and bring to a rolling boil. Once boiling, lower temperature so there is a gentle but steady boil. Boil quarts for 45 min and pints for 40 min.

Remove jars from canner and place on a towel or a baking rack to cool. Do not touch jars or tighten lids until at least 12 hours.

After jars have cooled, check lids for a proper seal by pressing on the center of each lid. The lids should not have any give in the center. Remove bands wipe down jars to remove any residue. Label and store in a cool, dark place.

Raspberry Pie Filling

Prep: 10 min. 

Canning: 30 min. 

Total: 40 min. 

Yield: 4 - 12 oz Jars

1-1/4 c. sugar

2/3 c. Clearjel®

2 c. cold water

2 T. lemon juice

7 c. fresh raspberries

Get a boiling water canner ready, so that the water is boiling.

Prepare jars, lids, rings.

In a saucepan, whisk together the Clearjel® and sugar. Add the water and whisk to combine.

Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly.

Add the lemon juice and boil for 1 min. Again, stir constantly.

Quickly fold in the raspberries and again bring the mixture to a boil, stirring gently and frequently.

Remove from heat and ladle into prepared jars. Leave 1 inch headspace. Remove any air bubbles.

Wipe rims, place lids and rings on jars.

Process in a boiling water canner for 30 min.

Remove from canner, allow to cool. Check seals and remove rings to store in the pantry. Store any unsealed jars in the refrigerator and use up within in a week.

How to Use a Large Stock Pot for Canning

Large stock pot, deep enough to fully submerge your jars with an extra inch of water covering them,

Kitchen towels or some extra canning rings

The kitchen towels or canning rings take the place of the wire canning rack that goes in the bottom of a regular water bath canner. You don’t want your jars in direct contact with the pot when the water is boiling or they might shatter.

The process is almost identical to canning with a big water bath canner.

You’ll fill your stockpot halfway up with water and cover it with a lid. While you’re cleaning jars, finishing your recipe, and filling the jars with your hard work, let the water heat up to simmering.

When you’re ready to start processing the jars after they’re filled and lidded, carefully add them to the pot. You might need to use a jar lifter to lower the jars into the water so you don’t burn yourself with the hot water.

You can usually fit 3 or 4 small canning jars in most large stock pots. By small, I mean pint-sized or smaller. Quart jars will likely be too big for most big stockpots.

After that, proceed just like you would for any other canning recipe. Fill the pot the rest of the way with water, at least one inch above the lids on the jars. Put a fitted lid on your pot, crank up the heat, and boil away!

And if you’re not sure how long to boil your jars, you’ll want to do just a bit of reading before you dive in. Some foods aren’t safe for water bath canning and all recipes require specific boiling times. 

If you use a towel at the bottom of your stockpot, make sure that you don’t grab a corner or edge of the towel that may be floating up in the water when you remove your jars. If you do, no real harm is done. You’ll just be annoyed as you try to fish out sidewise jars in a pot of really hot water.

Darlene Dixon’s Spaghetti Sauce

4 (29 oz) cans stewed tomatoes, cut up fine

2 (12 oz) cans tomato sauce

1 c. diced green pepper

1 c. diced onion

3 tsp. beef bouillon granules

1/4 c. oil

3 toes garlic, minced

1/3 c. sugar

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cilantro

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. basil

2 bay leaves

Combine in large Dutch oven or stockpot.  Simmer on low heat for 2 hours.  What you don’t use, freeze in containers for another time.

Quote of the Week:

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~ Fred Rogers