Learn how to preserve the harvest with these easy home canning recipes. Canning is an excellent way to reduce food waste (no more molding cucumbers in the crisper drawer) and stock your pantry with healthy shelf-stable meals at the ready.
The most important thing you need to know about canning is which foods can be processed safely via a water bath and which need to be pressure canned. Safe water bath canning recipes are for foods that are 4.6 pH or lower (meaning they're acidic).
Pressure canning recipes are for non-acidic foods to ensure any present botulism spores are killed. Even with a pressure canner, there are certain foods you cannot safely can at home, but don't worry you won't find any unsafe canning items on the list below, I've only linked to safe recipes. Learn what you can safely can at home and how to operate a pressure canner safely in this free video series.
I've been canning for over twenty years and put up over 400+ jars of food a year. During that time, I've learned some helpful tips to streamline the process when you're pressed for time that DON'T affect safety and some of my best canning recipes can be found below.
Beginner Canning Tips
Is Home Canning Really Worth it? Does it Save Money to Can at Home?
Tips for Home Food Preservation – Seasonal Preserving Each Month
Canning Problems and Solutions: Siphoning (Liquid Loss in Jars)
How to Choose the Best Pressure Canner
Canning 101 Water-Bath vs. Pressure Canner
Pretty sure you picked up on it, but when following updated and safe recipes/procedures, canning is very safe. The key is understanding the science and knowing what those safety procedures and guidelines are. Below are several great articles to help ensure your home-canned goods are safe and delicious.
Canning Safety
Canning in Electric Pressure Cookers & Other Pressure Canning Questions
How to Store Home Canned Food Safely – Jar Stacking & Canning Rings
How Do You Know if a Canning Recipe is Safe
Homemade jam is something every pantry should have on the shelf but many recipes call for copious amounts of sugar (like more sugar than fruit amounts) and the use of store-bought pectin. Jam has been made for thousands of years, way before packets of pectin were found on store shelves. Find out how to make vintage canning recipes for jam that are still safe with today's standards.
Old-fashioned Canning How to Make Jam Like Great-Grandma
Old-Fashioned Traditional Jam Making Part 1
10 Traditional Jam Making Troubleshooting Tips Part 2
Make Homemade Jams and Jellies Like a Pro
Recipes for canning should only be followed by trusted sources. All of the below recipes have been vetted to make sure they follow updated and canning safety procedures.
Apples and apricots are both sweet treats that should be jarred up for year-round enjoyment, but if I have to pick a favorite, it's going to be the apple pie filling.
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It's not all about the sweets, asparagus are one of the first vegetables up in the springtime and are delicious both in pickled form or a soup! Pickled asparagus is one of my Christmas canning recipes because my brothers love it so much.
Pressure canning meals becomes easy with recipes like this asparagus soup!
Pressure Canning Recipes
Canning beans, unless pickled, requires pressure canning recipes to ensure they're safe. The easiest pressure canning recipe, to begin with, is raw packing green beans, I share it below and if learning how to operate a pressure canner makes your stomach tighten, go through this FREE video series where I've taught thousands of people how to pressure can safely and without fear!
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Home-canned green beans are filled with flavor, nothing like store-bought green beans. My kids won't eat store-bought but these are their favorite vegetables, learn how to can using this easy step-by-step tutorial without pre-cooking the beans.
Blueberries are one of my favorite jams because they don't have large seeds and this no pectin low sugar recipe is a must-make, I consider it one of my best canning ideas to date.
Blueberry Jam, Low Sugar No Pectin
Blueberry Peach Jam, Low Sugar
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Cherry Chutney with Caramelized Onions
This is summer in a jar, the bright sweetness of a ripe cherry without being sickeningly sweet!
Cherry Jam, Low Sugar No Pectin
Looking for unusual canning recipes, check out the cherry salsa below or scroll down to L for the lemon syrup!
You've not lived until you pair chocolate and cherry together BUT you need to be careful when adding cocoa powder to canning recipes as it does lower the pH level, thankfully, this recipe follows the tested ratios from Ball so you're good to go!
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Elderberries aren't acidic enough to can like other berries based on recent testing. This recipe is safe for canning but must be done by weight and without altering the sugar to berry ratio.
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Grape Vanilla Jelly, Low Sugar
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Mushrooms, marinated and pickled
This mustard pickle is an old-fashioned recipe that is making a comeback. It's versatile (can be made with zucchini or cucumbers) and is delicious on hamburgers, hotdogs, sandwiches, potato salad, or macaroni salad!
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Peach Jam, Spicy, Low Sugar No Pectin
This red pepper garlic jelly is a must come the holidays, it's superb when served with cream cheese and crackers or use it as a meat glaze on meatballs!
Plum Jam with Walnuts & Rum, Low Sugar
When canning potatoes, make sure you remove the peel. Even though the peel does contain the highest amount of nutrients, it also contains more bacteria, so it must be removed before canning at home, and always in a pressure canner.
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Queen Anne's Lace Jelly with Currants
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Salsa canning safety
You must use tested recipes for salsa as they're carefully tested to ensure they remain acidic enough for canning (4.6 pH or lower) due to the non-acidic ingredients like peppers, onions, garlic, etc. Always use bottled lemon or lime juice from concentrate. The only time you can use fresh is if the recipe specifies fresh lemon or lime juice. There are no tested
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Choice Salsa with Fresh Tomatoes
This old-fashioned strawberry jam doesn't use any store-bought pectin and is low in sugar so the strawberries shine!
Strawberry Jam, Low Sugar No Pectin
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Filling
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Tomato sauce is one of the most versatile items a pantry can have. This recipe is safe to water bath or pressure can but you must add acid no matter which canning method you're using.
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Mustard Pickles (can safely sub in zucchini)
There you have it, from A to Z over 129+ of the best canning recipes to stock your shelves! Which ones are you trying first?
More Articles on Home Food Preservation
- Tips for Home Food Preservation – Seasonal Preserving Each Month
- A Complete Guide to Home Food Preservation (What to do When You Can’t Find Canning Supplies)
- Home Food Preservation- Preserving Plan for a Year’s Worth of Food
- How to Preserve Meat, Eggs, & Dairy
- 9 Ways to Preserve Food at Home
- How to Store Home Canned Food Safely – Jar Stacking & Canning Rings
- How Do You Know if a Canning Recipe is Safe
- How to Pick the Best Preserving Methods
- How to Convert Recipes for Canning + Safety Tips
- The Science of Home Food Preservation
- Planning and Preserving Q&A with Melissa
Awesome looking
Thank you very much for compiling these delicious-looking (and safe) recipes!
Thank you for this terrific recipe roundup! I was looking for some main dishes that can be canned — beef stew,soups, etc — and found several that I plan to make before I start back to work in a couple of weeks.
Hi Melissa! I’m super new to canning but am taking the plunge with a big garden this year 🙂 Just curious if the dill pickle recipe listed above is the one you use? It’s not written by you, so I began to wonder. Thanks a bunch!
No, currently my personal pickle recipe for dill cucumber canning pickles are only inside my canning course.
Hello, I have two questions. 1. I want to try to can tomatoes in small batches because I don’t have very many tomatoes. Can I can one to three jars at a time instead of a huge amount? I bought a book off of Amazon called the Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving by Ellie Topp and Margaret Howard. It came last night and I was excited. Then I noticed they have a few recipes with carrots with other ingredients and they have you water bath for 15 or 20 minutes depending on the recipe. I thought you had to pressure can with carrots? 2. So my question is have you heard of this book? It’s a beautiful book but now I’m wondering if the recipes in it are safe? I don’t mean to bash their book, I just want to make sure the recipes are safe. I’m new to canning.
Hi Melanie,
Unless the carrots are in a pickle recipe or Ball has a carrot jam recipe (it’s paired with other higher acidic items) then it should be pressure canned. In looking at the reviews it seems some of the recipes in the book have not been tested or don’t appear to be safe (this was from a reviewer who had contacted her Extension office, which is always wise when unsure of canning safety) so without looking at each recipe I would say to use with caution and only use the ones that appear to stick to safety guidelines.
Thank you! I think I will see if I can return the book. As far as canning a few jars of tomatoes at a time, it would work the same to do small amounts as long as I add the lemon juice? Same procedure just on a smaller scale? I know this is probably a “duh” type of question. I just wanted to make sure.
Yes, as long as you keep the ratio’s the exact same (1/2 everything so the pH stays the same) then you can use any recipe and just do it on a smaller scale.
Thank you
Hello! Thanks for this! New to pressure canning and have been searching for a safe Spaghetti. Do you have a book of safe Recipes??
There seems to be so much vinegar in all the salsa recipes. Do you make your salsa with that much vinegar? I know some is necessary, but it seems acidic to me.
Yes, if you’re canning you need to use that much vinegar. The finished product doesn’t taste vinegary but when canning you cannot lesson the amount.