This homemade grape jelly is perfectly set with a rich grape flavor that tastes like real fruit, not sugar. A close second to traditional strawberry jam, it ranks among the most popular of fruit preserves. It spreads smoothly on soft sourdough sandwich bread, glistens in the jar, and has just enough sweetness to let the grapes shine.
If you love preserving food the traditional way but want more control over your ingredients, you should also try this low-sugar blueberry jam, rich apple pie jam, easy cherry jam without pectin, quick red pepper jelly recipe, or this old-fashioned apple butter recipe for canning.
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Quick Look at This Recipe
- ✅ Recipe Name: Homemade Grape Jelly
- 🕒 Ready In: About 1 hour plus cooling
- 👪 Yield: 5 pints or 10 half-pint jars
- 🍽 Calories: About 50 per tablespoon
- 🥄 Tools: Stock pot, jars, water bath canner, steam juicer optional
- 📖 Dietary Info: Gluten-free, vegetarian
- ⭐ Why You’ll Love It: Low sugar, no artificial ingredients, rich grape flavor
- 👩🍳 Tip: Stir calcium water thoroughly to avoid cloudy spots
What Makes This Recipe Unique
This is not your typical high-sugar, store-bought pectin recipe. It is designed for home cooks who want real food and dependable results.
- Wholesome – A true cooking-from-scratch recipe. Uses low sugar while still setting beautifully.
- Secret Ingredient – The addition of vanilla gives it a soft, old-fashioned depth that makes this jelly feel special without being complicated.
- Easy Preservation – Works with naturally high-pectin grapes, and is perfect for a beginner food preservation method: water bath canning.
- Consistent Results – Produces clear, jewel-toned jelly without straining bags.
Key Ingredients:
A full ingredients list, including measurements, can be found in the recipe card below.
- Unsweetened Grape Juice – Concord, Niagara, or any tart grape variety works beautifully. You can use a steam juicer or follow this tutorial to make homemade grape juice without one.
- Vanilla Beans – Don’t toss out those vanilla beans! Rinse off the jelly and let the beans air dry. Put them in a glass jar and fill it with sugar. You’ll have vanilla sugar to use in your Christmas baking. Then, use any extra unused vanilla beans to make homemade vanilla extract.
- Bottled Lemon Juice – Lime juice also works great.
- Pomona’s Universal Pectin – Grapes are naturally high in pectin, which makes them ideal for homemade grape jelly. Pomona’s Pectin uses calcium to activate the gel instead of sugar, giving you full control over sweetness.
Homemade Grape Jelly Instructions
Step 1: Prepare jars by washing in hot soapy water or sanitizing in boiling water for 10 minutes. Keep warm. Prepare a water bath canner and keep the water hot but not boiling.
Step 2: In a large stock pot, combine grape juice, split vanilla beans, and citrus juice. Add 8 teaspoons of prepared calcium water and stir thoroughly.
Step 3: In a small bowl, mix 8 teaspoons of pectin with 1 cup of the sugar. Bring the grape mixture to a full boil. Add the pectin sugar mixture and stir vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes. Add remaining sugar and stir until fully dissolved. Return to a boil, then remove from the heat and remove vanilla beans.
Step 4: Ladle jelly into jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.
Step 5: Wipe rims, apply lids and bands, and process in a water bath for 10 minutes.
Step 6: Remove jars and allow to cool undisturbed for 24 hours. Check seals before storing.
Recipe Tips
- Stir the calcium water completely to prevent cloudy gelatin spots.
- Because Pomonas Pectin uses calcium water instead of sugar for the set, you may double or triple this recipe, but make sure you don’t alter the ratio of ingredients in any way.
- Steam juicers produce clear juice without straining or overnight draining.
- Jelly will continue to firm as it cools. Do not overcook.
- Always adjust processing time for altitude if needed.
Serving Suggestions
There are so many delicious ways to enjoy your homemade grape jelly, but these favorite ideas will help you start putting those jars to good use right away.
- Baked Goods – Spread on a fresh slice of this sourdough boule recipe, old-fashioned flaky buttermilk biscuits, or toast made from this honey whole wheat bread.
- Sandwiches – Pair with this homemade peanut butter recipe for a classic PB&J.
- Natural Sweetener – Swirl into this homemade yogurt recipe or oatmeal. This homemade oatmeal mix makes from-scratch oatmeal a snap!)
- Meats – Use as a glaze for pork, chicken, or the best cocktail meatball recipe.
- Charcuterie – Serve your grape jelly among other from-scratch goodies, like marinated mozzarella balls, easy homemade crackers, this pickled asparagus recipe, fresh fruits from your garden, and various cured meats.
- Holiday Cookies – Spoon into thumbprint cookies.
Storage Instructions
Store sealed jars of homemade grape jelly in a cool, dark place for up to one year. Refrigerate any unsealed jars and use within three weeks. Jelly can also be frozen in freezer-safe containers for up to one year.
FAQ’s
Grape jelly is made from strained grape juice for a smooth, clear finish, while grape jam includes the fruit pulp and has a thicker, more rustic texture.
Tart, high-pectin grapes like Concord, Niagara, or other slip-skin varieties make the best grape jelly because they set well and have a rich grape flavor.
Grape jelly adds just the right touch of sweetness to balance savory sauces, creating that classic sweet-and-savory flavor everyone loves.
Most homemade grape jelly recipes use about 8 cups of grape juice to yield roughly five pints of finished jelly.
If you love making homemade grape jelly and stocking your pantry with real food, you will feel right at home in Everything Worth Preserving. Inside theis book, I share my trusted methods for canning, freezing, fermenting, and preserving food safely and simply so you can build a pantry that truly serves your family.
Did you make this homemade grape jelly? If so, please leave a star ⭐ rating in the recipe card below (this really helps me out)… then, snap a photo and tag me on social media @melissaknorris so I can see! I love getting a glimpse of what you all make in your kitchens.
Homemade Grape Jelly
Equipment
- Large Stockpot
- Measuring Utensils
- Canning Supplies Waterbath canner, jars, lids, rings, ladle, headspace measuring tool, and jar lifter.
Ingredients
- 8 cups grape juice unsweetened
- 3 cups sugar
- 2 whole vanilla beans
- 1/2 cup bottled lemon or lime juice
- Pectin Only use Pomona's Pectin for this recipe.
Instructions
- Prepare your jars, either sanitize them in a pot of boiling water for 10 minutes or wash in hot soapy water. Keep them warm. Prepare your water bath, keeping water hot, but not boiling.
- Place grape juice, vanilla beans, and lemon juice in a large stock pot. Add 8 teaspoons of calcium water and stir well. (Note: stir it well, in the second batch I didn't stir long enough and had small little cloudy gelatinous gobs I had to spoon out due to not stirring in the calcium water all the way)
- In a small bowl, mix 8 teaspoons of Pomona's Pectin and one cup of sugar. Bring contents of stock pot to a boil. Add pectin sugar mix and stir hard for 1 to 2 minutes. Now add in the rest of the sugar and stir until dissolved. Return to a boil and remove from the stove. Take out the two vanilla beans.
- Fill your jars to 1/4″ headspace. Wipe rims clean and screw on your lid and bands. With rack in place, put jars in water bath and boil for 10 minutes. Remove from water onto a folded towel. Allow to cool for 24 hours. Check seals. Store on a cool dark shelf for up to a year. If any jars didn't seal, put in fridge for immediate use.
- Makes 5 pints or 10 jelly jars.
Notes
- Stir the calcium water completely to prevent cloudy gelatin spots.
- Steam juicers produce clear juice without straining or overnight draining.
- Jelly will continue to firm as it cools. Do not overcook.
- Always adjust processing time for altitude if needed.
- Baked Goods – Spread on a fresh slice of this sourdough boule recipe, old-fashioned flaky buttermilk biscuits, or toast made from this honey whole wheat bread.
- Sandwiches – Pair with this homemade peanut butter recipe for a classic PB&J.
- Natural Sweetener – Swirl into this homemade yogurt recipe or oatmeal. This homemade oatmeal mix makes from-scratch oatmeal a snap!)
- Meats – Use as a glaze for pork, chicken, or the best cocktail meatball recipe.
- Charcuterie – Serve your grape jelly among other from-scratch goodies, like marinated mozzarella cheese balls, easy homemade crackers, this pickled asparagus recipe, fresh fruits from your garden, and various cured meats.
- Holiday Cookies – Spoon into thumbprint cookies.
This homemade grape jelly recipe is foolproof, perfectly set, and actually tastes like real grapes. Two thumbs up!
I made grape juice using the recipe in your book to make grape juice to can. So I added water to the grapes and boiled instead of using a steam juicer. Wondering if this will affect the amount of pectin needed as maybe it is potentially less concentrated?
Hoping the flavor isn’t too weak having done it the way I did either 😬
I stirred like crazy and still got gelatinous globs:(
The flavor and color with my Vanessa grapes is amazing though!
This sounds wonderful—could I just use bottled grape juice from the store. And if so, does is matter what kind? Thanks!!
This sounds delightful! How many times can you “reuse” the vanilla bean? I’ve never made anything with vanilla beans.
I’ve only reused them twice, once for extract and then to flavor something else, the second time it’s a weaker flavor.
What is calcium water?
It comes with the Pomona’s pectin, it uses calcium water instead of huge amounts of sugar to set.
I would like a copy of the 4 pages you talked about safety with essential oils. Where do i find that?
If you have concord grapes you can make jam with no sugar or pectin. Concord grapes when not fully ripe are filled with their own pectin. Mix both ripe and unripe into your pot and cook down then put though a food mill. Or slip skins and take out seeds first before cooking down again using a food mill if you want. If not sweet enough just add sugar to taste. Yes, it takes some time in prep but no sugar concord jam is the best. Process 10 minutes in water bath.
Sounds really good. Could I use stevia, truvia or Splenda instead of sugar?
Making this for a diabetic. Thanks
Yes, Pomona’s instructions tell you how to sub in Stevia!
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