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Blueberry jelly is the smooth berry preserve your summer breakfast table didn’t know it needed. It’s packed with fresh blueberry flavor—without the skins, seeds, or pulp that usually come along for the ride.
Now, I’ll admit—I’m usually team chunky jam. I love whole fruit preserves with texture, and my blueberry jam is one of my go-to canning recipes. But my kids?
They’re jelly lovers through and through.
They talked me into trying strawberry jelly first, and I’ll admit, it won me over. It was more strawberry than any jam I’ve ever made, just pure flavor without the pulpy fiber.
So when they asked for blueberry jelly, I gave in—and once again, they were right. This stuff is bright, smooth, and totally delicious. Without the skins, the blueberry flavor really comes through, and there’s none of that slight bitterness that sometimes sneaks into blueberry jam. Now it’s a pantry staple around here.
(And don’t get me started about blackberry jelly and raspberry jelly! No seeds, and all flavor there, too.)
Choosing Blueberries for Jelly
The secret to amazing blueberry jelly is starting with fully ripe fruit. You might see some jelly recipes recommending a mix of underripe fruit for added pectin—but that doesn’t apply here. Blueberries are low-pectin fruit, so no matter how underripe they are, they won’t have enough to gel on their own.
That means this recipe uses added pectin—but the trade-off is that you can focus on flavor. Choose the ripest, juiciest blueberries you can find. Store-bought or homegrown, fresh or frozen, it all works. Around here, I usually use highbush blueberries from our patch, but wild blueberries work well, too.
You’ll need about 4 quarts of fresh blueberries to get 4 cups of juice for a batch. If you only have a small amount, this recipe is easy to scale down—and yes, bottled blueberry juice works too if you’re short on berries.
(If you’re scaling down the recipe, know that one box of pectin equals 6 Tablespoons, so you’ll need about 1 ½ Tablespoons of powdered pectin for each cup of juice.)
Since blueberry jelly is a particular favorite of my little ones, I never have a problem getting them to volunteer for picking duty in our blueberry patch. Their tiny fingers are perfect for selecting ripe fruit from clusters of berries.
How to Make Blueberry Jelly
Start by combining 4 quarts of fresh blueberries with 4 cups of water in a large pot.
(As an alternate measure, a single quart of blueberries is equal to 2 1/2 cups of mashed blueberries, so 10 cups mashed blueberries will also work, if it’s easier for you to measure them that way.)
Simmer the mixture for about 10 minutes, mashing the fruit as it cooks, until the berries are completely broken down.
Strain the cooked fruit through a jelly bag or cheesecloth-lined strainer. Now, I know you’re supposed to let it drain slowly without squeezing if you want crystal-clear jelly—but blueberries are dry, and honestly, they just don’t give up their juice easily. I squeeze the bag.
(Yes, your hands will turn blue, but it’s worth it.)
Even with squeezing, you’ll barely get 4 cups of juice.
Once you’ve got your juice, add one box of powdered pectin and bring it to a hard boil for one full minute.
After one minute, stir in 4 cups of sugar and return it to a full rolling boil for another minute.
Then ladle it into jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace, and either refrigerate, freeze, or can it for shelf-stable storage.
Canning Blueberry Jelly
If you’re planning to can this jelly, prepare a boiling water bath canner and sterilized jars in advance. Process the jars for 10 minutes if you’re below 6,000 feet in elevation, or 15 minutes if you’re above that.
Once sealed, they’ll keep in the pantry for 12 to 18 months—ready to brighten your breakfast on a cold winter day.
If you’re not familiar with canning, I’d suggest reading my beginner’s guide to water bath canning getting started.
Low Sugar Blueberry Jelly
The ratio of sugar to juice in this recipe is 1:1, which is required to get standard boxed pectin to gel properly. If you’re used to full-sugar jams and jellies then that’s likely to your taste.
If that sounds like a lot, no worries, you can reduce the sugar in this recipe provided you use low sugar pectin.
I used to use Pomona’s Pectin for making low sugar jellies, and it’s incredibly versatile. Everything’s done in teaspoon measurements, which allows you a good bit of flexibility in batch sizes (instead of full 1 box batches as with Sure-Jell).
The problem with Pomona’s is that the set is a bit more like jello gelatin than a true “jelly” in my opinion.
Recently I’ve started using Sure-Jell Low Sugar Pectin, and I much prefer the results. You can use this exact same recipe, substituting a whole box of the low sugar pectin in place of the standard pectin.
At that point, you can reduce the sugar as much as you’d like (or use honey/maple instead). I’d suggest trying 2 cups sugar to 4 cups juice for a totally reasonable sweetness level. You can go as low as 1 cup sugar for a very low sugar jelly if you like too.
(Note that if you do choose to use Pomona’s pectin, the directions are a bit more involved and you’ll need to add ingredients in a different order. Read through this quick explanation of how to use Pomona’s Pectin before you try it.)
Using Liquid Pectin
You can make blueberry jelly with liquid pectin, but be warned—it requires a lot more sugar (about 7 cups for 4 cups of juice), and the texture can be hit or miss. With liquid pectin, you combine the juice and sugar first, boil, then add the pectin at the end.
Personally, I avoid this method unless it’s my only option.
Ways to Preserve Blueberries
Looking for more ways to preserve blueberries?
- Freezing Blueberries
- Drying Blueberries
- Canning Whole Blueberries
- Canning Blueberry Pie Filling
- Blueberry Butter
- Blueberry Syrup
Blueberry Jelly
Equipment
- Ball Collection Elite Half-Pint 8 oz Regular Mouth Jam Jars (8-Count)
Ingredients
- 4 cups blueberry juice, purchased, or extracted from 4 quarts of fruit
- 4 cups sugar, see notes for low sugar variation
- 1 box Powdered Pectin, 1.75 oz, such as Sure Jel
- 2 tbsp Lemon Juice, optional, see notes
Instructions
Extracting Blueberry Juice
- If using fresh berries, place 4 quarts of blueberries in a large saucepan with 4 cups water (1 cup per quart of fruit). Slowly bring to a simmer over medium heat, mashing the berries as they cook. Simmer for about 10 minutes, until the berries have completely broken down.
- Strain the mixture through a jelly bag or a colander lined with several layers of damp cheesecloth. Let it drain for at least 2 hours. You may gently squeeze the bag to release more juice. You should end up with about 4 cups of juice. If you’re short, top off with a splash of another fruit juice (like apple or cranberry). If you have extra, reserve it for another use.
Making Blueberry Jelly
- Prepare canning jars, lids, and a water bath canner if preserving for shelf-stable storage. Keep everything hot until ready to fill.
- Pour the 4 cups of strained blueberry juice into a jam pot and bring to a full boil over medium-high heat. Whisk in the powdered pectin and boil hard for 1 minute to activate the pectin.
- Stir in the sugar and bring the mixture back to a full rolling boil. Boil hard for 1 more minute while stirring constantly.
- Ladle the hot jelly into prepared jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe rims, apply two-piece lids, and process in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes at elevations below 6,000 feet, or 15 minutes above 6,000 feet.
- If not canning, allow the jelly to cool and set completely at room temperature before storing in the refrigerator or freezer.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Jelly Recipes
Looking for more tasty jelly recipes? I’ve got you covered…
Can a juicer be used to take out the seeds & skins before cooking? Just wondering
Yup, you could use a juicer. Most of the flavor of blueberries is in the skins though, so a juicer would yield a less intensely flavored jelly. When you make it by cooking then straining, you’re actually making more of a blueberry skin tea that really gets great flavor into the finished jelly.
The seeds and skins often have lots of pectin in them that is necessary for the gelling process.
I am hoping to use your recipe for the jelly but all I have are frozen blueberries. Will it still work?
Yes, that will still work.
I made this with some of my older frozen blueberries and this recipe is so so good!!!!! I’m thinking about buying some blueberry juice so I can make some more to give as gifts to some of my friends for the holidays!!!!
That’s great! We’re so glad you enjoyed the recipe.
I have blueberry juice from a blueberry farm. I would like to make blueberry vanilla syrup. What would suggest I use to make a syrup instead of a jelly? how much vanilla do you think I should add?
Thank you for any suggestions you can give me.
Diane
You can just follow the recipe omitting the pectin. As far as the vanilla, you could start with 1 tsp and just taste it before canning.
Great recipe! I have canned for many years, and usually made jam from my blueberries, but my son now cannot have the seeds or skins due to diverticulitis, so made jelly. I used my steam juice extractor (about 45 years old and makes juicing SO easy! I put in the berries, steam for one hour and let the juice drip into the pot in the extractor, and drain in the morning. I put in a measured 16 cups of berries, and this morning drained off a little over 8 cups of clear blueberry juice! I made a double batch using all the juice, 8 cups of suger and 2 packages of Sure-Jel. I yielded 7 PINTS of jelly! It is still cooling, but all sealed and definitely will be a great jelly based on sampling the little bit left in the pot after canning. Great color, consistency and flavor. Made in rural northeaster Vermont! So glad I found your page! Thanks
That’s great! Thanks so much for sharing.
Hi, thanks for this recipe. It worked great for me and I say that with much happiness, as I’ve tried many recipes, following them to a “T”, and received less than ok results. Either syrupy or lately, some “gluey” tasting stuff,uck.
I used the powdered pectin full sugar method, and added 1 TBSP of lemon juice. Wonderful!
A note though, I was thinking that 4 cups of juice and 4 cups of sugar would definitely make more than 4 cups of jelly, and probably more than 5 cups. My yield was exactly 6 cups. Most recipes I’ve used come out the same, meaning, if you add the cups of juice and the cups of sugar together, your yield will be pretty close to 3/4s of that total. (4C + 4C = 8C X .75 = 6C) Helps me to better figure out how many jars to prepare.
This holds true for powdered pectin recipes, liquid pectin should work similarly, but no added pectin recipes will be different.
As I had extra other fruit after using this recipe, I followed it to make another batch using blueberries, raspberries and strawberries, probably close to an equal amount of each. They’re all low pectin fruits so I figured it might work ok. It came out great too.
So thank you again for the recipe, it’s definitely a keeper.
That’s great! Thanks so much for sharing.
I tried this recipe for the first time ever!!! The kids love the jelly so much!! Is there anything I can do with the leftover smooshed blueberries and extra blueberry juice?
They might work well in some muffins or maybe some pancakes or other baked good.
Just made this jelly. How long does it take for it to ‘set’? Finished about 3 hours ago, not set yet.
It depends on the type of pectin you use, but mine usually take about 48 hours to set fully. The pectin brands say that it can take up to 7 days to fully set depending on the fruit.
I want to make this soon. How many jelly jars will I need for this recipe?
Thanks
This recipe makes 4 or 5 half pint jars.
I have run into a variance with this. Depending on how much water you use to boil down the berries, this will offset the total number of jars you will get. I have run this three times and got more than expected.
The amount of water will affect the amount of juice that you get from the berries, that’s true. You want to measure out 4 cups of juice for the jelly recipe and then save the remaining juice for another use.
Great recipe. I am making my second batch. I added jalapeno peppers this time and I used my fruit/vegetable attachment for my Kitchen Aid mixer this time to strain the berries. OMG, big time saver.
Thank you. We’re so glad you enjoyed the recipe.
Have you ever used a steam juicer? I wonder which method releases the most juice. Can’t wait to try jelly instead of traditional jam.
A steam juicer is definitely the way to go if you have one available to you. It can be much quicker and more effective.
I have tried multiple recipes to try and get the right consistency in my jelly but, until now, it has come out as a syrup or has been turned into a paste. Not this recipe. This recipe is spot on! I used both powdered and liquid pectin, making sure to follow the recipes for each and I can’t make it fast enough! I do a LOT of canning so I will have gifts to hand out at Christmas time and this jelly is absolutely perfect!!! Well done!!! I have since added this recipe to my Jellies and preserves recipe book knowing that this recipe will now become my go-to every year when I pick 30+ gallons of these delectable berries.
That’s great! We’re so glad your blueberry jelly turned out so well.
This tastes so good! My kids and I picked fresh blueberries this week and I just made 13 jars (8oz). Not sure if I did something wrong though since I got 8 cups of juice from 4 quarts of berries. I canned 12 jars and I had an extra jar that I didn’t can so we could enjoy now!
Sounds like you must have had some really juicy berries.
You made a recipe that was so easy to follow. I loved all your directions. Thanks so much.
Great recipe. Just made 14 jars from fresh picked blueberries.
That’s wonderful. So glad you enjoyed the recipe.
Can I add a vanilla bean or caviar to this recipe?
I don’t see why not. Let me know how it goes.