Chokecherry jelly is a tasty wild foraged preserve that you just can’t buy in the store. Since they’re naturally high in pectin, it’s easy to make your own jelly (or jam) with just sugar and a splash of lemon juice.
As one of the most common hedgerow fruits, wild chokecherries are easy to forage in great quantity. Identifying chokecherries is generally simple since they grow in clusters from distinctive shrubs.
Their closest look-alike is wild black cherry and though the plants look similar, the fruit has a somewhat different taste. Around these parts, black cherries are sweet but relatively bland, and they don’t make nearly as interesting a jelly. They’re a tasty edible, actually a bit tastier out of hand than chokecherries.
If you’re not sure if you have black cherry or chokecherry, give the fruit a taste. If they taste like cherries, that’s what you’ve got, and they’re best fresh. If they give your tongue and taste buds a thrill ride, then chokecherries it is, and those will make an epic chokecherry jelly.
Watch out for plants like buckthorn (also black small black fruits) and invasive honeysuckle (bright red fruits), they ripen at the same time as chokecherries but are born singularly on the shrubs. (They’re only vaguely similar to chokecherries, and hard to mistake if close up.)
Still, be sure you’ve positively ID the plant before you begin.
Once you’re sure that you’ve found chokecherry shrubs, be sure to wait until they’re fully ripe.
The fruit clusters start out a bright red but usually ripen to a deep red or near-black color. Taste a few, and if they’re incredibly bitter and sour, wait a bit longer. It’s tricky since raccoons and bears tend to strip the plants the second they’re ripe…check back frequently if you want to beat the wildlife.
Since they’re a wild fruit, all plants are a bit different, and they’ll all ripen at different stages. Some of the plants we frequent ripen fully at bright red and are quite sweet. Others are still a bit astringent even when fully black.
That’s part of the fun, learning your particular patches’ quirks, and making a truly one of a kind chokecherry jelly.
Ingredients Chokecherry Jelly
Most chokecherry jelly recipes start out with a boatload of sugar, then toss in plenty of commercial pectin and finish with a splash of chokecherry juice for color. Why bother?
If you’re going to go through the trouble of foraging chokecherries in the first place, you might as well truly savor their unique flavor (rather than try to hide it).
I keep things simple with my chokecherry jelly. The ingredients list is short, and results in the best flavor (and texture) in my opinion:
- 4 cups chokecherry juice
- 2 cups sugar
- Juice of 1 lemon
The lemon juice is optional, but a bit of acidity helps bring out the flavor of the chokecherries and adds natural pectin that will increase the yield.
I think the problem might lie in the name “chokecherry” because anything with “choke” in the name must have to be buried in sugar to be palatable. Fully ripe chokecherries are actually reasonably sweet, and their astringent “choke” flavor all but disappears when they’re ready.
Starting with fully ripe chokecherries, I use 2 parts juice to 1 part sugar in my chokecherry jelly recipe. A standard batch takes the juice from 5-6 lbs of chokecherries (4 cups) and adds in 2 cups of sugar.
My second secret? Don’t add commercial pectin.
Chokecherries have a good bit of natural pectin, and they’re generally listed as a “moderate” pectin fruit. With patience, I’m easily able to make no pectin added jellies from low pectin fruits (like this raspberry jelly), so a moderate pectin fruit definitely doesn’t need the boxed stuff.
After about 15 minutes of cooking, the chokecherry jelly has reduced enough to gel all on its own. That means the flavor is concentrated a bit more than using the crutch of boxed pectin, and the texture is smoother (as natural pectin makes a silkier spread than the powdered stuff).
A closeup of a spoonful of chokecherry jelly to show finished texture without added pectin.
The finished chokecherry jelly comes out plenty sweet, and really full of flavor.
After going through all the effort of harvesting chokecherries, you might as well do it right and really savor all that they have to offer…
How to Make Chokecherry Jelly
Start by picking over the chokecherries and removing stems, leaves, and other debris.
It takes roughly 5-6 lbs of chokecherries to make 4 cups of juice for a small batch of chokecherry jelly. I use a steam juicer, which is very efficient at extracting the juice. It takes about an hour to fully steam extract, but the yield tends to be better than other methods (and it cooks and strains at the same time, saving time).
Without a steam juicer, simply place the stemmed chokecherries in a saucepan with 1 cup of water and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring and mashing occasionally until they’ve released their juices (about 20-30 minutes).
Strain the mixture, either using a jelly bag or a cheesecloth-lined colander. Allow the chokecherries to drip for at least 2 hours (or up to overnight) for the best yield.
For a clear jelly, don’t squeeze the jelly bag, just allow it to drip by gravity. (For a higher yield, go ahead and squeeze out the last bits, just know that your jelly will be cloudy).
Measure the resulting juice. Since they’re a wild fruit, juice yields will vary, but I’d suggest starting with around 4 cups of chokecherry juice to a batch.
A bit under 3 cups of chokecherry juice in this jar, straight from my steam juicer. I was able to draw off the full 4 cups for a batch by the end of a 60-minute steam process.
Place the measured juice into a jam pot and add half as much sugar. For 4 cups of juice, I add 2 cups of sugar.
(The amount of sugar is up to personal taste, and if you want a wicked sweet jelly, go ahead and add 4 to 6 cups of sugar. The yield will be higher, it’ll be much sweeter and the chokecherry flavor will be less concentrated. Totally up to you.)
I like to add a bit of lemon juice to my chokecherry jelly, but that’s completely optional. Chokecherries are naturally acidic fruits, with a pH of 3.86 to 4.25 (source). Anything below 4.6 can be safely canned in a water bath canner without added acid.
That said, the juice of one lemon really brightens the flavor and adds additional pectin to help the jelly set without commercial pectin. It’s completely optional, and feel free to leave it out.
Bring the chokecherry juice, sugar, and lemon juice (if using) to a hard boil on the stove. Like all jams/jellies, it’s going to bubble up substantially, so use a deep, heavy-bottomed jam pot and don’t fill it more than halfway.
Stir frequently to prevent scorching (and overflows), and cook at medium-high heat until it reaches gel stage (about 15-20 minutes).
Test for gelling on a plate that’s been placed in the freezer, or use an instant-read thermometer to see when it reaches 220 degrees F at sea level. (For higher elevations, subtract 1 degree for every 500 feet in elevation rise. I’m at 1000 feet, and my jellies finish at 218 F.)
Once the chokecherry jelly reaches gel stage, pour it into prepared jam jars.
Canning Chokecherry Jelly
While you can easily make this a simple refrigerator or freezer jelly, this simple chokecherry jelly recipe is also ideal for canning. The fruits are acidic, so they can be safely water bath canned.
To can chokecherry jelly, prepare a water bath canner after you’ve extracted the juice, but before you start making the jelly. Fill canning jars with the finished jelly, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Cap with 2 part canning lids and process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes.
Turn off the canner heat and allow the jelly jars to remain in the water for another 5 minutes before removing them to cool on a towel on the counter. This extra time in the canner helps the temperature stabilize, and will help prevent siphoning (leaking) when the hot jars are removed from the canner.
After 24 hours, check the seals and store any unsealed jars in the refrigerator for immediate use. Properly canned and sealed jars will keep in the pantry for 12-18 months. Once opened, store in the refrigerator and use within a few weeks.
Canning chokecherry jam in a water bath canner is simple, given they’re naturally acidic fruits.
Experimenting with Chokecherry Jam (or Fruit Butter?)
After making chokecherry jelly, I started wondering if I could in fact make a chokecherry jam instead. While the seeds do need to be removed, I hated the idea of composting so much of the fruit pulp along with them.
I tried a jam-making technique that I use to make my cornelian cherry jam since they also have large seeds and are almost impossible to pit.
Homemade chokecherry jam in quarter pint jars
Cook the fruit as you would for jelly, but then instead of straining it all through a jelly bag, I used a spatula to press it through a fine-mesh strainer.
Working the fruit against the mesh, most of the pulp finds its way through, leaving just the seeds.
Removing chokecherry pits for chokecherry jam.
The result is somewhere between chokecherry jam and fruit butter.
Since the pulp is intact, with all that pectin still in there, the chokecherry jam set up much faster. I just barely had to bring the mixture to a boil before it reached the gel stage.
Once in the jars, the chokecherry jam was almost like a jello.
Scoop of Chokecherry Jam with a thick, jello-like texture
It set very firm without added pectin, and I could scoop whole spoonfuls that retained their shape. I stirred the mixture to loosen it up, and that gave it a spreadable consistency.
It’s mostly smooth but has much more body than chokecherry jelly.
Chokecherry jam (or fruit butter) after stirring
In the end, it was an interesting experiment, but the flavor is actually a lot better with a simple chokecherry jelly. I think the fruit skins/pulp gave the chokecherry jam a bit of bitterness, not a lot, but enough to distract from the simple pleasure of the finished jam.
I’ll stick with chokecherry jelly, and let my chickens enjoy the pulpy seeds that come out of the jelly bag.
Chokecherry Jelly (and Jam!)
This simple chokecherry jelly recipe comes together without storebought pectin for an easy wild foraged preserve. Chokecherry jam (or fruit butter) takes a bit more work, but it's another possible variation.
Ingredients
- 4 cups Chokecherry Juice (from 5-6 lbs Chokecherries)
- 2 to 6 cups Sugar (see note)
- Juice of 1 lemon (optional)
Instructions
- Clean and de-stem the chokecherries. Extract the juice, either in a steam juicer or by simmering them for roughly 20 minutes with 1 cup of water. Strain through a jelly bag for at least 2 hours.
- Measure the resulting juice and place 4 cups in a jam pot.
- Add sugar and lemon juice (if using).
- Bring the mixture to a full rolling boil in a deep heavy-bottomed pot, stirring frequently to prevent scorching and overflows.
- Cook on medium-high heat until the mixture reaches gel stage (about 15-20 minutes). Test for gelling on a plate that's been chilled in the freezer, or cook until it reaches 220 degrees on an instant-read thermometer.
- Pour the chokecherry jelly into prepared canning jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace and cap with 2 part canning lids.
- Store the finished jam in the refrigerator, or process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat on the canner, allow the jars to remain an additional 5 minutes, then remove to cool to room temperature.
- After 24 hours, check seals and store any unsealed jars in the refrigerator for immediate use. Properly canned and sealed jars will keep in the pantry for 12-18 months. Refrigerate after opening, and use within a few weeks.
Notes
Sugar Quantity ~ I use 2 parts juice to 1 part sugar for chokecherry jelly, and that's how the yield on this recipe was tested. Tastes vary, and some chokecherries are more tart than others.
For 4 cups of chokecherry juice, you can use anywhere between 2 and 6 cups of sugar. More sugar obviously means a sweeter jelly, but it also means a higher yield and less concentrated flavor. Adjust the sugar level to your preference.
Chokecherry Jam Variation ~ For chokecherry jam or fruit butter, follow the same recipe. Instead of straining through a jelly bag, press the fruit pulp through a fine-mesh strainer or food mill to extract all the pulp (and remove the seeds).
Use the fruit pulp in place of the juice in the recipe. The jam cook time will be shorter since the pulp contains more pectin than the juice alone.
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Valerie
Turned out pretty good. I think I cooked it too long because the thermometer would not get to 220. It did get up to 210 and then back down again after cooking for 30 minutes.. turned out almost black. The taste was perfect before the long boil, not too sweet and the perfect tart.
4 Cups of juice turned into 2 cups of jelly.
Thank you for your recipe, it is a keeper and will try again in a couple of days after we pick some more… that is if the bear doesn’t get them first. Ha. I Just won’t cook as long.
Shasta WAtlamet
i grew up using Parowax for seal the jars.
Administrator
Yes Shasta. A lot of people used to seal their jars with wax. We have since learned that this is not a safe food preservation method. The wax has a tendency to separate from the sides of the jar, allowing bacteria in.
Angela
I was glad to find a recipe that didn’t include commercial pectin. While my jellies look great, they turned out rock solid…. really, so stiff that they need to be cut with a knife and aren’t even spreadable. While I didn’t do the cold plate-jelly test, I did the temperature adjustment, for 4500 ft. I cooked until 212*, It’s sooo stiff. It did seem to take a long time for the temp to get up to 212, it kept fluctuating up and down in the 207-210 range.
I’m so bummed out.
Will have to try again next year if the chokecherry harvest in Idaho is a good as it was this year.
Administrator
That’s definitely a bummer. Maybe try the test next time, especially with the altitude and temperature fluctuation. Hopefully it works out for you next time.
Donald Patriquin
Did you try the spoon test? I always do this along with watching the thermometer. You possibly have come across it when looking in older recipe books such as the timeless (and excellent) The Joy of Cooking. You simply take a large spoon and dip it in the boiling jam or jelly, Cool it for about 10 seconds, and then let it fall from the spoon back into the jelly. Keep on doing this until the jelly doesn’t all fall totally from the spoon back into the pot, rather ‘jells up’ into a somewhat stable ‘ball’ before leaving the spoon– if at all. It’s an art rather than a strict science, but after a few tries, you’ll find it not just totally workable but fun!.
Vera
I was so excited to try this recipe and followed it exactly. For nine cups of juice I used 4 cups of sugar and the juice of two medium lemons. I boiled it for 40 minutes waiting for it to jell, Finally reluctantly added a box of certo, did three freezer tests, and ended up canning 12 jelly jars of just juice that would not thicken one bit. Tastes delicious but why didn’t I get jelly?
Ashley Adamant
It’s a wild fruit, so it’s totally possible you found a very low pectin cultivar that just wouldn’t gel. With 4 cups sugar to 9 cups juice, certo won’t gel unfortunately so it’s not a good way to save it. Certo needs absurd sugar levels to gel, something like 7 cups sugar to 4 cups liquid. After 40 minutes of boiling I’d think you would have been approaching that, but it seems like the sugar level was still to low to activate the pectin, whether boxed or natural in the fruit.
Did you take the temperature? The only really good way to know is to take a temp reading and see if it was at 220 F, in which case the sugar level would have been high enough to cause geling assuming there was enough pectin present. Shortly after 220, around 225ish the jam will start to burn, so my best guess is that your juice was just lower in pectin (and higher in water) than most and needed to be cooked longer. Adding certo didn’t save it because the sugar concentration just wasn’t high for liquid pectin.
Sorry, it didn’t work out for you. If you try making it with that bush again, try a bit more sugar and see how it goes.
Stephanie Tinquist
Thank you for this information. Sadly, my juice did not gel either but with your great explanation post above, I now have a better understanding of the science. Hhmm things to ponder. The flavor of my chokecherry syrup Is amazing tho.
Administrator
You’re very welcome.
Tia
It seems like every time I want a unique recipe for canning and using special indigence your Site is always my favorite choice. The recipes you share are very useful and special. Thank you so much for you invaluable knowledge. I cannot wait to buy your book! 😉
Administrator
You’re very welcome. I am so glad that you are enjoying the content.
Melanie A Berchtold
My Thermometer was absent until after I finished my jelly. It did not jell despite the 20 minutes of boiling. It did thicken to a sauce. I reduced the sugar to your recommendation and added lemon juice. It is in the canner now. I may try again or just use it as a sauce. I was surprised at the “earthy” flavor. I was hoping more for the cherry I have been accustomed to.
Melanie Ann Berchtold
I repeated the recipe this time using 1/2 wild apple juice. This was perfect! It had a nice cherry flavor and jelled perfectly.
Administrator
That sounds wonderful. Thanks for sharing.
Mary T.
I grew up eating chokecherry jelly, it was my absolute favourite thing to eat. When I bought my property I was almost emotional when my mother pointed out the chokecherries in my yard. Sadly mom passed before I got her recipe, and year after year I tried to make jelly and could not recreate that unique taste of my childhood. This year, I talked to mom in Heaven and said…send me a recipe! The first I saw I discarded immediately, trusting mom wanted me to. Then I found yours. And there it is!!!! THANK YOU!!! It turned out perfectly, the colour and flavour exactly as I remember. To the lady who couldn’t get hers to gel I remember more than one batch of chokecherry syrup! We just poured on our plates and sopped it up with our toasted homemade bread, dripping in butter made from the cream from the cows in the yard. Life was so good then.
Ashley Adamant
You actually brought a tear to my eye, I’m so glad it turned out like your mothers =)
Mary T.
Well we are even because that first taste brought a tear to MY eye! No kidding. Thanks again!
Administrator
It’s so wonderful how food can do that isn’t it?
Melanie A Berchtold
I recently added wild apple juice and cooked it again. Success! and the less earthy cherry flavor shined through.
Administrator
That sounds wonderful. Thanks for sharing.
Stella
This recipe does NOT work. Waste of my choke Cherries. Get off Google!
Administrator
I’m sorry you had trouble with the recipe. We’re happy to troubleshoot it with you to see if we can figure out what happened.
Sherry P
Mine turned out perfect. Maybe next time try to add a few under ripe berries as the pectin level is higher and will help with jelling. Please be kind, no need for negativity.
Administrator
Thank you for such a great tip and the reminder to be kind.
Glen
I’m completely new to this but I found some chokecherries at a local park and wanted to make something with them. I used 1 part sugar 2 parts juice, but I think I cooked it way too long and too hot and accidentally made hard candy lol. It’s absolutely delicious though! And the smell while cooking the fruit reminded me of my aunt’s house. I’ll definitely try this again once I get a thermometer!
Administrator
Yep, it sounds like it was definitely cooked too much. It sounds like you still had a yummy product in the end though.
Bruna
Do you have to remove the short stems from chokecherries to prepare them for cooking to make jam/jelly? The internet says you ‘Do Not’ have to remove these but of course you must wash them in cold water and remove the larger stems, leaves and debris. If you do not remove these short stems does this alter the flavour (make it bitter, earthy tasting) of your jam/jelly?
Thank you.
Administrator
The smaller stems should not alter the flavor.
Rose
Will never use this recipe again I have seven jars of syrup instead of jam and followed everything to a T not impressed
Marcella
This is the first time that I made choke cherry jelly.
I had 8 cups of the juice and I used 6 cups sugar and 2 lemon about 1/2 c of juice.
I think I cooked it for about an hr. It came to several boils. I didn’t use a thermometer. Any way my jelly is pretty thin. I canned I got 11 small jars and 1.5 bigger jars. I really don’t think it’s going to get thicker.
I will wait for 2 days. And if it does can I reboil and add pectin?!
Administrator
I would say that the fact that you doubled the recipe may have contributed to that. It typically doesn’t cook the same way when making bigger batches. So in the future, I would just do two separate batches. If your jam doesn’t set up any more, you can try this method to try and thicken it up. https://foodinjars.com/blog/canning-101-how-to-save-runny-jam/
Melanie Ann Berchtold
My choke cherry tree’s fruit juice was processing tha bit earthy. I mixed it half and half with apple. When cooking the apples I left them whole. The seeds are rich in pectin. The result was less sugar, good jell, and cherry flavor that was strong and not earthy. I also reduced the sugar to about 2/3/cup of juice.
Melanie Ann Berchtold
I am only processing the juice for jelly. I strain the solids.
Danielle
Followed as written, it did not gel.
Administrator
I’m sorry about that. Since this is a wild fruit, the pectin amounts can vary. You could always try increasing the sugar amount or trying boxed pectin. Did you check the temperature? How long did you cook it?
Tammy
Well, I tried! Twice. And now I have two batches of very yummy chokecherry syrup! Just can’t seem to get the jelly business. And it took 10 lbs of chokecherries to have enough juice. I’m quite a bit north of you, in Canada, so maybe the chokecherries are different here? Anyways, perhaps I’ll try again next year. Hope is as perennial as the berries.
Administrator
It’s definitely possible that the pectin content could be different depending on the variety. This is actually quite common, especially with wild edibles.
Lisa Reinhardt
I tried making jelly last year, but only made juice, and then concrete after I tried to correct it. This year I found your recipe, and gave it a go but I should have read the comments first, because I just did all 12 cups of juice at once (6 cups of sugar, and 3 lemons). I brought the whole thing to 215, (I’m at 3500 ft, so it should have been 213 based on the calculations, but it wasn’t very thick, so I left it a bit). It’s definitely (10.5 cups of) syrup. A delicious syrup, but impossible to confuse for jelly. Do you think I could open a few of the jars and try boiling them again? Or should I just figure out some drink recipes for this year and try smaller batches next year?
Administrator
If it were me I would probably just use the syrup and try again with smaller batches next year.
Lorna
Have you ever tried making this without diluting the choke cherry juice with water? I mean, straight cold pressed juice. I would like to put them through a food mill, where I would have mostly only pits remaining In the mill and juice and skins in the bowl. Then I would strain the juice from the skins using a jelly bag. Then I would use the juice to make jelly and dry the skins, and grind them into a powder to put in smoothies/elixirs. The skins and the juice would be very high in antioxidants. That’s my goal anyway. I have juice and powder made this way from a aronia (chokeberry) so I thought it would work with choke cherries. Thoughts?
Administrator
I’m not sure where you are seeing that the recipe dilutes the choke cherry juice with water? This recipe only uses chokecherry juice, sugar and lemon. Do you just mean that you’re wanting to extract the juice without cooking them at all?
Lorna Lumb
Without a steam juicer, the recipe calls for adding 1 cup of water to the berries. Yes, I would like to extract the juice from raw berries without adding water. And then cook the berry juice with the sugar and lemon juice to make jelly. Then I want to use the juice for jelly and dry the raw skins. Do you think the juice would be too strong if I did that, rather than adding that one cup of water?
Administrator
I don’t think it will be too strong but it just may be difficult to extract the juice. I would be interested to know how well it works if you decide to give it a try.
Dorcus Kleinschuster
I was very happy to come across this method of making chokecherry jelly, and it works beautifully! Thank you!
The 4 cups of chokecherry juice turned into 2 cups of jelly. Does adding commercial pectin give the end product a higher yield?
I’m sticking with your recipe. It is absolutely delicious! Thanks for posting! 🙂
Administrator
The pectin does reduce the cooking time required so yes it will most likely produce a higher yield.