Canning Strawberries
Canning whole strawberries keeps strawberries fresh and versatile all year round for your favorite recipes.
Servings: 8 servings (2 pints)
Equipment
- Water Bath Canner
- Pint Mason Jar (Wide Mouth)
- Mason Jar Lids (Wide Mouth)
- Canning Funnel
- Canning Jar Lifter
Ingredients
- 4 cups strawberries washed & hulled
- 1/2 cup sugar optional - see instructions for no sugar method
- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp citric acid optional
US Customary - Metric
Instructions
- Wash and hull the strawberries and place them in a large pot. Sprinkle sugar over the top and stir to distribute.
- Allow the strawberries to stand in the sugar to macerate for about 6 hours (covered).
- Prepare a water bath canner and canning jars.
- Place the strawberry pot on the stove and add citric acid (optional but helps to help protect quality during storage.) Bring the strawberries (and their juice) to a simmer and cook for about 1 minute until the berries are heated through.
- Pack the berries into canning jars and cover with strawberry juice liquid, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
- Remove air bubbles, adjust headspace and seal with 2 part canning lids.
- Process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes (pints) or 15 minutes (quarts), adjusting canning times for altitude.
Notes
Note - Sugar is optional, and strawberries can be preserved in either plain water or juice instead. The flavor is much better with a small amount of sugar to balance the sugars that will be lost to the canning liquids. Feel free to reduce the sugar if you'd like, but I'd suggest a minimum of 1 tablespoon per pint.
Alternately, for very sweet dessert berries, the sugar can be increased to 3/4 cup or even 1 full cup per quart of berries.
Nutrition
Calories: 72kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 0.5g | Fat: 0.3g | Saturated Fat: 0.01g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.03g | Sodium: 1mg | Potassium: 110mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 16g | Vitamin A: 9IU | Vitamin C: 42mg | Calcium: 12mg | Iron: 0.3mg