Homemade cranberry juice is a celebration of bold, tart flavor and pure, natural refreshment, made easily with just a handful of fresh cranberries, water, and the sweetener of your choice. Canning your own cranberry juice lets you capture the vibrant color and zesty taste of the season in every jar, while controlling the sweetness and skipping all the artificial extras found in store-bought bottles.
It takes just 20 minutes of water bath canning to make your own shelf-stable canned cranberry juice. Skip the high fructose corn syrup or artificial sweetener and use fresh whole berries and a sweetener of your choice.
Make multiple quarts of fresh cranberry juice for less than the price of one store-bought jar.
Ingredients needed:
Recipe Card?
To find the full printable recipe with specific measurements and directions CLICK HERE to go to the recipe card.
- Cranberries- fresh cranberries are what I use in this recipe tutorial but frozen cranberries will also work if fresh is not available in your area.
- Sugar - I should say sweetener instead of sugar. Honey can be substituted in place of sugar.
Substitutions
- Add-ins - add a cinnamon stick, orange peel, or an apple piece to give the cranberry juice another flavor profile.
Canning Cranberry Juice
With just a little prep and some simple canning tools, you'll be stocking your pantry with a homemade juice that's as beautiful on the holiday table as it is nourishing and refreshing any time of year. Whether served chilled over ice, warmed as a festive cider, or sipped straight for a tart pick-me-up, this homemade cranberry juice recipe is a wholesome tradition worth savoring.
Add Cranberries
Add whole cranberries to clean quart canning jars. If adding any spices, apple slices or orange zest, include them in this step.
Top Tip
Be sure to wash cranberries before adding them to the clean jars. You will be surprised how much bog dirt, leaves and even little sticks are in the cranberry bags. Also, remove any bruised to soft berries.
Add Sugar
To the cranberries add the sugar. Adjust to your taste.
Fill the jars with water
I just water from my refrigerator because it is filtered. If you like your tap water, use your tap water. Fill the jars with a ½ inch headspace.
Add the lid and ring
Wipe rims of the jars before adding a clean lid and a canning ring. Finger tighten the screw bands.
Canning
- Lower the jars into a cool water bath, making sure the water level is at least 2 inches above the top of the jars.
- Turn the heat to high and bring the canner to a full rolling boil.
- Once it has reached a boil, process pints for 20 minutes over medium-high heat.
Cooling
Remove the jars to a heat-safe surface and allow them to come to room temperature.
There will be a separation of the sugar, cranberry extraction and burst cranberries.
Check lids
Once the hot jars have cooled, check the lids to make sure they do not have any give to them. Give the jars a good shake to incorporate the sugar syrup in the bottom with the rest of the cranberry juice. The sugar syrup will continue to extract the cranberry juice in the jar as the jars sit on the shelf.
Enjoy!
To enjoy your cranberry juice, open the jars and pour the contents through a fine mesh strainer to remove the cooked cranberries before serving the delicious juice.
Did you make this recipe?
Do you have feedback that would be helpful to others? If so can help this small business owner by leaving a rating and a review in the comments section? Thank you for being part of the Savoring The Good Community. ~ Sarah
Ingredients
- 6 Cups (600 g) cranberries Fresh
- 2 Cups (400 g) Sugar or sweetener of choice
- Water
Instructions
- Add cranberries to clean quart canning jars. If adding any spices, apple slices or orange zest, include them in this step.6 Cups (600 g) cranberries
- To the cranberries add the sugar. In this recipe, I added ½ cup of sugar per jar. I think next batch I will cut that back to ¼ cup. Adjust to your taste.2 Cups (400 g) Sugar
- Fill the jars with water. I just water from my refrigerator because it is filtered. If you like your tap water, use your tap water. Fill the jars to within ½ inch of the top.Water
- Wipe the rim of the jar before adding a clean lid and a canning ring. Finger tighten.
- Lower the jars into a cool water bath, making sure the water level is at least 2 inches above the top of the jars. Turn the heat to high and bring the canner to a boil. Once it has reached a boil, process them for 20 minutes.
- Remove the jars to a heat-safe surface and allow them to come to room temperature. There will be a separation of the sugar, cranberry extraction and burst cranberries.
- Once the jars have cooled, check the lids to make sure they do not have any give to them. Give the jars a good shake to incorporate the sugar syrup in the bottom with the rest of the cranberry juice. The sugar syrup will continue to extract the cranberry juice in the jar as the jars sit on the shelf.
Nutrition
Notes
While I love using my homemade cranberry juice for cocktails, my kids will use it in one of these many mocktails with cranberry juice.
Reader Tip
Spice it up by adding:
- 1 ½ cups cranberries
- 1 Tablespoon Dried elderberries
- ½ teaspoon Chinese 5 spice
- 2 Tablespoons lime juice
- ½ palled ginger, sliced
- 1 cup sugar
Added boiling water and stirred to mix sugar so I didn't end up with a hard lump of sugar…
From Dina
5 Days To Canning Confidence
Storage Tips
For best flavor results, allow the tart juice to sit in a cool dark place for a minimum of 4-6 weeks before opening. That being said, I have opened them after a few days and they were delicious. They were MORE delicious after a month.
Homemade cranberry juice will elevate your cranberry and vodka cocktail to the next level. Drink it straight out of the glass knowing that your canned cranberry juice has less sugar than grocery store-bought cranberry juice. I have been combining equal parts of cranberry juice and tonic for a refreshing drink while I write this cranberry juice recipe for you.
Frequently asked questions, answers and tips:
Yes. You need to use at least ¼ cup of sugar per quart of juice so that the sugar pulls the juice out of the cranberries. Much like sugar pulls juice from strawberries to make strawberry syrup, sugar will also pull cranberry juice from cranberries to make juice.
If you are not able to find fresh cranberries, frozen cranberries can be substituted. No need to adjust the measurements.
I am Sarah Mock. Welcome!
Sarah Mock is a classically trained Chef and a graduate of Johnson & Wales University. A culinary blogger for 17 years, Sarah helps the home cook prepare her recipes with professional results.
Tracy says
I made the cold version of cranberry juice. I’m just waiting for a couple of days or weeks to try it however, after cooling my sugar is all lump hard at the bottom. Any suggestions on what I do. Thank you.
Sarah Mock says
Thanks for the question! Can you explain what you meant by 'cold version'? If I have more information on the technique you used, I might be able to help.
Sarah
Dina Johnson says
I am making this now…
I added:
1 1/2 cups cranberries
1 Tablespoon Dried elderberries
1/2 teaspoon Chinese 5 spice
2 Tablespoons lime juice
1/2 palled ginger, sliced
1 cup sugar
Added boiling water and stirred to mix sugar so I don’t end up with a hard lump of sugar…
I’m excited to see how this turns out!
Thank you for sharing
Sarah Mock says
ooh thank you for the suggestion Dina! I am going to add it to the post for everyone to try!
Thank you!
Sarah