Canning Cranberry Juice

Canning cranberry juice is the easiest way to make homemade cranberry juice. Fresh cranberries, water, and optional sugar along with clean quart jars and a water bath canner are all you need to make homemade canned cranberry juice.

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.

✨ Here is why this easy recipe is amazing:

• Just 2 ingredients, bags of cranberries and water is all you need. 3 ingredients if you choose to sweeten your cranberry juice.
• A very cost-effective way of making shelf-stable cranberry juice.
• Adjust the amount of sugar to meet your taste.
• Cranberries are already a high acid food to no additional lemon juice is needed.
• A very cost-effective way of making shelf-stable cranberry juice.

🥫 Ingredients needed:

Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the recipe at the bottom for quantities.

📝 Ingredient notes:

• 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.

☝️ 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.

🥣 Helpful Kitchen Tools

• Canning Jars - Be sure they are canning jars. I use 32-ounce wide-mouth Ball canning jars for this recipe. Glass jars do not equal canning jar.
• Lids.- These can not be reused from batch to batch. Get new lids.
• Rings - These are used to keep the lids tight to the jars are they process in the hot water bath.
• Wide-Mouth Funnel - Great for getting your product IN the jar…not on the counter
• Lid Wand - This is essential for safely getting the sterilized lids on the jars without burning your fingertips!
• Ladle - Needed to get your hot recipe, pickling liquid or juice in the jars. (A heat-safe mug can be used in a pinch)
• Clean Cloth - These are used to wipe jar rim before the lid is applied.
• Large Pot - A large stock pot that can accommodate canning jars PLUS 1-2 inches of water.
• Tongs or Jar Lifters - ESSENTIAL for getting the jars out of the simmering water.

🔪 How to make canned cranberry juice

1. Into clean canning jars add fresh cranberries and sugar, and then top with water.
2. Add a lid and jar ring, and finger tighten.
3. Add to a cold water bath canner, bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Cool until room temperature.
5. Shake to incorporate any residual sugars. 

📷 Canning Cranberry Juice

1. Add whole cranberries to clean quart canning jars. If adding any spices, apple slices or orange zest, include them in this step. 

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. Wipe rims of the jars before adding a clean lid and a canning ring. Finger tighten the screw bands.

5. 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.

6. 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. 

7. 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.

8. 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.

❄️ 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.

🍽️ Serving Suggestions

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:

👩‍🍳 Chef Tip

📄 Related Recipes

Cranberry Juice

Sarah Mock

Canning cranberry juice is the easiest way to make homemade cranberry juice. Fresh cranberries, water, and optional sugar along with clean quart jars and a water bath canner is all you need to make homemade canned cranberry juice

5 from 1 vote

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Note From Sarah

There is more to a recipe than just the recipe card. Frequently Asked Questions within the blog post that you may find helpful. Simply scroll back up to read them!

Prep time for the recipePrep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook time for the recipeCook Time 20 minutes mins

Cool TimeWater Heat Time 30 minutes mins

total time to prep and cook the recipe.Total Time 55 minutes mins

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark, toggle to button to the right to turn GREEN

Course Canning Recipes

Cuisine American

Makes 4 quarts

Per Serving 454 kcal

HELPFUL KITCHEN TOOLS

Quart Canning Jars with lids and bands

Canning Jar Lifter

Canning Funnel

Granite Ware Stock Pot

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

1x2x3x

• ▢ 6 cups cranberries (Fresh)
• ▢ 2 cups sugar (or sweetener of choice)
• ▢ water

US CustomaryMetric

Instructions

 

• Add cranberries to clean quart canning jars. If adding any spices, apple slices or orange zest, include them in this step.
  6 cups 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 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.

Notes

For best flavor results, allow the juice to sit in a cool dry 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.

Be sure to wash the cranberries before adding them to the 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 cranberries.

Nutrition

Serving: 1quartCalories: 454kcalCarbohydrates: 118gProtein: 1gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0.01gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.1gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.03gSodium: 4mgPotassium: 122mgFiber: 5gSugar: 106gVitamin A: 90IUVitamin C: 21mgCalcium: 13mgIron: 0.4mg

Nutrition Disclosure

Nutritional facts are estimates and are provided as a courtesy to the reader. Please utilize your own brand nutritional values to double check against our estimates. Nutritional values are calculated via a third party. Changing ingredients, amounts or cooking technique will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.

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👩🏻‍🍳 Sarah Mock

CEO/Owner/Founder/Culinary Blogger

Sarah Mock is a classically trained Chef and graduate of Johnson & Wales University. A culinary blogger for 14 years Sarah helps the home cook prepare her recipes with professional results.