Blueberry Canning Recipes + FREE Printable Labels & Tags
14. July 2024It’s blueberry season! That means it’s time for jams, jellies, & syrups, oh my! But say you want to preserve something other than traditional jam or jelly? Our recipe roundup has blueberry butter, syrup, juice, pie filling, & chutney recipes too! We also have reduced sugar options for those not wanting buckets of sugar in your jam jars!
AND we designed these FREE Printable Blueberry Canning Labels & Hang Tags so you can decorate all of your berry-blue jars! There are multiple fun and colorful canning labels that you can handwrite text onto for your specific canned goodies. We also include cute labels just for jam and jelly. The printable hang tags include a variety of designs with fun sayings.
Download the FREE Printable Blueberry Canning Labels & Hang Tags.
Download the FREE Printable Blueberry Canning Labels & Hang Tags
I like the taste of fruit. Just fruit. Not tons of sugar. It makes me feel icky to include 6 cups of sugar in jam recipes. I want to make sure I taste the natural blueberry flavor and not sweeteners. Of course tastes vary, so perhaps some prefer jam that tastes like candy! Either way, I gathered up some lower sugar blueberry canning recipes for this post as well as traditional recipes. I note which blueberry recipes use reduced sugar or substitutes like honey or maple syrup. Many traditional jam recipes have 6+ cups of sugar, so for those looking to cut back on added sugar, please give the lower sugar recipes a try. If you want to reduce sugar in jam, you can also use a low-sugar pectin. Pomona’s Pectin allows you to use even less sugar than other traditional low-sugar pectins.
Download the FREE Printable Blueberry Canning Labels & Hang Tags
Many canners think they need a ton of sugar to can jam. This is not true, although opinions differ for sure. How much sugar do you need to preserve fruit or retain the color of what’s in the jar? Instead of sugar, can you opt for natural sweeteners like honey and maple syrup instead (which are just sugars in a different form, yet more “healthy” options compared to refined sugar)? If so, what are the ratios of those ingredients to replace sugar?
One important thing to note is the shelf life of canned goods preserved without sugar (or with reduced sweeteners). Lower sugar jam options will have a much shorter shelf life after opening the jar. So once the jar is open and in the fridge, it may last a few weeks before it starts to go bad. Traditional high sugar jams will of course last much longer in the fridge, sometimes a year or more! You can expect to have the same shelf life for unopened jars, although there may be some discoloration with low or no-sugar varieties. Canning in smaller jars will allow you to use up opened low-sugar jams much faster before they spoil. I prefer small 4-oz jam jars.
4-oz mason jars are the perfect size for canning small batch jams with natural sweeteners. The jam should get used up long before it can spoil in the fridge after opening.
Here are a few good places to read more about reducing (or eliminating) additional added sugar in recipes.
- While sugar is not needed to can fruit, it helps improve flavor and color. Simply Canning has info on the downsides of canning without sugar. Once opened, a sugar-free or naturally sweetened jam will not last as long in the fridge, or it may become discolored on the shelf. The best solution for that in my opinion is to can in the smallest jars so you can use it up before it goes bad. I often can jam in 4-oz jars.
- Kathleen from Roots & Boots has a great article on how to can sugar and pectin free jam. She helps dispel some of the myths about canning without sugar.
- HealthyCanning also has an article on canning substitutes like Stevia or sucralose.
- The good news is that it is perfectly safe to use maple syrup or honey in place of sugar when canning. You can read more about how to substitute honey for sugar in recipes (honey can also replace other sweeteners). Swapping these natural sweeteners in place of sugar will change the taste of a recipe. Some recipes may work better using honey versus maple syrup. And while some recipes are created and tested using a specific sweetener, you can always experiment on your own too.
- Maple syrup can effect the taste of fruit. It’s best to use a light golden or amber syrup that has a more delicate taste so fruit isn’t overwhelmed with a maple syrup taste. Home Spun Seasonal Living has an article on how to use maple syrup in recipes in place of sugar.
- Naturally Sweet Food in Jars by Marisa McClellan has already tested canning recipes using natural sweeteners like honey, maple syrup, agave, fruit juice concentrate, & more. I highly recommend this book if you want to reduce refined sugar in canning recipes. And plus, all the hard work of testing recipes with sugar alternatives has been done for you!
- There are different pectins you can use that help reduce some of the sugar in jam recipes. SBCanning has a good rundown of these pectins for reduced sugar canning recipes.
- Even plain water may be used to can fruit, although a light sugar syrup may be a bit tastier.
Making Jam & Jelly Without Pectin
The National Center for Home Food Preservation has guidelines on making Jelly without Added Pectin & also making Jam without Added Pectin. If you don’t add pectin to canned jams, you can expect to have a softer set jam. I personally don’t find that to be an issue at all. It is also possible to remake and reprocess jelly that is too soft. On the other hand, you can also have jam & jelly that is too stiff! This can be the result of overcooking, adding too much pectin, or too little fruit, juice, or sugar. If a jam or jelly is too soft or stiff for your liking, you can always use the final product in a different way than intended. For instance, you can add to vinaigrette or meat glazes, oatmeal or smoothies, or ice cream toppings. Or you can just suck it up buttercup and eat that runny jam on biscuits still!
If you have runny jam, you can attempt to remake and reprocess it. Or, you can keep as-is and stir into oatmeal or serve on top of ice cream.
Problems with Final Jam & Jelly Products
The National Center for Home Food Preservation has a handy chart on common issues with canned jam and jelly. So if you are wondering why your jelly is cloudy or why there are crystals or bubbles in your final product, take a look at their chart!
NOW, on to some recipes! Again, I note which recipes are lower sugar, use sugar alternatives, and have specialty pectin or no added commercial pectin at all.
Canning Blueberries
Home can your own blueberries to use later in baked goods or served over frozen treats. You can easily preserve blueberries in water. Or you can preserve blueberries using a sugar syrup. Canning the fruit in water may be ok if you don’t want to add extra sweetness to the fruit. Adding sugar syrup will help fruit maintain its flavor, color, and shape. The good news about using syrup is that you can adjust the sugar content from very light to very heavy. Learn how to make syrup for canning on the National Center for Food Preservation website.
Our FREE Printable Blueberry Canning Labels are available for jam & jelly. Also included are blank labels for you to handwrite your own text.
Blueberry Jams & Preserves
It’s hard to beat traditional blueberry jam on biscuits or rolls! I also like to stir a spoon into my yogurt, oatmeal, or add to ice cream (to make it “healthier”, lol!). But every once in a while, I like to dress up basic jam and add cardamon, vanilla bean, brown sugar, or other fruit to my blueberry jam.
- Blueberry Jam (uses ClearJel instead of pectin & low sugar or alternative sweeteners)
- Blueberry Jam (low sugar or honey & Pomona’s Pectin)
- Spiced Blueberry Jam (low sugar & no added pectin)
- Blueberry Honey Vanilla Jam (with honey, no added pectin)
- Blueberry-Maple Preserves (with pure maple syrup & Pomona’s Pectin)
- Honey Sweetened Blueberry Jam (with honey, no added pectin)
- Blueberry Lemon Jam (no added pectin)
- Blueberry Lime Tequila Jam (Low or No-Sugar Needed Ball flex pectin)
- Blueberry Lime Jam (with regular pectin)
- Peach Blueberry Jam (with regular pectin)
- Cherry Berry Jam (with honey and sugar with Low Sugar Pectin)
- Cherry Blueberry Jam (with powdered pectin)
- Cranberry Blueberry Jam (no added pectin)
- Blueberry Lavender Jam (low sugar & Pomona’s Pectin)
- Blueberry Rhubarb Jam
Freezer Jams:
- Blueberry Freezer Jam (Low or No-Sugar)
- Blue Moon Freezer Jam (low sugar or Splenda with Freezer Jam Pectin)
- Blueberry Cinnamon Freezer Jam
- Strawberry Blueberry Freezer Jam (with Instant Pectin)
Blueberry Marmalades, Conserves, & Chutneys
- Cranberry Blueberry Conserve
- Blueberry Orange Marmalade (no added pectin)
- Lemon Blueberry Marmalade (with low sugar & Pomona’s Pectin)
- Blueberry Chutney (uses maple syrup)
Blueberry Jelly
It must be jelly cuz jam don’t shake like that! Jelly making (or eaten’) just ain’t my thing. I would rather have all the fruit pulp in a jar, but jelly does look awfully pretty all jarred up! Here are a handful of jelly recipes to try.
- Basic Blueberry Jelly (with powdered pectin)
- Bluebarb Raspberry Jelly (with liquid pectin)
Our FREE Printable Blueberry Canning Labels are blank so you can handwrite your own text for any berry good food you put up!
Blueberry Sauces, Syrups, Chutneys, & Butters
Because some times you want something different than jam! Butters are tasty on biscuits and syrup is lovely on pancakes. But how about some blueberry BBQ sauce? Now that IS different!
- Blueberry Butter
- Slow Cooker Blueberry Butter
- Cranberry Blueberry Fruit Butter (natural pectin using apples)
- Blueberry Syrup
- Blueberry Syrup (with honey & no added pectin)
- Blueberry Syrup (with honey or low sugar & Pomona’s Pectin)
- Blueberry Sauce
- No Sugar Blueberry Sauce with Huckleberry variation (uses maple syrup)
- Blueberry BBQ Sauce (uses molasses)
- Slightly Spicy Blueberry Barbecue Sauce (uses brown sugar)
Our Custom Kraft Apothecary Blueberry Canning Labels are perfect for pie filling, jam, jelly, or butter. Labels are customized and printed with your text for whatever blueberry goodness you put up. Shop our Apothecary Canning Label Collection for fruits and vegetables.
Blueberry Pie Filling
Pie filling recipes requires regular (not instant) ClearJel and there is no substitute. ClearJel is a powder starch that produces an excellent consistency when canning. Other thickeners like cornstarch and flour clump and may interfere with heat being able to reach throughout the jar. ClearJel can be found at canning supply stores, some bulk food suppliers, or online. Avoid old recipes that call for flour or cornstarch for thickening as those are not approved for canning any more. Alternatively, you could preserve blueberries in syrup, then thicken with cornstarch after opening the jar.
Indulge in fresh blueberries from your markets now and can delicious Blueberry Lemon Pie Filling for the winter months. This filling can be used to create a luscious deep-dish blueberry pie, cute hand pies that are perfectly-sized for lunch boxes, or as a sweet layer for cream cheese bars. Canning blueberries is very easy and the results are out of this world.
Read our Blueberry Lemon Pie Filling Canning Recipe blog post & make a batch today!
More Pie Filling Recipes:
Blueberry Pie Filling (with low sugar & Pomona’s Pectin)
Unique Blueberry Recipes for Cooks
- Blueberry Extract For Baking
- Blueberry Vinegar (refrigerator)
- Blueberry Basil Thyme Vinegar (for canning)
- Blueberry Herbal Vinegar (for canning)
- Gingery Pickled Blueberries
Download the FREE Printable Blueberry Canning Labels & Hang Tags
Shop for Blueberry Canning Labels on CanningCrafts.com
See our Canning Berries Pinterest Board for more berry recipes.
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