Learn how to turn fresh whole cranberries and sugar into homemade cranberry juice! This easy recipe for canning cranberry juice is fast and very beginner friendly!
Nothing can compare to homemade juice! All of the fresh fruit flavor, none of the preservatives. And you don't even need a juicer or juice press! This canned cranberry juice recipe is sooo easy to make and perfect for the holidays, cocktails, or to have on hand throughout the year.
This is a cheap way to make cranberry juice that your family can enjoy! Trust me---you will never want store-bought cranberry juice after you try your homemade recipe.
If you want to watch this recipe in a short form video, here is an instagram reel I shared the last time I canned cranberry juice.
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Why this recipe works
The perfect time to use this cranberry juice is during the Christmas season when you are making your Christmas cocktail! You can also use it to flavor your kombucha in a second fermentation. If you are interested in learning about kombucha, you can read more about it here.
Serving your own cranberry juice with some of our favorite breakfast dishes is always a joy as well. We love to drink it while enjoying some Sourdough Coffee Cake, Venison Breakfast Casserole, or Homemade Cinnamon Rolls early in the morning. I bet you'd also love my Homemade Grape Juice recipe, too!
Ingredients
- 2 bags of whole cranberries: The average fresh cranberry bag is 3 ½ cups, so 2 bags are perfect
- 7 quart mason jars with rings and lids
- 3 ½ cups of sugar
- Water bath canner: I use my pressure canner as a dual purpose water bath canner
- A funnel & jar holder
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
1. Soak the fresh cranberries in your favorite fruit and veggies wash. Rinse well and pick out any blemished or rotten cranberries.
Wash the canning jars and lids in very hot soapy water or submerge them in a large stock pot of boiling water. You'll want clean jars to be warmed up for the next step!
3. Fill your canner with water to the quart sized water bath line, or so that the jars will be submerged by at least an inch once they are in the canner.
Set it on the stove and heat water to a boil over medium-high heat.
3. Put the funnel in the jar and pour ½ cup of sugar into each quart. Add one cup of whole berries to each jar.
You can add more or less cranberries to make the juice more juice-like or a concentrate.
Add more sugar to make it sweeter, or less sugar to make it more tart.
4. Top the jar off with boiling or very hot water.
5. Leave 1 inch headspace at the top of the jar, wipe the rims of jars with a clean towel dipped in vinegar, add the lid and secure the screw bands finger tip tight. You don’t want to really crank them down, because air needs to be able to escape as it heats in the boiling water.
5. Use the jar lifter to transfer the cranberry jars to the water bath canner. Watch out for steam! It can really burn you. The jars should be close, but not touching. 7 quart jars fit perfectly in my canner, and I’m guessing they will fit in yours, too.
6. Once the water has reached a full rolling boil, set a timer for 15 minutes. Once the jars are done processing, I shut off the burner and wait until the water stops spoiling before I remove the jars from the canner.
If I were canning a food like pickles that are prone to turning mushy, I would remove the jars immediately. But the cranberries don’t mind! Set the jars on a few layers of tea towels and leave them undisturbed overnight.
The lids have probably not sealed yet, and over the next few hours you will probably start hearing soft little “ping” sounds as they seal.
7. Wait at least 12-24 hours before testing the seal and removing the rings. You need to make sure the jars of cranberry juice have came to room temperature. Give the glass jars a good shake once a day or so until the color is a bright cranberry red.
Label to jars and put them in your pantry for later!
Hint: Hot jars + hot canner (remember this forever!). The canner and the jars need to be the same temperature, or the jars can break during canning.
Helpful Equipment
- Water bath canner, also known as a boiling water canner, or pressure canner that you can use as a water bath canner- I personally use my pressure canner as a dual-purpose canner by using it for water bath canning as well.
- A set of measuring cups- For this recipe you will only need measuring cups and not measuring spoons. I have a set of these measuring cups that I use all of the time and absolutely love!
- Canning lids and rings - Good quality canning lids and rings are a must. My favorite brand canning lids and rings is FORJARSUSA (save with code MEG10).
- Canning jars - There are many different types of canning jars out there, the most common being Ball canning jars. I actually have lost faith with Ball the last few years because jars have been breaking and the lids not sealing. Now I try to find off brands, if possible.
- Basic Canning Utensil Set- This set includes a canning funnel, magnets stick to easily remove the lids from hot water, and a pair of jar tongs for adding the jars to the water bath and removing the jars from the water bath
Tips and Troubleshooting
- Your processing time will vary based on your elevation. If you live above 1000 feet elevation, you will have to water bath can for an additional 5 minutes. If you live above 6000 feet, you will increase the canning time by 10 minutes.
- You will process pints and quarts for the same about of time.
- It is very important to wipe jar rims with a cloth that has vinegar on it because the vinegar can remove any greases on the rim of the jar that can prevent the jar from sealing.
Serving Suggestions
- You can enjoy your real cranberry juice while eating breakfast in the morning.
- Try warming it up and drinking hot juice for a sweet and savory drink on a chilly morning.
How to store cranberry juice
- You can store homemade canned cranberry juice for up to a year in your pantry shelf when water bath canned. It is recommended to store it in a cool dark place.
- Once you open a jar of this delicious juice, make sure to store the juice in the refrigerator and drink within a week.
FAQ
The sweetness of your cranberry juice can be adjusted based on how much sugar is added to each jar. If you want it to be more sweet you will need to add additional sugar to each jar. For a more bitter juice, add less sugar to the jars. once you figure out the sweetness that you like,
You can make a less concentrated juice by added water to the finished product when you open it. If you are looking for a more concentrated juice, you will want to add more cranberries to the mason jar when you make it.
You can water bath homemade cranberry juice. It is not a juice that needs any pressure canning.
If you make this recipe, please leave a comment below! This provides helpful feedback to both me and other readers. For more delicious recipes from scratch and homesteading tips, follow me on instagram @NinnescahHomestead
Recipe
Canning Cranberry Juice
Equipment
- water bath canner
- 7 quart mason jars, lids and rings
- funnel & jar lifter
Ingredients
- 7 cups fresh whole cranberries
- 3½ cups sugar
Instructions
- Soak the fresh cranberries in your favorite fruit and veggies wash. Rinse well and pick out any blemished or rotten cranberries.
- Wash the canning jars and lids in very hot soapy water or submerge them in a large stock pot of boiling water. You'll want clean jars to be warmed up for the next step!
- Fill your canner with water to the quart sized water bath line, or so that the jars will be submerged by at least an inch once they are in the canner. Set it on the stove and heat water to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Put the funnel in the jar and pour ½ cup of sugar into each quart. Add one cup of whole berries to each jar.
- Top the jar off with boiling or very hot water. Leave 1 inch headspace at the top of the jar, wipe the rims of jars with a clean towel dipped in vinegar, add the lid and secure the screw bands finger tip tight. You don’t want to really crank them down, because air needs to be able to escape as it heats in the boiling water.
- Use the jar lifter to transfer the cranberry jars to the water bath canner. Watch out for steam! It can really burn you. The jars should be close, but not touching. 7 quart jars fit perfectly in my canner, and I’m guessing they will fit in yours, too.
- Once the water has reached a full rolling boil, set a timer for 15 minutes. Once the jars are done processing, I shut off the burner and wait until the water stops spoiling before I remove the jars from the canner.
- Wait at least 12-24 hours before testing the seal and removing the rings. You need to make sure the jars of cranberry juice have came to room temperature. Give the glass jars a good shake once a day or so until the color is a bright cranberry red.
Notes
- Your processing time will vary based on your elevation. If you live above 1000ft elevation you will have to water bath can for an additional 5 minutes. If you live above 6000ft you will increase the canning time by 10 minutes.
- You process pints and quarts for the same about of time.
- It is very important to wipe jar rims with a cloth that has vinegar on it because the vinegar can remove any greases on the rim of the jar that can prevent the jar from sealing.
- You can store homemade canned cranberry juice for up to a year in your pantry shelf. It is recommended to store it in a cool dark place.
- Once you open a jar of this delicious juice, make sure to store the juice in the refrigerator and drink within a week.
Nutrition
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Karen
This was a perfect way for me to use the cranberries I bought on sale! And boy is this juice perfect! Thank you for sharing! It was sooooo easy to can!
Cheryl Musgrave
How long would i pressure can the cranberry juice? I have a presto electric canner that does both pressure and water bath...but I can only water bath pints because of the height. I really like this canner for pressure canning...it takes all the guess work out and frees up my stove...thanks
Meg
Hi Karen! I don't have a pressure canning version for this recipe. Could you use a big stock pot (instead of a water bath canner) or try using smaller jars?
BJacks
So, I have a. Issue with my (real) sugar AND my (swerve) sugar canned cranberry juice. Not all the sugars (both kinds) dissolved. I stirred them when the boiling water went in. Now, I have white bottoms (of sugar) that seems to have hardened(?). Is this Okay until opened? Also, so far, my juice has not turned as red as the one on this website (is that ok?). Thank you, in advance, for anyone’s help! Be blessed!
Meg
Hi BJacks! It is normal for the sugar to be undissolved at the bottom after canning. This juice needs to sit for a few weeks before opening and using, which gives the sugar time to dissolve and the cranberries to infuse the juice. Right out of the canner the juice will look more like water than juice, but give it some time and the color will turn to a rich red. Mine do this, too! Totally normal.
Meg
Dianna Turk
I need no added sugar will it work with mink fruit?
Meg
Hi Dianna! You can always safely reduce the amount of sugar in a recipe, because sugar doesn’t make things safe. However, when you reduce the amount of sugar in a recipe, you can compromise that preserve’s shelf life because sugar is a powerful preservative. I have made this without sugar and my cranberry juice tasted just fine a year later. So it's up to you!
Elizabeth Bowers
I saw a post where they added a slice of an orange & cinnamon stick is this safe ?
Meg
It is generally considered safe to can with cinnamon sticks and orange slices. When I tried this recipe with a cinnamon stick, the end result (after it aged for 6 weeks) was a very spicy juice that my friends and family agreed tasted like a shot of fireball. In the future, I would recommend to only try adding the cinnamon stick to a jar or two to make sure you like it before fully committing! If the recipe you saw was for canning cranberry sweet tea, that is considered a rebel canning recipe due to the acidity of the tea.
Alli
Mine looks gorgeous after sitting overnight, but they all have a layer of sugar that seems hard at the bottom. Will that go away as it sits during the 6 weeks?
Meg
Hi Alli! This sugar layer is normal. This usually happens to me if I don't get it stirred well before processing, and after the lids are sealed I just give them a gentle shake every once in a while. It always eventually dissolves!
- Meg
Gabi
Can I use honey instead? If so, how much?
Gail
This is the first time doing cranberry juice. It's delicious! I used equal amounts of sugar & stevia.
Meg
Awesome! I'm so glad to hear you loved it! I haven't tried it with stevia. Thanks for sharing!