I’ve run into so many people lately–both in real life and online—who want to learn to tackle home canning. These easy canning recipes are a good place for beginners to start.
Or you could dive into fermentation with these recipes!!
Believe me when I tell you that home canning is really very easy. You just need to keep this one very important thing in mind: Low acid foods (think: meat and veggies) must be processed in a pressure canner.
Easy canning recipes for beginners
But don’t let that scare you away. Save the pressure canning for later and get started with some easy beginner recipes. Jam and jelly is one of my favorite suggestions for beginners since they’re easy and usually only need 10 or so minutes in the canner.
A water bath process—basically, immersing full jars in a deep pot of boiling water for a specified period of time—is a great way to preserve a lot of garden fresh produce.
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It’s suitable for high acid fruits, pickles, and many tomato recipes, it’s also the easiest canning method. It’s served me well for years in preserving much of my garden abundance.
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Easy canning recipes
The recipes below can all be safely preserved using a water bath canning method. This method is easy. If you can chop and mix and cook food on the stove top, you will find it easy to take it to the next step, which simply requires putting food into jars and boiling them for a specified amount of time.
Of course there are some guidelines to follow, but home canning is not difficult.
Easy Canning Recipes for Novice Canners
Homemade Applesauce Recipe
This homemade applesauce recipe doesn't require any measuring at all. Eat it fresh or try canning applesauce to stock your pantry. It's like pie in a jar!
Easy Plum Jam
The old-fashioned flavor of plum jam is one that is hard to find in stores. Making your own is EASY and a great way to preserve the harvest!
Easy Pickled Green Beans
These pickled green beans are a great way to preserve a summer harvest for the winter pantry. They’re crisp, delicious, and perfect for snacking.
Salsa Recipe for Canning
This salsa recipe for canning is a great way for me to preserve not only the tomatoes, but peppers and onions from the garden, too. I use canned salsa to cap off taco night and as a homegrown ingredient for my chili.
Easy Homemade Grape Jelly
Even if you don’t have ripe grapes on hand, you can whip up a batch of jelly. This grape jelly recipe can be made even in the winter with this little trick.
Homemade Strawberry Jam
This homemade strawberry jam recipe is easy for beginners, sweetened with honey, and you'll be able to savor the goodness of garden fresh berries all year long!
Easy Homemade Peach Butter Recipe
If you're lucky enough to have an abundance of fresh peaches, set some aside to make a batch of peach butter. You can opt to preserve this for the pantry, or simply store in the fridge for topping your breakfast toast, pancakes, or ice cream.
Zucchini Relish Recipe
This zucchini relish recipe is a favorite around here. It's good on burgers, but excellent for mixing into potato salad or egg salad, too.
Sugar-Free Apple Butter
Making this apple butter recipe in the slow cooker is an easy shortcut. Assemble the ingredients and let it cook overnight, and you’ll be ready to start canning first thing in the morning.
Sweet & Savory Tomato Chutney
This is a fairly new addition to my canning recipes repertoire, but it’s become a must! Tomatoes, peppers, and spices blend to make a zingy topping.
Green Tomato Relish
Save those end-of-season green tomatoes to make chow chow. Yes, it's a funny name, but it's delicious and gives a tangy zip to sandwiches and is great for stirring into egg salad.
Mango Chutney
Mangoes are something I can forage for here. No mangoes? No reason you can’t substitute peaches.
Watermelon Rind Relish
This watermelon rind relish recipe is a great way to use watermelon rinds for a knock-off old fashioned hamburger relish! A no-waste recipe for good food!
Passion Fruit Jelly
Otherwise known as passion fruit, liliko‘i is Mother Nature’s answer to a SweeTart. The first sour bite of a liliko‘i will jangle all the way back to your jawbone.
Chai Spiced Peaches
Preserve the flavors of summer with this recipe for canned peaches; the addition of chai spices makes these a little extra special.
Blueberry Ginger Nectarines
Canning nectarines with fresh ginger and blueberries gives them a flavorful pop! It's an easy way to preserve the flavor of summertime nectarines.
Ketchup
This ketchup recipe for canning starts with tamarillos (aka tree tomatoes), which are often abundant in warmer regions, but you can also use tomatoes.
🍅 Safety First!
Canning is an excellent way to preserve food for the pantry, but there are some important safety considerations to keep in mind. The recipes on this site have been made following safe canning procedures by a certified Master Food Preserver.
- Know the difference between water bath canning and pressure canning. Low acid items must be pressure canned for safety.
- Altering ingredients may change the recipe’s pH, posing a safety issue. I highly recommend investing in pH paper to test your products for acidity level when canning. Note: The Hawaii Master Food Preservers suggest a pH of 4.2 or lower in the tropics. In other regions, the recommended pH is 4.6 or lower.
- Use the proper jars and lids. Never reuse lids, with the exception of the Tattler or Harvest Right hard plastic lids that are intended for such a purpose.
- For more on canning equipment, please go here.
Originally published in April 2014; this post has been updated.
What is a “ring” in the jar?
This post explains it all! https://www.attainable-sustainable.net/canning-equipment/
I love your site and have for years, but I’m concerned with the introductory pic to this article with upside down jars. That’s just not safe!
It’s a box of empty jars.
An infographic for canning with a Pressure Canner would be great.
Love your graphic but needs two tiny amendments. First, NEVER use a knife to release air bubbles unless it’s plastic. Metal knives, no matter how light weight, can fracture the glass of your jars without you knowing it. Second, you need to add to take jar ringsOFF before storing! It’s so important! If your jar comes unsealed (which it can do even weeks or months after processing), a ring on the jar could cause it to re-seal and you are susceptible to eating foods that are no longer bacteria and botulism free.
You can leave rings on it doesn’t hurt it. You should take the rings off and wipe them off and the rim to make sure nothing is on them. I store mine with rings on and they don’t reseal just because rings are on. Second you can use a butter knife I do all the time. It’s just better to use plastic or silicone.
It’s recommended to remove the rings once jars have cooled. If a seal on a jar goes bad and the ring has been left on, it may cause the jar to reseal with temperature or humidity changes. If a seal goes bad on a jar with the ring removed, the lid will pop and stay popped.
I agree, it is important to take the rings off after cooling. Among the reasons already mentioned, if you leave the rings on, they could rust, making it nearly impossible to remove the lid.
Yes, a big problem here in humidity central!
Your pictures are so inspiring! I canned for the first time this year. So far I have canned orange marmalade and pineapple jam. Strawberry jam is next, then hopefully my tomatoes will produce so much that I get tired of canning tomato sauce and salsa!
I don’t think I can ever get tired of canning salsa. Great for chips, toppings, and I add it to my chili and Mexican dishes. Perfect way to preserve the garden bounty!
Yes! I love the infographic! I’ve Cannes using the water bath method three times and it still intimidates me. My husband and I are going to start canning in small batches, a la Food in Jars, and get more practice that way. Thanks for the great post!
The zucchini relish and the wonderful directions accompanying the recipe allowed me to finally try water bath canning. I have said for years I was going to do it then shy away at the last minute. This site made it sound very doable. Everyone says “ it’s easy”, but no one tells you what that means.
Awesome! Now you’re hooked. 🙂