Canning Strawberries – Sustainable Cooks

You’ll love this easy step-by-step tutorial on canning strawberries. This recipe for how to can strawberries is perfect for beginners and experienced canners alike. These home-canned strawberries are like jars of summer and sunshine.

Eating fresh strawberries still warm from the garden is a top-tier summer experience. But it’s hard to argue with the joy of opening a jar of canned strawberries in the dead of winter when you can’t eat one more apple or pear.

The good news is that canning strawberries is super simple to do, even if you’re a newbie. I’m here with you every step of the way. Let’s get started!

While still delicious once they’re canned, strawberries tend to lose color over time. They’re not ideal for “fresh eating”, but instead, use them similarly to strawberry compote. Spoon them over vanilla ice cream, pound cake, or as a sweet topping for brie or goat cheese.

You could also drain a few jars of canned strawberries and use them in our amazing strawberry crumble.

How to can strawberries

An average of 2.5-3 pounds of strawberries is needed per quart jar. An average of 1.25-1.75 pounds is needed per pint jar. If you don’t have a large batch of strawberries to can all at once, you can process just a few jars if needed. It eventually does add up over the season!

Rinse the berries and remove the top and core. You can do this with a paring knife, a strawberry coring tool, or even a plastic straw. For canning strawberries, you’ll want to leave them whole and not sliced.

Next up, we’re going to macerate the strawberries, which is just a fancy word that basically just means “mix with sugar and let it sit”. Gently toss the strawberries with 1/4-3/4 cup of sugar for every 2.5 pounds of strawberries.

Let the bowl with the berries and sugar sit for 5-7 hours, covered and in a cool place. This is the start of creating some amazing homemade syrup for your canned strawberries.

When the berries are ready, it’s time to start getting the canning supplies ready.

Prepare your water bath canner by filling it with water. You need to have enough water to cover the jars by 1 inch once the water is boiling.

Set the canner on the stove. Turn the burner to high. Once it reaches a boil, reduce it to a simmer. You want to keep the water hot so that everything is ready when the fruit is.

Wash and clean your jars. You’ll want to keep them warm to avoid having them crack when placed in the canner. You can fill them with hot water or place them on a tray in the oven at 170˚F.

Wash your lids and set them aside in a clean place. You no longer need to simmer lids in water to keep them sterile. Woot!

With the canner heating up, transfer the berries, the sugar, and the juices to a heavy-bottomed saucepan (I use my favorite Dutch oven).

Heat the berries and some water over medium heat until the berries are completely heated through. Don’t overcook; they just need to be warmed through.

Place a canning funnel on top of one of the jars. Ladle the warm strawberries and syrup into jars, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace.

Remove any bubbles from the jar (I use a plastic chopstick). Use a wet clean rag and wipe the rim of the jars to make sure they are free of any syrup or strawberries.

Place a clean lid on the jar and then a ring. Tighten the ring to fingertip tight.

Using canning tongs, add your jars to the boiling water, and put the canner lid on. Pro tip: you must have at least 1 inch of water over the tops of the jars for safe canning. Processing times will vary based on altitude. See the chart below.

Once the strawberries have processed for the appropriate amount of time, remove the canner from the burner, and carefully remove the lid of the canner (Pro tip: use oven mitts to take the lid off because the steam is super hot).

Using canning tongs, carefully remove the jars and place them on a thick towel in a place where they can be undisturbed for 12 hours.

After the jars have rested for about 12 hours, press down in the middle of each lid. If it “gives” at all, the jar didn’t seal. Either enjoy it that day, put it in the fridge, or reprocess it.

And if you decide that canning strawberries is just not for you (no shade), check out our tutorial on how to freeze strawberries.