Canning apple juice is a great beginner canning recipe and is fast and easy. This recipe shares a step by step tutorial for the steam canning OR traditional water bath canning process. Read on for the canning apple juice recipe! 

This post contains affiliate links.

After you’ve pressed your apple juice, canning it is simple.

Want to learn how to press your own apple juice from apples? Read this post! 

Canning apple juice is ideal for beginners because there’s almost zero cooking (you just bring the apple juice to a boil (just barely!) and you ladle them into jars and process (don’t worry- step by step tutorial below)

You can add cinnamon if you want, a little maple syrup (my favorite) or honey if the apples happen to be really tart and you want a little sweetener, but plain old apple juice is delicious and easy all on its own. 

You can process in a traditional water bath (like grandma would have) or in a much faster more modern steam canner. I almost exclusively use my steam canner because they come to a boil and are thus ready to can anything in about 5 minutes, as opposed to a traditional water bath that takes about 25 minutes to be ready. 

Get a steam canner here.

Read more about the difference between steam canners and water bath canners here. 

Canning Apple Juice Recipe

16 cups of apple juice

Optional add-ins include:

Cinnamon essential oil (about 5 drops per 16 cups juice should suffice) or 1 cinnamon stick OR 2-3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Maple syrup as a sweetener (this is my favorite- add up to 1 cup of maple if desired)

Honey as a sweetener – add up to 1 cup if desired

Lemon juice – to brighten flavors only- up to 1 cup if desired (this can be bottled or fresh)

How to Can Apple Juice

Download the free canning equipment checklist here and if you’re excited to learn more about canning, jump into the Free Canning Basics course here!

1. Prepare your water bath canning pot or your steam canner. Fill the water bath canning pot with water, add 8-pint jars, and bring to a boil OR fill the steam canner to fill line and turn on low with the 8-pint jars on the rack and the lids and rings nearby on a towel-covered countertop.

2. Combine juice and optional add-ins and bring to a boil in the preserving pan (a heavy-bottomed, wide pan).

3. Ladle into jars one at a time, maintain ½ inch headspace, and apply lids and rings, and either submerge into the boiling water of the boiling water bath with a jar lifter  OR set gently on the rack of the steam canner.

6. Process for 10 minutes PLUS 5 minutes for every 1000 ft above sea level. Remove from heat, rest jars carefully on towel covered countertop. Label cooled jars and store for up to 1 year.

Wan to download this recipe? Enter your email below!

Excited to learn more about canning? Jump in with the Canning Jump Start Guide! This visual guide will help you learn the easy, modern way to can!

This recipe for elderberry juice does not have any added sugar. Instead I add a little honey and cranberry juice. Elderberry juice is a great alternative to elderberry tincture or capsules or gummies, which are great but juice is awesome for when you want to sip rather than snack your elderberry goodness. Read on for the easy elderberry juice recipe with step by step canning instructions for canning, elderberry juicing, and no added sugar!

This post contains affiliate links.

Elderberries are classically made into heavily sweetened syrup and jellies, which are delicious, a beautiful purple color, but full of sugar. Their flavor is tasty but so tart, it’s hard to find a way to consume it without adding something to make it palatable. This recipe is my answer to this problem.

Elderberry Juice Recipe

You Will Need

8 cups elderberry juice (methods of juicing explained below)

1 bag/about 2 cups cranberries OR 2 cups cranberry juice (ok if berries are frozen from Thanksgiving)

1/4-3/4 cup honey, to taste

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, optional

cinnamon stick, optional

Juicing Elderberries

You can juice fresh elderberries a few ways. You can use the traditional steamer for juicing elderberries where the berries go in the top compartment, the water is in the very bottom, and the juice flows to the middle and down a tube into your preserving pan. They are cool pots that do one job- steam & juice- and if you have lots of juice-y fruits and plan on making lots of juice and you have the room to store it, I’d recommend them. Be sure to not let the bottom run dry.

If you don’t have a juicer steamer, you can line a pasta pot (the colander part) with cheese cloth and load it with the elderberries and cranberries if using. Make a large parcel of berries by wrapping a string around the bundle of berries and tying a knot, like a giant tea bag.

You’ll add enough water to go 1/2 – 3/4 of the way up the sides of the berries and you’ll be making a diluted juice this way. This is neither positive nor negative- it is just juice with added water. This may be helpful if you don’t have a ton of elderberries, or if you want to make a lot of jars, or both. I prefer this method personally because I share my juicer steamer with my mom and sister and sometimes it is handy to just use the pasta pot.

Wild elderberries are going to vary dramatically in terms of how much juice they yield and tartness, so you may have to add more honey, cranberry, or water to get a palatable result with either juicing method.

Begin juicing with either the juicer steamer or the pasta pot and cheese cloth method and when the berries seem deflated, steamed limp, and don’t release much if any juice when pressed with a spoon, they are juiced.

Ready to start canning? Do you need a canning equipment list before you begin?

Elderberry Juice Recipe: After Juicing Elderberries

Prepare your water bath canning pot or your steam canner. Fill the water bath canning pot with water, add 5 pint (2 measuring cups total each) jars, and bring to a boil OR fill the steam canner to fill line and turn on low with the 5 pint jars nearby on a towel-covered counter top. 

Measure out the juice you steamed into the preserving pan. If you are adding cranberry juice, add it here. If you steamed the berries together, add 10 cups of elderberry-cran juice to the pan.

If you steamed only elderberries, add just 8 cups of elderberry juice to the pan and add in the 2 cups storebought cranberry juice.

Add the optional cinnamon stick if desired, and turn heat to medium.

Add the apple cider vinegar and ginger if desired.

Add honey, stirring to dissolve and tasting at quarter cup intervals. Be sensitive to the idea that maybe what you need is a cup of water, not necessarily honey, if the taste of the elderberry is strong.

Elderberries have a strong taste, and in comparison, I think chokecherries have a strong, bitter taste. That said, sometimes you just need the elderberry juice to be diluted a bit with cranberry or water rather than simply sweetened. I’ve tried the same with chokecherries and haven’t been successful; chokecherries are too bitter without loads of white sugar to be palatable.

Ladle into jars one at a time, apply lids and rings, and either submerge into the boiling water of the boiling water bath with a jar lifter  OR set gently on the rack of the steam canner. 

Process for 10 minutes PLUS 5 minutes for every 1000 ft above sea level. Remove from heat, rest jars carefully on towel covered countertop. Label cooled jars and store for up to 1 year. 

Want to try this recipe, but not sure about the canning part? Join my completely free Canning Basics Email Course! I’ll send you super simple lessons to your inbox to get you started on the right foot.

If you love Elderberry, be sure to check out the Elderberry Gummies Recipe!

This post contains affiliate links.

Canning for gift giving, for the holidays, for Christmas, and for party favors is fun and easy if you give yourself a little lead time and choose the right recipes. Below are the easy canning recipes and beginner friendly resources for canning confidently when you’re canning for giving gifts. Get ready for the best canning recipes for gifts!

First, if you’re new to canning, you should sign up for the FREE Canning Basics Course. It’s an easy, email course where I send you bite-sized email lessons to your inbox to help you overcome the most common hurdles I see beginners face when learning how to can.

Free Canning Basics Course

The Best Canning Recipes for Gifts

All the below recipes are pretty in their jars, crowd pleasers, and easy for you to make in any quantity so you can make enough for a your three besties, your kid’s teachers, or the whole office.

Applesauce Canning Recipe

This post will share an easy homemade applesauce recipe that you can preserve in jars with the traditional water bath instructions OR the steam canning directions. I’ll also share my favorite jars for lunch box size portions of this healthy snack!

Jalapeño Pecan Jelly

Jalapeno Pecan Jelly Easy Canning Recipe is delicious, spicy and sweet, and quick to make. This recipe is from a 5th generation pecan farmer friend, Kristen, from Texas, and she’s been kind enough to share her family’s jalapeño pecan jelly canning recipe with us all. You won’t believe how FAST this jelly recipe is…it might even be faster than my raspberry jam recipe! Read on for the easy recipe!

Ranch Style Salsa Recipe

This salsa recipe is ranch-style because the onions, tomatoes, and peppers are roasted either under a broiler or on a grill until charred (blackened).

Spiced Pear Butter

Spiced pear butter is easy, grown up in taste, and flavored with maple syrup, whiskey if you please, and spices. It’s delicious in your lunch box, in between the layers of a cake (instead of frosting!), and more. Read on for this simple spiced pear butter recipe!

Maple Whiskey Peaches

This post will show you step by step how to can peaches in vanilla syrup with a splash of whiskey. The resulting preserve can be eaten out of the jar plain, are perfect on top of a cheesecake, waffles, or ice cream, or are a flavorful alternative to plain ol’ peaches in a pie or crisp. Read on for the tutorial!

Pickled Bread and Butter Jalapeños

These pickles are a blog reader favorite, for good reason! They are spicy and sweet and so giftable!

Lime Cherries Canning Recipe

This easy canning recipe calls for stevia instead of sugar, which makes it keto-friendly, paleo-friendly, and most importantly, family-friendly. It’s a great lunch box option when canned in half-pint jars and is fast and delicious.

Bonus: A Recipe that’s Not a Canning Recipe

1 Hour Homemade Coffee Liqueur

 This 1-hour homemade coffee liqueur recipe can be prepared and dispensed into bottles for gifting or enjoying yourself in an hour. It is a simple recipe that my mother has used for years and this coffee liqueur is delicious both hot or cold in a variety of mixed drinks. It also is easily doubled and is best made with friends. Read on for a delicious homemade coffee liqueur recipe that won’t have you tied up in the kitchen all afternoon!

Before you begin these canning recipes for gifts

Read this post below! You can preserve large quantities easily with these tips.

Canning for Party Favors

Canning for a party can be a cost-effective, fun, impressive way of thanking guests for coming to your event. Before you think, “I don’t have time to make 40 jars of jam” hear me out.

To complete your jars, add this:

You need these canning jar labels.