Making your own cranberry juice for canning at home is easy and you get to control all of the ingredients, including the amount of sugar you utilize. There are two very easy, basic methods for canning cranberry juice at home.

If you’ve always drank cranberry juice from a plastic bottle from the store, you’re missing out since most of those recipes aren’t just cranberry juice and typically contain a lot of high fructose corn syrup (not even just plain sugar anymore folks).

Thankfully, making your own cranberry juice at home is incredibly simple. There are two simple methods to make your own and since cranberries are a high acid food both only require a water bath canner.

Both methods can allow you to determine how much sugar if any, you put into the juice. You can do that if you want just pure cranberry juice, which is excellent in splashes to add to your water or adult beverage. If you want it sweetened a bit with some cane sugar. You can do that too.

The first method requires a bit more work upfront as you’ll be extracting the juice from the cranberries and then canning it.

The second method is infinitely easier, which I see most people utilizing, but it does mean you cannot enjoy the juice immediately as it takes time to naturally extract while sitting in the pantry.

Regardless of whether you want to take the time, to begin with, and extract the juice or wait a few weeks for it to extract naturally is really just a personal preference. The easier method of waiting on it to extract naturally will result in a less concentrated juice, but it’s still very delicious.

How to Extract and Can Cranberry Juice

This method can be utilized for a no added sugar (if that’s your fancy), ready-to-drink cranberry juice. It does, however, take a lot more time and upfront work than the other method I’ll be sharing.

That’s not to say it isn’t worthwhile. Extracting the juice results in a far more concentrated flavor and it’s easier to control the amount of sugar you add to the juice, as you do not need any at all for it to work (the other method you do have to use sugar for it to work well).

You can use fresh cranberries or frozen cranberries for this method. The amount of cranberries you need for this method really comes down to taste. The more berries you use, the more concentrated the juice will be.

However, I recommend planning for a little over 3/4 cup of berries per jar this will require four twelve-ounce bags for 7 quarts. If you try it and it’s not quite strong enough for you, next time just increase the berries and leave the water the same.

Simmer the berries. Place all the cranberries in a large stock pot with two quarts of water and boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer and stir occasionally until the cranberries pop, about five minutes.

Extract the juice. Place the cranberries into a dampened jelly bag or damp, double layer of cheesecloth over a large bowl and allow the mixture to strain for a minimum of two hours. You have to be patient with this process, however, you can occasionally give the crushed fruit a little push or squeeze to help extract some of the juice now and again.

Prepare jars, lids, and canner. Once the juice has been mostly extracted, wash jars and lids in hot soapy water. Place them in a water bath canner full of water, place the lid on and bring the jars and lids to a simmer over medium-low heat.

Heat the juice. Transfer the extracted cranberry juice to a large saucepan and add sugar to taste, if you wish to add any. Heat over medium-high heat to 190°F and keep it there for five minutes. Do not boil, so adjust heat as necessary.

Ladle the juice. Carefully ladle the hot juice into the hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch of headspace. Wipe the rim and center lid on the jar, tighten the screw band to just finger tight and place the jars in the canner.

Process jars. Be sure the jars are completely covered with water and place the lid back on the canner. Bring to a boil and process pint and quart jars for 15 minutes under 1,001 feet, and 20 minutes at elevations 1,001 feet and higher.

Once processing time has ended, remove the canner lid but allow the jars to sit an additional five minutes before removing them to a towel-lined counter. Wait 12 hours before checking for proper seals. Store in a cool dark place for up to 18 months.

Canning Cranberries for Juice (filtered later)

This is by far the easiest method and the one I see most people utilizing. It’s simpler, you don’t have to wait on the juice to drip out, and it results in a pretty tasty juice.

However, the caveats to this method are: you must use sugar or the juice won’t extract as well and you have to wait a while before the juice is actually ready to consume.

Also, this method will not result in a very concentrated juice. It’s perfect for drinking straight over a bit of ice, but it’s not great if you’re wanting a really cranberry-concentrated juice to add to things.

Prepare jars, lids, and canner. Wash jars and lids in hot soapy water. Fill the canner with water and submerge the jars. Place the lid on and bring to a simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes before starting. Simmer the lids in a separate saucepan.

Boil water. In a large saucepan bring several quarts of water to a boil over medium heat and keep it boiling while you prepare the jars.

Add berries to the jar. Begin by adding 1 3/4 cups of cranberries to a quart jar. This means to make seven quarts you’ll need approximately four bags of fresh cranberries.

Add sugar to the jars. How much sugar you use here is to taste, but I wouldn’t recommend using less than 1/4 cup so that the resulting syrup is strong enough to really extract the juice. Add up to 1/2 cup or a little more, depending on how sweet you want the juice.

Add boiling water. Carefully pour the boiling water over the berries and sugar leaving 1/2 inch of headspace. Wipe jar rims, center the lids, and finger tighten the rings.

Process. Place the jars back in the canner and be sure they are completely covered by water. Place the lid back on the canner and bring it to a boil. Once boiling process both pints and quarts for 25 minutes 1,000 feet and under, 1,001 to 6,000 feet elevation process for 30 minutes, and 6,001 feet and higher elevations process for 35 minutes.

Once finished processing, remove the canner lid and allow the jars to sit in the canner for five minutes before removing them to a towel-lined counter. Once cooled for twelve-hours check for proper seals… but note this cranberry juice isn’t ready yet.

Steep the juice. The caveat to utilizing the simple method is you’ll need to allow the juice to steep for four to six weeks before enjoying it. After waiting for a month to a month and a half you can open the jar, strain, and enjoy the cranberry juice.

Other Cranberry Preserving Recipes to Try Next

Need a few other ways to preserve your cranberry harvest? I’ve got you covered.

• Christmas Jam
• Cranberry Sauce for Canning
• Cranberry Jam
• Pickled Cranberries

If you try this simple recipe for canning cranberry syrup, I’d love to hear about it in the comment section below! Also, I’d love if you could leave me a five star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ recipe review on the recipe card below. If you want more recipe inspiration, make sure to follow me on Facebook or Pinterest!