How To Can Blueberries

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Looking to preserve blueberries? Learn how to can blueberries to enjoy having lots of whole blueberries on hand to enjoy in your favorite baking recipes.

Blueberries are one of my favorite summer fruits. When they are in season I love to buy lots from local farms markets and visit pick your own farms to stock up on fresh blueberries.

They are perfect for blueberry crisps, blueberry jam, blueberry pie filling, and many baked treats. While freezing bluebrries is a great way to preserve them having canned blueberries on hand is a great way to save on freezer space.

Since blueberries are a fruit and high acid you don’t need a pressure canner to can them, just a simple water bath canner or steam canner does the job great!

Ingredient Notes

Please see the printable recipe card for full ingredients and amounts.

Blueberries – You’ll want about 8 pounds of blueberries to fill 9 pint jars, 12 pounds to fill 7 quart jars. Look for blueberries that are a nice blue-black or blue-purple color without any light green or pale blue spots. Those mean the berries are under ripe and should be left to fully ripen before using.

You want berries that are firm, plump, and dry without mushy spots.

Water – You will need enough water to cover the blueberries in the canning jars and to fill your canner.

Sugar (optional) – Sugar is compleatly optional when canning fruit so if you are trying to reduce sugar in your diet you can skip it. But sugar does help to preserve the color and flavor of fruit compared to canning in plain water. So I like to use a little sugar to make a homemade syrup.

Equipment

Water bath canner – If you don’t have a water bath canner you can use any large pot as long as you have enough room to cover the jars with 1 to 2 inches of water above the top of the jars. Make sure to put something on the bottom to protect the jars from touching the bottom of the pot. A homemade rack can easily be made by tying some jar rings together.

Mason jars and lids – You can preserve blueberries in pint or quart sized jars pick the jar sized based on how you plan to use the berries later.

Canning funnel – These have a wide opening making it easy to add food to the jars so it doesn’t spill.

Ladle – You’ll want a ladle to fill the jars with hot water or syrup.

Jar lifter – A canning jar lifter is a super handy tool for lifting jars in and out of hot water.

Large saucepan – You’ll want a pot large enough to heat up the water you need to fill the mason jars.

Measuring cups – To measure the blueberries, water, and sugar.

Hot Pack Or Cold Pack

​You have a few choices when canning blueberries. You can use a raw pack or hot pack and process them in a water bath canner, steam canner, or pressure canner.

Personally I prefer to use a raw pack and either water bath or steam can the jars.

Raw Pack

Raw packing means the jars are filled with fresh berries and covered with a hot liquid. You don’t cook the berries before placing them into the jars.

This is a quick and easy method for filling your canning jars. I’m often working through multiple flats of berries and love the raw pack method for getting them done quickly. But it can have some downsides.

Some people have problems of blueberries floating to the top of the jars. I personally have never had this be a problem with blueberries as long as I tap the jars to settle the berries as I fill them.

You can also have some discolouration of the berries after a few months of storage. Again I’ve never had this happen to me and it may be more common if you don’t use sugar. But the berries are still perfectly good (and tasty!) to eat if they change color.

Hot Pack

Hot packing blueberries means you are blanching them in boiling water for 30 seconds, then draining them. Fill the jars with your hot berries and cover with syrup or water, then continue the canning process. The advantage to the hot pack method is that the berries don’t float in the jars and you won’t get discolouration.

How To Can Blueberries

Wash And Sort

Before using, I like to wash all berries. Simply place them into a large bowl of cool water with a little white vinegar added.

Swish the berries around to help remove and dirt, remove any bad berries.

Look through the berries for stems or flowers removing them if you find any. Rinse off the berries with cool water and place into a strainer.

Fill Jars

When your berries are all washed and sorted measure them into your canning jars.

Each quart jar will hold 4 cups of blueberries and pint jars will hold 2 cups.

After filling the jars tap the bottoms of the jars gently to help settle the berries.

Add Sugar

When canning fruit sugar is optional but really does help to preserve the color and flavor.

I add a 1/4 cup of sugar to each quart jar and 2 tablespoons to each pint jar. This makes it’s own sugar syrup when you add the water to the jar. I’ve done it this way for many years and it works great. But if you prefer you can make a syrup instead of simply adding the sugar to the jars.

Sugar Syrup

• Very Light 1 1/4 cups sugar to 10 1/2 cups water.
• Light 2 1/4 cups sugar to 9 cups water.

Add Water

Fill each jar with boiling water leaving 1/2 inch of headspace.

Using a bubble remover tool, plastic knife, or chopstick remove any air bubbles in your jars.

If this lowers the level of water in them simply top it up with more hot water until you have the correct headspace.

Add Lids

Wipe the rims clean to remove any sticky residue from the berries or sugar. Using a damp paper towel or tea towel dipped in vinegar helps a lot.

Place the lids on to your jars and tighten the rings finger tight.

Can

Place the hot jars of blueberries into your water bath canner. Bring it to a boil and process for for 20 minutes for quart jars, 15 minutes for pint jars.

After processing remove the jars from the canner and place on a kitchen towel.

Let the jars sit undisturbed for 24 hours at room temperature, then check the seals. Any jars that haven’t sealed will need to be reprocessed with a fresh lid or placed into the fridge to use soon.

Storage

Remove the jar rings and wash the jars using warm soapy water. Wipe them dry, label and store in a cool, dark place.

Altitude Adjustments For Processing Times

0-1,000 Feet – Pints for 15 minutes, quarts for 20 minutes.

1,001-3,000 Feet – Pints for 20 minutes, quarts for 25 minutes.

3,001-6,000 Feet – Pints for 20 minutes, quarts for 30 minutes.

Above 6,000 Feet – Pints for 25 minutes, quarts for 35 minutes.

How To Use Canned Blueberries

You can use canned blueberries in any of your favorite baking recipes where you would normally use fresh or frozen berries. Quick breads, muffins, pancakes, cobblers etc. Just drain the berries befor using. You can also cook the berries down into an easy jam.

Make sure to save the syrup for adding to drinks or thicken it a bit for a quick pancake syrup.

FAQ

Is It Ok To Add Sugar To The Jars?

I’ve always made my sugar syrups by adding sugar directly to the jars. I learned this tip years ago from a Mennonite friend. Since sugar is optional in canning fruit I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be ok. It also saves a lot of time making batches of sugar syrup.

Can You Can Blueberries Without Sugar?

Yes! You can leave sugar out when canning blueberries. But fruit can lose their flavor after canning in plain water. If your an use even a light sugar or honey basted syrup it will help to improve the flavor.

Do You Have To Blanch Blueberries Before Canning?

No, while you can hot pack blueberries by cooking them in water or sugar syrup first it’s not nessasary. I like to cold pack blueberries and find it’s faster and has great results.

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