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By Michelle Marine
on Jun 08, 2015, Updated Oct 29, 2023
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This homemade strawberry syrup recipe with canning instructions is a delicious way to make your strawberry harvest last all year!
Last week, we headed south to my parents’ house in Central Missouri. We needed to help out with my ailing grandpa while my parents attended a wedding in Colorado. But I was also motivated by my dad’s garden.
He has the most gorgeous strawberry patch this year and I L.O.V.E. fresh strawberries! I was surprised to find there so many strawberries that we couldn’t eat them all, and so this Homemade Strawberry Syrup recipe came to be to keep the berries from going to waste.
Homemade Strawberry Syrup Recipe & Canning Instructions
Prepare berries by washing, coring, and cutting if big, or leave them whole if they’re small.
Put them all in a pot and add sugar – I used Florida Crystals Demerara Cane Sugar, mostly because it’s what my mother had on hand, but it’s also very similar to the raw sugar I would have used at home. Demerara sugar is quite tasty. It’s a partially refined cane sugar with really big crystals, it’s non-GMO, and it has a really nice, richmolasses-likeflavor. I recommend it highly, but any ole type of sugar will be fine in this recipe. By the way, this pot I used was too small. Choose a bigger one so it doesn’t boil over and make a mess!
Bring the strawberries and sugar to a boil and lower the heat. Let the mixture simmer until it has reduced by about a third and becomes thick and syrupy. It took about 45 minutes, I think. After it’s reduced, turn off the heat, add the lemon juice and the vanilla extract, and stir well. At this point, you can let the syrup cool and eat it on ice cream, or you can eat it warm on pancakes or waffles or anything, really. OR, you can keep it hot and preserve it!
{Homemade Strawberry Syrup Recipe} Canning Instructions
If you’d like to preserve the syrup, get the canning supplies ready while your syrup is reducing. Sterilize your jars by boiling them in the water bath canner or running them through the dishwasher.
Right before you’re ready to can, put lids and rings in hot water. Don’t bring the water to boil as it supposedly reduces the sealing effectiveness, although I’ve boiled my lids before and it’s never really mattered.
Boil jars for 10 minutes. Then turn off the heat and let them cool for a few minutes before removing them from a canner.
Using canning tongs, remove jars from canner. I put mine upside down on a towel, just to give them a little extra boost to encourage sealing. I don’t think it’s necessary to turn them upside down, but I did it anyway just to take no chances with sealing. And they all sealed!
Yield: 5 pints + about a cup extra for eating right away
Homemade Strawberry Syrup Recipe & Canning Instructions
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time45 minutes
Ingredients
For the Syrup
- 4 1/2 quarts fresh strawberries, washed and quartered or halved
- 4 cups demerara sugar
- juice of one lemon
- 1 tsp vanilla
For canning
- Ball pint canning jars
- Lids & Rings
- Water bath canner
- Canning supplies like funnel and magnet lid lifter
Instructions
To make the syrup
- Prepare strawberries and place in large pot. Add sugar and bring to boil over medium heat.
- Reduce heat to low and simmer until the mix reduces by about a third, 30-45 minutes. Turn off heat.
- Add fresh lemon juice and vanilla and stir well.
To can the syrup
- Sterilize jars by boiling them in the water bath canner or washing them in the dishwasher.
- Bring water to boil in the water bath canner.
- Prepare jar lids rings by heating them briefly in hot water. Do NOT boil the lids as this is supposed to decrease their ability to seal (though I've boiled them before accidentally and they almost always seal).
- Ladle hot syrup into jars.
- Wipe down the top of the jar and put on the lid and ring.
- Tighten rings as much as you can and then put the jars in the boiling hot water bath canner.
- Lower the jars into the water to make sure they are completely submerged by the water.
- Boil the jars for 15 minutes.
- Remove jars from water bath canner, place on towel and leave alone for 24 hours.
- Check the seal on the jars. If any didn't seal, you can bring the syrup back to boil and try again.
Enjoy this homemade strawberry syrup on German Pancakes, Easy Freezer Toaster Waffles, pancakes, ice cream and more!
For more canning tutorials, see these:
Grandma’s Secret Dill Pickles
The Lazy Person’s Guide to Canning Crushed Tomatoes
Pineapple Jalapeno Relish
Easy, Homemade Roasted Tomato Sauce
About Michelle Marine
Michelle Marine is the author of How to Raise Chickens for Meat, a long-time green-living enthusiast, and rural Iowa mom of four. She empowers families to grow and eat seasonal, local foods; to reduce their ecological footprint; and to come together through impactful travel.
Read More About Me
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