My kids are on a no high fructose corn syrup or food dye diet, so I have to make many of their favorite foods. Homemade jelly sounds difficult, but it is very easy to make. Promise.
I made two batches tonight in under an hour including clean up. I make my grape jelly with grape juice, so it takes even less time than making other jellies or jams.
At our first house, we had a grape arbor and got grapes every other year. When my oldest was little, I decided to harvest the grapes, make juice, and then make jelly.
He was about two-years-old, so I let him play in the yard while I picked the grapes off of the stems. And picked, And picked, And then picked some more.
I felt like I picked grapes off of the stems all day long.
Then I cooked them for hours and finally got some juice.
I turned that juice into some very taste grape jelly.
All in all, I spent the better part of two days to get about $5 of jelly.
While it makes a fun story and I can say that I did it, I won't be doing it again. Especially now that I work and have two more kids.
From now on, I'll make my homemade grape jelly from grape juice with zero guilt about taking a short cut.
Homemade Grape Jelly From Grape Juice
Note that this was originally posted in 2012 and updated in 2019. This wasn't long after Pinterest was founded and before blogging became big, so my photos were, well, awful. I'm keeping some of the original photos and updating with new ones as well. The recipe remains the same.
My kids eat a lot of peanut butter and jelly. Sure, I can get it at the store pretty cheap. I live in the land of Smucker's, so why make my own?
For starters, it tastes better. Homemade jelly and jam tastes a lot better than what you buy in the store, even when you take a shortcut and make homemade grape jelly from grape juice.
Caleb can't have any food dyes or high fructose corn syrup. When I originally published this, it was next to impossible to find grape jelly without dyes or HFCS. Aldi probably has one, and I'm sure there are organic versions that don't.
If you buy a box of Sure Jell from the store, it really isn't cheaper to make your own , but the taste is worth it.
I am fortunate enough to live by Amish country, so I buy pectin in bulk. A 1.75 ounce box of Sure Jell is $2.99 at the grocery store. A 1.78 pound bag of bulk pectin is $5.14! If you do buy bulk pectin, 1/3 of a cup equals one box of Sure Jell.
I almost always make two batches if I'm making jelly, but don't double the ingredients and make them both at the same time. Recipes with pectin can't be doubled.
Instead, I measure my ingredients twice and set the second set aside. That saves me time on the second batch. You also don't need to wash the pans and bowls between batches, so it still saves time versus making the two batches at different times.
I use the quick and easy freezer jelly recipe from Sure Jell. I have done cooked jelly, but the quick version is just as tasty. It doesn't set up quite as hard, but it definitely works for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
Ingredients
- 3 cups organic grape juice
- 5 1/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 box Sure Jell
or 1/3 cup bulk pectin
Directions
1. Measure sugar and juice in two separate bowls.
2. Pour juice into sugar and stir until the sugar is mostly dissolved. Let sit for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Pour juice into sugar and stir until the sugar is mostly dissolved. Let sit for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3, In small saucepan, coming 3/4 cup water and pectin. I start this about 5 minutes after I combine the juice and sugar. Heat on high until boiling, stirring constantly. Boil for one minute while you stir.
4. Stir pectin into the juice and sugar mixture. Stir for at least three minutes until you can't see any sugar granules. (This is a good job for the kids!)
5. Pour into clean containers. Your jelly will expand when it freezes, so leave about 1/2 an inch for expansion.
6. Let sit at room temperature for about 24 hours until set. Then store in the refrigerator for 3 weeks or freeze up to a year.
The last photo shows how much I made in one batch. I could have filled them a little more so I didn't have a partial container, but I was making another batch. My favorite storage containers are the frosting containers because the lids fit snug, but I also use butter, dip, sour cream, or deli containers.
If you've never made homemade grape jelly from grape juice, you are in for a treat! You may never buy store-bought jelly again. In just under an hour, I made jelly to last about 4 months with no high fructose corn syrup, no food dyes, no chemicals, and no preservatives.
Grape Jelly from Grape Juice
Yield: 48
prep time: 15 Mcook time: 45 Mtotal time: 60 M
Make grape jelly quickly by using grape juice.
ingredients:
- 3 cups organic grape juice
- 5 1/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 box Sure Jell or 1/3 cup bulk pectin
instructions:
How to cook Grape Jelly from Grape Juice
- Measure sugar and juice in two separate bowls.
- Pour juice into sugar and stir until the sugar is mostly dissolved. Let sit for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- In small saucepan, coming 3/4 cup water and pectin. I start this about 5 minutes after I combine the juice and sugar. Heat on high until boiling, stirring constantly. Boil for one minute while you stir.
- Stir pectin into the juice and sugar mixture. Stir for at least three minutes until you can't see any sugar granules. (This is a good job for the kids!)
- Pour into clean containers. Your jelly will expand when it freezes, so leave about 1/2 an inch for expansion.
- Let sit at room temperature for about 24 hours until set. Then store in the refrigerator for 3 weeks or freeze up to a year.
Calories
97.15Fat (grams)
0.02Sat. Fat (grams)
0.00Carbs (grams)
25.04Fiber (grams)
0.11Net carbs
24.93Sugar (grams)
24.08Protein (grams)
0.06Sodium (milligrams)
3.01Cholesterol (grams)
0.00Copyright © Koti Beth 2019. All rights reserved.
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