Homemade Strawberry Syrup Recipe & Canning Instructions

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This homemade strawberry syrup recipe with canning instructions is a delicious way to make your strawberry harvest last all year!

how to can strawberry syrup

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.

Homemade Strawberry Syrup Recipe & Canning Instructions - dad's berry patch

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 - bowl full of strawberries

Homemade Strawberry Syrup Recipe & Canning Instructions

Homemade Strawberry Syrup Recipe & Canning Instructions - measure the strawberries

Prepare berries by washing, coring, and cutting if big, or leave them whole if they’re small.

Homemade Strawberry Syrup Recipe & Canning Instructions - add sugar

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, rich molasses-like flavor. 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!

Homemade Strawberry Syrup Recipe & Canning Instructions - bring to a boil

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

Homemade Strawberry Syrup Recipe & Canning Instructions - prepare to can

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.

Homemade Strawberry Syrup Recipe & Canning Instructions - fill and wipe

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.

Homemade Strawberry Syrup Recipe & Canning Instructions - waterbath can
Homemade Strawberry Syrup Recipe & Canning Instructions - turn jars upside down and let sit

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

Homemade Strawberry Syrup Recipe & Canning Instructions
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 45 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

Instructions

To make the syrup

  1. Prepare strawberries and place in large pot. Add sugar and bring to boil over medium heat.
  2. Reduce heat to low and simmer until the mix reduces by about a third, 30-45 minutes. Turn off heat.
  3. Add fresh lemon juice and vanilla and stir well.

To can the syrup

  1. Sterilize jars by boiling them in the water bath canner or washing them in the dishwasher.
  2. Bring water to boil in the water bath canner.
  3. 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).
  4. Ladle hot syrup into jars.
  5. Wipe down the top of the jar and put on the lid and ring.
  6. Tighten rings as much as you can and then put the jars in the boiling hot water bath canner.
  7. Lower the jars into the water to make sure they are completely submerged by the water.
  8. Boil the jars for 15 minutes.
  9. Remove jars from water bath canner, place on towel and leave alone for 24 hours.
  10. Check the seal on the jars. If any didn't seal, you can bring the syrup back to boil and try again.

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram tagging @simplifylivelove! I love to see your photos!

Homemade Strawberry Syrup Recipe & Canning Instructions - German Pancakes

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

Homemade Strawberry Syrup Recipe & Canning Instructions - pin

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.

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31 Comments

  1. I’ve tried to read the recipe that you mention ….. but,,,,,, too many pop up ad’s kept me from actually folllow the recipe.

    1. That’s really strange, and I’m sorry. I don’t have any pop up ads on my blog so I wonder what’s going on!

    2. DFW, I’m checking into this. Are you reading from a mobile device or from a computer? Any help pinpointing a specific ad thats causing the problem? I’d like to figure this out so it’s not annoying for people. 🙂

      1. I, too, am having multiple pop up ads.
        I’m on my iPhone. However, when I find a recipe I want o try, I usually go to my computer & print it off.
        No ads that way!

        1. I’m on my iPad and I, too get MANY pop-up ads. It makes me rather annoyed with google! But…I’ve got to do something with excess strawberries (overestimated the space I had left in the freezer!) and your syrup sounds DELICIOUS, so I’ll wade thru ads! Sweet of you to help with your Grandpa.

  2. Perfect! I have fresh strawberries that need to be made into THIS syrup! Thanks so much for the handy recipe and canning instructions. My pantry is getting stocked!

  3. my mother always told me to fill my jars to the brim so as to reduce the amount of air and in so doing extend the life of your preserve. I noticed the air space in yours and was wondering how long your shelf life is for your syrup?

    1. Hi Caron, everything I’ve read about canning says to leave 1/4 inch air space in canning jars. I’m honestly not sure on the shelf life, but so far, so good! It’s so delicious, and I didn’t make that much, so it won’t last a year. 🙂

      1. yes you have to leave headspace, otherwise your jar can bus. and preserves is a little different than syrup also.

  4. My Daddy makes thickened strawberries from their overhaul of strawberries. Served over toast, it is one of my favorite breakfasts! I would go through all that mud to get to those strawberries, too 😉

    1. No mud is too much for strawberries!! This syrup is also fabulous on waffles & pancakes! 🙂

  5. This looks so delicious. Since we moved and had to downsize, I had to get rid of all my canning equipment. This makes me wish I still had it.

  6. Just made this and it was so delicious! I use half raw sugar and half white sugar as that was what I had available and used bottles lemon juice instead. Thank you for sharing the recipe.

  7. Made this again this year and it is just as delicious as the first time. We love having it on yoghurt and also icecream! YUMMM!

    1. oh Yay! That makes me so happy, Marilyn. They’ll love it. If you have an extra jar, send me one too. 😉

  8. Thank you for the recipe and the cute story. I am writing on a freezing February night facing two pounds of grocery store (white interior shipping berries) strawberries hoping to grab a taste of warmer days! If I get 2 pints out of my 2 lbs I will steam can the second one on low pressure in my instant pot… easy way to still can small amounts it out dragging the canner out!

  9. Can you give instructions on smaller batch? It’s only my husband and I so don’t need this much.

  10. I realize this is coming almost a decade after publishing, but can this recipe be modified for honey instead of sugar? Does exchanging that change any of the canning instructions or would that be the same?