Pomegranate Jelly Recipe

Autumn brings its own collection of incredible harvests to preserve, like the glorious pomegranate, which make a beautiful pomegranate jelly recipe that is delicious on toast or perfect for holiday gift giving. Let's make some jelly!

♥️ The Ingredients You Need

• Pomegranate Juice: The difference between a jelly and a jam is the preparation of the fruit before making the preserves. For jelly, you use fruit juice. You can make your own pomegranate juice or you can save yourself some time and use bottled pomegranate juice purchased from the store.
• Pectin: Pomegranates are a low-pectin fruit, meaning you'll need to add powdered pectin in order to get the jelly to gel properly. Don't skip this!
• Sugar: You're looking for regular granulated sugar or granulated cane sugar here. This recipe has not been tested for safety with any alternative sweetener like honey, maple syrup, or stevia.
• Butter: The butter is optional, but helps cut down any foaming that happens during the boiling process.

Make sure to check the recipe card below for the full ingredients list, along with quantities and my expert tips and tricks.

🔁 Variations

• DIY Pomegranate Juice: To make your own juice, firmly roll room-temperature fruit on a countertop, pressing to soften without breaking the skin. Holding the pomegranate over a fine sieve set over a bowl, use a sharp knife to cut out the blossom end (crown), including the pith. Using your hands, squeeze pomegranate juice and seeds into the sieve. Open the fruit and use a small spoon to scrape out the remaining seeds. Use the back of a large spoon to press any remaining juice out of the seeds. You can filter the mixture again through cheesecloth if the juice doesn't seem clear. You'll need 7 to 10 large pomegranates to make enough juice (3 ½ cups) for this jelly recipe.

🫙 The Equipment You Need

Most of what you need for canning this jelly, you'll already have on hand. But waterbath canning does require a few specialty tools:

• Canner: A big pot to process (AKA: boil) your filled jelly jars.
• Canning Rack or Trivet: Holds the jars in the pot so air can circulate all the way around.
• Jar Lifter: A special tool that makes grabbing hot jars easy and safe.
• Jars and Lids: I recommend using 8-ounce jelly jars for this pomegranate jelly recipe.
• Canning Funnel: A wide-mouth, heat-safe funnel that is made to fit in canning jars.
• Headspace checker or clear plastic ruler: You'll need to make sure you have the right amount of space at the top of your jars!

📷 How to Can This Pomegranate Jelly Recipe

Step 1: Prep your jars per our Canning 101 guide. Wash the jars and then place them in the canning pot, covering them in water. Start heating the water. Wash the lids and rings in warm, soapy water.

Step 2: Measure out the pomegranate juice and pour it into a cooking pot. Gradually stir in the pectin, one tablespoon at a time. If you're going to use butter to reduce foaming, add that now too.

Step 3: Bring the pomegranate juice to a full rolling boil-this means that stirring won't bring down the bubbling. Add the sugar, stirring until it is all dissolved.

Step 4: Bring the juice mixture to a boil, and boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Turn off the heat and skim off any foam that formed.

Step 5: Remove one jar from the canning pot, which should be boiling by now, pouring the water back into the pot. Ladle pomegranate jelly through the funnel and into the hot jar, leaving ¼-inch headspace. Wipe the rim of the jar with a wet cloth, then fit on the lid and ring until it's just fingertip tight. Do not overtighten.

Step 6: Return the jar to the canner, and repeat with the remaining jars and jelly. Replace the lid and bring the canner to a rolling boil. Process for 10 minutes.

Step 9: Remove the canner lid and let the jars cool for five minutes in the canner before removing and placing somewhere to cool for 24 hours. Check the seal before storing or gifting.

⏰ Storage Info

• Check the seal: If your jars don't seal properly, they won't be safe to leave at room temperature. You can check the seal by pushing on the middle of the jar's lid once the jelly has completely cooled. If it doesn't flex, your jar is shelf-stable and ready to store.
• It's safe: If your jar sealed well, your pomegranate jelly will keep its best quality in a cool, dark spot for at least 18 months. After that, the color, flavor, or texture might start to degrade, but as long as the lid is still sealed properly, it is perfectly safe to eat indefinitely.

🙋🏻‍♀️ Pomegranate Jelly Recipe FAQs

🥪 Ways to Use This Pomegranate Jelly Recipe

Don't just reserve this jelly for good PB&J (although definitely use it for that, too). Here are some other ways to enjoy this jelly:

• Of course, pomegranate jelly is a shining star on top of toast, English muffins, or biscuits.
• It's also wonderful stirred into a bowl of homemade yogurt (or Instant Pot coconut yogurt).
• Slather it on top of almond pancakes or whole wheat waffles.
• Bake it into thumbprint cookies!
• Use this jelly in place of grape jelly in my cocktail meatballs with grape jelly recipe for a great change of pace.
• Stir it into homemade instant oatmeal or vanilla overnight oats to add sweetness and flavor.
• Mix it with your favorite liquor and some seltzer water to make a pomegranate-flavored cocktail.
• Use it as the jam in this baked brie with jam.
• Add it to a Thanksgiving cheese board.
• Wrap it up with a pretty ribbon and use it as a homemade food gift.

🍓More Jam and Jelly Recipes

If you tried this Pomegranate Jelly Recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the comments!