I have a love-hate relationship with rhubarb right now. It actually is a really hard plant to kill, but for some reason, my rhubarb plants haven’t been doing very well for the last couple of years, and I’ve had to keep replacing them. This year I was fortunate to get enough rhubarb from my garden to make this rhubarb jelly, and it turned out amazing! I can’t wait to give it away as Christmas gifts this year.
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If you’ve never made homemade jelly before, I will walk you through the process of making jelly, step by step. Canning rhubarb jelly is really easy if you have the right equipment.
When canning rhubarb jelly, you need to cook the rhubarb to remove the juice from the fruit, and then strain the juice from the pulp with a jelly straining bag. You can then use the juice to make the jelly.
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It’s possible to make homemade jelly from a variety of fruits. If you don’t have access to fresh fruit, you can even use store bought fruit juice to make homemade jelly.
Rhubarb Jelly Recipe
Ingredients:
- 2 lb. rhubarb
- 4 c. water
- 1 package powdered pectin
- 6 c. sugar
This recipe makes about 3 pints or 6 half pints of raspberry jelly.
Note: Did you know you can buy powdered pectin in bulk from Amazon? Six tablespoons of powdered pectin is the equivalent to one box of store bought pectin. This is the ONLY way to buy pectin inexpensively if you are going to buy a lot of it (like I do!).
Hoosier Hill Fruit Pectin, 2 lb bag
To make this jelly, you first need to cook the rhubarb and extract the juice from it.
Wash the rhubarb, chop it into small pieces, and place it in a large stock pot with 4 cups of water.
Simmer the rhubarb over low heat for about 10-15 minutes, until the rhubarb is soft. Gently mash the rhubarb with a potato masher to extract as much of the juice as possible.
Remove the pan from the heat and pour the rhubarb mixture through a jelly strainer bag. Make sure not to squeeze the jelly bag so that none of the rhubarb pulp will go through the bag into the juice.
Let the juice strain for a couple of hours or even overnight, then measure the rhubarb juice. You need 6 cups of rhubarb juice to make the jelly. If you have too much rhubarb juice, just pour the extra out. If you don’t have quite enough juice, then add water to make up the difference.
Norpro Jelly Strainer Stand with Bag
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Canning Directions
Sterilize your canning jars, rings, and lids. You can sterilize them by just running them through a quick cycle in the dishwasher and leave them in there until you are ready to use them.
Fill a boiling water canner about half full of water and bring the water to a boil.
Rinse out your stock pot and place the 6 cups of rhubarb juice to the pot. Stir in the powdered pectin. Bring the mixture to a boil that doesn’t stop when you stir it.
Add the sugar all at once, and then stir until the sugar is dissolved. Bring mixture to a boil that cannot be stirred down, and boil for 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat.
Use a spoon to skim any foam off of the top of the jelly. (Note: if you add a pinch of butter to the mixture while it is boiling, it will help reduce foaming).
Pour the hot jelly into the sterilized jars, leaving 1/4-inch head space. The head space can easily be measured with this inexpensive canning funnel.
Wipe the rims of the jars with a damp towel. Place the lids and rings on the jars finger tight.
Place the jars in the boiling water canner. Make sure there is at least 1-2 inches of water above the jars. Bring the water to a boil.
Process the jars in boiling water canner for 10 minutes. Remove the jars from the canner and place them on a towel on the kitchen counter to cool.
You can store the sealed jars of jelly in the pantry for 1-2 years. If you have any jars that didn’t seal, place them in the refrigerator to eat in the next month or two.
What to Do if Your Jelly Doesn’t Set
Sometimes jelly doesn’t always set the first day, so if your jelly doesn’t look set, let the jars sit for a day or two on the kitchen counter without moving them.
If after a couple of days your jelly hasn’t set, here is what to do if your jelly doesn’t set.
Yield 3 pints or 6 half pints
If you’re looking for other rhubarb recipes, try these recipes for Easy Rhubarb Butter, Rhubarb Simple Syrup, Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Filling, and Strawberry Rhubarb Jam.
Related Jelly Recipes
- Mandarin Orange Jelly
- Raspberry Jelly
- Strawberry Jelly
- Rose Petal Jelly
- Apricot Jelly
- Grape Jelly
- Plum Jelly
- Watermelon Jelly
- Chokecherry Jelly
- Blackberry Jelly
- Pomegranate Jelly
- Lilac jelly
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