Looking for a way to use all of that mint that has probably over-taken your herb beds? Ever tried real mint jelly? It used to be a very chic thing to serve with roasted lamb, but all you can find in the stores these days is usually loaded with high fructose corn syrup. Real mint jelly is so easy to make, and is so pretty in the canning jars.
Mint Jelly Recipe
Ingredients
1–1/2 cups packed fresh mint leaves
2 tbsp. lemon juice
2–1/4 cups water
1 drop green food color {optional}
3–1/2 cups sugar
3 fluid ounces of liquid pectin {1 pouch}
Instructions
Bring a boiling-water canner, 3/4 full with water, to simmer. Wash jars and screw bands in hot soapy water; rinse with warm water. Pour boiling water over flat lids in saucepan off the heat. Let stand in hot water until ready to use. Drain well before filling.
Place washed mint leaves in a saucepan. Crush with a potato masher. Add water and bring mixture to a boil for about 10 minutes.
Remove from heat and strain out mint leaves. Measure out 1 and 2/3rd cups of the mint liquid and place it back in the saucepan. Add lemon juice and food coloring. Stir well.
Add sugar and turn on heat to high. Stir constantly. Bring the mixture to a boil. Once mixture is boiling, add pectin. Boil for one minute. Remove from heat and strain foam off of the top of the mixture with a spoon.
Ladle immediately into prepared jars, filling to within 1/2 inch of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands on. Place jars on elevated rack in a canner. Lower rack into canner. {Water must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add boiling water, if necessary.}
Cover; bring water to gentle boil. Process for 10 min. Remove jars and place upright on towel to cool completely. After the jars have cooled, check the seals by pressing middles of lids with finger. If lids spring back, lids are not sealed and refrigeration is necessary.
Looking for a few more canning recipes? Search my Full List of Canning Recipes
Looking for a good canning book? Here’s a list of my favorites:
- Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving
- The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook
- Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It
- Food in Jars
- The Amish Canning Cookbook
- Not Your Mama’s Canning Book
Also, check out these tutorials if you’ve never used a canner before:
Tutorial: Hot Water Bath Canning
Tutorial: How to Use a Pressure Canner
Margery says
Hi,
I would like to ask what type of mint should be used. I have peppermint and spearmint as well as grapefruit mint. We decided that we don’t much care for the grapefruit mint, however, because it is too bitter. What ki d did you use?
Mavis Butterfield says
Hi Margery, great question, I used spearmint. 🙂
Beth Spaziani says
Could the water you used to boil the mint in be used as tea?
Mavis Butterfield says
I don’t know, I’ve never tried it before.
Gracie says
I have spearmint galore and am thinking about making this – what all do you serve it on/with?
susan says
I always have loads of mint available, but I just don’t know what I really would use the mint jelly for. What do you do with it?
So, I mostly dry the mint and use that for tea…. but am very interested in making jelly, if I could think of how to use the finished product.
Thanks!
Tina says
It’s delicious on raised lamb or pork.
diana says
after i took the jars out of the canner the jelly was still liquid? is that ok?
Karen says
How long does this keep
Amy says
I hope you don’t mind that I added a link to this post on my blog. I am doing a post about the many uses of spearmint and this recipe looks amazing. Check it out at reclaimingmyexistance.com.
Jr says
How many (mason) jars of what size?
Mavis Butterfield says
3-4 1/2 pint jars. 🙂
Deborah Biggs says
when you say 1/2 container of pectin, how much is that. There are boxes of pectin and liquild pectin that comes in two packages per box. I appreciate any clearing up of that
Mavis Butterfield says
Hi Deborah,
I just updated the directions to make them more clear. 🙂
Deborah Biggs says
Also do you NOT use any of the mint liquid?
Fay says
All I can get is Certo crystals, any idea how much I would need to use?
Thanks for your help.
Ruth M SMITH says
I followed the mint jelly recipe, but it did not jell. I have made apple jelly, grape jelly and blueberry jelly with no problem. I do not know what I did wrong…
Denise says
I did make this recipe, can’t wait to try it! Got 7 jars