This is kind of a cheater’s version, because it doesn’t involve squeezing the juice out of real grapes. While that sort of method might produce some very tasty jelly, it’s not at all cost-efficient unless you grow your own grapes or have access to free ones somehow.
How cheap your jelly is depends on the price you pay for your ingredients. If you buy grape juice and sugar on sale and you have a coupon for pectin, it will be really, really cheap. Plus, your homemade jelly will have no high fructose corn syrup in it(this is actually the reason I first looked into making my own).
I got this recipe from The Hillbilly Housewife(you can print it from the link there),(and it’s basically the same as the one on the insert from the pectin box) but I thought that some of you might be terrified of making your own jelly and would prefer a pictorial guide.
It’s actually really, really easy. I promise.
Homemade Grape Jelly
Here’s what you’ll need:
- 3 cups grape juice (either in a bottle or prepared from concentrate)
- 1 package powdered pectin
- 4 cups sugar
- glass jars that will hold 1.5 quarts of jelly
(they don’t need to be canning jars…glass jars that used to hold fruit or applesauce, or jelly will work fine)
Combine grape juice and pectin in a saucepan(I stir it with a whisk to get rid of the lumps) and bring to a boil. As an aside, do NOT add the sugar before you bring the pectin to a boil. I’ve done this waaaay too many times, and it causes the jelly to not, well, gel.
After the pectin/juice mixture has come to a boil, stir in the sugar. Bring it back up to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down, and boil for a full minute.
Remove from the heat. During cooking, some thickened foam will have probably formed on the top of your jelly. I like to skim this off, because it makes the jelly look nicer.
Pour the jelly into your jars and screw the lids on. If you want the jelly to be shelf-stable, you can process the jars in a large pot of boiling water for 10 minutes. I don’t mess with that usually…I store mine in the fridge, and they keep just fine. And actually, most of the time the heat from the jelly is enough to cause the lids on my canning jars to seal all on their own.
Sometimes, my jelly gels right away, but sometimes it takes a while(like 6-8 hours). So, don’t become distressed if at first it seems that all you have produced is some very sweet grape juice. Be patient, and as long as you’ve followed the recipe properly, your grape juice will have turned into jelly.















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I remember doing this with my Mom! This is a great tutorial. Thanks so much!
Wow, this is awesome! Thanks for sharing. I hate HFCS. One tip I learned from canning is if you tip the jars on the lids and leave them there, they normally will seal automatically too!
Hi Kristen,
Miriam shared your website with me a little while ago, and though it sounds cheesy…I must confess, your frugal-ness is inspiring!
Though we do not use much jelly in my house…I may have to try making some just because.
Why do you make jelly? Is it really that much cheaper?
Ahhh this is cool! I have some recipes that call for grape jelly… this is a great way to make it!
mmm…
I love grape jelly. This is a great, easy recipe!
Bethany, I originally looked for the recipe because I couldn’t find any jelly without high fructose corn syrup in it…not even at Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods!
I do think it’s cheaper, as long as you get your pectin cheaply. I should do a cost breakdown, though!
I agree that HFCS is evil! Ok so not evil, but it’s in everything. I am trying to eliminate it as much as I can from our diets so I’ve been making many things from scratch. What I’m wondering is how does the jelly taste? Thanks for the recipe and I love that site.
I had no idea it so easy to make Grape jelly!! So Simple!
Lisa
That looks like a fun thing to do with the kids. Could you do the same thing with apple juice for apple jelly?
Yep, you sure can! I’ve been wanting to try it but haven’t yet.
Bonnie, it tastes almost exactly like the stuff you buy. Basically, it will taste like a sweeter version of the grape juice you use.
I’m definitely going to have to try it.
Of course, this will work with juice from other fruit as well, particularly apples – in which case, if done right, you may not need added pectin as apples contain quite a lot (I haven’t done this myself, mind you). For other fruit, I have a “recipe” somewhere on how to make fairly concentrated pectin extract out of otherwise non-edible apples (i.e. you use cores, skins, cooking apples, crabapples etc.). Various sorts of wild berries are edible when processed into jelly, and if you can spare the time to collect them they’re free…
(As an aside, I may be stating the obvious here, but I believe the usual way to juice things for jellies is by steaming and then straining through a muslin cloth, rather than squeezing. That’s how my grandmother once showed me how to make apple jelly, and how the recipes I’ve seen do it.)
This actually looks really interesting!! I thought it was jam until I re-read it and it’s jelly!! Reminds me of the peanut butter and grape jelly sandwiches I used to read in books!! I’m not sure if I’ll ever make them but I like it!!
I want to pour the jelly into wine glasses for gifts. How do I seal them? Pour parafin over the tops after the jelly gels or cools? Help!
Trish, I googled it, and it seems like paraffin wax is the way to go. I’ve never done that myself, though, so I can’t offer any great advice.
Do you suppose there is a way to do this in a lower calorie/less sugar sort of way?
Ben, I’ve never tried it, but I know there are low-sugar ways to make jelly and jam. Try googling it, and I’m sure you’ll find something. I know that there are special techniques you have to use if you want to cut back on the sugar content.