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Strawberry lemonade is a special summertime treat, but you can enjoy it year-round with this simple canning recipe. Since it’s canned as a concentrate, a single jar will make a whole pitcher, and it’s a real crowd-pleaser.
I’m always looking for more strawberry canning recipes, as these little beauties tend to be prolific in season. Strawberries don’t store well, so I’m always rushing to find a way to put them up in a jar. We’ll make strawberry jam, and strawberry jelly for the kids, and we even make strawberry wine…but still, they keep coming.
I was delighted to come across this tested recipe for strawberry lemonade concentrate in the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving.
At first, I assumed it was going to be the same as just canning strawberry juice but then adding a bunch of lemons (and sugar). That’d be great too, but the downside there is you need to spend time straining the strawberry juice through a jelly bag.
Instead, this strawberry lemonade concentrate just uses pureed strawberries, which saves time and gives you more strawberry goodness in the finished drink.
That means you’ll get a really fruit-filled lemonade without going through the trouble of extracting strawberry juice in a jelly bag.
What I love about this recipe is its simplicity, and all the ingredients just go into the pot to heat before canning. It’s a great way to put up strawberries without a lot of work, and it’s ideal for those years when you’re just buried in fruit but don’t have much time on your hands.
All you need to do is hull the strawberries and then process them in a food processor (or just mash them really well).
Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate Ingredients
The basic ingredients for strawberry lemonade concentrate are as follows:
- 6 cups hulled strawberries
- 4 cups fresh lemon juice (from 16 to 20 lemons)
- 6 cups sugar
That should make a full canner batch of 7 pint jars.
Each pint of concentrate will make a gallon of strawberry lemonade. Just add 1 pint of home-canned concentrate to 3 pints water, and serve over ice.
Making Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate
Once you’ve assembled your ingredients, the process is quite simple.
Start by juicing the lemons and then straining the lemon juice to remove pulp and seeds. This strawberry lemonade concentrate will contain strawberry pulp, but the added lemon pulp will make the drink bitter. It’s best to strain that out with the seeds.
Next, hull the strawberries and puree them. Lacking a food processor or blender, you can just mash them really well, removing all clumps.
Mix the strawberry pulp, lemon juice, and sugar in a saucepan and gently heat it to around 190 degrees, but do not boil. The sugar should dissolve easily, but continue stirring until it’s completely dissolved.
Canning Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate
Since there’s strawberry fruit puree in this recipe, the canning time is a bit longer than when you’re canning plain lemonade.
Fill jars with hot (but not boiling) strawberry lemonade concentrate, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Seal with 2 part canning lids and load into a water bath canner.
Process half pints and pints in a water bath canner for 15 minutes (below 1,000 feet in elevation). Between 1,000 and 3,000 feet, increase the processing time to 20 minutes. Between 3,000 and 6,000 feet, the jars should be processed for 25 minutes. Process for 30 minutes above 6,000 feet in elevation. This recipe has not been tested in quarts and should only be canned in pints and half pints.
(This exact same recipe could also be frozen in freezer-safe jars with appropriate 1” headspace.)
Preparing Strawberry Lemonade from Concentrate
To reconstitute, mix 1 part concentrate with 3 parts water. For a 1 pint jar, you’d add 3 pints of water. For simplicity, you can just add a pint to a half-gallon mason jar, which holds 4 pints, and then fill it up the rest of the way with cold water.
That should give you a “basic lemonade” flavor that’s strong but not too strong. You can adjust to your own tastes.
Canning Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate
Ingredients
- 6 cups hulled strawberries
- 4 cups fresh lemon juice, from 16 to 20 lemons
- 6 cups sugar
Instructions
- Prepare a water bath canner, jars, rings and lids before beginning. The canner should be pre-heated to around 180 degrees F (barely simmering) for hot pack.
- Juice the lemons and strain to remove any pulp and seeds.
- Hull and puree the strawberries.
- Mix the strawberries, strained lemon juice, and sugar in a saucepan.
- Gently heat the mixture on the stove to around 190 degrees F, but do not boil.
- Ladle the strawberry lemonade concentrate into prepared jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Seal with 2 part canning lids.
- Process the jars in a water bath canner for 15 minutes, adjusting to the altitude (see notes).
- Turn off the heat and leave the jars in the canner for an additional 5 minutes to cool slightly before removing them with a canning jar lifter to cool completely on a towel on the counter.
- Wait 12 to 24 hours, then check seals. Store any unsealed jars in the refrigerator for immediate use. Properly canned and sealed jars may be store in the pantry. Refrigerate after opening.
- To reconstitute, mix 1 part concentrate with 3 parts water. For a 1 pint jar, you'd add 3 pints water. For simplicity, you can just add a pint to a half-gallon mason jar, which holds 4 pints, and then fill it up the rest of the way with cold water.
- That should give you a "basic lemonade" flavor that's strong, but not too strong. You can adjust to your own tastes.
Notes
Altitude Adjustments
Process half pints and pints in a water bath canner for 15 minutes (below 1,000 feet in elevation). Between 1,000 and 3,000 feet, increase the processing time to 20 minutes. Between 3,000 and 6,000 feet, the jars should be processed for 25 minutes. Process for 30 minutes above 6,000 feet in elevation. This recipe has not been tested in quarts and should only be canned in pints and half pints.Ways to Preserve Strawberries
Looking for more ways to preserve strawberries?
- Canning Strawberry Pie Filling
- Strawberry Jelly
- Pickled Strawberries
- Strawberry Wine
- Canning Strawberry Syrup
Drink Canning Recipes
Canning up more quick and easy drinks and drink concentrates?
Hi! Can I use limes instead of lemons? Thanks!
Yes, limes work just fine in place of lemons.
Made this today and it’s delicious. It was really easy. I tried some leftovers with a sprite and it was great!! Thank you’
Could I use sweetener in place of the sugar? If so what kind would you recommend?
You can use any sweetener that’s appropreate for canning, as the sugar is here for flavor, not preservation. For maple or honey, you’d use about 3/4 as much for the same flavor as they’re sweeter than sugar. For other sweeteners, I have no idea, as I don’t use artificial sweeteners, monkfruit, etc. I can’t help you with those. Best of luck.
Hello, this looks so delicious! I do have a question, if I use quarts instead of pints how long should I process it? Also could I use a sweetener like Swerve instead of sugar? Thanks! Can’t wait to make this!
I did a quick google search, and at least according to swerve’s website, it’s ok for canning. I don’t know anything about it personally.
As to jar size, Ball Canning only has instructions for pints, but they’re using processing times as if they’re canning whole strawberries, which are 15 minutes for pints and 20 minutes for quarts. A canning time of 20 minutes for this should be appropriate as well, though this specific recipe hasn’t been tested in quarts.
I have frozen strawberries, they have a lot of juice when unthawed. If I just use the juice and not the pulp, would it alter the recipe or processing time? Also, if I want to add basil, it’s really good that way, would I add the basil prior to canning to infuse and then strain when opening concentrate or cold infuse basil after opening concentrate? Any thoughts about that?
Could I use half sugar and half hemey
Yes, you can use half sugar and half honey. Enjoy!