How do I make apple jelly?

Apple jelly needs nothing but apples, water, sugar and an optional splash of lemon, because tart apples carry enough pectin to set on their own. The National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP) recipe simmers about 3 pounds of tart apples, a quarter of them underripe, in 3 cups of water, drips the juice through a jelly bag, then boils 4 cups of juice with 3 cups of sugar and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, if you choose, to 8 degrees F above boiling. It makes 4 or 5 half-pints. This page covers that method, crabapple jelly, testing the set, flavored apple jellies and how apple sits in the federal standards.

Why apples set without help

Pectin is the fiber that forms the gel, and apples are rich in it. NCHFP names apples and crabapples first among fruits that usually have enough natural pectin to gel [1], and in its sorting by pectin and acid, sour apples and crabapples have enough of both to set with sugar alone [2].

Two things about that pectin shape the method:

• Ripeness matters. Pectin from underripe or overripe fruit will not form a gel by itself, and acid is higher in underripe fruit [2]. That is why NCHFP calls for about 1/4 underripe and 3/4 fully ripe tart apples [3]. Fully ripe apples move down to "may need help" in NCHFP's sorting [2].
• The peels and cores hold pectin. NCHFP says not to peel or core the apples, and notes that using peels and cores adds pectin to the juice during cooking [3] [4].

Making apple jelly without added pectin

NCHFP, adapted from USDA's 1982 home bulletin [3].

Make the juice

1. Choose tart apples, about 1/4 underripe and 3/4 fully ripe. You need about 3 pounds for 4 cups of juice.
2. Sort and wash. Remove stem and blossom ends. Do not peel or core.
3. Cut into small pieces. Add 3 cups water, cover and bring to a boil over high heat.
4. Reduce heat and simmer 20 to 25 minutes, until soft.
5. Extract the juice. NCHFP's juice directions are to strain it through a damp jelly bag or a double layer of damp cheesecloth and let it drip without squeezing [5].

NCHFP's no-pectin table gives the same proportion as 1 cup of water per pound of apples, simmered 20 to 25 minutes, and says each pound of fruit should yield at least 1 cup of clear juice [4]. Squeezing the bag clouds the jelly [5]; the fixes for cloudy jelly are on cloudy jelly.

Cook the jelly

1. Sterilize canning jars and prepare two-piece canning lids according to the manufacturer's directions.
2. Measure 4 cups apple juice into a kettle. Add 2 tablespoons strained lemon juice, if desired, and 3 cups sugar. Stir well.
3. Boil over high heat to 8 degrees F above the boiling point of water, or until the jelly mixture sheets from a spoon.
4. Remove from heat and quickly skim off foam.
5. Pour at once into hot, sterile jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe the rims with a dampened clean paper towel, adjust two-piece lids, and process in a boiling water canner.

Cook no more than 6 to 8 cups of juice at a time [4]. Bigger batches boil longer, and NCHFP warns that long boiling destroys pectin, flavor and color [6].

Telling when apple jelly is done

There are two NCHFP tests for jelly without added pectin, and the recipe allows either [3]. The details below are from NCHFP's testing page [15].

Temperature. Boil to 8 degrees F above the temperature at which water boils on your thermometer. At sea level that is 220 degrees F. Check your thermometer in boiling water the same day, and you correct for elevation and calibration at once. The method and the altitude table are on the temperature test.

Sheet test. Dip a cool metal spoon into the boiling jelly and lift it out of the steam so the syrup runs off the side. When the mixture first boils, the drops are light and syrupy. As it cooks they grow heavier and fall two at a time. When the two drops join and sheet off the spoon together, it is done. What each stage looks like is on the spoon or sheet test.

Crabapple jelly

Crabapple jelly is made the same way, with more sugar and no lemon: NCHFP's crabapple recipe also strains the juice without pressing, boils it with the sugar to 8 degrees F above the boiling point of water or until it sheets from a spoon, and fills with 1/4 inch headspace [7].

NCHFP's crabapple recipe adds a warning worth applying to apples as well: excess boiling of the fruit destroys pectin, flavor and color [7].

Apple jelly with added pectin

If you start from bottled or frozen apple juice, add pectin. NCHFP says commercially canned or frozen juices are too low in pectin for the no-pectin method [4]. University of Wisconsin Extension gives an apple jelly of 4 cups unsweetened apple juice, 5 cups sugar and one box of powdered pectin, for 6 half-pints [8]. More on choosing juice is on making jelly from bottled or frozen juice.

Flavored apple jellies

Apple jelly is the classic base for mint, herb and spiced jellies. NCHFP publishes two mint jellies with pectin [9]. The federal jelly standard permits mint flavoring and artificial green coloring only when the juice comes from apple, crabapple, pineapple, or a combination of them [10]. So a mint-flavored, green jelly sold under the standard name must be made from one of those juices.

Herb, flower, tea and wine infusions, and what such a jelly may be called if you sell it, are on herb, flower, tea and wine jellies. Adding peppers changes the safety picture entirely; see pepper jelly.

Apple in the federal standards

Apple holds an unusual place in the regulations. Apple is one of the named fruits in the federal jelly standard [10] and in the fruit butter standard [11], but it is not named in either fruit group of the jam and preserves standard [12], which lists crabapple in Group I. Apple can go into a standardized jam only as part of a fruit combination, and then at no more than one-half of the fruit [12]. When you use apple in a mixed-fruit jam you plan to sell, check how that affects the name and the fruit floor on what you can call your jam and how much fruit the law requires.

Use sound apples

Windfalls and seconds are fine for jelly once you cut away bruises and damage, but not moldy fruit. University of Georgia Extension reports that patulin, a toxin some molds produce, has been found in homemade apple jam and juice [13]. If mold appears on finished jelly, discard the jar; see mold and fermentation in jam.

Processing apple jelly

That is NCHFP's chart for apple and crabapple jelly, in sterilized jars [3] [7]. For any process under 10 minutes NCHFP says to pre-sterilize the jars [14]. Unsterilized jars and their longer chart are on how long to process jam.

More from the apple harvest

Apples left over from jelly can become pectin stock for other fruit, covered on making your own pectin from apples, or apple butter, on apple butter and other fruit butters.

References

1. National Center for Home Food Preservation, General Information on Canning Jams, Jellies, and Marmalades, accessed October 2026. https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/make-jam-jelly/jams-jellies-general-information/general-information-on-canning-jams-jellies-and-marmalades/
2. National Center for Home Food Preservation, Jellied Product Ingredients, accessed October 2026. https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/make-jam-jelly/jams-jellies-general-information/jellied-product-ingredients/
3. National Center for Home Food Preservation, Apple Jelly without Pectin, June 2005, adapted from USDA Home and Garden Bulletin No. 56 (1982). https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/make-jam-jelly/jellies/apple-jelly-without-pectin/
4. National Center for Home Food Preservation, Making Jelly without Added Pectin (Table 2), accessed October 2026. https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/make-jam-jelly/jams-jellies-general-information/making-jelly-without-added-pectin/
5. National Center for Home Food Preservation, Extracting Juice for Jelly, accessed October 2026. https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/make-jam-jelly/jams-jellies-general-information/extracting-juice-for-jelly/
6. National Center for Home Food Preservation, General Jams and Jellies FAQs, accessed October 2026. https://nchfp.uga.edu/faqs/general-jams-and-jellies/category/faq-jams-and-jellies
7. National Center for Home Food Preservation, Crabapple Jelly without Pectin, adapted from So Easy to Preserve, 6th ed. (2014). https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/make-jam-jelly/jellies/crabapple-jelly-without-pectin/
8. University of Wisconsin Extension, Ingham, Making Jams, Jellies & Fruit Preserves (B2909), undated. https://iowa.extension.wisc.edu/files/2021/08/Making-Jams-Jellies-Fruit-Preserves-B2909.pdf
9. National Center for Home Food Preservation, Jams & Jellies recipe index, accessed October 2026. https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/make-jam-jelly
10. U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, 21 CFR 150.140, Canned fruit jelly (Cornell LII text, current). https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/21/150.140
11. U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, 21 CFR 150.110, Fruit butter (Cornell LII text, current). https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/21/150.110
12. U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, 21 CFR 150.160, Canned fruit preserves and jams (Cornell LII text, current). https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/21/150.160
13. University of Georgia Extension, Andress, Preserving Food: Processing Jams and Jellies (FDNS-E-37-1), rev. June 2011. https://openscholar.uga.edu/record/23661/files/FDNS-E-37-1.pdf
14. National Center for Home Food Preservation, Do I Need to Pre-Sterilize My Jars before Canning?, May 21, 2014. https://nchfp.uga.edu/blog/do-i-need-to-pre-sterilize-my-jars-before-canning
15. National Center for Home Food Preservation, Testing Jelly without Added Pectin, accessed October 2026. https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/make-jam-jelly/jams-jellies-general-information/testing-jelly-without-added-pectin