Easy Canning Recipes for Beginners

This page is where I keep the full collection of canning recipes for beginners, grouped by category so you can find exactly what you’re after, whether that’s a specific vegetable, a batch of jam, or just a sense of where to start.

You’ll find safe, step-by-step tutorials for every method: water bath, pressure, and steam canning, along with the safety information that goes with them.

If you’re not sure where to begin, high acid foods like fruit, jam, and pickles are the best things to can for beginners. They only need a water bath canner, and they’re the easiest way to build confidence before moving on to pressure canning for vegetables and meat.

Canning Methods

Eight Canning Jars on a deck railing with the sun shining lighting up the jars from the back.

Table of Contents

Canning Vegetables

Vegetables are the heart of a full pantry — beans, corn, carrots, beets, and more. Most vegetables need a pressure canner, so check the guide below for what's safe to can and how to get started.

Learn how to can vegetables →

Jars of home canned green beans, beets, and tomatoes sitting on a blue and white checkered napkin.

Tomatoes and Tomato Products

Tomatoes are one of the most popular things to can — sauce, salsa, juice, stewed, or whole. They need a little acidification to can safely, and the full guide walks you through it.

See the full Canning Tomatoes guide →”

Open quart canning jars filled with tomatoes.

Canning Fruit and Fruit Products

Fruit is one of the best places to start if you're new to canning — high acid means simple water bath or steam canning recipes will do. Apples, peaches, berries, pie fillings, and more.

See the full Canning Fruit guide →

Jars filled with peaches sitting in the bottom of the steam canner.

Jam, Jelly and Other Sweets

Jam, jelly, marmalade, and fruit butter — the sweet stuff!. All safe with simple water bath canning.

See the full Jam or Jelly guide →

Jelly spread on crackers with an open jar of jelly to the side.

Canning Meat, How easy it can be.

Canning meat saves freezer space and gets dinner on the table fast. Beef, venison, chicken, fish, soup, and broth — all processed in a pressure canner.

See the full Canning Meat guide →

Packing quart jars with pieces of raw meat.

Best Easy Pickle Recipes; Go Beyond the Cucumber.

Pickling isn't just for cucumbers! Beets, carrots, beans, relishes, and more, all preserved in a vinegar brine.

See the full Pickling guide →

Jars of home canned pickled vegetables and relishes.

Home Canning Equipment and Supplies

From your first water bath canner to pressure canners, jars, lids, and the handy extras — here's what you actually need (and what you don't).

See the full Canning Equipment guide →

Canners and canning equipment spread over the countertop.

Home Canning Safety: Keep Your Family Healthy & Spoil Rate Low

Canning safety is really just a matter of avoiding a few known risks — and every one of them is easy to avoid. Botulism, altitude adjustments, sealing issues, and more.

See the full Canning Safety guide →

Various jars of home canned vegetables and fruits sitting on the countertop.

More Canning Basics

You Don’t Have to Figure This Out Alone

Canning has a learning curve, no matter how many jars you’ve put up. I’ve spent years answering questions from home canners just getting started, and if something on this site doesn’t quite make sense, or you run into a recipe that contradicts what you learned somewhere else, reach out. That’s exactly what this site is for.

If you’d like a hand as you get going, my free newsletter is a good place to start — practical tips and encouragement in your inbox, no fear, just the next step.