The Amish are an intriguing group of people. They are infamous for their wisdom and simple lifestyle. The Amish live according to their religious values and beliefs that it pleases God to see His creation working in harmony with nature. Let me show you 10 Amish canning recipes you should know.
This is one of the reasons why they grow their own food. While they are well-known for their extraordinary baking capabilities, the Amish also love to can food. One of the main reasons for this is that it allows them to preserve seasonal produce so they have it readily available all year round. If you want some traditional Amish canning recipes, keep reading.
Basic Information About Amish People
The Amish originate from southern Germany and Switzerland. They emigrated to the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries and made their home in eastern Pennsylvania. They later settled in Kansas, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, and Canada.
The Amish avoid using electricity, they rarely use cars except in an emergency. Instead, they are transported in horse-drawn buggies and ride bicycles. They are well-respected for their farming capabilities. They grow the majority of their food and only purchase items such as flour and sugar from stores.
10 Amish Canning Recipes You Should Know
You can use the water bath canning method or the pressure canner method to can the recipes below.
Please note that process times will vary depending on the size of the jar you’re using. Check the National Center for Home Food Preservation website for exact times for these recipes.
1. Amish Canned Pepper Relish
This pepper relish recipe tastes delightful with any kind of meat.
Ingredients
- 12 seeded and finely chopped sweet green peppers
- 12 seeded and finely chopped sweet red peppers
- 8 finely chopped small onions
- 1 ½ cups of sugar
- 1 quart of vinegar
- 2 teaspoons of salt
Directions
- Combine the green peppers, red peppers, and onions in a bowl full of boiling water. Cover and leave the ingredients to sit for 5 minutes.
- Drain the water, add some more boiling water, cover and leave the ingredients to sit for 10 minutes.
- Tip the ingredients into a cheesecloth bag or a colander and leave it to drain overnight.
- The next day, add the salt, vinegar, and sugar, stir to combine, and boil for 20 minutes.
- Transfer the ingredients into jars and boil.
Related: Cheap Recipes To Keep You Well Fed In The Next Crisis
2. Amish Canning Recipes: Canned Chow Chow
This delicious combination of vegetables makes the perfect dipping sauce.
- 3 tablespoons of white mustard seeds
- ½ a tablespoon of ginger
- 1 ½ tablespoons of celery seeds
- 3 deseeded and chopped sweet red peppers
- 6 chopped large onions
- 1-quart green tomatoes, chopped
- 2 quarts of cabbage, chopped
- Salt
- 2 pounds of sugar
- 8 cups of vinegar
Directions
- Put all the vegetables into separate bowls.
- Sprinkle some salt over them and leave the vegetables to sit for 4 hours.
- Use a vegetable presser to squeeze the juice out of the vegetables until they’re completely dry.
- Combine all the dry ingredients in a large saucepan and keep adding vinegar while stirring until a paste is formed.
- Add the rest of the vinegar and bring the ingredients to a boil.
- Turn the temperature down to low, and slow cook for 20 minutes.
- Transfer the ingredients into jars and boil.
3. Amish Canning Recipes: Canned Pickled Red Beets
Pickled red beets taste fantastic on a sandwich, or in a salad. You can even eat them on their own as a snack.
Ingredients
- 3 pounds of beets
- 1 teaspoon of allspice
- 1 stick of cinnamon
- ½ a cup of water
- 1 pint of vinegar
- 6 whole cloves
- ½ a cup of sugar
Directions
- Soften the beets by boiling them, take the beets out, and remove the skins.
- Add the spices to a cheesecloth and tie it.
- Then, add the spices, vinegar, sugar, and water to the boiling water.
- Add the beets and boil for another 5 minutes.
- Transfer the beets into jars and boil.
4. Amish Canned Pickled Pears
There are a thousand reasons to can pears, most importantly, they taste absolutely delightful!
Ingredients
- 14 pounds of pears, peeled, cored, and sliced
- 1 teaspoon of whole cloves
- 6 pounds of sugar
- 1 quart of cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon sticks broken into pieces
Directions
- Put the spices into a cheesecloth bag.
- Combine the vinegar and sugar in a saucepan.
- Add the bag of spices and bring the ingredients to a boil.
- Add the pears and keep boiling until they become tender.
- Scoop out the pears and add them to jars.
- Keep boiling the syrup until it thickens.
- Spoon the syrup onto the pears and boil.
Related: Recipes I Made From The Lost Super Foods Book: Canned Hamburger Meat
5. Amish Canning Recipes: Spiced Gooseberries
Add some flavor to your gooseberries by infusing them with spices, trust me…you won’t be disappointed.
Ingredients
- 5 pounds of ripe gooseberries
- 3 teaspoons of allspice
- 3 teaspoons of cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons of cloves
- 2 cups of vinegar
- 4 pounds of brown sugar
Directions
- Combine the gooseberries, vinegar, and sugar into a saucepan and cook on a low. temperature until the ingredients turn into a thick mixture.
- Transfer the mixture into jars and can.
6. Amish Canned Ginger Pears
Give your pears an additional kick by adding some ginger.
Ingredients
- 5 pounds of hard pears, peeled, cored, and diced
- ½ a cup of chopped preserved ginger
- The juice and rind of 3 lemons
- 5 pounds of sugar
- 3 cups of water
Directions
- Put the pears into a saucepan and cover them with water.
- Cook the pears at a low temperature until they become tender.
- Add the lime rind, lime juice, ginger, and sugar and stir to combine.
- Leave the mixture to simmer until the ingredients become thick and the pear is transparent.
- Transfer the pear mixture into jars and can.
7. Amish Canning Recipes: Ketchup
You’ll never need to worry about wasting tomatoes when you know how to make your own ketchup.
Ingredients
- 1 pint of apple cider vinegar
- 3 quarts of tomato juice
- 5 cups of sugar
- 4 tablespoons of dry, ground mustard
- 5 drops of cinnamon oil
- 3 drops of clove oil
- ¼ teaspoon of pepper
- 1 teaspoon of salt
Directions
- Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and boil until a thick mixture is formed, this will take around 2 ½ hours.
- Pour the ketchup into jars and boil.
8. Amish Canned Meatloaf
With this canned meatloaf recipe, you’ll always have a good hearty meal on standby.
Ingredients
- 2 diced onions
- 4 eggs
- 3 cups of milk
- 1 cup of oatmeal
- 36 saltine crackers
- 4 slices of bread
- ½ a cup of salt
- 15 pounds of ground beef
Directions
- Combine the ingredients into a large mixing bowl and mix together thoroughly.
- Pack the mixture into canning jars and boil.
9. Amish Canning Recipes: Apple Pie Filling
Enjoy your apple harvest no matter what time of the year it is with this Amish apple pie filling recipe.
Ingredients
- 7 pounds of fresh apples, sliced and peeled
- ½ a teaspoon of nutmeg
- 4 ½ cups of sugar
- 1 cup of cornstarch
- 10 cups of water
- 1 ½ teaspoon of kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons of lemon juice
Directions
- Fill your canning jars with apple slices.
- In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and 10 cups of water, stir and boil until the ingredients become thick and bubbly.
- Take the saucepan off the stove, add the lemon juice and stir to combine.
- Pour the syrup on top of the apples leaving one inch of space at the top and then boil.
10. Amish Canning Recipes: Canned Coleslaw
It’s always good to have some coleslaw to hand, it goes well with any dish.
Ingredients
- 1 finely chopped medium onion
- 2 bags of 16-ounce cabbage coleslaw mixture
- ¾ cup of vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon of prepared mustard
- 1 teaspoon of white sugar
- a teaspoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon of celery seed
- 1 cup of vinegar
Directions
- Combine the onion, cabbage coleslaw mixture, and ¾ cup of sugar in a large bowl and toss to combine.
- In a small saucepan combine the oil, mustard, 1 teaspoon of sugar, celery seed, salt, and vinegar and bring the ingredients to a boil for three minutes.
- Leave the mixture to completely cool down, and then pour it over the coleslaw.
- Transfer the mixture into jars and boil.
Not only is canning a great way to preserve food, but you’ll always have a ready supply of meals available to you. These ten recipes are just the beginning of your canning journey… Bon appetite!
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Recipes sound great, but without canning instructions they’re useless.
“without canning instructions they’re useless” To this, I say, you should skip the pictures until after you have read every word on the page… such as “Check the National Center for Home Food Preservation website for exact times for these recipes.”
Once you check with the nchfp site, which is an edu subdomain of the uga (not sure if I can post the direct link, but it’s really easy to find), then you’ll know that some of these require pressure canning, which is fine, since generally speaking a lot of Amish actually pressure can too. MOST Amish drive cars and live in homes with electricity too, it’s only the older orders and sects who do not.
The Amish may pressure can but real Amish do not drive or are aloud to have a drivers license. That is why they hire a driver if they want to go further than horse and buggy distance, About 10 miles from home. your information about Amish driving cars is wrong. They do not drive cars. Some Mennonites drive but that is not the same as Amish. Amish children are raised in an Amish home but are not members of the church until they decide to join as their own personal preference. This usually happens when they are teens. Until they actually join the Amish church they sometimes have a drivers license. At the time they decide to join the Amish church to live the Amish way of life they surrender their drivers license. FACT!
Finally someone who knows what is fact with the Amish.
Most DONT pressure can. They waterbath everything @ three hours. I’ve done it ,too, most of my life. Still alive!
That’s what my grandmother’s did water bath canned everything for there hours. Now fruit and tomatoes they only did 90 minutes
No matter what size the jar
So Jim are as mush, according to what I’ve learned about the Amish they cannot drive or have electricity. You must be think of the mend’s nights they are a loud to drive & or have electricity
100% it amazing how people have no clue of the Amish beliefs,way of life .
Well said your explanation was perfect.
Mennonites do the driving etc not true Amid. Check your facts before posting untrue posts
Dang Felicia…kinda snarky!! Maybe she just doesnt know!!
I agree.
All meat is 90 minutes. Depending on altitude. Pressure will vary. Google this part. I am central US and I use 12 lb pressure for 90 minutes
The recipes need to be rechecked. One recipe calls for lemons then tells you to add limes not lemons. An other one calls for 1tes. sugar but tells you to add 3/4 cup sugar. Plus without proper canning instructions people coould die or at the very least get extremely ill. An example of this is boiling jars of meatloaf. They must be pressure canned not boiled.
Amish use water bath for everything 3 hours including meat once the water is boiling timing starts and will lower to keep a low but constant boil
“Amish use water bath for everything 3 hours including meat”… blah blah blah. Which group of Amish did you leave? None? Yeah, that’s what I thought!
The Amish are a very large group of Christians with many different orders and sects. No two sects are identical. No two communities are even identical. This is because they are mostly ran by a small group of elders. As a whole they don’t all do any one thing accept claim to be Christian. Many of the old order shouldn’t even make that claim any more with how little they read the book or worship!
Many Amish today also use electricity and I doubt you could even point them out from a crowd, like the Beachy Amish as a single example.
To simply refer to them all under a single name and to pretend that they all do things the same way is just a window into your ignorance about them. So ignorant about the people and yet at the same time you attempt to share how they process food (which is incorrect for how many communities do it) and I suspect you place them on a pedestal in your mind.
WOW, Jim!!! ATTITUDE MUCH??? Its just a recipe..geesh…
Quite a few ENGLISH know Amish. I have used waterbath canning most of my life as well. Don’t be such a know-it-all.
Thank you and amen.
I learned from an Amish family. Knew them from 5 years of age until now….71 years old. They would sharply correct you about your attitude. That has absolutely nothing to do with the article…it’s about canning, and about 90% of them still waterbath only. So please just be nice, no reason to be so mean.
I can meat all the time so where you’re getting your info from is wrong. I water bath them. To say you have to pressure can them is a personal preference. Not everyone knows everything. Some hear myths and never know the truth.
Soooo much sugar!!
“ The Amish are an intriguing group of people. They are infamous for their wisdom and simple lifestyle.”
The use of INFAMOUS as a word to describe the Amish is a mistake, yes?
Their use of ‘infamous’ seems very fitting when they say it’s for their wisdom and simple lifestyle. While many of the various kinds of Amish would be good people based on my personal judgement, the opposite is also true. I dare say that I would consider more of them to be bad people than good people. The oldest orders of Amish are far too wrapped up in tradition and don’t actually read and obey the Bible enough for me to consider them to be good people. Anyone who refuses to use sliding doors or windows and instead uses openings covered with roll-up cloth or leather simply and strictly due to tradition is a fool, in my opinion. There is NO SCRIPTURE that calls for this. It’s an example of the corruption of the religion.
Some people think they know everything but mr you are wrong and is a very angry person. Why you’re even commenting is beyond intelligence. I live very close to them so unless you’re anti Amish you should shut the pie hole.
Judge not lest ye be judged.
I think that with this much sugar, the final product would be unpalatable; and give you diabetes as well.
Who cares what you think when you couldn’t even add a name?
Wow.
Jim you appear to be a very rude man
Loads of sugar, for sure.
And that canned meat recipe should not be hot water bathed – it should be pressure canned.
As for wisdom, etc… Around here, most of the Amish look down on us English, although they aren’t above asking for rides in our cars. To be sure, there are some exceptions, but most of them are sure that the rest of us are going to hell, and they are very smug about it.
Use stevia in place of sugar works well and diabetic don’t have to worry about the sugar
Stevia will work for the sweet taste, it will not help to preserve and part of the reason for the sugar levels being as high as they are is to help preserve things. Stevia is also considered to not be ferment-able, which doesn’t matter in this context but is important to remember for other uses.
My goodness. Leave these people alone! If you can do better get your own website and recipes and move along. They have been water bath canning for centuries, even meat! Also, lets not judge all by the actions of a few. God is the only one who knows what is in our hearts. Shame on you with the negative comments. Do better people!!
I agree with you, we’ll said
Well said, thank you
Well said! Good on you!
Amen!
I totally agree with Pamela6.
nobody caaares !!!
I absolutely agree with. Do unto others ………! We Englishers can learn a thing or too from them!
“If you can do better get your own website and recipes and move along.” No. It is all of our responsibilities to call out bad advice when we see it. When it comes to bad methods for preserving food, it can be a difficult task to know if you are doing it right or not due to the time between the canning process, the consumption of the food and the point where someone accepts that they are sick, let along accepting that it’s from food poisoning.
If the web site owner doesn’t want comments, they can disable them.
“They have been water bath canning for centuries” So what?! They have also been getting sick from it for centuries. They also have the highest rates of birth defects from inbreeding too. Slavery went on for centuries, you must be OK with slavery too then. Just because they are Amish doesn’t mean they are correct. Wow! There are so many sects of Amish because the oldest orders are too corrupt and choose to be more faithful to traditions than to the Bible. I suspect you know very, very little about the Amish as a whole.
@ Jim : How did a post about canning turn into comments about slavery???? I’d say, get a grip, seriously move on.
Agreed. I can’t understand why they’re such hostile responses . Kindly post concerns that will prompt profitable discussion that people can actually learn from.
Well said.
Absolutely loved canned apple pie filling. Flavor is exceptional and a snap to use. Even enjoyed the process of doing the canning. I’ve froze filling before but the canned version is amazing. Glad I found this recipe.
AMEN!
How long do you hwb the ketchup & apple pie filling please
For pints of the tomato ketchup, hot water bath can them for 10+ minutes. It’s only hot water bath though, so after 10 minutes not much more is actually happening. With pressure canning, after an hour there isn’t much more happening either.
Note: No one has been canning tomato ketchup for more than about 200 years… since it didn’t really exist before that… but hey, don’t let factual information get in the way of having fun.
The Bible tells us we will be forgiven or judged by the same measure that we forgive or judge others! Wheeeewweeeee there r a bunch of ya going to be shocked on judgement day. “DEPART FROM ME FOR I NEVER KNEW YOU!!! And God said that to those that had healed in Jesus’ name!! There sure r a lot of self claiming Christian’s that will never see the kingdom! And for whoever called them smug…. They speak when they have something important, encouraging, or comforting to say. Gossip is forbidden. Seems as though some of ya should shut ur mouth or stay off their sites!!!!!!
“There sure r a lot of self claiming Christian’s that will never see the kingdom” There sure are, like all the old order Amish!
“And for whoever called them smug” Shut up.
“They speak when they have something important, encouraging, or comforting to say. Gossip is forbidden.” LOL. You think they don’t break the rules? How quaint of you! How naive!
“Seems as though some of ya should shut ur mouth or stay off their sites!!!!!!” Their sites?! lol. I have an IDTENT form for you to fill out.
Thank you for your opinions folks. If you want less sugar, use less sugar. Alter the recipe to your liking. Use a pressure canner if you want. These types of recipes are exactly how my mother fed a family of 7 through the Depression and a World War. The oldest is 88 and the youngest in his sixties. She passed at 95.
Yet another ‘Anonymous’ person. Wonderful.
“Thank you for your opinions folks.” Your welcome, Mr or Mrs or Ms Anonymous.
” you want less sugar, use less sugar. Alter the recipe to your liking.” That right there is terrible advice. Sugar is a preservative. The amounts being used are not by accident or simply to make it taste sweet. This is a well known thing.
“Use a pressure canner if you want. ” You mean, if you want to not get sick? Will do! I can stand on the shoulders of many scientists from many different countries who came to the exact same conclusions and where it was demonstrable and repeatable!
“These types of recipes are exactly how my mother” blah blah blah. These “types” of recipes… lol. You can’t even claim they are the same, only the same “type”. What does that even mean?!
“The oldest is 88 and the youngest in his sixties” And? That’s only 2 of your alleged 7… history is pretty clear and doesn’t match your anecdotal tales that I dare call lies.
You post as though many different countries have not come to the same conclusions, as though many people have not dies or become seriously ill from food poisoning. It’s very childish.
I thank you for the recipes I wrote each one down I’ve been canning for years im 77 my mom didn’t have a pressure canner she used a # 3 ten tub u probly don’t know what that is she used the boys Bluejays to put around them to keep from breaking, she raised 8 children not a one of use died we are not almish but raised on farm I have nothing but respect for them get use to it its comming you are not going to have power neither God bless u almost keep the red
Cesip comming
Do you mean a Number 3 can or a number 10 can or something else? My parents were also farmers, but I am having some trouble understanding what you wrote… of course, since this is an ‘Anonymous’; account, I don’t guess I’ll get a reply either. As far as respecting the Amish… some, maybe, on an individual basis. I sure hope you don’t just respect people based on their religion alone. Their religion is simply a claim, you can’t know that they are good people based on that alone. To respect them based on a single claim of their is foolish. “you are not going to have power neither” Most, by count, Amish DO use electricity which I think you mean by saying ‘power’. It’s only the older orders who do not. I feel like most of the people who comment on this page have little to no clue what the Amish actually are.
Thank you I’ll be trying these. I feel the need to be prepared.
There are SO MANY other resources that you can easily find. Whatever State you are in (assuming you are in the USA), your State University probably has an extension office that can help with detailed instructions on how to preserve food that easily grows in your area.
This is a great place to start (I sure hope the link isn’t blocked) https://www.nifa.usda.gov/about-nifa/blogs/usdas-complete-guide-home-canning
I suggest you stay as far away from anything related to ‘rebel canning’ as possible too.
Also, learn and become otherwise familiar with the symptoms of Gastroenteritis.
BALL has multiple books on canning from beginner to expert. I would suggest checking into those.
People cant even read recipes today without arguing Im so sick of all the bickering
This has absolutely nothing to do with canning, but it does have to do with preseving. It is just a bit of Amish humor that I know from a couple of fishing trips with a group.
One fisherman asked the Amish man they took along how he could afford all of the fishing trips he took each year. His answer: All of you English keep visiting my store!
On another trip without the Amish man I asked one of the other fishermen if he would ask the Amish man on the next trip how many blocks of ICE it took to keep his catch frozen through long months of Late Fall & Winter. The fisherman almost fell out of the boat laughing! SO, there is the preserving part, preserving frozen fish!!! 🙂