10 Foods You Should Start Canning First (Easy Wins)

If you’ve been wanting to learn how to can but feel overwhelmed by all the rules, you’re not alone. Canning can seem intimidating at first—but it doesn’t have to be. I felt the same before I got started. I had visions of giving my family food poisoning, or worse – botulism. However, with time and practice, I learned that it’s not so scary to start canning, especially if you start canning the right foods.

Not all foods are as easy to can as others. Some foods are naturally beginner-friendly. The recipes are forgiving, require less prep time, and have simple, reliable methods. Once you have a few “easy wins” under your belt, you build confidence quickly, allowing you to move on to more advanced canning projects.

This is advice that I give to my friends and family who tell me they want to start canning. So, let’s go through what foods I suggest you should start canning first.

Related: 25+ Water Bath Canning Recipes

10 Foods You Should Start Canning First

1. Jam (Strawberry, Blueberry, or Mixed Berry)

Jam is one of the easiest and most rewarding foods to can at home. Berries are interchangeable in recipes, so if you only have half the amount of strawberries, it’s safe to substitute any other berry in your freezer. It’s also one of the first things I can in the season; strawberries come into season in Ohio around late May or early June.

Jams are beginner-friendly for canning because they are:

• High in sugar and acid (naturally safe for water bath canning)
• Hard to mess up
• No pressure canner required

Here are some beginner tips for canning jam at home.

• You can use fresh or frozen fruit. If you decide to make strawberry jam in the winter, grab a bag of strawberries from the freezer section. If you snag a good deal and stockpile, but don’t have the time to can immediately, freezing the berries is perfectly fine!
• Pectin helps it set, but low-sugar versions are available, too. I always use a low-sugar pectin that halves the cups required, but a lot of people cook their jam longer and forgo pectin entirely. It’s easy to play around with how you make it.
• Even if it doesn’t set perfectly, you still get delicious syrup. Strawberry syrup tastes great over pancakes or in a glass of milk.

Get a Recipe Here: A No-Fail and Delicious Strawberry Jam Recipe: Perfect For New Canners

2. Applesauce: A Delicious Fall Treat

Applesauce is a homestead staple and incredibly forgiving. Each fall, we head to u-pick apple farms to pick bushels of apples to turn into applesauce and apple butter, a family favorite. Plus, your house will smell incredible after making homemade applesauce.

Applesauce is a beginner-friendly canning idea because:

• It’s great for your pantry shelves. You can eat applesauce as it is, but it also works in baked goods as a replacement for oil.
• Adjusting the recipes is fun. You don’t have to use sugar unless you want. You also could include spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. Some people like to mix other fruits, like strawberries, into their applesauce!
• Apples are naturally acidic, so this is a water-bath-friendly food.

Some tips for making homemade applesauce are:

• Make it smooth or chunky! It’s safe either way, so experiment to see what your family enjoys.
• Lemon juice is not a necessity, as apples are quite acidic, but the color is brighter with a bit added.
• If you add too many spices, cook it longer and slower to end up with some apple butter.
• You can use a mix of sweet and tart apples for the best flavor.

Learn How to Make Applesauce: Canning Applesauce: An Easy Homemade Recipe

3. Pickles (Cucumbers)

Pickles are a classic beginner project—and for good reason. Cucumbers are one of the first things gardeners grow, but you can also get incredible deals on bags of cucumbers from local farmers’ markets.

Here are some reasons to try canning cucumbers.

• No pressure canner is needed because the vinegar used in the brine is highly acidic. So, grab your water bath canner for these recipes!
• You can be creative with the brine recipes. It’s safe to add sliced onions and garlic cloves to the cucumber recipes.

Try these tips when canning pickles.

• Use fresh, firm cucumbers. If they are mushy or too soft, you will not get crispy cucumbers.
• Try some pickle crisp or other methods of keeping the pickles crispy. I prefer to use Pickle Crisp; I haven’t found any other way yet to make my pickles as crunchy.
• Start with dill pickles or bread and butter pickles before moving to more complicated recipes.

4. Tomatoes (Crushed or Sauce)

Tomatoes are one of the most popular foods to can. They’re practical; you can make tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, salsa, and so many other staples that most have in their kitchen pantry. Our family uses a lot of tomato sauce for pasta and homemade pizza nights. We also need salsa; my oldest daughter LOVES salsa.

Tomatoes are a great starting point because:

• They’re extremely versatile. As I mentioned, you are able to make so many things with them.
• Tomatoes are practical. You aren’t wasting your time canning dozens of jars of tomatoes; you WILL use them in recipes.
• You can use a water bath canner for tomatoes with added acid, such as lemon juice or citric acid. They are borderline acidic; it’s safest to add a bit of acid to the jars.

You should know when canning tomatoes that:

• You must add lemon juice or citric acid. Tomatoes vary in their pH level; some varieties are lower in acid than others. Adding acid makes tomato-based canning recipes safe to use in a water bath canner.
• It’s safe to add dried seasoning to tomato recipes, but you shouldn’t add raw onions, garlic, etc. That will lower the acidity level, unless you use a trusted recipe, such as one in a Ball Canning Book.

5. Green Beans: A Good Intro to Pressure Canning

Green beans are the perfect introduction to pressure canning. You won’t need any complex recipes; you only need green beans and boiling water. It doesn’t get much easier than that!

Green beans are a great food to start canning first, especially if you are afraid of pressure canning, because:

• The prep is simple. Wash the green beans, trim the ends off, trim to fit into the jars, and fill with boiling water. That’s all you have to do!
• You don’t have to cook the green beans ahead of time. Raw packing allows you to fill jars with vegetables without cooking them, add boiling water, and pressure can. Salt is optional.
• Canned green beans are a fantastic pantry item. I love having jars of canned green beans to serve as a side dish or toss into a recipe.

Before canning green beans, here are some things you should know.

• Green beans are a low-acid food and require a pressure canner. This is non-negotiable, unless you want to pickle green beans, creating some dilly beans. You may hear people say it’s safe to water bath can green beans for three hours, but no safe recipe will encourage this.
• Process based on the proper time listed. It is usually 20 minutes (pints) or 25 minutes (quarts). However, depending on your altitude, you may need to adjust the processing time.
• Salt isn’t required; it’s optional. I typically add a small amount of salt to each jar, but it’s not needed to ensure the recipe is safe.

See How I Raw Pack Green Beans: Canning Green Beans: How to Can Green Beans at Home

6. Chicken Broth: A Practical Pantry Item

Broth is one of the most practical things you can start canning. Before I learned how to make broth and process it at home, I bought broth nearly every grocery store trip!

Chicken broth is a practical thing to start canning first because:

• It’s economical and practical. You use the scraps from a whole chicken that you made for dinner, along with veggie ends. I bet you use chicken broth in recipes all the time.
• Canning chicken broth is simple. Once you make the broth and cook it, all you have to do is fill the jars and process according to the listed time.

Before canning chicken broth, here are a few things you should know.

• Chicken broth requires a pressure canner. Meat must be pressure-canned for safety purposes.
• Skim fat before canning. The NCHFP recommends that canners remove as much fat as possible because it can expand and disrupt the seals during processing.
• Don’t add thickeners. You may want it to have a thicker consistency, but adding things like cornstarch isn’t tested and deemed safe.

Learn about Canning Chicken Broth: Try Canning Chicken Broth at Home

7. Apple Slices (for Pies or Desserts)

One of my kids’ favorite desserts is apple crisp, so having canned apple slices is the perfect thing for my family. If you have ever gone to Cracker Barrel, you know those heated apple slices as a side dish are utterly divine, so you could even serve these heated with some ice cream – DELICIOUS!

Canning apple slices is great for beginners because:

• It’s just simple ingredients. You really only need apples, sugar, cinnamon, and other spices.
• Everyone loves an easy dessert in the pantry! I’m always looking for useful recipes to can and add to my shelves.
• As long as you use a tested recipe, apple slices are water-bath friendly, so no need for a pressure canner!

If you want to try canning apple slices, here are some things to know.

• You’ll want to can them in a light syrup (or water) with sugar. However, you can determine how much sugar to use or not.
• Prevent browning by adding a bit of lemon juice. Not only does it increase the acidity, but the apples maintain a brighter color with lemon juice.
• Try this in the fall when apples are the cheapest. All of my apple canning is done in the fall when our family visits u-pick farms and stockpiles from the store as well.

8. Pineapple: Perfect for Snacking or Recipes

Do your kids love those little fruit cups from the store? They’re delicious but expensive when your kids can eat a whole pack in one day. Most fruit is safe to can in syrup, like the fruit cocktail cups in the store. One of my favorites is pineapple; you can use it for recipes or eat it straight out of the jar.

I suggest canning pineapples as a starter food because:

• You’ll learn how to make and can with syrup. Once you understand how to do so, it’s quite versatile, usable for oranges, pineapples, peaches, pears, and many other fruits.
• It’s cheap! Pineapples are the cheapest at the grocery store between March and July, so grab them while they’re on sale and fill up your pantry shelves.
• Canned pineapple gives variety on your shelves. I enjoy eating pineapple right out of the jar, but if you need them for recipes, you’ll have them ready to go.

If you want to try canning pineapples, a few things you should know include:

• Pineapples are highly acidic (I bet you know this!), so it’s safe to use a water bath canner.
• You can raw pack pineapples, which means putting raw pineapples into jars and ladling the syrup over the fruits. Another option is to cook the pineapples in the syrup and fill the jars. Raw packing is a bit easier, but pineapples maintain their color better when cooked first.
• Save the rinds; you can use them to create fruit punch later! Just freeze them until you can use them later.

See How to Can Pineapples: Canning Pineapples: A Step-by-Step Tutorial

9. Jelly: A Delicious Alternative to Jam

Does your family prefer jelly over jam? Jelly has a texture that many people prefer over the thickness of jam, but jelly uses juice rather than the actual fruit, so it takes extra steps. Believe it or not, you can make jelly with juice from the store, but I prefer to juice the fruits at home and make jelly that way. The actual method of making jelly is very similar to jam.

Jelly is beginner-friendly because:

• It’s water-bath friendly! Fruits are highly acidic. Some recipes use lemon juice as added acidity.
• Small batches are possible. Just like jam, jellies can be made in small batches, perfect for practicing.
• There are so many possibilities! If you grab a home canning book, you’ll find dozens of unique recipes, like pepper jelly or dandelion jelly. Those unique jellies work great with crackers and cheeses in a charcuterie board.

Still feeling a bit apprehensive? Here are some tips to know.

• You really only need 4 cups of juice. Most small batches call for 4-5 cups of juice at a time, and that’s not a lot if you think about it!
• Sugar isn’t required if you use no-sugar recipes. Low-sugar pectin is my friend for all jellies and jams, but you can use a no-sugar recipe if you prefer!

Try This Jelly Recipe: How to Make Mulberry Jelly: Step-by-Step

10. Dry Beans: Stretch Meals for Cheap

Canning dry beans saves time and money. If your family uses canned beans regularly, you’ll find that they’re more expensive than bags of beans. Dried beans are one of the cheapest things to get in the store, so it’s the perfect way to feed your family on a low grocery budget.

I suggest learning how to can dry beans as a beginner because:

• Canned beans are a cheap pantry staple. They’re perfect for stretching meals and your grocery budget.
• They’re ready to use out of the jar. If you use dried beans from the store, you have to soak them. When canning dried beans, you pre-soak them.
• Beans are an easy “win” when learning how to use a pressure canner. Since the recipes aren’t complex, canning beans will increase your confidence level. We all need easy wins!

Before you start canning dried beans, here are some things to know.

• Beans must be pressure-canned. There is no alternative; these are a low-acid food, so pressure canning is the ONLY safe method.
• Pre-cook the beans before canning. The beans soak up liquid and expand, so they have to be pre-cooked initially before the canning process.
• Don’t add veggies, dairy, or thickeners. It’s safe to add salt and even some dried seasoning, but don’t change the recipe yourself.

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Final Thoughts

Canning doesn’t have to be complicated—you just need to start with the right foods. These beginner-friendly options will help you build confidence, stock your pantry, and actually enjoy the process.

Once you’ve mastered a few of these, you’ll be ready to branch out into more advanced recipes like soups, meals in a jar, and specialty preserves. And before you know it, canning will feel like second nature.