How to Make Mint Jelly in Canada (Sunday-Roast-Lamb Classic)

Mint jelly is the Sunday roast lamb classic. Every British and Canadian cookbook from the last hundred years includes it as a standard preserve. The bright herbaceous-sweet jelly cuts through rich lamb fat in a way that nothing else does — and home-made mint jelly is dramatically better than the bright-green supermarket version.

This guide follows the mint jelly published in the Bernardin Complete Book of Home Preserving (ISBN 978-0-7788-0137-5), pages 12 and 13 — the only mint jelly the book publishes. It is a liquid-pectin jelly, and it contains no vinegar.

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What you need

From the Bernardin Complete Book of Home Preserving (ISBN 978-0-7788-0137-5), page 12. Makes about four 250 mL jars.

• 1½ cups (375 mL) fresh mint leaves, firmly packed (spearmint or peppermint)
• 2¼ cups (550 mL) water
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) bottled lemon juice — the book specifies bottled
• 3½ cups (875 mL) granulated sugar
• 3 oz (88.5 mL) liquid pectin
• Green food colouring (optional; the book gives no quantity)
• Bernardin 250 mL jars, fresh SNAP lids, bands
• A damp jelly bag or a cheesecloth-lined sieve for dripping the mint liquid
• A large glass measure — you are measuring the mint liquid to a set volume, not guessing at it
• Standard canning kit — jar lifter, headspace tool, funnel, water-bath canner, ladle, large heavy pot (which canner to buy)

There is no vinegar in this recipe. The acid is 2 tbsp (30 mL) of bottled lemon juice, and that is the whole of it. Use the acid quantity in the recipe in front of you, and never carry one across from another recipe.

The figures on this page come from the edition we hold — ISBN 978-0-7788-0137-5, 448 pages. Different editions of the Complete Book carry different figures, so verify the process time against your own edition before you start.

Corrected 17 September 2026: this page previously published its own mint jelly — a white-vinegar quantity with a fixed water-to-vinegar ratio and an instruction to top the infusion up to maintain it, a larger sugar quantity, a single pouch of liquid pectin, and smaller jars. No source we hold publishes any of those figures. The recipe above is the mint jelly published in the Bernardin Complete Book of Home Preserving (ISBN 978-0-7788-0137-5), pages 12 and 13; it uses bottled lemon juice and no vinegar at all. Six variations, our own yield estimate, a set-time claim and three unsourced rescue quantities have also been removed.

Pick your mint

• Spearmint (Mentha spicata) — the standard culinary mint; broad leaves; mild, sweet flavour
• Peppermint (Mentha × piperita) — narrower leaves; more menthol-intense
• Apple mint (Mentha suaveolens) — fuzzy leaves; mild apple-mint flavour
• Chocolate mint (Mentha × piperita ‘Chocolate’) — peppermint with chocolate undertones; novelty
• Mojito mint (Mentha × villosa) — bright, slightly citrusy

Pick fresh — mint loses essential oils within hours of cutting. Cut in the morning after dew evaporates; use within 4-6 hours for best flavour.

Most Canadian gardens have surplus mint — it’s an aggressive perennial in zones 3+. If you grow it, you have more than you can use.

Method

Pages 12 and 13. Quantities are the book’s; the wording is ours.

Step 1: Prepare the mint

1. Rinse the mint leaves in a colander and shake off the excess water.
2. Chop them finely. The book chops rather than crushes.
3. Measure 1½ cups (375 mL), firmly packed.

Step 2: Steep

1. Combine the chopped mint and 2¼ cups (550 mL) water in a large stainless steel saucepan.
2. Bring to a boil over high heat.
3. Remove from the heat, cover, and steep 10 minutes.

Step 3: Drip the mint liquid

1. Line a sieve with damp cheesecloth, or use a damp jelly bag, set over a large glass measure.
2. Pour the steeped mint through and let it drip until you have 1¾ cups (425 mL) of mint liquid.

That volume is the recipe’s starting quantity, so measure it rather than eyeballing it.

Step 4: Boil with the lemon juice and sugar

1. Combine the mint liquid, 2 tbsp (30 mL) bottled lemon juice and 3½ cups (875 mL) sugar in a large stainless steel saucepan.
2. Bring to a full rolling boil over high heat — one that cannot be stirred down.

Step 5: Add the pectin

1. Stir in 3 oz (88.5 mL) liquid pectin, squeezing the pouch to get all of it out.
2. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly.
3. Remove from the heat. Stir in green food colouring if you are using it.
4. Skim off any foam with a large slotted metal spoon.

The book’s introduction to its liquid-pectin jellies says there is no need to test for a gel stage on these recipes — the 1-minute hard boil after the pectin is what sets them.

Step 6: Jar and process

1. Have your water-bath canner simmering and hot 250 mL jars ready, fresh SNAP lids on the counter.
2. Ladle hot jelly into hot jars. Leave 0.5 cm (¼ inch) headspace.
3. Do not run a bubble remover. The book notes that jellies are pure liquids, so removing air bubbles is not required.
4. Wipe rims, apply lids fingertip-tight.
5. Lower the jars into the canner so they are covered by at least 2.5 cm (1 inch) of water.
6. Process 10 minutes at altitudes up to 305 m.
7. Adjust for altitude per our altitude article.
8. Turn off the heat, remove the canner lid and wait 5 minutes before lifting the jars out.
9. Cool 24 hours undisturbed. Don’t move jars — gelling happens during cooling.
10. Check the lids. A sealed lid is concave and does not move when pressed. Label, store.

If a jar doesn’t seal: the 24-hour rule applies.

Storage

• Cool, dark, dry place at room temperature
• Best quality 12 months — Bernardin’s guidance is to use home-canned food within one year. That is a quality window, not an expiry: the jar is as safe as the process made it. Colour, flavour and texture fade.
• After opening: refrigerate, use within one week (HealthLink BC)
• Colour fades over time; cosmetic only

Corrected 31 Aug 2026: this page previously gave an after-opening window of 2-3 months. HealthLink BC File #22 publishes one week for any opened home-canned container — “Once the container has been opened, refrigerate leftovers, and use within one week.” Our longer figure was never attributed to anyone. The shelf life of the sealed jar is unchanged.

Variations

None. The Complete Book publishes no variation on its mint jelly, and this page’s six — an apple-juice base, lemon zest, lime zest, chopped jalapeños, a rosemary sprig and a mint-basil-thyme blend — each changed the composition of a tested recipe using quantities that came from us. They are removed rather than rewritten.

If you want a herb or pepper jelly with a tested method behind it, the book publishes Easy Jalapeño Jelly on page 126 and Red Pepper and Garlic Jelly on page 127 — see hot pepper jelly.

How to use mint jelly

The canonical pairing

Roast lamb — leg, rack, chops. Serve a small spoonful on each plate. The traditional British/Canadian Sunday-roast accompaniment.

Other uses

• Lamb burgers — top with a small dollop
• Cheese pairing — sharp cheddar, brie, goat cheese, blue cheese, especially aged Canadian cheddar
• Glaze for lamb chops — brush in the last 5 minutes of grilling/broiling
• In a vinaigrette — whisk with olive oil and balsamic for spring salads
• On scones or biscuits — with butter
• As a fruit/cheese plate condiment
• In a cocktail — shake 1 tsp into a gin-and-tonic for a sophisticated summer drink
• Glaze for grilled chicken — brush in last minutes of grilling
• As a sandwich condiment with lamb cold cuts
• Holiday gift — small jars with handwritten labels

Common problems

• Jelly didn’t set. The usual causes are a hard boil shorter than the full minute after the pectin went in, or mint liquid that was never measured to 1¾ cups (425 mL). We do not publish a rescue quantity for this recipe, because no source we hold gives one — why didn’t my jam set covers what your options actually are.
• Jelly too firm or gummy. Over-boiled. It is perfectly good to eat; use it as a glaze rather than a spoonable jelly.
• Mint flavour too weak. Garden mint is dramatically stronger than supermarket mint, and mint loses essential oils within hours of cutting, so cut it fresh. Don’t increase the mint or lengthen the steep to compensate — both change a tested recipe, and neither figure is ours to move.
• Bitter aftertaste. Squeezed the cheesecloth too aggressively, OR included mint stems. Use leaves only; press cheesecloth gently.
• Cloudy jelly. Boiled too vigorously, or strained inadequately. Cosmetic; safe.
• Colour faded. Light exposure in storage. Store dark.
• Jar didn’t seal. The 24-hour rule.

Yield expectations

• The book’s mint jelly makes about four 250 mL jars (page 12).

This page used to estimate its own yield in smaller jars. That estimate was ours and it has gone with the recipe it belonged to.

Why home-made mint jelly is worth it

• Better flavour than commercial — fresh garden mint vs synthetic extract
• No artificial green colouring — natural pale-green or skip the dye
• Sunday-lamb tradition — the canonical pairing
• Uses garden surplus — mint grows invasively; jelly is the productive use
• Excellent gift — distinctive flavour, beautiful small jars
• Keeps a full year — Bernardin’s guidance is to use home-canned food within one year

Mint preservation alternatives

Mint can also be preserved by:

• Drying — see how to dry herbs; use for tea, less ideal for jelly
• Freezing in ice cubes with water — for cocktails (mojitos)
• Freezing in oil cubes — see how to freeze herbs

Most Canadian households use mint jelly as the primary preservation method for fresh-mint flavour.

Next steps

• How to make apple jelly in Canada — same jelly-bag technique
• How to make Concord grape jelly in Canada — companion fall jelly
• How to make hot pepper jelly in Canada — savoury jelly category
• How to dry herbs in Canada — alternative mint preservation
• How to freeze herbs in Canada — alternative for tender herbs
• Why didn’t my jam set — pectin troubleshooting
• Canning altitude adjustments — required reading
• Water-bath canning pillar — broader method