Healthy Canning & Preserves Recipes

Learning how to make Greek yogurt at home is simple with this easy homemade Greek yogurt recipe. Start by making homemade yogurt by heating milk, combining with a little bit of already-cultured yogurt and letting it sit in a warm spot until the milk turns into yogurt. Making protein-rich Greek yogurt takes one more step than making regular yogurt: straining the yogurt to thicken it. You can add the leftover liquid--also known as whey--to smoothies, or you can use it in place of buttermilk in baking.

For these easy pickled beets, you only need to let them marinate in the pickling mixture for about 30 minutes to get great flavor. Marinating them longer just enhances the taste. Try them in place of cucumber pickles as a condiment or as a vegetable side dish for roasted chicken or beef.

Pickled garlic? You bet! This simple pickled garlic clove recipe is made by adding whole peeled garlic cloves to a flavorful brine. Use almost any type of clear vinegar--white, red or cider vinegar. Serve as part of an antipasti spread or chop and add to pasta salad, vinaigrettes or stir-fries. Use the freshest garlic you can find to make the best pickles.

Make your BBQ or cookout easy with this slow-cooker beef brisket recipe. Rauchbier, a smoky German beer, gives this fork-tender brisket real pit-barbecue flavor, but you can use any beer that suits your taste, or even substitute beef broth, to achieve mouthwatering results. While the brisket is cooking, whip up the quick pickle recipe and stir together a garlic mayo to top off the sandwiches.

Want to learn how to make sauerkraut at home? For this easy homemade sauerkraut recipe, choose fresh, firm heads of cabbage and use canning, pickling or kosher salt (not iodized salt). To be sure your cabbage-to-salt ratio is right for fermentation, start with as close to 5 pounds of untrimmed cabbage as you can. To ensure success, pack the cabbage mixture into the container as tightly as possible (eliminating any air pockets) and be sure it stays submerged in the brine at all times.

Kombucha is a lightly fizzy, fermented tea drink that's making waves for its probiotic benefits and tart flavor. Making kombucha at home is quite simple: make sweetened tea, add it to a jar with a scoby (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) and let it ferment for about a week. The scoby is a pancake-shaped living culture that eats most of the sugar in the tea, turning it into a tangy and delicious fermented beverage.

Learning how to make yogurt at home is simple with this easy homemade yogurt recipe. To make homemade yogurt, heat milk, combine with a little bit of already-cultured yogurt and let it sit in a warm spot until the milk turns into yogurt. If you want to keep making your own homemade yogurt, save some of the last batch to help start the next batch of yogurt.

If you are looking to start fermenting your own vegetables, the Korean dish kimchi is a great place to start. It's easy to make, and fermentation takes just a few days. Once you have kimchi on hand, serve this healthy dish along with any meal, as an ingredient in stir-fries, stews, savory pancakes and more, or as a condiment to liven up grain bowls, tacos, sandwiches--and the list goes on!

What could be better with a simple roast or grilled vegetables than a spicy fruit chutney? Nothing, except knowing it was a gift from someone you cherish. Consider including a decorative serving spoon, tied to the side of the jar with raffia.

This Mexican-style pickled carrot recipe is great for topping tacos, tostadas and/or quesadillas or as a side to any South-of-the-border entrée. These spicy carrots are also delicious added to a bowl of soup or tossed with spring greens, feta cheese and just a drizzle of olive oil.

The oaky taste of Armagnac, a French brandy made in Gascony, has long been paired with prunes. While Armagnac is available in vintage bottlings, nothing so extravagant is needed for this recipe. Use waterproof markers to decorate the outside of glass jars with flowers, abstract designs or a favorite line from a poem.

Perk up your cheese plate or crudités platter with these crunchy, zesty pickled turnips or try them on a sandwich instead of cucumber pickles.