These sweet and tart pickled blueberries are the perfect accompaniment to cream cheese on toasted sourdough for a beautiful yet delicious appetizer!
Love blueberries? These pickled blueberries are a unique way to enjoy a good switch on traditional pickles.
The onset of warm summer temperatures means thriving gardens and preserving everything you can to enjoy it through the cooler, winter months. Blueberries are no exception!
Pickled Blueberries
When you think about summer and pickles, blueberries probably don’t come first to mind. Pickled blueberries are best served with fresh cream cheese spread over toasted sourdough. You can also add to your summer salad, served alongside chicken or pork or stir into chicken salad.
What I love the most about pickled blueberries is that they are great with savory foods like chicken, pork chops, or baked seafood. Instead of being overly sweet like jam would normally be, pickled blueberries are tart and fresh.
Pickled blueberries are so much easier to to make than syrup or jam — perfect for a beginner cook.
Are Blueberries Healthy?
Blueberries are packed with antioxidants – vitamin C, B complex, E, A, copper, zinc, iron and selenium. They are definitely one of the world’s healthiest foods.
Blueberries are a favorite for kids – I remember eating them when growing up. They were one of my favorite fruits to indulge in. Pickling them gives them an incredible burst of flavor that is perfect to spread on cream cheese and toasted sourdough. Delicious!
I suggest starting these pickled blueberries in the evening. Then let them sit overnight and finish water bath canning them in the morning.
Pickled Blueberries
Ingredients
- 2 quarts blueberries washed and drained
- 1 C granulated sugar
- 1 C brown sugar
- 3 ea cinnamon sticks
- 1 tsp whole cloves
- 1 tsp allspice berries
- 2 C red wine vinegar
Optional
- 1 ea star anise optional
Instructions
- Place the cinnamon sticks and spices in a medium saucepan along with the red wine vinegar. Bring to a simmer over low/medium for 5 minutes.
- Add the blueberries to the red wine vinegar mixture and simmer for an additional 5 minutes. Avoid stirring the blueberries during this time to avoid breaking them. Remove from the heat, cover and let stand for 8-12 hours.
- Transfer the berries to a hot, sterilized canning jar. Reserve the liquid.
- Return the reserved liquid to the stove. Add white and brown sugar, and stir until dissolved. Bring to a boil for 5-7 minutes until sauce has thickened.
- Ladle the syrup over the berries, leaving 1/2" headspace in each jar. Wipe the rims of residue, then affix with lid and ring.
- Process in a hot water bath for 15 minutes, taking care to allow 2" space between jars. Carefully allow the jars to rest for 5 minutes. Then remove from the water bath canner and let them cool.
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I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do!
Looking for more pickled recipes?
Try as I might I can’t figure out how much this makes to know how many jars to prepare. I see put the berries in ‘a’ jar. But elsewhere it talks about plural jars. Help