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When we moved to our currently homestead we were happy to find 2 huge fig trees already established on the property. Figs were something of a luxury before that discovery as they are quite expensive from the store – especially if you are looking for organic figs.
However, now we regularly harvest 125-200 pounds of figs each year, without much effort. We also leave plenty for the raccoons and the birds!
For several years we would just dehydrate the figs and snack on them throughout the year in trail mix, or on salads.
But last year we had so many figs that I just couldn’t keep up with them in the dehydrator before they started going bad! So I started playing around with how to can figs for later. It was a massive success and now we have a new way to preserve all our figs!
Though we do still dehydrate a good number of the figs ;-)
How to Can Fresh Figs
Canning figs is a very easy process and is done in a water bath, so no special equipment is required! However, I would recommend making sure that you have a pot TALL enough to accommodate quart jars PLUS 2″ of water above the rim as is needed for water bath canning.
Otherwise, if you do not have a pot that tall, simply can the figs in pints.
Below the instructions for canning your figs, I’m also including some commonly asked fresh fig questions, as well as some delicious ways to use your figs!
Canning Figs
Ingredients
- 10 pounds Fresh figs, washed and whole
- 4 1/2 cups Sugar
- 10 1/2 cups Water
- 8 Tbsp Bottled Lemon Juice (do not use fresh)
Instructions
- Prep jars according to water bath canning directions.
- Bring plain water to a boil, blanch washed figs in boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain.
- Bring sugar and 10 1/2 cups of water to a gentle boil in a large pot, add figs to syrup and gently boil for 5 minutes.
Note: You may need to do this step in 2 stages if you don't have a pot large enough. - Add 2 tablespoons bottled lemon juice to the bottom of each quart jar, or 1 tablespoon to each pint jar.
- Pack hot figs into jars, leaving 1/4" headspace. Ladle hot syrup over figs, still leaving 1/4" headspace.
- Use plastic canning knife to remove air bubbles. Wipe the glass rim with a clean wet rag and add 2-piece lids. Adjust to finger tightness.
- Process in a water bath canner according to water bath canning directions here. 45 minutes for pints, 50 minutes for quarts.
- Remove jars from water with canning jar lifter and place on a folded towel on counter or table. DO NOT MOVE for at least 24 hours. Check to make sure jars sealed, if so store in the pantry. If not, store in the fridge and use within 2 weeks.
Fresh Fig FAQs
If you’ve never really dealt with fresh figs before, you may have a few questions. Here are our answers to a few commonly asked fresh fig questions!
How do you wash fresh figs?
I place about 4 cups of fresh figs at a time into a colander and then run the colander under warm warm for a few minutes. Toss the fruit gently by hand to ensure that all sides are rinsed.
This process is less important if you grew the figs yourself and did not use any chemicals during the growing process.
Do you have to remove the stems from fresh figs?
Nope! During the cooking process they become soft and edible as they are. I would remove any leaves or longer than normal stems, if they are present.
Do wasps get into the figs?
Wasps feed off of the figs, yes. However, while they do sometimes sting the fig, or even crawl inside, the fig breaks down the wasp and uses it to grow an even more delicious fruit!
So don’t worry about finding a wasp inside your figs. This seriously never happens!
Fresh Fig Recipes
Now that you have all your lovely figs washed, cleaned, and canned – it’s time to put them to good use! Here are a few fig recipes that can be made with fresh or canned figs. Enjoy!
Dinner:
Rosemary Flank Steak with Fig Salsa
Fig and Balsamic Glazed Quail
Dessert:
Pecan Fig Bourbon Cake
Raspberry Fig Cake
Fresh Fig Cake
Lemon Fig Cake
Drinks:
Fig and Bourbon Fizz
My mother made delicious fig pies all the time when I was growing up. She is gone now and her recipe is gone with her. I have hunted every where but cannot find a recipe for fig pie. Do you have any ideas on how to make a fig pie?
Hey Ken, I truly wish I did! I’ve been trying different things with our figs and haven’t come up with a fig pie I really love. But hopefully soon!
And maybe one of our other readers will have a recipe to share!
I have made made many fig cobblers, using fresh or frozen figs. Place your figs in bottom of baking pan. Use your favorite batter (such as for peach cobbler) poured over the figs. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Dot with butter. Bake at 350 degrees until nicely browned and enjoy. Serve warm. Really good with a scoop of ice cream.
Wonderful, Dottie, thank you! I have some frozen figs, so I may try this soon. Yum!
https://nanciemcdermott.com/fresh-fig-pie-bye-bye-summer-and-welcome-fall/
This looked really really good and I liked her narrative.
Awesome! Thanks for the link! :-)
I’ve made fig preserves for years this is my first time that they turned to sugar . What did I do wrong
Hey Kathy, I’m sorry to hear that! Sometimes when the jam or preserves are overcooked a bit there isn’t enough water to keep the sugar crystals from re-forming. However, you can fix it by warming it slowly (stovetop) and adding some lemon juice or sugar syrup until it reaches the right consistency. I hope that helps!
Hi Victoria…..why not fresh lemon juice?
Hi Maria, great question!
The reason for this is that bottled lemon juice has a uniformly acidity. So, it has a consistent and dependable acid level.
When you’re canning things that need lemon juice, it’s because you need to reliably get those foods into a safe pH zone.
Because of this, the consistency that bottled lemon juice provides is important.
I hope that helps!
Can you use a product like truelemon? It doesn’t have that canned taste.
Hi Deb, I can’t speak to the pH level of TrueLemon, but according to their FAQ page, the product can be used for canning.
So, it’s up to you if you feel comfortable using it in place of the bottled lemon juice.
In reality, it gives zero flavor to the figs in this case, and is just there to adjust the pH for safe canning.
I personally would stick with the bottled juice, because it doesn’t change the flavor of the product at all.
Here’s the FAQ page from the product manufacturer that speaks about canning: https://www.truelemon.com/pages/faqs#productusage
I hope that helps!
Hello, My yellow fig tree is loaded and I have 7kgs of cut up figs that I intended to cook up with some apples and can them.
Before I go ahead I would like to know if it Is safe to can stewed apples and figs together. I usually make stewed apples and can then on their own for pies etc.
Hi Sandra! You *can* can them together, but you would need to process everything as the figs need – so 45 minutes for a pint and it would need to include the lemon juice.
My only concern is that the apples only need 20 minutes, so after 45 they are likely to be very mushy. I would try a jar on its own first and see how you like them before committing to a bunch!
But there would be no health risk to canning them together, just a mushy risk :-)
Let me know how it goes!
Thank you, I will take your advice and see how things work out.
Can you use less sugar and still be ok canning the figs ?
Hi John, yes you can use less sugar. Though, I wouldn’t go passed a light syrup (meaning, don’t can them in straight water). And you can also use honey instead! You can see my canning peaches recipe for using honey instead of sugar, if you’d like!