Home canned sweet potatoes are a great thing to have on hand for soups, side dishes, and especially during the holidays!! And since they usually go on sale in the fall, this is a great time to stock up and can enough for the whole year!
Read on to get the full details on how to can sweet potatoes for your well-stocked pantry!
As with all vegetables, sweet potatoes have to be pressure canned. If you have never done that before, it can be a little overwhelming and even scary to thing about trying!
Rest assured, it is a simple process that you can quickly master. Read my step by step guide on pressure canning if you are new to the process - this post will not be as in depth :-)
How to Can Sweet Potatoes
Last Fall I found a great deal on organic sweet potatoes at Sam's Club of all places! They were about $1.52 a pound, so I bought 50 pounds!
By buying in bulk and canning them, I saved a ton as they are usually $3.65 a pound during the rest of the year. That's a 59% savings!!
While canning sweet potatoes does take about 3x longer to process per batch compared to carrots, it was worth it to save all that money and have such a nutrient dense food available to us during the year.
They especially come in handy during the holidays! Sweet potato casserole never tasted so good as when you use home canned sweet potatoes and a healthy topping of homemade marshmallows!
So when you're looking for great deals on food and you see those sweet potatoes on sale, grab them up and get to canning!
Home Canned Sweet Potatoes FAQ
Here are a few of the most common question I get about canning sweet potatoes at home!
Do I have to Use Syrup?
Nope! You can use just water instead, however, the sweet potatoes will be very bland with you use them later.
We like to use a light syrup for the least amount of sugar that will retain the flavor of the sweet potatoes.
Can I Use Something Other Than Sugar?
Actually, yes! You can use honey instead at the following ratio.
To make light syrup with honey: Mix 1/2 cups of honey with 4 cups of water and bring to a boil. Increase at this ratio as needed.
We use the same process for canning peaches in syrup.
Can I Use This Recipe for Yams?
Yep! Pressure canning yams and sweet potatoes are the same timings and method.
Are The Sweet Potatoes Mushy After Canning?
They have the same texture as boiled sweet potatoes, in my opinion.
So, they are not going to be the same texture as fresh baked sweet potatoes, but they are prefect for sweet potato casserole, blended soups, and so on.
How to Can Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2-3 pounds sweet potatoes per quart
- Sugar
- Water
- Pressure Canner
- 5-7 Quart jars
- Canning Tools
Instructions
- Peel the sweet potatoes and rinse off excess dirt.
- Dice no more than 1 1/2 inches thick.
- Pack into hot, clean jars. Leave 1 inch headspace.
- Make syrup at a ratio of 2 1/4 cup sugar to 5 1/4 cup water. Bring to a boil. (You may need to double the amount of syrup, depending on how many pounds of sweet potatoes you are processing.)
- Ladle boiling syrup over sweet potatoes, leaving 1 inch headspace.
- Remove air bubbles with canning knife. DO NOT use a metal utensil as it can cause the jar to break under pressure.
- Add lids and rings.
- Process quarts for 1 hour and 30 minutes or pints for 1 hour 5 minutes, at 10 pounds pressure in a pressure canner.
Notes
PIN THIS FOR LATER
Teressa Jones says
I want to can sweet potatoes can I do a boiling water bath if I add longer time to the boiling process I do not have a pressure canner
Victoria says
Hi Teressa! According to the current guidelines, no, sweet potatoes cannot be “safely canned” in a water bath. There are people who do it any way! But I don’t know the times for doing so, and I can’t officially recommend it. I apologize!
Susan says
Hi, sometimes when I am peeling sweet potatoes they can start to blacken, do you put them in water
to prevent this while you are preparing for jars?
Victoria says
Hi Susan! You can, maybe with a bit of lemon juice as well.
Annie Woods says
When making apple butter you only use sugar and apples no butter I know you said you can add spice at the end of the recipe, just apples and sugar is all needed for apple butter just want to make sure I have this correct. Thanks
Victoria says
Hi Annie! Correct! No actual butter in it, and the blend of apples (if you can find them) makes THE best apple butter ever! Enjoy!
Lynn Waters says
I have a question about canning green beans. I canned in pint jars using the cold pack method and a pressure canner and some of the jars finished with 1-2″ less water in the jars. What’s going wrong?
Victoria says
Hi Lynn! Totally normal! That’s the veggies cooking in the jars and taking up some of the water. No problem at all, as long as the jars sealed :-) Enjoy!
sheila cottrill says
i am want to can sweet potatoes in jelly jars as i am only one to eat them. How long would i pressure can?? Also when cooking raw i add low sugar orange marmalade instead of sugar. Would this work?
Victoria says
Hi Shelia! A jam jar would be 55 minutes :-)
As for low sugar jam, I can’t recommend that. However, you can reduce the amount of sugar, leave it out altogether, or use honey instead! :-)