I’m harvesting the last of my zucchini from our garden over the next 2 weeks. Like every year…I end up with an abundance of zucchini that I need to preserve. When canning fresh zucchini you’ll need your basic home canning supplies along with a pressure steam canner. It can’t be preserved in a water bath canner! Furthermore, there’s a debate among those who do home canning whether or not it can safely be canned. I’ve been canning it the same way for 25+ years with no problems.
One large fresh zucchini will yield approximately 3 quart jars.
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Get all of your canning supplies out. Wash and inspect them. I use quart size glass mason jars for canning zucchini. You’ll need to prepare your Pressure Steam Canner according to directions that came with it. Mine requires 2″ of simmering hot water in the base.
Warm up your jars in the canner or in the oven (set at 150 degrees F), heat up your seals in a pan with simmering hot water.
Wash the zucchini under warm tap water to remove dirt. Cut a little bit off of both ends. Leave the peel on. Remove large areas of seeds as you cut the zucchini into cubes.
Fill up a large pot with simmering hot water (on medium heat) on the stove-top. Place the cubed zucchini into the simmer water. Bring to a boil and boil for 3 minutes. Turn heat down to low.
Fill hot quart size jars with the cubed zucchini and hot water leaving a 1″ headspace. Add 1 teaspoon of salt to the jar. Remove air bubbles, wipe the jar rim clean. Add the seal and adjust the ring until it’s fingertip tight. Place into the prepared canner. Continue filling jars.
Follow the instructions that came with your Pressure Canner for processing. I get to the 10 lbs. of pressure and then process the quart jars for 40 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the pressure canner naturally return to ZERO pressure. Once it reaches zero…I set a time for 10 minutes. Then I remove the lid. I let the jars sit inside the canner (lid off) for an additional 5 minutes before I transfer them to my counter-top to cool. Label and date the jars.
NOTE: Different people have different methods of canning zucchini. Like I said, there’s a big debate going on whether or not it can be done safely. I’ve been doing it for decades this way with no problems at all. Do your own research and make up your own mind.
How to Use: You can drain the liquid from the jar and use the cubed zucchini in casseroles, soups, stews and in stir-frys. If you want to use it in zucchini bread and/or muffins…mash it up with a potato masher before incorporating it into your favorite recipe.
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