Not only can you make jelly out of Mountain Dew soda, you can make jelly from any type of soda you prefer using the recipe that I will share with you in this article, as long as it is a sugared drink and not sugar free or diet soda. This stipulation stems from the fact that regular pectin requires sugar to gel.
How To Make Soda Jelly
The process for making soda jelly is the same basic process used for making any type of jelly. The only difference is that some type of soda or soft drink is substituted for the fruit juice that is normally used to make your favorite jelly.
The entire recipe and process I use when making soda jelly is demonstrated in my video on how to make Mountain Dew jelly.
To make any type of soda jelly from sugary soda, simply follow this recipe:
Mountain Dew Jelly
Ingredients:
- 4 cups Mountain Dew or any type soda with sugar
- 4 cups Sugar
- 4 T Fruit Pectin
- 2 T Lemon Juice
Directions:
- Prepare a boiling water bath pot and bring to a full rolling boil over high heat. Reduce heat and cover until needed.
- Wash and sterilize jars and leave in boiling water until needed.
- Prepare a pan of water for lids.
- Combine Mountain Dew, Lemon Juice & Pectin in a Dutch oven.
- Bring mixture to a boil over high heat.
- When the Mountain Dew mixture comes to a full rolling boil, add the sugar and stir well, immediately bringing the mixture back to a full rolling boil.
- When the mixture comes back to a full rolling boil, set a timer for 3 minutes.
- Add lids to boiling water & reduce heat under lids to simmer until needed.
- At the end of 3 minutes, skim the foam from the jelly and pour the jelly into prepared jars.
- Wipe jar rims and threads with a clean, damp cloth.
- Add lids and rings to the jars and hand tighten.
- Place the jars into the boiling water bath.
- Once the water in the boiling water bath comes back to a full rolling boil, set a timer for 5 minutes.
- When the jelly has been processed for 5 minutes, remove the jars to a prepared area and leave undisturbed for 24 hours.
- After the jelly has cooled and set, wash, rinse, and dry the jars, check for a good seal on all the jars, label, and store the jelly in a cool, dry area away from any heat or light source until needed.
Yield: Six 8-ounce or 3 pint jars of jelly.
Note: This same recipe can be used with any type of sugared soda or soft drink. Simply substitute your favorite soft drink for the Mountain Dew.
Can I Make My Own Jelly Recipes?
I don’t want to mislead you here. While I did mention in the Mountain Dew video that I had made up my own recipe, let me clarify that statement.
No matter what we are canning, whether it is making jelly, canning green beans, or making pickles, in order to make sure we are safely canning those foods, we must follow recipes from reliable sources, recipes that have been tested repeatedly, recipes like those found in the pectin package inserts, on the Ball canning website, and in any information provided by the USDA’s National Center For Home Food Preservation.
The jelly recipes that I normally use are either for high pectin fruits like apples and mayhaws and the recipe for those fruits call for 5 cups of juice and 7 cups of sugar; for low pectin fruits like cherries which call for 3-½ cups of juice and 5 cups of sugar; and some fruits like blueberries that are low in natural pectin and are very sweet, I use the recipe of 4 cups of fruit and 4 cups of sugar. These are the recipes that were on the package inserts in the Ball fruit pectin packages at the time I started making jelly. Some of those recipes have been changed over the years, but I still use the ones I started with because they work so well for me.
When I was looking for a recipe to use for the Mountain Dew jelly, I chose to use the recipe of 4 cups of juice and 4 cups of sugar because the Mountain Dew is already sweetened and I didn’t want to make jelly that was overly sweet.
So, no, I can’t just make up my own recipe, but in cases where I cannot find a recipe, I feel that it is safe to use a tested recipe for making jelly from a fruit juice, or in this case soda, that is as close as I can find for the type of jelly I am making.
Can I Make Sugar-Free Soda Jelly?
Jelly made from a diet or reduced sugar soda requires a different recipe which I will share with you at a later time. I’m still in the process of perfecting this recipe because working with reduced or alternative sweeteners is a little tricky and the results are not as firm as the basic sugared jelly.
Final Thoughts
If you had asked me how to make soda jelly a few years ago, I would have responded with a comment that indicated I might suspect you had lost your mind. But, during a sales event a couple of years ago, a jelly customer asked if I could make her some Mountain Dew jelly.
Since I had been experimenting during the pandemic with making somewhat odd or at least unusual types of jelly including pea pod and corn cob, which incidentally are both quite tasty, and since my horizons had been significantly broadened, I said, “Sure! How many jars do you want?”
Even though soda jelly may not be for everyone, it is very good and does provide a different and unusual change from your standard or everyday type of jelly. Plus, this is the type of canning that is easy to get your family involved in. What kid wouldn’t like to brag about making Root Beer or Orange Crush jelly?
Soda jelly also makes a unique gift for the holiday season.
Thanks for stoppin’ by!
Anne James has a wealth of experience in a wide array of interests and is an expert in quilting, cooking, gardening, camping, mixing drinks (bartending), and making jelly.
Anne has a professional canning business, has been featured in the local newspaper as well as on the Hershey website, and has been her family canner for decades. Anyone growing up in the South knows that there is always a person in the family who has knowledge of the “old ways,” and this is exactly what Anne is.
With over 55 years of experience in these endeavors, she brings a level of hands-on knowledge that is hard to surpass. Amazingly, she doesn’t need to reference many resources due to her vast wealth of experience. She IS the source.
Anne wants nothing more than to pass on her extensive knowledge to the next generations, whether that be family or anyone visiting her website, her YouTube channel, or survivalfreedom.com.
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Hi you mentioned corn cob jelly. Sounds really interesting to me because I have been entering things at the California State fair. I have not done any canning yet though. I am sure the judges would be surprised to see corn cob jelly. Could I please have the recipe. I am 87 years old, nerer too late to learn
Hi Jennine Marie! Thanks for the comment. You are correct. It is never too late to learn. I’m 78 now and still learning new things every day. A couple of years ago, I entered some of my canned food, including Mayhaw Jelly, in our local county fair, and it was a lot of fun.
To make the corn cob jelly, boil a dozen ears of corn that have had the kernels removed. Cover them with water in a large stock pot and boil them for at least 20 minutes. Then, remove the corn cobs and strain the juice through a fine strainer. Use 3.5 cups of the prepared juice, 4 cups of granulated sugar, and one package of powdered fruit pectin to make the jelly. Then follow these directions:
1. Bring a boiling water bath pot to a full rolling boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and cover until needed.
2. Wash and sterilize six eight-ounce jars and leave them in the boiling water until needed.
3. Prepare a pan of water to heat the lids.
4. Combine Corn Cob Juice and Pectin in a Dutch oven. Bring the mixture to a full rolling boil over high heat, stirring until the pectin has dissolved.
5. When the Corn Cob Juice mixture comes to a full rolling boil, add the sugar and stir well, immediately bringing the mixture back to a full rolling boil.
6. When the mixture comes back to a full rolling boil, set a timer for 3 minutes.
7. Bring the water for the lids to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer until needed. When you start pouring the jelly into the jars, turn the heat off to the pot of simmering water and add the lids.
8. After 3 minutes, skim the foam from the jelly and pour it into the prepared jars.
9. Wipe jar rims and threads with a clean, damp cloth. Add lids and rings to the jars and hand tighten.
10. Place the jars in the boiling water bath. Once the water comes back to a full rolling boil, set a timer for 5 minutes.
11. When the jelly has been processed for 5 minutes, remove the jars to a prepared area and leave them undisturbed for 24 hours.
12. After the jelly has cooled and set, wash, rinse, and dry the jars, and check for a good seal on all the jars. Then label the jars with the contents and the date, and store the jelly in a cool, dry area away from any heat or light source until needed.
This recipe makes 5 or 6 eight-ounce jars of jelly.
Since you have not done any canning, this article on How To Make Soda Jelly and the video on Mountain Dew Jelly provide more information on the entire jelly-making process.
Good luck at the Fair!
Anne
Did you ever make that diet soda jelly recipe? Thank you
Can u use skittle fruit drink instead of soda in the recipe…Thanks in advance?