Nothing smells like summer quite like honeysuckle does. The sweet smelling flowers can be found on vines in undisturbed places, usually with children around them eating the honey flavored nectar. Although the rest of the plant is not edible, honeysuckle flowers are edible and using them to make honeysuckle jelly is a great way to preserve summer in a jar.

UPDATE 2024: There has been some concern over dandelion jelly (and other flower jellies) with the University of Wisconsin pulling their canned dandelion jelly recipe instructions. Other extensions have done the same. At this time, we only recommend freezing dandelion and other flower jellies.

How to make honeysuckle jelly

To make honeysuckle jelly, you’ll need to gather 4-6 cups of honeysuckle flowers. As any child who spends time at the honeysuckle vine and he’ll tell you that the older flowers, the ones that are turning yellow, have the most flavor. It’s not necessary to only use the yellow flowers, but cull out the flowers that are shriveled and the ones that haven’t opened.

When you pick the flower from the vine, you’ll notice that there’s still some green attached the base of the flower – we call it the green butt. To prepare the flowers you’ll want to either cut off or pinch off the flower’s green butt. Be careful not to remove the stamen! If the stamen comes out, so does the honey nectar.

I don’t wash the flowers but I do shake them a bit, just in case there’s some specks of dirt on them. Then put the flowers in a pitcher or half gallon mason jar. You want something that you can pour boiling water into.

Next, you’ll make a honeysuckle infusion or tea with the flowers and boiling water. To make the infusion, bring 4 1/4 cups water to a boil and then pour it over the flowers. Let the flowers steep for at least two hours. You can let it sit overnight but if you want to leave it longer than that, put it in the refrigerator.

While the flowers are steeping, prepare the jars and lids. To prepare the jars, check for any chips along the rim and wash them in hot soapy water and keep them hot until you fill them with the honeysuckle jam. To prepare the lids, wash them in hot soapy water, there’s no need to keep them hot.

Once the flowers have steeped for at least two hours strain them out of the water using a mesh strainer. If you want a super clear honeysuckle jelly use cheesecloth to line the strainer and don’t squeeze or press the flowers.

You need 3 3/4 cups of honeysuckle tea to make this honeysuckle jelly recipe. If you don’t have quite enough tea, you can add a little bit of water to make it. Put the honeysuckle tea into a stock pot and add 1/4 cup lemon juice and 6 tablespoons powdered pectin. If you don’t buy pectin in bulk, use one box of pectin or one packet of liquid pectin.

Bring mixture to a boil and add four cups sugar. Bring to a rolling boil and boil for one minute then remove the pot from the heat. Skim off any foam and ladle the honeysuckle jelly into the prepared jars leaving a 1/2inch headspace. Wipe the rims with a clean, damp cloth.

Add the lids and bands to the jars. Put the jars in the refrigerator to cool. Once cooled they can be moved to the freezer for longer storage.

Tips for making honeysuckle jelly

Making flower jelly can be a bit tricky. In order for jelly to gel, there need to be a balance sugar, acid, pectin, and heat. If you read most jelly recipes they are very exact because of this. Most of my flower jellies turn out on the soft side, which is how we like jelly. This way we can smear it on pancakes or top ice cream with it. It’s hard to do those things with a firm jelly.

This honeysuckle jelly is a soft jelly but should not be syrupy. If you know you like thicker jelly, you can add an additional 3 TBSP of powdered pectin and an additional 1/2 cup sugar when you make the jelly.

If the jelly doesn’t set and the next day you have syrup, you can use it as syrup, which is delicious. Or you can fix it by following the directions in this article from Pick Your Own.

The ONLY edible part of the honeysuckle plant is the flower. If you have a bumper crop of honeysuckle flowers, here are some ideas for using honeysuckle for food and medicine.

Tried this recipe? Please leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comment section further down the page. We always appreciate your feedback. You can also save the recipe for later by pinning it or clicking on the heart in the lower right hand corner.

Do you make honeysuckle jelly or other honeysuckle recipes? If so, we’d love to hear about it in the comments.

Thanks for sharing!