{"id":19866,"date":"2026-02-12T15:42:56","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T20:42:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/food-health\/?p=19866"},"modified":"2026-02-12T15:42:56","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T20:42:56","slug":"flower-petal-jelly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/food-health\/2026\/02\/12\/flower-petal-jelly\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Make Flower Petal Jelly Safely"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2014 By Kate McCarty<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

UMaine Extension Master Food Preserver Volunteers<\/a> recently attended Flowering in the North, a conference for flower growers in New England. We shared a rose petal jelly<\/a> made from dried rose petals with attendees and it was a hit! The resulting jelly smelled very floral, like you\u2019d expect, and had a subtle sweet-tart flavor from the lemon juice and sugar. It was a beautiful rose color, with no artificial food coloring added.<\/p>\n

\"Overhead<\/a><\/p>\n

The general process of making rose petal jelly is to soak dried rose petals in hot water, strain the petals, and then gel the rose-infused water into jelly by boiling it with sugar, pectin, and lemon juice. We followed this recipe from Pomona\u2019s Pectin<\/a>. We could have used fresh petals, but since it\u2019s winter in Maine, they aren\u2019t in season. The recipe calls for 3 cups of fresh petals or 1 cup of dried petals.<\/p>\n

How to Add Flowers to Fruit Jam or Marmalade<\/h3>\n

Next time I make a flower jelly, I think I will either add fruit or another flavor element to make sure it tastes as good as it smells\u2014the flavor of the rose jelly was very subtle. It smelled great, but could use a little \u201coompf\u201d to punch up the flavor. I could see rose petals or other dried flowers being a nice addition to raspberry or rhubarb jam or a lemon marmalade. That way, you\u2019d have the nice floral scent with more flavor from the fruit.<\/p>\n

To use dried flowers in your favorite fruit jam or jelly recipe, add 2 tablespoons of dried edible flowers to 6 cups of fruit when boiling the fruit mixture. If you\u2019re making jelly, the flower pieces will get strained out when you strain the fruit mixture, but if you\u2019re making jam, put the dried flowers into a spice bag or small piece of cheesecloth and boil it with the fruit. Remove the spice bag from the jam before canning.<\/p>\n

Canning Flower Jellies Safely<\/h3>\n

A note on food safety and flower jellies: flower petals are not very acidic, meaning they require the addition of lemon juice to make the jelly safe for canning. If you are looking to preserve your jellies by canning them, it\u2019s important to use a research-based, tested recipe so that you make sure your jellies are safe for long-term storage at room temperature. If you can\u2019t find a recipe for the flowers you want to use, it\u2019s best to freeze the jelly or just make a small batch, store it in the refrigerator, and use it within two weeks.<\/p>\n

Different Types of Flower Jellies<\/h3>\n

I\u2019ve found recipes from Pomona\u2019s Pectin<\/a> for rose petal jelly<\/a>, violet jelly<\/a>, and dandelion jelly (included at the end of this post). Unfortunately, it is not safe to substitute a different flower type into one of these recipes. There is no way of telling at home if a jelly made using other flowers is safe for canning. But good news: we\u2019ve heard that Newell Brands (the parent company of Ball) is working on developing several other floral jelly recipes. So stay tuned!<\/p>\n

In the meantime, here\u2019s the dandelion jelly recipe from UMaine Extension Master Food Preserver Allison Carroll Duffy:<\/p>\n

Dandelion Jelly<\/h3>\n

Ingredients:<\/p>\n