18 Ways to Use Mason Jars in the Kitchen

As a homemaker who enjoys preserving food, have you ever caught yourself wondering about ways to use mason jars in the kitchen? Something that doesn't involve canning?

If you're a true country girl at heart, you've probably found several different ways to use mason jars in your work space. And here are 18 more ideas that will spark the creative juices for you.

How to Use Mason Jars in the Kitchen

Mason jars are useful for much, much more than just preserving food!

Putting them to use in the kitchen is a wonderful way to give them another purpose in your home, all the while giving your space a country kitchen vibe. Here's what to put in glass kitchen jars in your kitchen.

Use 1: Store Your Beans, Grains, Rice and Oatmeal in Jars

Large glass jars make excellent storage containers for the above items. While most of us like to keep our bags of bulk food tucked away in an inconspicuous place, we do still like having a decent supply of dry goods within reach.

And this is where half gallon glass jars (grab some here) or even 1 gallon glass jars (grab some here) come in handy.

Regardless of whether you display your jars of dry goods in the kitchen or keep them tucked away in a cupboard, glass jars make excellent, mouse-and-bug proof storage containers.

Use 2: Put Dry Herbs and Spices in a Small Jars

If you want to keep herbs and spices near the kitchen stove but still want to preserve their freshness, store them in pint/500ml jars. Don't have any? (Get some here).

Adding a new canning lid and metal band will inhibit airflow and help retain flavors for longer.

Use 3: Keep Your Cooking and Baking Powders in Lidded Jars

Baking powder, baking soda, corn starch, cinnamon and such will keep well in smaller mason jars (you can get half pints/250ml here). Once again, a tight fitting lid is always a bonus!

I like to keep all my baking supplies in a basket on my open kitchen shelving. Whenever baking day rolls around, the entire basket can be pull down and things are easy to access.

Use 4: Store Dried Nuts & Fruit in a Mason Jars

Mason jars make excellent storage containers for dried fruit, nuts and seeds. Whether you keep these items on the pantry shelf or pop them into the freezer to keep things fresh for longer, lidded mason jars are an excellent choice.

Use 5: Use Jars to Store Freshly-Milled Flour

Because fresh-milled flour turns rancid rather quickly, I like to keep the extras in my freezer. Nothing holds flour better than a large jar with an old canning lid, and nothing keeps flour fresh like a freezer!

Use 6: Turn Wide Mouth Jars into a Butter Dish

Want to feel more "countrified?" Keep your butter in a small, wide mouth jar (this one holds 1 C). Top the jar with wide mouth glass lid (you can find one on Etsy) and the two paired together give a result that is quite charming!

Use 7: Store Your Homemade Lard in a Jar

Have you ever rendered lard in your own kitchen before? If not, I teach you how here.

Lard looks pretty in a mason jar and you can leave it right beside your stove, where it's easy to grab when frying eggs or cooking meat in your cast iron skillet.

Use 8: Keep Honey or Sugar in a Glass Jar

Mason jars make excellent holders for both honey and sugar. Keep your "stockpile" in a larger jar and place smaller, wide mouth jars of each to the dining room table as part of your centerpiece.

FYI? They also look amazing topped with a glass, wide mouth lid!

Use 9: Hold Tea & Coffee in Jars

Jars make pretty little holders for both tea and coffee. It doesn't matter if you use whole coffee beans or ground coffee, if you use loose-leaf tea or prefer tea bags.

Storing any of the above in jars gives your kitchen a cozy, home-like atmosphere. And once again, jars with good lids will keep things fresh for longer.

Use 10: Replace Drinking Glasses with Wide Mouth Jars

Because canning jars are tough, they make excellent drinking glasses that neither chip nor break easily. At our table, we use pints (500 ml) for adults and half pints (250 ml) for children.

Mason jars come with some beautiful designs and patterns that are quite pretty. Keep your eyes open and see what you can find!

Use 11: Use Large Jars as Water Pitchers

If you have half-gallon (2 litre) jars on hand, they make excellent water pitchers for the family table! Not only do they hold a substantial amount of water, but they're also tough.

Use 12: Turn Jars into Fermenting Containers

While you can purchase containers for fermenting vegetables, mason jars combined with a canning lid and band make excellent fermenting containers. All you have to do is break the seal every day to release the CO² and your veggies will ferment to perfection in no time.

When they're finished, you can pop the jars into your refrigerator or cold storage, easy-peasy!

Use 13: Make Homemade Yogurt of Kefir in a Mason Jar

I always make yogurt in my mason jars! Once again, all you have to do is add the ingredients to your jar, cover with a lid and leave things to work in a warm place.

When the fermenting process has completed, pop your jars in the fridge and just like that, you're finished. Want to learn how to make yogurt at home? It's easy! You can check out my tutorial by clicking right here.

Use 14: Make Your Own Homemade Fruit Vinegar in a Jar

Mason jars are excellent for making apple cider vinegar, raspberry vinegar and all the other unique options you can create from home-grown fruit.

Yes, I'm a vinegar lover (can you tell?) and have written quite a bit about this traditional skill!

You can learn how to make your own vinegar by clicking on this link here.

Use 15: Create Your Sourdough Starter in a Jar

Not everyone finds it easy to start their own sourdough from scratch. Hint: if you're struggling to get a starter up and going, use rye flour.

Make your starter in a wide mouth, quart (1 litre) jar. It'll look pretty on the counter and make the process just that much more rewarding.

Use 16: Use a Jar of Water to Keep Herbs Fresh

Want to keep a bundle of herbs fresh? Fill a pint/500 ml jar with water and put the herbs in it, like you would a bouquet of flowers. Refrigerate until you're ready to use.

 Use 17: Turn Jars into Refrigerator Containers

Instead of putting your leftover soup and bone broth in a Tupperware container, pour it into a large mason jar, cap with a lid and refrigerate until you're ready to use. 

Use 18: Keep Flower Bouquets in a Mason Jar

Have you ever found yourself short on vases? Or had vases that are too tippy to hold your bouquet?

Mason jars (especially the old, thick ones) make excellent flower vases. With their wide base, they're unlike to tip over and the two paired together (flowers and mason jar) will add real country charm to your kitchen!

 Conclusion

These are 18 different ways you can use mason jars in the kitchen!

Every country woman has "mason jar" tricks up her sleeve and I've about exhausted my resources in this post. But I'd love to hear what your mason jar tips are! You're more than welcome to share them in the comments below.