Whether you’re looking for convenience meals or want the best recipes for long-term storage for your emergency kit, these are the top five meals in a jar.
With easy recipes and step-by-step instructions, you’ll have no trouble getting the most out of these pressure canned meals in a jar.
If you’re new to canning, purchase the necessary equipment and familiarize yourself with the basics before you start.
Most county extension offices also offer low-cost classes you can take to help you feel more confident about canning.
Necessary Equipment
Here are a few other tools you’ll need:
- Canning jars
- Canning jar funnel
- Kitchen tongs
- Jar lifter
- Stainless steel ladle
- Bubble remover
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Pressure canner
It’s essential to follow safety precautions when canning foods at home. Prevent food-borne illnesses and spoilage issues using tested recipes from trusted sources.
Be aware that if you live at an elevation higher than 2,000 feet, you must process food at more pounds of pressure.
However, using the wrong pressure when canning your meals is not the most critical mistake you can make; this one is, and even the most experienced cooks can fall victim to it.
Pressure Canning Meals in a Jar
These five meals in a jar are simple to prepare favorites. Canned recipes for long-term storage will last 5 to 10 years, and they are the perfect way to stock your emergency cupboard with ready-to-eat meals.
You don’t need a major crisis to enjoy these all-time favorites. They’re also perfect for feeding the family when you’re not sure what to cook for dinner or don’t feel like going to the store.
The following recipes are for canning pint jars. If you want to use quarts, they will need to be processed for 90 minutes.
Beef or Venison Stew
Beef stew is good, but somehow, it’s even better when it has been home-canned.
This is one of the easiest canned meal-in-a-jar recipes to make.
Always use fresh, high-quality beef or venison and vegetables.
Don’t forget that supermarket vegetables often undergo treatments with potentially harmful chemicals and pesticides.
But there’s one easy trick you can use to test the quality of the produce you find in supermarkets – and it’s not something they teach you in schools or on mainstream channels.
Prepare the Ingredients
Start by cutting up all of the ingredients. Cut the beef into 1-inch cubes and brown the beef in 6 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet.
Potatoes should be peeled and diced into 1-inch chunks, and carrots can be sliced into rounds or chunks smaller than one inch. Cut onions and celery into ½” pieces.
Ingredients
- 5 pounds stew meat
- 12 cups potatoes (approximately 5-pound bag of potatoes)
- 8 cups carrots (about 3 pounds of purchased carrots)
- 3 cups onions (about 2 medium onions)
- 3 cups celery (one small celery head)
- 12 cups beef stock
- 4 teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
Procedure
You can mix all ingredients together and fill up the jars or add them to the jars one at a time to distribute them evenly. Tightly pack the ingredients into the jars. This recipe makes 14 pint jars.
At the same time, bring the beef broth to a boil, then reduce the heat and allow it to simmer while you fill the jars.
Fill the jars to within one inch with beef broth, wipe the rims, apply the lids, and process them for 75 minutes (90 minutes for quarts).
Chicken Soup
This chicken soup recipe can be used in a variety of ways.
Heat it up and serve it just as it is, or add pasta to make a delicious chicken noodle soup.
You can also add thickeners and serve it over rice, potatoes, or dumplings.
It’s one of the most versatile canned meals in a jar you’ll ever make.
This recipe yields up to 16 pint jars.
Ingredients
Assemble the following ingredients in a stock pot:
- 8 quarts chicken stock
- 6 cups diced chicken, cooked
- 3 cups diced celery (about one small head of celery)
- 3 cups sliced carrots
- 2 cups chopped onion (2 medium onions)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Procedure
Bring the ingredients to a boil. Use a ladle to distribute the contents evenly in your jar. There should be plenty of chicken broth to fill up your jars.
If you need more broth, having extra chicken broth on hand will allow you to fill the jars up all the way, allowing one inch of head space.
Related: How To Can Bone Broth At Home With 2 Years Shelf Life
Wipe the rims and apply the lids. Process the jars for 75 minutes with 11 pounds of pressure.
Chili con Carne
This chili is delicious and nutritious, and you’ll love how easy it is to make.
Enjoy it alone or serve it with tortilla chips or cornbread muffins.
This recipe makes 14 pints of canned chili.
Start by Soaking the Beans
Start with 6 cups of dried pinto or kidney beans. Wash them and place them in a stockpot. Add 11 cups of water and allow them to soak for 12 to 18 hours.
After soaking, drain and discard the water. Add 11 cups of fresh water and 4 teaspoons of salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
Drain and discard the water again, and set the beans aside.
Ingredients
- 6 lbs. ground beef
- 1-1/2 cups chopped onion
- 1 cup chopped peppers of your choice (optional)
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 3 to 6 tbsp chili powder
- 2 quarts crushed or whole tomatoes
Procedure
Brown the ground beef, onions, and peppers, and drain the fat. Add to the beans with the remaining ingredients and simmer for another 5 minutes.
Fill warm, clean jars, leaving one inch of head space. Wipe the rims and apply the lids. Process the jars for 75 minutes with 11 pounds of pressure.
Vegetarian Chili
Vegetarian chili might not be on the top of your list, especially if you’re a meat-eater. But this is a low-cost way to can food to add to your emergency prep kit without hurting your wallet.
Vegetarian chili is also a great way to use the surplus veggies from your garden.
You can always add ground beef or chicken to this vegetarian chili recipe before eating it. Or, serve it with rice for a hearty, fulfilling meal.
This recipe yields approximately 9 pints.
Start by Soaking the Beans
Soak 3 cups of dried kidney beans in about 12 cups of water overnight. Drain and rinse the beans. Add water to cover the beans and simmer for 30 minutes. Drain well and set aside.
Make the Sauce
Assemble the rest of the ingredients in a large stock pot:
- 2 cups diced onion
- 1 cup diced sweet bell pepper
- 3 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 8 cups tomato juice or vegetable stock
- ½ cup tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 2 teaspoons dried cumin
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
Bring to a boil, then add the beans. Return to a boil and then turn off the heat.
Procedure
Ladle the vegetarian chili into warm jars, allowing one inch of headspace. Wipe the rims and apply the lids. Process for 75 minutes at 11 pounds of pressure.
Split Pea Soup
Split pea soup is hearty and makes a great winter soup.
It’s packed full of nutrition, too, making it a top choice for long-term storage meals to have on hand when SHTF.
This recipe makes 10 pint jars.
Start by Simmering the Peas
You’ll need two 1-pound packages of split peas, which is about 4 cups of split peas total. Place them in a stockpot with 4 quarts of water. Simmer until they are soft, about one hour.
Related: 21 Old-Fashioned Recipes Your Grandma Knew By Heart
Ingredients
Combine the following ingredients with the peas and simmer for another 30 minutes.
- 2 cups diced onion
- 3 cups carrots
- 2 cups diced ham
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tablespoon salt (or to taste)
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Procedure
Remove the bay leaf from the split pea soup. Fill warm jars, allowing one inch of headspace. Wipe the rims, apply the lids, and process for 75 minutes at 11 pounds of pressure.
Making canned meals in a jar is a great way to prepare your pantry for long-term storage.
Canning is a great skill to have, and it’s not as complicated as many people think it is. A lot of preppers are canning pros, but you don’t have to be to make these pressure canned meals in a jar.
With these favorites, you can rest assured that you’re getting all the nutrition and convenience you need no matter what happens.
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UM,um,um, good! Nothing like homemade.
Off topic;
The Jan 6th is a globalist nightmare on America. The Oat Keepers are being smeared along with the Jan 6th political prisoners in Nancy Pelosi world. Did her head of security purger the testimony in what really happened that day. As many pieces were not introduced into the trial, such as video documentation that sets the record straight and true.
We wonder how Antifa an BLM military age combatants that participated in Jan 6th are walking around cities Scot-free. These criminals have set fire, looted and murdered citizens worse than what the Jan 6th political prisoners are accused of. Obama’s private civilian army is your taxes at work for violence.
The nation has been divided with the Clinton’s, their close friends die mysteriously. Benghazi Navy Seals died because of Clinton politics. Fast and Furious gun buy by Obama-Biden. The great Obama divider in chief continuous with Biden the Manchurian puppet, China is placing the chess pieces of America versus Russia in a tactical nuke war. China will then fight the winner in a no holds bar war for world dominance.
Please in this 2024 presidential election vote all the bums out, DINO’s and RINO’s in State and Federal elected positions. Don’t forget the unelected bureaucrats that have no term limits in their employment too.
I still want an edit button to fix our sentences on this blog, please!
Split pea soup is my favorite, never tried it from a home made jar.
Will these articles on this prepper site become AI generated stories? Not real preppers writing the future articles. AI has made terrible errors in content that could harm preppers following the instructions.
The myths of AI, the new religion of the liberals is the use of AI in daily life.
The nightmares of AI writing books, lacks local knowledge, traditional knowledge gets overlooked as AI takes general information it’s ability to decipher particular aspects of subjects written can leave out important facts related to the subject.
AI algorithms do not make appropriate understandings of certain areas.
AI maybe a tool to help but not replace the human writer’s experience and knowledge.
The use of AI brings up the ethical use for education use, preserve ancient human knowledge.
Can we trust an electronic software to pass on true information that is critical?
The Terminator movies of Sky net corporation releasing an unproven reliable technology upon the public. Is like the unproven COVID vaccine that was rushed into mass production and use without the traditional testing on live human subjects first.
AI is like a child in the learning stages of this infancy of a new technology to take over the lazy mentality of the general public’s trust.
There are more questions than true answers to AI, as world governments are quick to place this unknown technology into full use than kept to limited use.
The movie War Games has an early version of AI that is in charge of the nuclear arsenal. What could go wrong?
In reality a human must be the last link in very important part of say the nuclear missile military programs. We can not place total control in AI as it could potentially see a algorithm in a program update.
If the current use of AI continue it will simply become a new method of burning books, destroying history and perverting current events. It is my opinion the current use of AI is just like the misuse of firearms in our society.
The article mentions these jar canned foods last 5-10 years.
My understanding is canning foods were to last for around a year. To get a family through the Winter months. The canned foods shelf storage limit was typically a years time.
There so much misinformation on the internet websites being re-posted from other articles. I think would trust the proven methods of the Ball canning book.
Long term storage estimates are just that so far. Until verified to be proven correct.
I am more inclined to trust experienced canners than USDA/government-approved information. People all over the world have canned safely using “unsafe” techniques. So have many people I know. Do yourself a favor and expand your horizons. Check out some canners on YouTube like Ruth Ann Zimmerman.
We may expand our horizons on You Tube canning. But are they correct?
No one yet has explained the previous question asked. Is the typical home canned food good for 1 year or lasting 5 to 10 years, being safe to consume?
Anyone can say they are experts or experienced home canners.
I know the Ball canning book has been proven good information on canning.
We just had an 8 year old quart of leek/potato/sausage soup last week. No problems. It tasted like it did when we canned it.
We also have 7 year old canned chicken & beef that is just fine too.
I have had canned food last 10 years and it tastes as good as the day it was canned.
Great! But did you store your canned foods up to 10 years? That is what one poster was asking. Not how long some people have been canning.
How long do home canned foods last, one year, maybe up to the ten year mark?
I have opened 20yr old green tomato relish and i.t tasted like I made it last month. It’s the same with expiration dates on store food…hogwash. if kept dry, dark and below 75degrees, it is indefinite. As always, use your head… if color, smell or taste is not RIGHT, don’t eat it!!!
Had to print these out! I have a vacation coming up in November and plan to use it canning stuff for the next year. Thanks for the ideas, especially the chili!
Canned items that are spoiled have broken seals, bubbles in the food, and usually a horrible smell when disturbed. Jars with good seals have no evaporation of contents and are generally safe to eat. Make sure you are only canning things your family will eat, and rotate your stock carefully. These days, if you have the opportunity to can more than a year’s supply, you should, with careful attention to recipe directions, safe storage, and inventory markings. P.S. When I began to follow directions to wipe jar rims with a hot, wet towel rather than a dry cloth, my failure rate of canning seals dropped to zero.
The long term canned foods being stored is a crap shoot. Even the home canners must check regularly to make the canned food seal is not compromised to leak out. The poorly sealed canned jars can get botulism. I would trust the canned food for a year then wait a decade to find the contents are spoiled.
And one of my former lives I was FDA certified to run a cannery.
Botulism is caused by spores that are already in the food. A broken seal doesn’t mean they will become infected with botulism it typically means the spores have started to grow and create the toxins as a by product.
Botulism typically is found vegetables like potatoes carrots onions peppers, Etc. Also beans. You actually eat the spores when you eat those fresh vegetables, but they haven’t produced the toxin so it doesn’t affect you.
Highly acidic foods, and foods with low water activity are generally safe from botulism.
I just finished lunch and these recipes are making me hungry again!
A good article on canning food. I still like to cook, a little baking and going to the grocery store, average stuff to do.
I don’t care for the underscored paranoia of we must prep to store food.
Yes that makes sense in the snow country when snowed in for days.
I like to eat fresh foods, veggies, meat and some fruits. Don’t care to have to pay for higher wages of union members so every darn product has to increase too.
I don’t get a 40% raise in my Social Security check to cover food, gas and rent. Don’t care to be priced out of home or apartment because of a bunch of union whiners, What about us, we seniors are retired, some of us have disabilities that can’t go back to work.
Too many union con artist demanding more and more higher income, too bad!
A lot of people have eaten the Bidenomics moon pies too many times. They became fat and lazy, forgot they are Americans, not globalist.
Link#1 in the article is broken, it goes to the lost superfoods ad: https://www.thelostsurvivalfoods.com/?hop=lostways
The Doomsday Ration sounds great. Typical of the government to hide this recipe and other foods recipes from the public.
This could help the hungry and homeless in America today.
One of many reasons we are in hard times, is the monkeys keep voting for the same liberals expecting a better life. Bidenomics is spending our America into a national depression, go figure.
Munch away, don’t pull that fire alarm you thought was a disabled door opener switch, Ha, Ha!
Gratidão por esta receitas, farei com certeza,
Translated:
gratitude for this recipes, will make for sure,
Please use English on this site, thank you.
Two items: 1. We have increased our canning and have enjoyed these articles as guides.
2. Why do some people feel that they have to publish their political views in these comments????? This is definitely not the correct forum!!!
Why not you do a survey on what the preppers here want.
Ask if they want Prepping articles, political views or a mix of both in the comment section.
The preppers might want both segments on the blog for current events going on.
Your so sweet in your rage for dull neutralism. You sound like the pope.
Are you for building the border wall or not?
AMEN!! Doesn’t matter if you’re a R or a D…Keep the politics where they belong…in the crapper
Those seem like some pretty bland recipes, no spices at all.
Why not add your own spices to taste, then the recipes won’t be bland.
Have had high acid canned foods last a decade with no problem. Patience with your pressure cooker is wise, also not topping your jars with water, it’s not a bath. As for beans, lentils, and peas, I would store them dry in a 5 gallon lidded bucket in a cool dry place. Seems to me that to prepare meals in quarts should be done annually for convenience and not relied on for SHTF. If and when SHTF occurs, I would definitely prepare 21 to 28 jar ready meals to reduce my exposure to hostile observers, especially if I’m cooking on wood stove outside. In the multitude of many counselors is great wisdom. Guys, take what works for you and discard the rest.