101+ Mason Jar Meals

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Mason jar meals are a great way to put aside whole meals for your food storage. Through the canning or dry vacuuming process, you can put a meal up to help create long-term food storage. It will be convenient if you want to prepare a large amount and save it for later. Prepare an appetizing meal that will last for a while.

While there are all sorts of fun things you can store in a jar in the fridge or keep on a shelf for a short period of time (like salads in a jar, etc.), I’m going to concentrate mostly on those food storage meals that you can put up for long-term storage. This list will be very helpful and useful to you.

meals in jars recipes
Image Credit: Canva.

I have all these #10 Cans? Can I use them?

If you’re sitting on a ton of #10 cans full of freeze-dried foods, what do you do with it? This method allows you to create meals from that food storage so that you can rotate this into your daily meals. Some of the links will be made by folks who sell certain freeze-dried food products.

Keep in mind that you don’t have to be a part of those companies to create these meals on your own, with your own supplies, or with your own vendors. These are also a mix of Youtube videos and blog posts because there’s so much available everywhere!

While using your #10 cans to create stored food for basic meals, your long-term shelf life will be reduced. Since you’re reusing the cans the food you put inside them won’t last as long as the original product. Your foods will only last a few years as opposed to the suggested 25 years of the original product.

But you can create a shelf full of ready meals that are quick to put together and makes mealtime a snap on busy nights when you just don’t have time to cook a whole meal. You can also use your ready meals if you’ve forgotten to pull something out of the freezer.

Give the Gift of Mason Jar Meals to Others

Think what a blessing a few of these meals would be to someone who is homebound from sickness or has lost a job and could use a nice meal or two to help them out! You can also give these meals in a jar as wedding gifts to a newlywed couple to help them establish their food storage (think of the old-fashioned pound parties) or even to new parents to give them some quick meals for hectic nights when Mom needs a break!

These gifts would be so much better used than simply a few #10 cans of ‘raw material’ (i.e. freeze-dried foods) that may not be understood nor may the recipient be knowledgeable about how to use them in their everyday life.

But a jar they can pour out, add some water and a few fresh ingredients, and wham! Dinner is served! That’s how Hamburger Helper became famous!

101+ Easy Meals in a Jar Recipes

Ready to begin? Here is a list of recipes that you will surely love. It’s easy and very convenient to make. Let’s get started!

Breakfast Mason Jar Meals

Main Course Meals in a Jar

Soup Mason Jar Meals

Sides in a Jar

Desserts in a Jar

Other Treats in a Jar

Assorted Mixes in a Mason Jar

Drinks in a Mason Jar

Salads in a Jar

These salads are not shelf-stable, but they are a great way to prepare a week’s worth of meals and have them tucked away in the fridge to save you tons of time.

Sites dedicated to Meals in Jars

Further Tips for Mason Jar Meals

Ultimate Dehydrator Cookbook (read my review here). Not only is this a great technique book on how to dehydrate those products that can build your meals in a jar, she includes a lot of “just add water” meals, too!

How to Store Meals in a Jar

You can store them by drying, vacuum canning them in a mason jar, placing them in a jar with an oxygen absorber, or putting them in a mylar bag and sealing them. (Tutorials coming soon!)

While they don’t last as long as the individual freeze-dried or dehydrated commercial products that are sealed in those #10 cans, if stored properly with shelf-stable ingredients, they can last up to 5-7 years.

What’s your favorite meal in a jar recipe?

Jeff Ruddenham
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2 thoughts on “101+ Mason Jar Meals”

  1. What are your suggestions for sterilizing the jars before adding the ingredients? Just bought mine today and I’m nervous about food safety!

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  2. Is it possible to can eggs or omelets in a jar? Thots. Process? Shelf-life? (This would be a rebel thing to do. According to egg producer sites & of course Mother Ball and Father USDA & Inst for Canning this is a no-no. I a disclaimer is automatically implied to any comment.

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