If you want to learn more about canning, this free webinar is a great resource! Just click HERE, then press play to watch the free one hour webinar. Then, you can click on any of the links on that are on that page if you are interested in taking a full eCourse.
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Today I’d like to welcome my friend Jamie as a guest poster on the site. Take it away Jaime!
Happy Fall Everyone!
There is nothing else like a hot bowl of homemade soup on a cold windy day. But if you are like me, sometimes you want the food but maybe not all the mess, or you just don’t have the time at that moment. If you learn to can your own soup, you only have the mess once, but can enjoy the soup over and over again!
Home Canned Vegetable Beef soup is one of my favorites! It also a perfect soup to make at the end of the season when the last of the vegetables are finishing. This post isn’t a typical recipe, it’s more of a guideline to allow you to use your own recipe.
Even though this soup has to be pressure canned, it is still relatively easy to make and can. For using your specific pressure canner, read your instructions that came with it. It will basically require you to put a few quarts in your canner to start, add your jars with lids, properly attach the cover, let the steam release, let the pressure build, cook for allotted time and then cool down. If you don’t have a pressure canner yet, I highly recommend the All American Pressure Canner. Another good, but less expensive option is the Presto Pressure Canner.
Step One: Gather and Prep your ingredients
This is the fun part in my opinion. I love looking for and buying fresh produce or picking it from the garden. There is just something rewarding about having a counter full of fresh ingredients instead all the processed store boxes and cans. For this soup I use carrots, potatoes, corn, green beans, peas, onions, celery, bell peppers and beef (whatever is cheapest). Don’t worry, even the toughest cuts of meat will turn out tender once the canning process is complete.
You will want to wash all your vegetables and cut them into the size you prefer for your soup. I like everything cut into 1/4″-1/2″ cubes/dices. I also leave the skin on the potatoes when I use baby reds. If you don’t want all the trouble of washing / peeling / chopping fresh veggies, you can always use freeze dried veggies. They have all the same nutrients as garden fresh produce, but don’t require any prep time and work really well in canning!
Fresh cut vegetables
Freeze Dried Vegetables
Step Two: Cook your soup
In a large stock pot, add a little oil and your meat. I used beef stew meat for this soup. Brown your meat and add the seasonings that you like. I use pepper, garlic and onion powder and a little salt.
Once the beef is browned you can then add your stock/broth and your vegetables. I used to use V8 juice along with some beef stock. But since I found out about tomato powder, I’ve switched. I now use water, tomato powder and beef bouillon. It works well to give a nice deep flavor. Once everything is added and you have seasoned to your taste, let it simmer until the vegetables just start to get tender. You don’t want to cook it too long in the pot because it will all cook more during the canning process and you don’t want everything to become mush. I let it simmer about 20-30 minutes.
Step Three: Fill Jars and Pressure Cook
Now you are ready to fill your hot, prepared jars. I like to put my soup in wide mouth pint jars so that they are single serving size. Fill your jars making sure to keep 1″ of headspace. Clean rims before adding lids.
Now you are ready for the pressure canning. Place your jars into your canner, following your canner’s instructions. In my large canner I can fit 16 pints (8 per layer) with a separator between layers. Adjust your canner lid, bring up to pressure and process pints for 1 hour and 15 minutes for pints at 10 pounds of pressure (1 hour and 30 minutes for quarts). Let cool before removing jars.
Enjoy your home canned vegetable beef soup!
If you want to learn more about canning, this free webinar is a great resource! Just click HERE, then press play to watch the free one hour webinar. Then, you can click on any of the links on that are on that page if you are interested in taking a full eCourse.
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Can you hot bath the soup
No. Anything containing meat has to be pressure canned.
Yes, you can. My mom only used the hot bath method. We used hamburger for this soup. The meat is fried before you can it.
I have an electric pressure cooker ( Power pressure cooker XL) that should work? And how long? There is a canning setting
Thanks
My understanding is that those pressure cookers are not at all safe for canning. Government websites have said that they do not go to a high enough heat or pressure to safely preserve food. If you look at their ad, they are even showing a woman placing a jar on its side, in the cooker, to process it. Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings. I had bought one of these to replace my large Presto Canner, and was disappointed when I read about it not being safe, not for preserving at any rate.
The canning setting is for water bath canning, not pressure. The Instant Pot website has information about this. They say that electric pressure cookers use pressure mechanisms, not temperature controls to cook the food, so they are not suitable for low acid foods, like meat or vegetables. You will only want to use this for things that you could typically water bath, like tomatoes or pickles.
I also have the Power Pressure cooker and have successfully canned green beans last year and they are great. This year I have already done potatoes, chicken, broth, soup and hamburger meat. So far so good and all the settings and cooking times go along with my old Presto canner book. I still use boiling water bath for jellies and tomatoes. I did do some research on it, but it has worked fine for me and several of my friends.
You can only do water bath canning in an electric pressure cooker. You must have a stove top canner for everything but jams.
How long can you keep these soups? Refrigerated or not?
Thanks
B
1 year unrefrigerated
How long will the soup stay good canned.love this ideal
Can I do a water bath and not pressure cooker?
No, you must pressure can due to low acid in this food, plus it has meat. Usually all meat and vegetables must be pressure canned.
I have been reading up on how to pre-make meals like this one and hope to get started soon. I may have missed it, but how long does this store for?
I’m not sure as it is a guest post and I didn’t write it myself (one reason I’m no longer allowing guest posts…) I would say at least a year or two though!
How much of each vegi did you use?
The amount of vegetables all depends on how big of a batch you are making or how thick you like your soup. Because you start the cooking process before canning you can taste as you go. It also depends on how many different veggies you use.
if all your veggies and meat are cooked thoughly – do you still have to pressure can the soup for 1h +.
If you want to keep it for long term storage, yes it needs to pressure can it that long. You could also freeze it instead of canning.
I pressure cook the quart jars 10lbs for 30 minutes
Could I use frozen vegetables instead of fresh or freeze dried?
Absolutely!
Does this have to be pressure canned? Can I process in a traditional water bath?
Absolutely, it must be pressure canned. “The Ball Blue Book” is the standard for all things related to home canning. I have home canned many different foods. I have been home canning foods since my childhood (40+ years of canning experience). Your county home extension service is also a great source for home canning information. Canning is fun and productive but you MUST be safe in your pursuits.
Thanks Betty!
Hi! I found this post on Pinterest, and I’m adding a link to it in a Canning Recipe Roundup on my blog, today… hope you can stop by to see it! https://www.stringtownhome.net
Thanks Heather!
Where do you store it? Does it have to be refrigerated? And for how long?
I am at 3600 ft. What adjustments in pressure and time do I need to make?
Read “The Ball Blue Book” on canning for your adjustments. Be sure to always purchase the most recent edition of that book.
Thank you for putting up the info. i would like to start my own soups and sell them and this is good information on how to get started. I’m finding it a little overwhelming on how much i need to do and know before i can deliver this product to market but your outline here was the best description on the canning process I have seen to date.
Thanks
Hello love the write up. I have a question though how many pounds of meat did you use.
I think it was just over a pound Carmen. Sorry, this was a guest post and I can’t get in touch with Jamie to find out for sure!