Meal in a Jar Canning Recipe

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These guidelines will allow you to safely create your own meal-in-a-jar canning recipe using guidance from the National Center for Home Food Preservation and the University of Alaska Cooperative Extension.

Prep Time20

Cook Time10

Canning Time1 30

Total Time2

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Meal in a Jar

Servings: Quarts is the minimum batch size

Equipment

Ingredients

Ingredient Choices for Both Meal Types

Fresh vegetables e.g., carrots, onions, green beans
Meat e.g., beef, chicken, pork (cut into cubes)
Fish or seafood in bite-sized pieces
Pre-soaked and fully cooked beans Only for Brothy Meals, see notes
Broth or stock, water, or wine
Herbs and spices fresh or dried, to taste

Instructions

For Brothy Meals (Half Filled Jars):

Choose only ingredients that are approved for canning (no flour, dairy, cheese, bread or thickeners).
Prepare Ingredients as you would for canning them individually. Vegetables: Wash, peel if needed, and chop. Pre-cook dense vegetables like carrots. Meat: Cook until tender, remove excess fat and bones, then cut into bite-sized pieces. Brown ground meats. Fish/Seafood: Cut into small chunks, fish bones can remain. Beans: Fully rehydrate by soaking overnight.
Combine Ingredients: Mix prepared solids in a large pot. Add enough liquid to cover plus 2-3 inches. Bring to a boil, simmer for 5 minutes. Add herbs and spices.
Fill Jars: Use a slotted spoon to fill jars halfway with solids. Add hot liquid, this time filling the jar to nearly the top, leaving 1-inch headspace. The jars should be half solids, and the remaining space is filled with broth/water. Remove air bubbles, wipe rims, and secure lids.
Process in pressure canner: 60 minutes for pints, 75 minutes for quarts. For seafood recipes, process both pints and quarts for 100 minutes. Adjust pressure for altitude (see notes).
Cool and Store: Allow jars to cool completely before checking seals. Store sealed jars in a cool, dark place.

For Hearty Meals:

Choose only ingredients that are approved for canning (no flour, dairy, cheese, bread or thickeners). With hearty meals, you cannot use dry beans, leafy greens, winter squash, sweet potatoes, or creamed corn. Those are only allowed in brothy meals with half filled jars.
Prepare ingredients as you would for brothy meals above.
Combine Ingredients: Add all prepared solids to a large pot, cover with hot broth. Bring to a boil, simmer for 5 minutes.
Fill Jars: Pack jars with solid ingredients to 1-inch from top. Add hot broth to maintain 1-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles.
Process in pressure canner: 75 minutes for pints, 90 minutes for quarts. For seafood recipes, process pints only for 100 minutes. Adjust pressure for altitude (see notes).
Cool and Store: Let jars cool completely. Check seals before storing in a cool, dark place.

Notes

The total yield will depend on your recipe, as will the nutrition facts.

Brothy meals: Jars should be half-filled with solids before adding liquid, then fill with liquid to 1-inch headspace. Beans will expand during canning.
Hearty meals: Jars are mostly filled with solids to 1-inch headspace. Do not include dry beans, leafy greens, winter squash, sweet potatoes, or creamed corn.
Never add: Dairy products, thickeners, pasta, rice, or ingredients without specific canning guidelines.
Prepare all ingredients according to individual canning recommendations.
Seafood in hearty meals can only be canned in pint jars.
Minimum batch size: 2 quarts or 4 pints. Maximum depends on canner capacity.
Shelf life: Indefinite if properly sealed, but best quality within 12-18 months. Always check seals before use.

Raw Pack or Hot Pack

This customizable recipe uses hot pack because that's the way the guidance was developed at the NCHFP. The main reason is quality, as hot packs tend to work better with a wider variety of ingredients. Ball Canning has recently moved to raw pack in all of their pressure canning meal in a jar recipes because it's so much more convenient to just put raw ingredients into a jar and top with hot broth. The NCHFP has not adopted this guidance as of yet, so I've stuck with the hot pack here.

Altitude Adjustments

Canning times are the same regardless of altitude, but you do need to adjust the pressure at higher altitudes.

Dial Gauge Canner:

0-2,000 ft: 11 lbs pressure
2,001-4,000 ft: 12 lbs pressure
4,001-6,000 ft: 13 lbs pressure
6,001-8,000 ft: 14 lbs pressure

Weighted Gauge Canner:

0-1,000 ft: 10 lbs pressure
Above 1,000 ft: 15 lbs pressure

Reheating

Stovetop: Simmer in a saucepan for 10 minutes.
Microwave: Heat in jar after removing metal lid and ring.

Nutrition