Survival Food: 5 Hearty Soup In A Jar Recipes

We’ve already discussed how to preserve many foods, and even entire meals, by canning them using either pressure canning or water bath canning.

Canning entire meals in a jar provides both convenience and nutrition; both of which will be to your advantage in a survival situation.

The difference between the two types of canning is that any food that is low acid, which is most vegetables and all meats, needs to be pressure canned in order for the food in the jars to reach a temperature that will kill all microorganisms such as botulism that will make you sick.

The general rule of thumb is that you process pint jars for 60 minutes and quart jars for 75 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure for vegetable soups, and 75 minutes for pints/90 minutes for quarts for meats. Leave 1 inch of headspace in the jars.

If you’re canning something with dried beans, put them in a pan and cover them with a couple inches of water. Simmer for 2 minutes, then remove from heat and let them soak in the hot water for at least an hour. Bring back to a boil, remove from heat, drain, and add to the soup.

The general rule for canning soups is that you have half small cubed solids and half liquid. This may sound like a lot of liquid, but by the time the other ingredients absorb the water and swell, it will be nice and hearty.

You want that much liquid in the beginning so that heat can circulate evenly, but when it’s finished, you’ll find that it’s about 3/4 solids to 1/2 liquid. Just enough to soak some bread in!

Don’t Overcook

The main thing to remember when canning soups is that you don’t want to cook it until it’s mush. You lose both flavor and nutrients at that point. This means that you’ll likely pack everything into the jars nearly raw. You can make soup and then can it, but if you do that, just know that many of your veggies will be pretty soft, and some will cook away altogether.

Bring everything to a rolling boil for 5 minutes or so, just long enough to get everything good and hot, then pack it into your jars and process. Let it cook in the jars.

With the long cooking times, you may find that rice (not instant) is better in your recipes than pasta, which cooks to goo.

These lessons of yesterday will teach you the basic skills you need for survival cooking! 

Sterilize and Clean Everything

This is the key to successful canning. Your jars need to be sterilized before you put food in them.

Do this by washing them in hot, soapy water. The same thing goes for all of the equipment that you use, including lids, rings, spatulas and anything else that will come into contact with the inside of the jar, or the food.

Video first seen on Marjorie Vangenewitt. 

Now, without further ado, let’s get to the recipes!

And remember – you can adapt any of your favorite recipes so that you may can them and have your favorite meals anytime that you want.

Canning isn’t just about planning for the apocalypse. In fact, that’s just an added bonus. Canning is a means to preserve healthy food that you’ve grown yourself, so that you know what you’re putting in your body. If you have some left over, then even better!

5 Delicious Soups in a Jar

1. Italian Rustica

• 2 gallons tomato juice
• 3 cups cubed carrots
• 2 cups chopped green beans
• 2 pint canned tomatoes, rough chopped, not drained
• 4 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 2 tablespoons dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon rosemary
• 2 teaspoons thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 tablespoons chopped or dried oregano
• 2 cups dried rice

Combine all ingredients except the rice in a soup pot. Bring to a rolling boil, then add the rice. Pack into jars and process. Yields about 12 quarts.

2. Ham and Bean Soup

• 2 gallons water
• 4 cups dried northern or cannelloni beans
• 4 cups chopped ham
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 1 tablespoon black pepper

Soak your dried beans as discussed above. Bring them to a boil, along with the salt, pepper and ham. Pack in jars and process accordingly. Yields about 12 quarts.

3. Beef Stew

• 4 pounds beef tips
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
• 1 tablespoon dried tarragon
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cups sliced carrots
• 4 medium potatoes, cubed
• 2 cups celery, diced
• 1 pint canned tomatoes, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 gallons beef stock

Braise beef tips with the onions and celery in a skillet just until rare but browned on all sides. Add all other ingredients and bring to a boil. Pack and process accordingly. Yields about 16 quarts.

4. Cabbage Stew

• 4 pounds ground meat, your choice
• 1 head cabbage, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cups carrots, chopped
• 1 pint canned tomatoes, chopped
• 1 cup celery, chopped
• 3 gallons water
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon chili powder, or to taste

Brown your meat in a skillet and drain. Add it along with all other ingredients to your stockpot and bring to a boil. Process accordingly. Yields about 12 quarts.

5. Southwest Stew

• 3 cups white rice, not instant
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 quart diced tomatoes with juice
• 4 pounds chicken breast, chopped
• 3 cups corn
• 3 15 oz. cans black beans, drained
• 2 tablespoon dried cilantro
• 2 packs taco seasoning
• 1 small can green chilis, diced
• 2 gallon chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon salt

Put all ingredients in a stockpot and bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Pack and process accordingly. Yields about 12 quarts.

All of these soups are both delicious and healthy, and fairly easy to prepare.

Do you wonder what where the cooking secrets that helped our grandfathers survive the Great Depression? Click the banner below to uncover them!

If you have any recipes that you’d like to share with us, we’d love to hear from you in the comments section below.

This article has been written by Theresa Crouse for Survivopedia.