Looking for a yummy meal-in-a-jar recipe to use your dehydrated foods? This tasty instant beef and vegetable soup in a jar recipe is easy to put together and store in your pantry! And the secret - it uses frozen foods!
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Putting together meal in a jar recipes to have handy in your pantry can make meal time super easy.
It allows you to create meals on the go for travel or work. And as an added benefit, it allows you to gift meals to a family member or neighbor who needs a little extra help!
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Instant Beef and Vegetable Soup In a Jar Recipe
This recipe takes advantage of dehydrated foods and freeze-dried proteins (that are more shelf-stable than dehydrated).
Ingredient Tips:
- Beef: Use a freeze-dried ground meat or chicken to make a reliably shelf-stable version. You can also dehydrate hamburger meat to include if you prefer.
- Dehydrated Vegetables: Use whatever mix you prefer. This mix is from an instant soup mix created from frozen potatoes Obrien, pepper and onion mix, carrots, mixed vegetables, and onions that were dehydrated and blended together to create an instant soup mix. (view video)
- Grain: While this recipe uses dehydrated rice, you can also use couscous or any dehydrated grain or pasta for a quickly prepared meal. If you use regular dried pasta, the broth may turn a little cloudy from the starch from the uncooked pasta.
- Favorite Seasonings 1: Using an Italian herb blend is fine, or come up with your favorite seasoning blend for soups that you can use.
- Favorite Seasonings 2: Salt, pepper, garlic, and onion powders. Do these to taste.
- Bouillon powder: You can choose chicken, vegetable, or beef. If you use this, they are often very salty, so consider leaving out the salt in the Favorite Seasoning 2.
- Water (not pictured): if you prefer, you can use broth instead of water.
See the actual list of ingredients plus measurements in the recipe card below.
Darcy's Tips:
- My secret tip: Use frozen vegetables to dehydrate and create a large stock of shelf-stable vegetables to create meal in a jar recipes with for a greater variety! This saves time and money as the foods are already prepped and ready to dry!
- Make this your own. You can use these basic ingredients or use some that you prefer like broccoli, cauliflower, etc.
- You can use all freeze-dried foods for this recipe.
- When cooking, dehydrated foods need a little extra time, so if you find that more liquid has been absorbed than you'd like, add a little more!
- If you want even more ideas, check out this resource for more meal-in-a-jar recipes!
Storage
This meal in a jar will be best if used within six months. Because it contains freeze-dried proteins, you can add an oxygen absorber to help ensure good storage until ready to use if you plan on keeping this longer.
📖 Recipe
Instant Beef and Vegetable Soup in a Jar
Equipment
- Canning Jar
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup Dehydrated rice Use any dehydrated grain
- ⅓ Cup Freeze-dried beef Use any protein that you prefer or leave it out
- ½ Cup Dehydrated vegetables Use whichever you prefer
- 1 tablespoon Dehydrated onions
- 1.5 teaspoon bouillon use beef, chicken or vegetable
- 1.5 teaspoon Italian seasonings Use any blend that you like
- ½ teaspoon garlic
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon salt Optional - if using bouillon delete
- 2 cups Water Or use broth if you don't want to use bouillon
Instructions
- Layer ingredients into a canning jar
- Use a canning lid for an airtight seal
To Cook
- Place ingredients plus 2 cups of water and bring to a simmer in a medium sauce pan
- Allow to simmer for fifteen minutes or until vegetables are rehydrated and soft.
- Alternative #2: Place ingredients and water in a microwave-safe bowl or cup; run on high for 2-3 minutes (until water boils)
- Remove carefully, cover, and allow to sit until vegetables have absorbed water and are soft.
- Alternative #3: boil water in a kettle, pour over ingredients that are in a heat-proof bowl or container, allow to cook for fifteen minutes or so.
Video
Darcy's Tips
INGREDIENT TIPS:
- Dehydrated Vegetables: Use whatever mix you prefer. This mix is from an instant soup mix created from frozen potatoes Obrien, pepper and onion mix, carrots, mixed vegetables, and onions that were dehydrated and blended together to create an instant soup mix. (view video)
- Grain: While this recipe uses dehydrated rice, you can also use couscous or any dehydrated grain or pasta for a quickly prepared meal. If you use regular dried pasta, the broth may turn a little cloudy from the starch from the uncooked pasta.
- Favorite Seasonings 1: Using an Italian herb blend is fine, or come up with your favorite seasoning blend for soups that you can use.
- Favorite Seasonings 2: Salt, pepper, garlic, and onion powders. Do these to taste.
- Bouillon powder: You can choose chicken, vegetable, or beef. If you use this, they are often very salty, so consider leaving out the salt in the Favorite Seasoning 2.
- Water (not pictured): if you prefer, you can use broth instead of water.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimation only. Nutrient information for dehydrated foods is based on fresh. Use ¼ of the servicing size for the same nutrient information. Thus 1 Cup of fresh fruit has the same sugars as ¼ dried.
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Cindy says
Darcy, I love your dehydrated recipies. I modify them and make up meals for 2 for our extended conoe camping trips into the backcounrty of Algonquin Park in Ontario.Gegreat recipies.
Darcy Baldwin says
Have a great time!