Twice a year I home can a big batch of beef vegetable soup for my family to enjoy. This recipe is for your classic red sauce veggie soup but instead of using expensive chunks of beef, I use lean ground beef. You can play around with the spices to get the exact flavor that you prefer. Once it’s been properly processed and canned…it will keep for 12-18 months in your pantry. You’ll need a pressure canner and your standard home canning supplies.
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Home Canning Beef Vegetable Soup Recipe
3-4 lbs. lean ground beef
2 cups onions, finely chopped
1/2 cup green bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 cup red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups celery, finely chopped
6 cups peeled and diced white potatoes
6 cups carrots, thinly sliced
2 cups lima beans
2 cups green beans
4 cups whole kernel corn
2 cups peas
8 cups tomato sauce
2-3 cups stewed tomatoes
3 tbsp. basil
2 tbsp. oregano
2 tbsp. parsley
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
water
In a large skillet fry up the lean ground beef along with the finely chopped onions and chopped peppers until done. Drain off the grease.
You’ll need a large stock pot for the rest of the recipe. Pour the ground beef mixture into the pot. Then start adding all of the above ingredients including the spices stirring after each addition. If the mixture seems too thick you can add additional tomato sauce or a little bit of water. You want to get it to the correct consistency.
Cover the stock pot and simmer over low-to-medium heat for 2 hours, stirring every 30-45 minutes. You want to get everything cooked and thoroughly heated through…from top to bottom of the pot. Once it’s cooked…taste test it. If you want to add additional seasonings add them now and simmer for an additional 10-15 minutes. Reduce heat to low.
Home Canning the Beef Vegetale Soup
Prepare the pressure canner, glass mason jars, seals, wide-mouth funnel, jar lifter, spoons, etc. for the home canning process. Make sure everything is clean and dry.
Place 2-3″ of water into the base of the pressure canner. Turn heat on medium to get it simmering but not boiling hot.
Ladle the hot soup into hot jars leaving 1″ headspace at the top. Remove the air bubbles and adjust headspace if necessary. Wipe the rim of the jar with a clean cloth. Center the seal on top of the jar and then screw on the ring…just until it’s fingertip tight.
Place the jar immediately into the prepared pressure canner. Continue filling all of the glass mason jars in this manner. Place the lid onto the pressure canner and lock. Bring to a boil over medium to high heat. Vent steam for 10 minutes, then close the vent. Continue heating to achieve 10 lbs. pressure.
Process pint jars for 55 minutes or quart sized jars for 85 minutes.
Turn off the heat. Let pressure return to zero naturally. This can take 20-40 minutes so be patient. Once it reaches zero, wait for 5 additional minutes. Open the vent. Unlock the lid and remove it. Let the mason jars sit for an additionl 10 minutes in the pressure canner.
I lay a clean dry towel out on my kitchen counter-top. Carefully remove the mason jars from the pressure canner and place onto the towel. They need to be in a non-drafty area. Let them fully cool to room temperature. Label the jars with contents and date. They’re now ready to be stored in your pantry.
Variations and Tips
You can alter the type’s of vegetables to your liking. My family likes a lot of corn and lima beans in their vegetable soup. Just make sure you get the entire “cup volume” correct when preparing it. You can tailor the seasonings (spices) to your own liking. My mother adds 1/8 cup of granulated sugar to the recipe when she makes it. She likes her soup a tad sweet. We used lean ground beef but you can certainly cook up a beef roast and shred it for the recipe.
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