Canning Soup
Homemade Soups

Home canning soup is a wonderful way to have quick lunches ready. There are a few things to remember.

Soups will always need to be pressure canned.

Do not add noodles, rice, flour, cream or any milk or any thickeners. All these can be added when you heat the soup to serve it.

If you are using beans or peas they must be cooked prior to canning.

It is also not recommended to can pureed type soups.... so I do not give directions for this.

There are those who do this with confidence ... I tend to be cautious with my canning practices so I do not.

However.... what I would do is make the soup and can it prior to pureeing! Just can it chunky. Then when you open the jar to serve it, puree it at that point.

Directions for canning soup

First cook any meats and vegetables.

If you are canning soup with beans cook them by covering dried beans with water by a couple of inches. Bring to a boil and simmer for 2 minutes, remove from the heat and let soak for at least 1 hour and drain.

Combine all solid ingredients and add whatever broth you may be using. Chicken broth, beef broth, canned tomatoes or water.

Add spices and seasoning at this point as well. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.

Remember no dairy, thickeners, pasta or rice. These can be added later when you serve the soup.

Fill your jars leaving a 1 inch head space. Be sure to fill each jar about halfway full with the solid ingredients. I use a slotted spoon. Then add the liquid to the cover. This way you don't end up with some jars being mostly broth and others having too much solid ingredients.

In this image you can see several jars where I've added the veggies and meat. Then one jar on the left where I've added the liquid.

There is also a safety reason for this. The gist of it is; you want the heat to penetrate fully to the center of the jar. If your soup is too thick, it may not do so.

This soup in these images is Portuguese Bean and Cabbage Soup. Recipe can be found on homemade soup recipes.

Having extra liquid can also be helpful if you'll be adding noodles or rice when you serve it.

Tip:
I like chunky soup. So there were a few times where I realized I was not going to have enough liquid to cover each jar. Depending on the soup... chicken broth is the best base. So if that happens to you just evenly distribute the soup liquid you do have.
Then if needed top off each jar with a bit of chicken broth. (heat it up first). This has worked well for me. You could just add water... but I'm always afraid it will dilute the flavor. But if you really only need a bit more liquid... water would probably work too.

Place your lids and process following pressure canning instructions.

Process pints 60 minutes, quarts 75 minutes. Be sure to adjust your pressure according to your altitude.

If you are canning soup with seafood you will need process either pints or quarts for 100 minutes.

Be sure to adjust processing according to your altitude. For more information see this altitude adjustments page.

Adjustments for Pressure Canner
Altitude in Feet	Dial Gauge Canner	Weighted Gauge Canner
0-1000	10	10
1001-2000	11	15
2001-4000	12	15
4001-6000	13	15
6001-8000	14	15
8000-10,000	15	15