Bourbon Chicken Meal in a Jar Pressure Canning Recipe
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This meal-in-a-jar Bourbon chicken is one of my all time favorites. It’s sweet, salty, sticky, and so so so good. Where I’m from, we have a business that sets up at our little street fair every year to sell bourbon chicken and it. is. so. good. OR the Chinese restaurant food court version… dreamy :D I had to go make my own… cause you know they’re adding some wild things to that stuff. I never have bourbon on hand and wouldn’t even know where to look in a liquor store for it, so I’ve always used apple juice. Close enough, I say! All the flavors of soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, and the apple juice meld into a lovely sauce that has amazing flavor. This bourbon chicken recipe NEEDS to be in your canning recipe book and on your shelves.
Do I Use Raw Chicken or Cooked Chicken?
For me, I usually can pre-cooked chicken because we don’t like the texture of raw packed poultry. I feel it gets kinda grainy and stringy and it’s just not that great for my family. With this recipe, you can use either, the processing time does not changed. We prefer pre-cooked and diced chicken thighs and/or breasts (or turkey) and they work perfectly! Cubed bite-size pieces is more on brand for the actual bourbon chicken, but I frequently use shredded that I pick off the bones after we’ve processed our meat chickens. In this case, do what works for you!
Equipment You Will Need
- Pressure Canner
- Stock Pot
- Cutting Board & Sharp Knife
- Quart Canning jars, lids, and rings
- Jar Funnel
- Jar Lifter
Ingredients
- Chicken breasts and/or thighs
- Garlic
- Apple juice or bourbon
- Brown Sugar
- Ketchup
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Chicken Broth
- Low Sodium Soy Sauce or coconut aminos
Let’s get to canning!
This recipe makes 7 quarts! If you would prefer pints, it will make 14 pints.
Step 1: Prep the Chicken
Decide whether you are raw packing or pre-cooking your chicken. Use around 10-11 pounds of boneless chicken breasts and thighs (or debone yourself like I do and save them for stock). For raw packed, cube the chicken thighs and breasts into bite sized pieces. For pre-cooked, or hot pack, either cook the chicken and shred it or cut up into bite size pieces and sauté in a large skillet with a little olive oil until all sides are golden brown. Remove from frying pan and set aside.
Step 2: Make the Sauce
To a stock pot, add:
- 4 tablespoons minced garlic, about 6 garlic cloves
- 3 cups apple juice (or bourbon if you got it)
- 3 cups brown sugar
- 1 cup home canned ketchup
- 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 3 3/4 cups soy sauce or coconut aminos
Over medium-high heat, while stirring, bring the sauce to a simmer. Reduce heat and allow sauce to simmer gently for about 10-15 minutes. This allows the flavors to meld; don’t skip it!
Step 3: Pack the Jars
Add the chicken pieces equally between 7 quart jars. Do not pack jars tightly because you want plenty of sauce.
Ladle the hot sauce over top to one inch headspace. De-bubble the jars and add more liquid if needed to maintain headspace.
Step 4: Pressure Canning
Wipe the rims of the jars with a vinegar soaked cloth. When canning meat, you want to get the rims really clean in case some fat has gotten on the rim. If fat gets between the rim and the lid, the lid seal will fail. That’s why I use vinegar! Add lids and bands and secure to manufacturer’s recommendation.
Pressure can quart jars for 90 minutes at your elevations recommended weight. If you chose to do pints, the time would reduce to 75 minutes.
Step 5: Storing
Once canning time is up, allow the pressure canner to completely depressurize before removing jars, setting on a heat proof surface covered with a clean towel, and allow to cool 18-24 hours. After cooling time, remove bands, test seals, wash jars, and store in a cool dark area away from direct sunlight.
These jars will keep for years as long as the seal is good, but for best nutritional value, try and consume within 18 months to 2 years.
To serve:
Strain out the liquid from the jar into a skillet and add 1 tablespoon of corn starch. Whisk well and heat over medium heat, bringing to a simmer. Once simmering, stir frequently and cook til thick. Once it is almost thickened to your liking, add the chicken in and stir to heat through and finish thickening the sauce. Serve on a bed of rice topped with green onions and a side of roasted broccoli. Enjoy!
Equipment
- 7 Quart Canning jars, lids & bands
- stock pot
- ladle
- jar lifter
Ingredients
- 10 pounds Raw chicken breast or thighs* see notes
- 4 Tbs garlic minced
- 3 cups bourbon or apple juice
- 3 cups brown sugar
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 3 3/4 cups soy sauce or coconut aminos
Instructions
- Loosely pack raw chicken thighs and/or breasts into prepared quart jars leaving about 2" headspace. [See notes below for using cooked chicken.]
- In a stock pot, stir together remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer, stirring frequently.
- Allow to simmer about 5 minutes.
- Ladle hot sauce over chicken to 1″ headspace. Debubble well and add more sauce to maintain 1″ headspace.
- Wipe rims with vinegar soaked cloth, add lids and bands.
- Pressure can at your elevations recommended pressure for meat times, 90 minutes quarts or 75 minutes pints.
- Allow pressure canner to full depressurize before removing jars with a jar lifter and setting aside to cool for 18-24 hours.
- After cooling, remove bands, test seals, wash jars, label, and store in a cool, dark area away from direct sunlight.
To use:
- Dump juice in pan and thicken with 1Tbs corn starch, bring to a simmer, whisking constantly. Once simmering and thickened, add chicken to coat & warm through!
Notes
- I use about 1.5 lbs of chicken per quart jar for this recipe. You want it to be loosely packed. I use about 6 chicken thighs per jar that have been deboned and skin removed. I leave about 2″ headspace. You want to have plenty of sauce.
- This recipe also works great with turkey breast and thighs; my family actually prefers turkey!
- If you choose to use cooked & shredded or diced chicken (my preference), fill the jars about 3/4 full with meat, not packing tightly. You want plenty of sauce in the jars!
- Any excess sauce leftover can be processed in the pressure canner with the bourbon chicken or water bath/steam canned for 20 minutes to be shelf stable for the next batch.
I made the bourbon chicken only I used pork. It was fabulous! Thank you
fabulous idea! Glad you enjoyed it :)
How do you pre-cook your chicken? Is your chicken cooked until done?
I either use fully cooked or cube it up and brown on all sides really quick before packing in jars. It doesn’t have to be fully cooked by any means!
Just to make sure before I make this it is 3 and 3/4 cups of soy sauce? Thank you.
Yes that’s right! It’s being distributed between 7 quarts.