Easy Recipe for Pressure Canning Homemade Beef Stew
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Canning beef stew is one of the easiest and most filling and delicious meals in jars I throw together. I’m all about convenience meals here, especially in the summer when time really gets away from me because it’s the working season on the farm and lots of things require lots of attention. This is when all these lovely meals I’ve canned come in clutch and keep us out of the drive thru (which isn’t close anyway) and we can’t order food in because nobody delivers to the boonies.
Layer in raw packed or cooked beef with your favorite stew veggies and seasonings and herbs and you got yourself a meal that the pressure canning process renders shelf stable. No using up freezer space or worrying during a power outage about your freezers full of food!
I love to thicken the canning liquid into a gravy and serve this with homemade garlic cheddar biscuits. It. Is. Delectable. I use 1 quart jar to feed my family of 4 since my kids are young still but I imagine I’ll have to double that once they’re bigger. This beef stew recipe is a great way to preserve all those chuck and round roasts you get from purchasing a custom beef from a local farmer that cleans out your freezer, but doesn’t skimp in flavor or nutrition. Promise.
This recipe is PER QUART JAR, so you can size it up to the number of jars you want to make. 4 quarts if you have an electric pressure canner, 7 for a manual pressure canner, or even 14 quarts if you have the wombo All American 941 model.
Raw Pack vs. Hot Pack
For beef, I’m normally okay with raw packing most recipes. It cans very well from raw and maintains a good texture unlike raw packed chicken or pork. So, for this recipe, do what you want. It really depends on the roasts I have and how fat covered and happy the steer was we processed. We recently had one that enjoyed his meals far too much as I rendered almost 13 gallons of delicious tallow from him and his roasts were quite marbled.
Because of that, I did choose to cook down the meat to render out some of that fat prior to canning, or I would have had a good layer of fat on the top that would have been pretty unappetizing. Otherwise, I normally just raw pack everything for this exact recipe. Beef also tastes really good seared before packing just for some extra flavor, so if you have time and the desire, do it. You won’t regret it.
Hot pack methods for meat also lend to a more pleasing looking food in jars. Raw pack method leaves it pretty unappetizing looking if I’m being honest, which doesn’t deter me, but you’ll quickly understand why the stores don’t sell canned meat in see through jars and would rather use cans with those pretty appetizing labels on them. Either work, just do some testing and make sure you like the method you choose before diving right in and canning a whole bunch.
Rebel Canning
This recipe can be considered rebel canning due to the exact recipe not being directly tested and also that I layer in the ingredients instead of tossing them together in a bowl before filling jars. Isn’t that insane? People actually get their panties all in a wad over LAYERING ingredients rather than tossing them together due to density and heat transfer. Okkkkkk. It’s giving “not thinking for yourself.”
This means this exact recipe has not been evaluated nor approved by the USDA or NCHFP (National Center for Home Food Preservation). Does that mean this recipe is unsafe? Sure doesn’t, as its one I and many others use and consume. What it does mean is as with any home canning, you should can at your own risk and use common sense. Make your own decisions because what I do and say I’m doing in my own home should not affect what you do in yours. If you are not comfortable with rebel canning, please don’t follow this recipe. In the end, you will have canned something you are afraid of and you will not eat it or use it and you will have essentially wasted your time and money.
Let’s make some home-canned beef stew!
Equipment You Might Want
- Bowls, sharp meat knife, cutting board, veggie peeler
- Pint jars or Quart jars
- Canning lids and screw bands
- Pressure Canner
- Jar funnel
- Jar lifter
Ingredients
- 1 pound beef roast (or cut of choice), trimmed & cubed
- 2 small potatoes, peeled & cubed
- 1 carrot, peeled & sliced
- 1 celery stalk, chopped
- 1/2 medium onion, chopped
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp beef bullion
- 1 tsp real salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp parsley
- Water or beef broth
Step 1: Prep
Start by washing and scrubbing produce under cool running water. Peel carrot and potatoes if desired (the approved method is peeled **Insert eye roll**).
Chop potatoes, carrot, celery, and onion into sizes you prefer to eat in a stew. I do small bite sized for potatoes and the carrot and then pretty finely chop the celery and onions since my kids don’ enjoy large chunks.
Trim and cut up your beef cut and cut off the bone. Chuck shoulder roast, round roast, rump roast, beef stew meat, any cuts work great for stew. My Mom even used ribeyes for hers… LOL. Trim any excess fat off. You can choose to sear your meat prior to canning for extra flavor if you desire, but it’s not necessary if you don’t want to.
Set everything aside in bowls.
Wash canning jars and lids in hot soapy water, rinse well, and set aside on a clean towel.
Step 2: Fill Jars
Bring a stock pot of water or beef broth to a boil. Plan on about 2 cups per quart jar you are canning.
Layer cubed beef into jars, filling about halfway full. Add in veggies, keeping below 1 inch head space.
Add in seasonings.
Ladle hot water or broth over top of jars to 1 inch headspace, remove air bubbles, and add more if needed to maintain headspace.
Wipe jar rims well and place lids on top and secure with a screw band according to lid manufacturer’s instruction.
Step 3: Canning
Place jar in your pressure canner and process quart jars for 90 minutes and pint-sized jars for 75 minutes at your elevations recommended pounds of pressure for LOW-ACID FOOD. When pressure canning, the canning times stay the same and the weight or pressure is what increases or decreases depending on your altitude. For a weighted pressure canner, you’ll use 10 pounds for <1000 ft and 15 pounds for 1000ft and above. If you own a dial gauge pressure canner, you can more dial in and fine tune your pressure if you’re above 1000 feet. The weight you use for this recipe will be the weight you use for all LOW ACID recipes. The overall process of pressure canner is quite easy and not scary once you get a couple runs under your belt. Promise!
Once processing time is complete, turn off heat and allow canner to completely depressurize.
When canner is depressurized, avoid any rapid change in temperature to prevent siphoning. Remove jars and set aside to cool undisturbed on a heat proof surface lined with a towel for 18-24 hours.
Step 4: Storage
Once cooled, remove bands, test for a proper seal, wash jars, label, and store in a cool dark place away from direct sunlight. Room temperature is fine, just keep away from extreme temperatures.
Any jars that did not seal can be reprocessed, but I don’t recommend it due to the veggies being very overcooked. Just put the jar in the fridge and eat it soon.
Shelf life is ’til you eat it. If the seal is good, it’s good. Aim to rotate canned foods out every 2 years for best flavor and nutritional content but they’ll last much longer than that if needed.
Step 5: Preparing
To a preheated cast iron pan, add 3 Tbs butter and melt. Add in 3 Tbs flour and whisk to combine to make a roux, allow to cook for a couple minutes.
Slowly add in 1 cup of milk, adding 1/2 cup of milk at a time. Whisk constantly. Once thickened, add in the juice from 1 quart jar of beef stew, whisk together to combine. Pour in remaining contents of the jar and stir. Cook until thickened to your liking and heated through. Serve with homemade biscuits.
Other use ideas: baked topped with biscuits, served over egg noodles, shepherd’s pie, heat and cook rice in the liquid, etc. Get creative and the uses are endless!
Notes:
You can substitute the beef with venison, chevon, bear, rabbit, pork roast, and poultry. It all works great, you just need to adjust the seasonings to fit the species of meat you’re using. Venison stew with this exact recipe is delicious!
If you enjoy red wine with your stew, add some to each jar before topping off with the hot water or broth. I just don’t use it because I don’t like it :D
And that’s how you have quick homemade meals ready for you in a jar on the shelf!
Equipment
- Bowls, sharp meat knife, cutting board, veggie peeler
- Pint Jars or Quart Jars
- Canning lids and screw bands
- jar lifter
Ingredients
Ingredients PER QUART JAR
- 1 pound beef roast or cut of choice, trimmed & cubed
- 2 small potatoes peeled & cubed
- 1 carrot peeled & sliced
- 1 celery stalk chopped
- 1/2 medium onion chopped
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp beef bullion
- 1 tsp real salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp parsley
- 2 cups Water or beef broth
Instructions
- Start by washing and scrubbing produce under cool running water. Peel carrot and potatoes if desired (the approved method is peeled **Insert eye roll**). Chop potatoes, carrot, celery, and onion into sizes you prefer to eat in a stew.
- Trim and cut up your beef cut and cut off the bone. Trim any excess fat off.
- Wash canning jars and lids in hot soapy water, rinse well, and set aside on a clean towel.
- Bring a stock pot of water or beef broth to a boil. Plan on about 2 cups per quart jar you are canning.
- Layer cubed beef into jars, filling about halfway full. Add in veggies, keeping below 1 inch head space.
- Add in remaining seasonings.
- Ladle hot water or broth over top of jars to 1 inch headspace, remove air bubbles, and add more if needed to maintain headspace.
- Wipe jar rims well and place lids on top and secure with a screw band according to lid manufacturer's instruction.
- Place jar in your pressure canner and process quart jars for 90 minutes and pint-sized jars for 75 minutes at your elevations recommended pounds of pressure for LOW-ACID FOOD.
- Once processing time is complete, turn off heat and allow canner to completely depressurize.
- When canner is depressurized, avoid any rapid change in temperature to prevent siphoning. Remove jars and set aside to cool undisturbed on a heat proof surface lined with a towel for 18-24 hours.
- Once cooled, remove bands, test for a proper seal, wash jars, label, and store in a cool dark place away from direct sunlight. Room temperature is fine, just keep away from extreme temperatures.
- Shelf life is 'til you eat it. If the seal is good, it's good. Aim to rotate canned foods out every 2 years for best flavor and nutritional content but they'll last much longer than that if needed.
To Prepare
- To a preheated cast iron pan, add 3 Tbs butter and melt. Add in 3 Tbs flour and whisk to combine to make a roux, allow to cook for a couple minutes.
- Slowly add in 1 cup of milk, adding 1/2 cup of milk at a time. Whisk constantly. Once thickened, add in the juice from 1 quart jar of beef stew, whisk together to combine. Pour in remaining contents of the jar and stir. Cook until thickened to your liking and heated through. Serve with homemade biscuits.
