Korean Beef Meal in a Jar Pressure Canning Recipe
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Korean beef is a dish I like to make with a pound of ground beef and I wanted to try to stuff it in a jar. The issue is, we really don’t enjoy home canned ground beef or any ground meat really. The texture is off putting unless you fry it really hard after opening, which wouldn’t work as a meal in a jar in my opinion. I use beef roasts, or sirloin steaks would be good, in this canning recipe and it works perfectly served over rice or even in lettuce wraps if you have some crunchy bib lettuce growing in your garden. This easy meal in a jar recipe will get meals up on your shelves with minimal effort and maximum flavor.
I made this recipe per quart jar so you can make as little or as much of this as you want! The mixture of soy sauce, orange juice, and brown sugar makes for a tender and flavorful ready-made meal on your pantry shelf. Home canning always pays off when you can convenience meals! Who could be mad about a quick meal that involves dumping a jar and heating it?!
What is Korean Beef?
Commonly known as bulgogi, which is Korean barbecued beef, a mixture of an acidic fruit with soy sauce and sugar or honey to create a sweet and salty, sticky sauce. Serve with lettuce wraps and pile some home fermented kimchi on top and you got yourself a Korean dish. While mine is absolutely not authentic, in my research, I read that some traditional mothers use coca-cola as the meat tenderizer (absolutely not) but the most popular seems to be smashed up pears. I figure smashed up pears in beef isn’t my thing, but may someday try pear juice. For the sake of this recipe, I prefer to use orange juice because I have it on hand as I home can it and it gives a nice acid and sweetness to the sauce just the same. Feel free to do what you’d like with your recipe and make it your own!
The cuts and types of meat used for Korean beef seem to most commonly be thinly sliced sirloin steak. If you have this and want to can it, do it. I grind mine into hamburger because it is my LEAST FAVORITE cut of beef. I used a mixture of beef round and chuck roast and it was perfect! If you would like to try ground beef, give it a go, but I don’t think it will be very good.
Let’s can us a meal in a jar!
Equipment
- Pressure canner
- Wide mouth quart canning jars, lids, and rings
- Jar funnel
- Jar lifter
Ingredients
- Beef cut of choice
- Soy sauce or coconut aminos
- Orange Juice
- Brown Sugar
- Onion
Again, this recipe is PER QUART JAR, so resize as needed to fill your canner and make as much as you want!
Step 1: Prep the Ingredients
Plan on 1.5-2 pounds of beef per quart jar. Trim, de-bone, and cube up the beef.
Chop up 1/2 an onion per quart jar.
Set ingredients aside.
Step 2: Prep Jars
Wash quart jars and lids in hot soapy water, rinse well, and set aside on a towel-lined counter.
Step 3: Fill Jars
Layer in beef and 1/2 onion into each quart jar. Keep ingredients below about 1 1/2 inch headspace.
Now. You’ll read that when raw packing beef you shouldn’t add extra liquid according to the national center for home food preservation (NCHFP) and also in most canning books. I do, because I want to. You don’t have to do it this way.
If you would prefer, par cook the beef by browning the cubes and then pack into jars to 1″ headspace and add the sauce after that. Or you can heat in the sauce as I’ll detail in the step 5.
Step 4: Add in the Sauce
Per quart jar, add:
- 1/2 cup soy sauce or coconut aminos
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
Step 5: Pressure Canning
Wipe jar rims with a vinegar dampened cloth thoroughly.
Add lids and bands and tighten to lid manufacturer’s specifications.
To prevent siphoning, be sure and heat up your pressure canner slowly if you raw packed and added the sauce ingredients straight to the jar instead of preheating them. If you are using an electric pressure canner or would like to heat your canner up more aggressively, by all means preheat your ingredients in a pot before adding to the jar so you can hot pack them. You can measure out the amount of sauce you need for the amount of quart jars you’re using and heat the cubed beef up in it, strain out with a slotted spoon evenly distributing into the quart jars and then ladle to sauce over top. Easy peasy!
Pressure can quart jars for 90 minutes at your elevations recommended pounds of pressure. Be sure and know your elevation when canning so you are using the correct pressure to preserve your food.
If you would prefer to can pint jars, halve all the ingredients and adjust processing times to 75 minutes.
After the canning time is completed, shut off heat and allow canner to completely depressurize. Remove jars to a heat proof surface covered with a towel and allow to cool undisturbed 18-24 hours.
Step 6: Storing
After cooling, remove bands and test lid seals. Any jars that did not seal within 24 hours can be reprocessed, placed in the fridge to eat soon, or contents placed in a freezer safe container and frozen for later.
Wash jars in soapy water, label, and store in a cool, dark place away from direct sunlight.
Place on your pantry shelf and admire your homemade convenience food!
Step 7: Serving
To serve, strain the liquid in the jar off the meat mixture. Add the beef to a preheated cast iron skillet with some olive oil to fry quickly and get the edges a little crispy.
In a separate pot, add the liquid sauce from the jar and whisk in 1 tablespoon of corn starch. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a simmer to thicken. If you enjoy a thicker sauce, add more corn starch. If you don’t like cornstarch, use whatever thickener you want.
Once the sauce is thickened, add it to the heated beef and stir to combine.
Serve over rice with a side of steamed snap peas or veggie of choice!
Grow some leafy lettuce and use it for lettuce wraps for lunch and pile on some home fermented kimchi! This recipe is versatile and can be used in so many different versions. Be creative and eat well!
Happy canning!
Equipment
- Wide mouth quart canning jars, lids, and rings
- jar lifter
Ingredients
Ingredients are PER QUART JAR
- 2 pounds Beef cut of choice
- 1/2 Onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 cup Soy sauce or coconut aminos
- 1/2 cup Orange Juice
- 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
Instructions
- Trim, de-bone, and cube up the beef. Chop up 1/2 an onion and mice 3 cloves of garlic per quart jar. Set ingredients aside.
- Wash quart jars and lids in hot soapy water, rinse well, and set aside on a towel-lined counter.
- Layer in beef, onion, and garlic into each quart jar. Keep ingredients below about 1 1/2-1 1/4 inch headspace.
- Add in the soy sauce, orange juice, and brown sugar.
- Wipe jar rims with a vinegar dampened cloth and add lids and bands.
- Pressure can quart jars for 90 minutes at your elevations recommended weight of pressure.
- Once processing time is complete, shut off heat and allow canner to completely depressurize. Remove jars to a heat proof surface and allow to cool undisturbed for 18-24 hours.
- After cooling, remove bands and test seals. Wash and label jars. Store in a cool, dark area away from direct sunlight.
Notes
