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I know, I know! You can get on Pinterest and find loads of recipes for meals in a jar. If you haven't looked, meals in a jar are shelf stable meals or desserts put together in canning jars. They are generally shelf stable for about a year (or more) and they are a great way to have something quick to fix in a pinch AND meals in a jar make terrific gifts! All the preparer has to do is add water and any other perishables that the recipe may call for.
Last week, I taught a back to basics jam making class to our church women's group. Each class that was taught had optional crafts associated with them. I decided that for my class I would also offer a meal in a jar as the optional "extra!" Well, the class went really well, we made a batch of strawberry jam, and I handed out samples of blackberry jam in these tiny jars! They were adorable as well as delicious! But, I digress...
This soup in a jar recipe is one that I have had for a long time and I have tweaked it to be more to my family's taste. The original recipe didn't even have garlic in it! I mean, how can you have chicken noodle soup without garlic? The ingredients are ones that you probably already have in your pantry, and if not, they are super easy to find and inexpensive. And yet, when the soup all comes together, it tastes great! My son and my husband both go back for seconds! Sure, it isn't your homemade noodle, grandma's handed down recipe, but it isn't bad at all for something really quick and convenient to make. As you can see in the picture, I include a can of chicken with my gift, or pair the chicken with the jar in my pantry. After that, all you need is 5 cups of water!
When you put the ingredients together in a jar, you will want to seal it to preserve the freshness of the noodles and the herbs and spices. I used my Food Saver with an attachable jar sealer to do that. I love this machine and sealing the jars is quick and easy! I purchased my Food Saver at Costco. Be sure that you get one that is compatible with the jar sealer attachment.
I made labels for the tops of the jars by printing them on the Avery site. You can use my pdf here.
I also made a recipe card that you can print, trim and attach to your jar. It tells you how to prepare the soup from the jar. Just click on it, open it and save it to print.
Here are the directions for putting the soup mix together. Isn't it great that it is in a pint jar? I love to use a wide mouth pint jar in order to hold enough noodles. As you put your noodles into the jar, be sure to shake them down so that you fit in as close to 2 cups as you can. Honestly, I shopped all over to find wide mouthed pint jars at the best price that I could for my class. The best price I found was at Target, in store, not online! They were pretty hard to find though. I bought the last boxes at two of the Targets that I shop at. So, good luck!
If you don't have a Food Saver, you could simply put on the lid and use it within 6 months. Or you could put in an O2 packet to help keep it fresh longer.
Click on this form for a printable pdf!
I mounted the soup recipe onto some decorative cardstock and trimmed it with decorative edged scissors and tied it to the jar with Baker's Twine. I went old school! Sometimes that still works best!
Everyone in the class had a great time and I was so pleased with how everything turned out. Do you have favorite "recipes in a jar" that make great gifts or quick meals? Send me the link to your favorites in the comments below!
