Homemade canned food: 6 recipes for canning or freezing

Homemade canning is great for meals on the go. It’s also a great way to extend the shelf life of food, and perfect for enjoying local fruits and vegetables all year long! In this article, you’ll find effective home canning tips and discover 6 recipes to can or freeze. You’ll be glad to have prepped these when you won’t have time to cook 😉!

How to make homemade canned food in glass jars

Let’s face it: there’s nothing better for home canning than glass jars like Bernardin’s Mason jars! This company is the canning reference and offers a wealth of canning tips. Regarding home preservation, the most important things to consider are sterilizing the jars in hot water and sealing them in a pressure canner.

And if you ever run out of time for all these canning steps, Mason jars still remain excellent containers for freezing soups, sauces, broths, stews, and casseroles.

Homemade canned soup

For me, autumn equals soup. It’s getting chillier, and there’s nothing like a good soup to warm you up. And since it’s even colder in winter, we might as well have some soup already canned or in the freezer!

Simple root vegetable velouté

Do you like vegetables? This velouté is bursting with them! We grow so many great vegetables in Quebec (hey, leeks 😍!), and this soup recipe is a must‑have for canning or freezing. It allows me to enjoy a tasty mix of vegetables beyond their season.

Cauliflower and leek potage

Homemade canning can be a time‑consuming process. So when the recipe you need to prepare is quick, like this cauliflower and leek potage, you can save much time in the kitchen! To be made in enormous quantities for warming up on cold February evenings 🥶.

Canned sauces

Who remembers Chef Boyardee’s canned meals 🙋️? They were like a treat in our house because we loved good home‑cooked food so much more. In the fall, we made canned (or frozen) tomato and spaghetti sauces in Mason jars, so we didn’t need to open the Chef’s famous tin can too often 😉. With these 2 sauces, you, too, can say goodbye to Chef Boyardee or store‑bought sauce jars!

Gluten‑free veal and leek bolognese sauce

This canning recipe sauce is sure to blend well with any pasta. The vegetables are tender and flavourful, and the prosciutto adds texture and salty notes that complement all the ingredients.

Healthy spaghetti sauce

Here’s a sauce I particularly love for its blend of flavours. My personal touch? Instead of using lean ground beef or firm tofu, I switch the proteins and their amounts. Sometimes, I use ground beef and ground chicken, and other times, I replace some of the meat with textured vegetable protein (TVP). It’s up to you! Try any combinations until you find one that’s perfect for you 😊.

Home‑canned condiments and jams

When we think of homemade canned food, we often think of jams and chutneys. So, I couldn’t miss out on my 2 favourite recipes that I make a point to can every year!

Leek and cranberry chutney

We inevitably think of cranberries to serve with roast turkey or Christmas cipâte. Les Cultures de chez nous’s fabulous sliced, washed and ready‑to‑cook leeks are also featured in this recipe. They blend brilliantly with the cranberries to create a perfect condiment that will make you forget all about store‑bought cranberry jelly!

Blueberry and Grand Marnier jam

There’s no doubt that Quebec’s best blueberries can be found in Saint‑Cyrille‑de‑Wendover, in one of the pick‑your‑own fields at Les Cultures de chez nous. Their blueberries are perfect for this jam and enhanced by the Grand Marnier. Replace the blueberries and Grand Marnier with strawberries and Port if you’re feeling adventurous!

Homemade canning recipes for stocking up

We all have Mason jars or other glass jars for canning at home. I have an astronomical number of these jars for storing my homemade crabapple jelly in the fridge (divine on peanut butter toast!) and for stocking up on sauce or salsa. I also use them to store my blanched vegetables in the freezer. This gives me plenty of Quebec fruits and vegetables that are easy to cook and heat up during the winter.

Finally, when the Quebec green asparagus season is in full swing between mid‑May and late June, I recommend stocking up by prepping one of these 7 recipes for freezing or canning green asparagus!

Happy canning season!

— Serge