How to Can Cabbage Beef Soup

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Cabbage is one of those vegetables you either love it or hate it.  Me – love it!  Raw, cooked or however you want to fix it.  Cole Slaw, Sauerkraut, Chow-Chow, boiled, baked, stuffed and of course Cabbage Beef Soup – yum!

But is it safe to can cabbage beef soup? This question gets a lot of controversy. Here at our homestead, I do can it. Read on and I’ll let you decide.

Canning Cabbage Safety Notes

Before I begin, I should tell you, the USDA nor the National Center for Home Food Preservation, at this time, have a recipe or recommendation for canning cabbage or canning cabbage soup. 

The NCFHFP’s “free mix soup section” says that each vegetable should be selected, washed, prepared and cooked in their own canning instruction for canning.

Since “they” have not taken the time to test canning cabbage, using it in a soup mix does not meet USDA guidelines for home canning.

Having done extensive research on this topic, for myself, and of course you can find all sorts of opinions.

I would never pressure can plain cabbage in a jar, but this cabbage beef soup recipe is mixed with ground beef and pressure canned for 90 minutes at my altitude. It’s pretty much like canning vegetable soup with cabbage instead of potatoes.

So with this said, I serve this cabbage beef soup recipe to my family. The cabbage does not become bitter, but it does lose some color. It’s chopped in tiny thin pieces and thoroughly cooked.

Nothing is better than cabbage and beef together, we love it. And it’s wonderful to open a homemade jar of Cabbage Beef Soup heat and serve in the winter. 

So, please use your own personal judgement when canning this recipe.  Of course, it doesn’t have to be canned, you can just make it and eat it.

Pressure canning tip

You will need a pressure canner for canning this vegetable soup with cabbage. To learn about the utensils you will need, my Simple Canning Guide for Beginners. 

This recipe MUST be pressure canned which reaches temperatures high enough to kill bacteria and spores.  Water boiling canning will not be hot enough.

Supplies Needed:

• Canning Jars
• Jar lids and Rings
• 10 inch Iron Skillet
• Knife
• Cutting Board
• Strainer or Colander
• Pressure Canner
• Jar Lifter

Ingredients Needed:

• 2 lbs ground beef
• 8 cups of water
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 10 Beef Bouillon Cubes
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 6 cups fresh cabbage, shredded thin (remove thick white stalk pieces)
• 1 cup Green Bell Pepper, chopped
• 2- (16 oz) cans of Light Kidney Beans
• 1 cup celery, chopped
• 2 quarts of whole canned tomatoes in juice
• 2 Tbsp Garlic Powder
• 20 “Turns” of Fresh Pepper Corns (in a pepper corn grinder)
• 2 tsp Canning Salt
• 1 Tbsp Dried Parsley
• 2 Tbsp Fresh Dried Basil
• 1 Tbsp Dried Oregano
• 1 tsp Dry Celery

How to Make The Best Cabbage Beef Soup

Cooking:

In a cast iron skillet, brown 2 pounds of ground beef until no longer pink and completely done. With a colander, run fresh water over beef to help remove grease. Set aside.

Note: Save 3 tablespoons of grease for sauteing onions and garlic.

Prepping Vegetables

While beef is cooking, mince, chop, shred all vegetables that will be used and set aside.

Making Beef Broth:

Place 8 cups water into a large bowl or use 2 quart jars and in each jar add add in Beef Bouillon cubes. Microwave for 5 minutes to dissolve cubes.  Remove carefully, will be very hot, stir well to make sure cubes are well dissolved. Set aside.

Sauteing Onions & Garlic

In a large stock pot, pour in beef grease, toss in 1 large chopped onion and garlic saute’ until tender. 

Mixing Ingredients for Cabbage Beef Vegetable Soup

Once onions and garlic are tender, add in cooked ground beef, cabbage, celery, green pepper, kidney beans, tomatoes with juice, and beef broth – mix well.

Stir in all dry ingredients: garlic powder, pepper corns, canning salt, parsley, basil, oregano, and celery.

Cook on medium-low for 30 minutes. This allows all the flavors to blend well.

At this point, soup is ready to eat. Your busy weeknight family dinner is ready.

RELATED: Use “The Complete Beginners Guide To Home Canning” and get comfortable with home canning.

Prepping to Can Soup

While soup is simmering, start prepping canning jars for canning.

To learn how to prep jars, refer to my Canning Guide for Beginners. They should be hot when soup is put into them.

How to Can Cabbage Beef Soup

Filling Jars:

Place a towel or cloth of some sort on the counter to sit hot jars on. They need not be on a cool counter, the hot soup could cause them to bust.

Using a spoon strainer, fill jars to half-full with solid ingredients and then using a soup ladle fill remainder of jar with juice to a 1 inch head-space.

I like to fill jars with the spoon strainer first just to be sure the soup has enough juice in it. Otherwise, the liquid is the first to fill the jar and the vegetables will be left in the bottom of the pot.

With a clean damp cloth wipe any food particles or juice from the rim of the mason jar, carefully place warm lid and ring on and tighten to finger tight.

As you fill each jar, place it into your pressure canner filled with 2 inches of water. Make sure to have the rack in the bottom of your canner.

Processing:

Place lid on canner and lock.  Adjust heat to high.  Vent steam for approximately 10 minutes and place gauge on canner. 

Process pint jars at 10 pounds for 90 minutes.  Quart jars will need to be processed for 95 minutes.

Turn off heat;  allow canner to cool to zero pressure.  Remove jars from canner and place on a towel or cloth and allow to sit undisturbed for 24 hours.  Resist the temptation to tighten bands.

Check seals, label and store.

So, does your family love hot soup?  Mine does especially during the winter.  Do you have any kind of soup that you like to can?  Please free to share.  

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