7 Quick and Easy Canned Meal Recipes
Today, I am here to share some of my favorite canned meals featuring items from our home canned foods.
Whether you're an experienced canner, a beginner, or just curious about the use of home canned foods, the meals that I'm about to share will show you why having a canning pantry is the ultimate convenience food.
Canning allows me to eat gourmet every day. I can buy seasonal produce in bulk because I know how to preserve it. It's allowed me to increase my support at the local farmer's market and maintain full control over the ingredients that I want to put in or keep out of the foods that we eat every day.
1. Carrot cake jam ham and potatoes
For this meal, I’m using canned carrot cake jam and canned garden green beans.
Carrot cake jam makes an excellent glaze on top of chicken, pork, and especially ham.
I had a few fresh potatoes on hand, so I started by cleaning and dicing them. Then I covered them with water and tenderized them in the microwave.
When the potatoes were fork tender I added milk, melted butter, and a pinch of pepper. Then I hand-mashed them. We leave the skin on our potatoes because it has tons of nutrients and now we prefer the taste.
I took a fully cooked ham and sliced off a few pieces to lightly fry in my skillet. Then I grabbed my jar of green beans and brought them to a boil in a pan for a few minutes.
Preparing this meal took just 15 minutes from start to finish and most of that time was spent waiting for the potatoes to soften in the microwave.
The savory spices mixed with the sweetness from the chunks of pineapple and pears went perfectly with the ham.
2. Sweet balsamic and rosemary jam meatloaf
For this meal, I used my canned sweet balsamic and onion rosemary jam. It's a mix of yellow and red onions that simmer in a robust marinade of garlic, honey, balsamic vinegar, and rosemary.
It's the perfect all-purpose savory spread.
It took 10 minutes to prepare and I only used one pan.
Simply add your ground beef to your baking dish, toss in your breadcrumbs, and sprinkle with pepper to taste.
Add an egg and a couple of scoops of your sweet balsamic and onion rosemary jam.
Give everything a good mix. This jam immediately infuses the salted onion and garlic taste. The honey and brown sugar give it the sweetness that you usually reserve for a ketchup-based topping and the balsamic and rosemary make the flavor satisfying.
Before I was a canner, this recipe would have required me to dice the onion, and garlic, and rummage through my spices and herbs to make a glaze and a filling. Now all that goodness and prep is already in the jam.
3. Homemade spaghetti sauce with squash
For this meal, I’m using a can of homemade pasta sauce for a meatball spaghetti squash. I made this batch over the summer with a blend of herbs from my garden and gave it an especially robust basil taste.
I love that my tomatoes are grown on a family-owned farm that I know, love, and am happy to support.
Spaghetti squash has an incredibly long storage life. The one that I'm using in this meal is from the fall stockpile that I purchased five months ago at the farmer's market.
I enjoy using spaghetti squash as a pasta substitute because it has fewer calories and carbs than traditional pasta and way more fiber and nutrients.
4. Canned pulled pork and pesto
For this recipe, I am using canned pulled pork. Pork is just as tender and flavorful canned as it is fresh. I tossed in some basil pesto I had frozen this summer to create a filling for a basil pork pita sandwich. I added radishes to give things a crunch, then wrapped it up.
5. Sweet pepper and apricot chutney with salmon and veggies
The canned items in this meal are sweet pepper and apricot chutney, asparagus, and corn. I highly recommend canning your own corn. Fresh corn off the cob has a remarkable taste and is one that I enjoy all year.
I prefer using chutneys because they eliminate the stress of wondering how I'm going to prepare salmon. That's one of the many things that I enjoy about canning.
I never feel like I'm in a meal rut when it comes to preparing meats, pasta, casseroles, or anything else. My home-canned pantry gives me endless options.
6. Taco soup with fixings
A few weeks ago, I canned about 10 quarts of mixed vegetable taco soup, and it was just what I needed this chilly afternoon. Opening up this canned soup is a sensory overload experience.
After warming up the soup, I added some cheese and fresh spring onion from a raised bed on my deck. Then I tucked in a blend of crackers.
A good bowl of soup warms you to your soul.
7. Sweet orange marmalade pork with side salad
The canned ingredient I'll be using in this meal is my sweet orange marmalade. It’s an uncomplicated recipe that uses standard navel oranges. It has a subtle citrus bite and leans on the sweet and savory side of the honey, brown sugar, and warming spices that I add.
Pork roasts are quick cooking and I love using this jam to make an instant glaze for anything from baked goods to brisket. I paired this with a simple salad.
Canned meals
I hope these canned meal ideas inspire you to try canning some of your favorite fresh produce. Canning is a great way to preserve freshness and create quick and easy meals.
Leave me a comment and let me know if you have any questions, or tips of your own you can share with me.
Comments
Join the conversation