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A woman placing finished canned stew jars onto a towel lined counter top.

Canned Beef Stew

Can your own homemade beef stew in a pressure canner to have easy convenience meals at your fingertips. The following recipe makes approximately 6 quarts (or 12 pints) of beef stew.
4.20 from 312 votes
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Course: Main Course, Soup
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Resting Time: 17 hours
Total Time: 19 hours
Servings: 6 quarts
Calories: 892kcal
Author: Carolyn Thomas

Equipment

  • Pressure Canner
  • 6 wide-mouth quart jars (or 12 wide-mouth pint jars)
  • Lids and bands
  • Jar lifter

Ingredients

  • 5 pounds stew beef cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
  • 10 cups potatoes peeled and cubed
  • 7 cups carrots peeled and sliced
  • 3 cups onions diced
  • 6 tsp sea salt
  • 1 pinch pepper (optional)
  • water or broth, boiling

Instructions

  • Prepare pressure canner with water and allow to come up to steaming (but not boiling). Meanwhile, get a kettle of water (or broth) boiling.
  • Distrubute cubed beef, potatoes, carrots, and onions equally into clean quart-sized mason jars.
  • Add 1 teaspoon salt into each jar.
  • Fill each jar with boiling water (or broth), leaving 1-inch headspace.
  • Using your canning wand (or a wooden skewer), slide it down all four sides of each jar to allow any bubbles to escape.
  • Check headspace and add additional water or broth, if needed, to bring it back up to 1-inch headspace.
  • Take a clean cloth and dip into white vinegar, wipe the rim of each jar well to remove any debris.
  • Center a canning lid onto each jar, then secure to fingertip tight with the canning ring.
  • Carefully lift and place each jar onto a rack inside the pressure canner, adjust water level, if needed.
  • Secure the lid of the pressure canner and bring the pressure up to full steam over medium-high heat.
  • Allow the pressure canner to vent at full steam for 10 minutes.
  • Place the weight or rocker onto the pressure canner and allow the pressure to build to the appropriate pressure for your elevation (see notes).
  • Process quart jars for 90 minutes, pint jars for 75 minutes.
  • Turn off the heat and allow pressure canner to naturally come back down to zero.
  • Remove the weight or rocker and wait 5-10 more minutes to allow pressure to equalize.
  • Remove the lid and carefully remove jars, keeping them level, and place them on a towel-lined counter.
  • Allow jars to sit, undisturbed, for 16 hours. Remove bands, check seals, wipe jars and store.

Notes

Determining Pressure - To know what pressure to can your stew, you need to know your elevation:
  • 0-1,000 feet - 10 pounds of pressure for a weighted-gauge, 11 pounds of pressure for a dial-gauge.
  • 1,001-2,000 feet - 15 pounds of pressure for a weighted-gauge, 11 pounds of pressure for a dial-gauge.
  • 2,001-4,000 feet - 15 pounds of pressure for a weighted-gauge, 12 pounds of pressure for a dial-gauge.
  • 4,001-6,000 feet - 15 pounds of pressure for a weighted-gauge, 13 pounds of pressure for a dial-gauge.
  • 6,001-8,000 feet - 15 pounds of pressure for a weighted-gauge, 14 pounds of pressure for a dial-gauge.
  • 8,001-10,000 feet - 15 pounds of pressure for a weighted-gauge, 15 pounds of pressure for a dial-gauge.
Use clean jars - It's important to use clean jars when canning stew, however, your jars do not need to be sterilized beforehand.
Clean rims with white vinegar - Cleaning the rims with vinegar as opposed to water will help cut through any fat that might be on the rims. Fat can inhibit a proper seal, so it's important to remove this prior to adding the lids.
Amounts may vary and are listed as a guideline. You can change this up depending on your own meat to veggie ratio that you prefer in your stew.  
Salt and seasonings are optional - As I mentioned, the salt and spices in this recipe are purely optional. I like to add it for flavor, but it’s not needed for any preservation benefits. If you want to add salt, and are using pint jars, reduce the amount of salt per jar to 1/2 teaspoon.
Processing time - Process quart jars for 90 minutes and pint jars for 75 minutes.
How to serve - To enjoy your canned stew, simply open a jar, heat, and serve. It’s excellent as is, with no-knead bread as a side, or serve it over homemade egg noodles or rice.

Nutrition

Calories: 892kcal | Carbohydrates: 83g | Protein: 93g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 234mg | Sodium: 2664mg | Potassium: 3357mg | Fiber: 13g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 24948IU | Vitamin C: 84mg | Calcium: 181mg | Iron: 11mg
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