Homemade vegetable soup is so much better than soup out of a can from the grocery store. This one is delicious! For vegetable beef, Janet adds some cooked ground beef to the soup when she heats it up.
MAKES: 12-13 quarts
INGREDIENTS:
- 4 quarts peeled and quartered tomatoes (7 to 9 pounds)
- 4 quarts peeled and chopped potatoes (8 to 10 pounds)
- 6 cups peeled and chopped carrots (10 to 14 carrots)
- 4 cups cut or snapped green beans (1-inch pieces) (11⁄2 to 2 pounds)
- 4 onions, chopped
- 2 cups chopped celery (4 to 6 stalks)
- 18 cups water
- 12 beef soup base cubes
- 1 cup pearl barley
- 2 tablespoons table salt
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon Mrs. Dash® seasoning (optional)
- 1⁄2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
INSTRUCTIONS:
- In a 16- to 20-quart stainless steel stockpot, combine all of the ingredients in the order listed and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. The vegetables should be just tender but not soft. Remove the pot from the heat.
- Ladle the soup into hot pint jars, leaving 1-inch headspace. Remove any air bubbles. Wipe the jar rims and threads with a clean, damp paper towel. Apply hot lids and screw bands.
- Process pint jars for 60 minutes and quart jars for 75 minutes at 11 pounds of pressure in a dial-gauge pressure canner or at 10 pounds of pressure in a weighted-gauge pressure canner.
- After the processing time is complete, remove the canner from the heat. Let the pressure return to zero before removing the jars from the canner. Let cool for 12 to 24 hours. Check the seals and remove the screw bands. Store jars in a cool, dry, dark place for up to 1 year.
TIP:
- If you don’t have a stockpot big enough to hold the whole batch, you can use two stockpots or divide the ingredients in half and make a smaller batch.
