Preserve & Savor: Pressure Canned Chicken Soup Made Simple

I love this chicken soup recipe because it is flavorful and really easy to put together. The best part about pressure canning your own chicken soup is that you are aware of each ingredient that goes into it and there will be no surprises. No artificial ingredients or preservatives! You can add veggies from your garden or farmers market and put chicken in it that you grew at home or bought locally. All you get is a hearty and healthy meal for your family to grab quickly and heat up. You can eat it as is or add noodles or rice, as a side, appetizer, or main meal! We eat chicken soup all the time when we need a quick and healthy meal.

This post contains affiliate links. This will not cost you anything but will help us offset the cost of running the blog. We only share products we use and would recommend to a friend. Thank you for your support!
Click ‘HERE’ for more info.

A lot went into this chicken soup endeavor. We cleared a couple of days out of our schedule to prepare the chickens and veggies. Some of the veggies were from my garden last year and were waiting patiently in the freezer! Everything lined up just right and I feel good about the whole process. My dad raises chickens so we were eager to can a lot of chicken soup when their processing date came. We typically have the chickens butchered, vacuum seal them, and let them rest in the refrigerator for 48 hours. I recently learned why the chicken has to rest or age in the fridge for about 2 days. Rigor mortis needs to pass. The meat will be very rigid when it sets in so the longer it sits in the refrigerator the more tender the meat will be.

After the chicken rested, we kept out 3 to cook and put the rest in the freezer for later. If you’re following my recipe below you’ll only need 1 chicken, but I made a larger batch (I had about 4 times the amount of chicken this recipe called for so I adjusted the other ingredients accordingly). I also kept the feet from the butcher and made stock using them to add to my soup.

Benefits of Chicken Feet Bone Broth

I know it doesn’t sound very appealing (it didn’t to me at first either) but when I started reading about the benefits of boiling chicken feet and bone broth, I knew I had to try it. Plus, I like the idea of using up more of the chicken and having less waste. You can drink chicken feet bone broth as an added nutrient to your diet or use it in your chicken soup. Now, before you chicken out and toss the chicken feet, here are some of their benefits:

• It’s flavorful and makes a great soup base
• Rich in collagen which can help strengthen hair, skin, and nails.
• Collagen can also help with joint pain and function.
• It contains folate which is important before and during pregnancy to help prevent birth defects.
• It contains calcium and phosphorus
• It may help regulate blood sugar and promote heart health

How to Make it

To make chicken feet bone broth you’ll want to clean the feet first. Then, put the feet into a large pot and cover with water. Boil for just about 5 minutes. Remove the feet and discard the water. This quick boil will get the scum out of the feet. When you’re done boiling, rinse with cold water. Next, you’ll want to snip off the claws/toes so the collagen and protein are released easily.

Now that the feet are prepped, put them back in the large pot, instant pot, or crock pot to cook. Low and slow is how you want to boil these (just like when you’re making bone broth) so that all the nutrients are released. Since I planned on using the chicken feet bone broth in my soup I didn’t add any seasonings or extra flavors to it. If you’re going to freeze or can this broth for later you may want to add some extra flavor with seasonings or veggies (you can use veggie scraps too!).

Simmer for 8-10 hours and then strain the broth. If you’re canning the broth, put it in jars while still hot and process according to your pressure canner’s directions.

Cook the Chicken

The first thing to do when making chicken soup is get your chicken cooked! If you do this using a lot of water you can also make your own broth simultaneously. This will save you from buying chicken stock or broth and you’ll have more control over your ingredients. I used a recipe out of a Ball canning and preserving book as a reference for this stock recipe. You can use any veggies you want to make the broth more flavorful.

Rinse the fresh or thawed chicken under cold water and set aside to drain. Wash and chop carrots and celery. Cut the onions into quarters. Save the veggie scraps to make bone broth later! Add chicken, water, and veggies to a large pot and bring to a boil. Cover and let simmer for about 2 hours, or until the chicken is tender. A meat thermometer should read 165ºF.

Remove the pot from the heat and take the chicken out to cool slightly. Skim any foam that might be on top. Strain the stock to use for the chicken soup. Don’t forget to save the veggies for bone broth later! Take the chicken off the bone and shred or dice it into bite-sized pieces. Set aside. Use the bones and all your veggie scraps to make bone broth. If you have more chicken than you need, consider trying this Chicken Pot Pie recipe! It is so yummy and the filling can be made in advance and frozen so an easier prep.

Chicken Soup Recipe

Now that the chicken is cooked and hopefully you have a bunch of broth from your chicken and chicken feet, it’s time to make the soup! Wash and chop the celery and carrots. Remove onion skins and chop. Prepare the corn. We freeze local sweet corn every year so I took this out of the freezer to thaw a little bit before adding it to the soup. You can use frozen corn, fresh corn off the cob, or canned corn. Save these veggie scraps for bone broth.

Combine chicken stock, chicken, veggies, spices, and bay leaves in a large pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let the soup simmer for 30 minutes. Remember that if you’re doing a big batch of this soup it will take longer to begin to boil. Feel free to get creative with your spices and veggies if you like your chicken soup a little bit different. I combined a few different chicken soup recipes I found to make this one just the way we like it. None of the recipes I looked at had corn but I just love that little added crunch so I put it in! Make this your own so that your family is sure to like it. Move on to pressure can the soup or serve now with noodles or rice.

Pressure Canning the Chicken Soup

While the soup is simmering, collect quart-sized jars, lids, and rings. Prepare the pressure canner and add two inches of water. There are a lot of pressure canners to choose from. I have one similar to this TFal Pressure Canner. Please remember you cannot water bath can this recipe, you have to have a pressure canner. Bring water to a simmer so it is ready for your jars. Ladle the hot soup into jars, leaving 1-inch of head space. Wipe the rims of the jars with a wet rag or paper towel. Make sure there are no air bubbles in the jar. Put the lids and rings on the jars making them fingertip tight. I use tools like these to help with the whole canning process. Just a few things make canning a lot easier.

Put the jars on a rack inside the pressure canner in the simmering water. Make sure your pressure canner has the right amount of water water (based on the directions of your specific canner). Secure the lid and vent the steam for 10 minutes. Close the vent so the canner will pressurize to 10psi. (on my canner it is set to 2). Once pressurized, process quart-sized jars for 1 hour and 30 minutes. (1 hour and 15 minutes for pints)

Turn off the heat and allow the pressure to come down to zero. Once it has reached zero remove the lid and let the jars cool for 10 minutes. Remove jars and allow them to cool undisturbed for 12 hours. Check to make sure they are sealed. Label and store. If a jar does not seal, store it in the refrigerator and eat it soon!

Chicken Bone Broth

Much like the chicken feet bone broth I talked about above, bone broth is full of nutrients and is a must-make. Grab the chicken bones and extra veggie scraps from the chicken soup and put it all into a crockpot, instant pot, or regular pot. I used the chicken carcasses, the onion skins and scraps from garlic, carrots, and celery in the bone broth. The more veggies and seasonings the better the flavor will be, not to mention the extra nutrients from the veggie scraps.

Cover with water and let the bones simmer until they become soft. This will take at least 12 hours depending on how you’re cooking it. Strain and jar your broth and enjoy in your next soup or by itself! If you’re going to can the broth in the pressure canner make sure to read the instructions in your canning manual.

Pressure Canned Chicken Soup

I love this chicken soup recipe because it is flavorful and really easy to put together. The best part about pressure canning your own chicken soup is that you are aware of each ingredient that goes into it and there will be no surprised. You can add your own veggies from your garden or farmers market and you can put chicken in it that you grew at home or bought locally too. No preservatives or fake ingredients. All you get is a hearty and healthy meal for your family to grab quickly and heat up.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 1 hour hr

Cook Time 3 hours hrs

Processing Time 2 hours hrs

Total Time 6 hours hrs

Course Soup

Cuisine American

Equipment

• Pressure Canner
• Canning Tools
• Large Pot
• 5-6 Quart Jars, Lids, & Rings

Ingredients

  

Chicken Stock

• 1 chicken 4-5 lbs
• 4 quarts water
• 2 carrots medium, cut into large pieces
• 2 celery stalks cut into large pieces
• 2 onions quartered
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tbsp salt

Chicken Soup

• 4 quarts chicken stock
• 3-4 cups diced chicken
• 1 cups celery chopped
• 1 1/2 cups carrots chopped
• 1 cup onions diced
• 1 cups corn
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 1/2 tbsp dried basil
• 4 tbsp dried parsley
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 3 tbsp salt

Instructions

 

Chicken Broth

• Rinse fresh or thawed chicken under cold water and set aside to drain.
• Wash and chop carrots and celery. Cut the onions into quarters. Save veggie scraps for another use or discard.
• Add chicken, water, and veggies to a large pot and bring to a boil. Cover and let simmer for about 2 hours, or until the chicken is tender. A meat thermometer should read 165ºF.
• Remove the pot from heat and take the chicken out to cool slightly. Skim any foam that might be on top. Strain the stock to use for the chicken soup. Discard veggies or save them for another use.
• Take the chicken off the bone and shred or dice it into bite-sized pieces. Set aside. Use bones to make bone broth or discard.

Chicken Soup

• Wash and chop celery and carrots. Remove onion skins and chop. Prepare the corn. Save veggie scraps for another use or discard.
• Combine chicken stock, chicken, veggies, spices, and bay leaves in a large pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let the soup simmer for 30 minutes.

Pressure Can

• While the soup is simmering, collect quart-sized jars, lids, and rings. Prepare pressure canner and add two inches of water. Bring water to a simmer.
• Ladle hot soup into jars, leaving 1-inch of head space. Wipe the rims of the jars with a wet rag or paper towel. Put the lids and rings on the jars making them fingertip tight.
• Put the jars on a rack inside the pressure canner in the simmering water. Make sure your pressure canner has the right amount of water water (based on the directions of your specific canner).
• Secure the lid and vent steam for 10 minutes. Close the vent so canner will pressurize to 10psi. (on my canner it is set to 2). Once pressurized, process quart sized jars for 1 hour 30 minutes. (1 hour and 15 minutes for pints)
• Turn off the heat and allow the pressure to come down to zero. Once it has reached zero remove the lid and let the jars cool for 10 minutes. Remove jars and allow them to cool undisturbed for 12 hours. Check to make sure they sealed. Label and store. If a jar does not seal, store it in the refrigerator and eat it soon!

Keyword Soup