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Ready-Made Taco Filling

Source of Recipe

From "Beginner's Guide to Canning" by Diane Devereaux


Recipe Introduction

"Avoid the fast-food drive-through but have dinner equally fast by having ready-made, Mexican-spiced ground meat in a jar! For this recipe, use any ground meat such as beef, venison, chicken, pork, or turkey. When you're ready to eat, simply heat a jar on the stovetop and make tacos, chili, lettuce wraps, you name it — all in a flash!"

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 10 pounds ground meat (beef, venison, chicken, turkey, or pork)
â—¦ 1 cup water
â—¦ 2 tablespoons chili powder
â—¦ 2 teaspoons garlic powder
â—¦ 2 teaspoons onion powder
â—¦ 2 teaspoons dried oregano
â—¦ 2 teaspoons paprika
â—¦ 1 teaspoon ground cumin
â—¦ 1 teaspoon salt
â—¦ 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper


Recipe

This recipe is hot packed, so have clean jars resting in hot water. Have a large colander resting atop a large bowl to safely drain fat from the ground meat after cooking.

In a large, deep pot, working in batches of about 2 pounds at a time, cook the meat over medium-high heat, stirring to break it up, for about 10 minutes or until cooked through. Place each cooked batch in a colander set inside a large bowl to drain. If the meat is not fatty, simply place the cooked meat in a large pot and cover to keep it warm.

Return the cooked meat to the stockpot. Set the pot over medium heat and add the water, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt, and pepper. Mix well. Cook the meat for an additional 5 minutes, mixing frequently, to thoroughly blend the seasonings.

Place the hot jars on a cutting board. Using a funnel, ladle the ground meat into the jars, leaving a generous 1-inch headspace. Lightly press the meat into the jars, being sure not to pack too tightly. Add additional meat if necessary to maintain the generous 1-inch headspace. Wipe the rim of each jar with a warm washcloth dipped in distilled white vinegar. Place a lid and ring on each jar and hand-tighten.

Fill the pressure canner with 3 quarts of water and add 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar. Place the jars in the pressure canner, lock the pressure canner lid, and bring to a boil over high heat. Let the canner vent for 10 minutes. Close the vent and continue heating to achieve 11 PSI for a dial gauge and 10 PSI for a weighted gauge. Process quarts for 90 minutes and pints for 75 minutes.

After the processing time has been reached, turn off the heat. Allow the pressure in the canner to reach zero on its own, which usually takes about 30 minutes. Safely remove the canner lid and allow the jars to sit for 10 minutes inside the canner before removing.

Makes 5 quarts or 10 pints



• Try This Instead:
My kids and I love curry chicken lettuce wraps for a quick, healthy meal. While cooking the 10 pounds of ground chicken, add 2 tablespoons yellow curry, 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 2 teaspoons each of onion and garlic powder, and 1 teaspoon each of salt and black pepper. To enjoy, heat a jar and serve inside a piece of iceberg lettuce with cooked rice and a dash or two of soy sauce.