Mason Jar Make-Ahead Meals – Meals In A Jar

Are you ready for recipes to make some mason jar make-ahead meals? Get over 30 recipes to get you started on stocking your pantry or for great gifts!

Getting your food storage pantry stocked with delicious, easy-to-prepare foods will make busy nights much easier.

Just heat and eat is the key here. With all the easy to prepare foods you can make, it’s a great way to add healthy, quick prepared foods to your pantry.

Meals, drinks, and desserts in jars are also a great way to get prepared for camping, hiking, or other outings without spending a lot of money.

This is a great way to take dry foods bought in bulk and create something delicious for later use. What you are doing essentially, is creating your own groceries!

Skip the boxed Hamburger Helper, or bagged cookie mix and go for something more healthy where YOU control the ingredients!

How about gifts-in-a-jar ideas for a neighbor, teacher, or friend? Healthy cookie mixes or drink mixes are always welcome!

How about for that new mom or bride? Send along a meal in a jar with a new kitchen towel and wooden spoon for a perfect present!

Most of the jars should be vacuumed sealed, to ensure more air is taken out and storage shelf life is longer.

If you don’t have a vacuum sealer, you can seal them in the jar and rotate within 2-3 months.

You can also store them in Ziploc baggies, but be sure to get as much air out of the bag and use within 2 months. So, are you ready for some recipes to make some mason jar make ahead.

Breakfast In A Jar Recipes

Homemade Muffin Mix

Ah, muffins, the breakfast of choice for long car trips, day hikes, and just an all-time snack that’s perfect for any occasion!

There are so many variants to choose from that it’s sometimes hard to buy them, blueberry, chocolate chip, carrot, banana, the list goes on and on and on!

Of course, buying muffins or muffin mix can get a tad pricey after a while and they’re not always nice. So, how do you get around that problem? Well, why not make your own muffin mix?

The basic mix is simple enough and you can add whatever you like to the mix depending on what kind of muffins you’re craving!

Pancake Mix

Seriously, who doesn’t like pancakes? They’re the perfect meal for rainy days and can be filled with a variety of fillings – mincemeat, cinnamon sugar with lemon juice, and even chicken mayonnaise (yes, really).

Making and storing your own pancake mix saves a lot of time and mess when you feel like making pancakes. Here’s a recipe for you.

Strawberry Coconut Granola

Buying cereals at the supermarket might be convenient but store-bought cereals are significantly lacking in nutrition.

That’s where making your own cereals come in handy, you can pick and choose what goes into your body and the bodies of your kid.

Strawberry and coconut are great flavors on their own but when you combine them…yum! Try it yourself and see what you think.

Soup In A Jar Recipes

Chili in a Jar

If you’re a fan of chili and you want to have some on hand for when the craving hits, then this is for you.

Much like the other recipes on this list, this one involves taking the ingredients and stashing them in a mason jar to be used at a later date.

The nice thing about this one is that there are many chili recipes to choose from so you’re free to experiment. For starters, though, try this recipe and see what you think.

Beef Barley Soup

Beef barley soup is a quick, easy meal for soup lovers everywhere. This recipe will give you a hearty, savory treat that the whole family will enjoy.

Cream Soup

Cream soups can be very expensive when you get them in the stores, and they have a lot of MSG (monosodium glutamate) in them.

Now, if you’re one of the few people who have an allergic reaction to MSG, then you may be looking for soup mixes that don’t have it.

This recipe is super simple to make, and it can last for a while.

Tomato Soup

Tomato soup is a budget-friendly, filling option that’s popular all over the world. It goes well with pretty much everything and it’s pretty easy to make. Try it yourself and see what you think.

Tortilla Soup

Yes, this is a real thing. It’s a mixture of rice, diced tomatoes, tortilla chips, and seasoning brought to a boil, and stored in a mason jar. If you want to try it yourself, the recipe can be found here.

Cookie In A Jar Recipes

Oatmeal Cookies

Oatmeal cookies are a popular choice for healthy snacking and the number of recipes out there on the interwebs means that you have a wide variety of flavors to choose from.

If you like oatmeal cookies – particularly with raisins – you can get the recipe here.

Betty Crocker Copycats

A sweet chocolate chip cookie? Nice! It doesn’t have to be a chocolate chip cookie either, you can make whatever you like, vanilla cookies are another popular option. You can get a nice bunch of recipes here.

Fudge Brownies

Brownies! Yum! Brownies are already sweet on their own so it stands to reason that a fudge brownie is just as sweet or sweeter than a regular brownie.

Does it matter? Nope, they’re sweet treats that your whole family will love!

Blondies

Imagine a chocolate chip cookie and a brownie had a baby and you’ve got a blondie! They get their color from the inclusion of miso and an extra bit of egg gives it a touch of extra moisture.

A generous helping of vanilla gives it a nice flavor. Get this recipe here and try it yourself.

Tropical Mango Cobbler

Honeyville Meals in a Jar Gift (Tropical Mango-Berry Cobbler) with Chef Tess

Tropical fruits are known for being sweet and mangoes are particularly sweet. If you like cobbler and mangoes, then this is for you.

Drinks In A Jar Recipes

Herbal Coffee Substitute

Coffee is something that many of us drink in the mornings to give ourselves a solid wakeup.

Now, while too much coffee is obviously bad for you, if you drink it in moderation, you avoid the caffeine overload and the adrenal fatigue that comes with it.

herbal coffee from chicory dandelion root and barley
herbal coffee from chicory dandelion root and barley

Of course, not everyone can drink caffeine and so caffeine-free options are understandably popular. You can get a nice recipe here.

Spicy Hot Chocolate

Ah, hot chocolate, a common drink for the wintertime. Store-bought hot chocolate is nice and all but homemade hot chocolate is even better!

This recipe adds a bit of spice and you can avoid any of those nasty preservatives that are found in store-bought hot chocolates.

Cappuccino Mix

Cappuccinos are a rich, creamy coffee treat, and they are often consumed at a restaurant breakfast. If you want to make your own cappuccino mix, then you can get a good recipe here.

Fireside Coffee

This recipe adds a touch of cocoa to the coffee, so it’s kind of like a hot chocolate-coffee hybrid…sounds good to me. Give it a try and see what you think.

Bread In A Jar Recipes

Buttermilk Biscuits

We all like biscuits, right? Well, these aren’t quite the biscuits that you’ll be used to; they’re softer – more like scones.

You can eat them however you like, jam and whipped cream, soup, chili, the list goes on. Give this a try and see what you think.

Onion Roll

This is exactly what it sounds like, the ingredients for a savory onion roll, mixed together and stored in a mason jar. You can get instructions on how to do this here.

Bread in a Bottle

This is probably going to sound a bit weird, but you can make a loaf of bread for yourself or a friend and store it in a bottle or canning jar. No, I’m not kidding, see for yourself.

Baking Mix

We’ve looked at a few baked goods in bottles/jars, but what about a basic baking mix? Can you do that too? Absolutely, it’s super easy to do and won’t take up space in the pantry.

You can have the ingredients you need at the ready when they’re needed. How cool is that? Give it a shot.

Cornbread Mix

Ah, cornbread; a pioneer meal that’s still popular today! There are many different recipes on the internet and each gives the bread a unique flavor. This recipe, for example, uses pineapple and blueberries.

Seasonings In A Jar Recipes

Taco Seasoning

Who doesn’t like tacos? With all the ways you can enjoy them, it’s no surprise that these are popular treats. A bit of mincemeat, lettuce, tomato, cheese, and a touch of salsa to top it all off! Yum!

Sadly, taco kits are ridiculously pricey nowadays and the seasoning is sometimes even pricier. It doesn’t help that the store-bought seasonings are full of things that aren’t altogether healthy.

taco seasoning
taco seasoning

Whether it’s preservatives or allergens (things to which you or your family members are allergic). Never fear, DIY taco seasoning is here! Give it a try and see what you think.

Ranch Dressing

Ranch dressing goes well with everything from salad to burgers to chips. Unfortunately, store-bought ranch dressing is getting a bit expensive nowadays and the preservatives that they contain aren’t always great.

That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a bit of ranch dressing, however, it’s actually quite easy to make yourself.

Sausage Seasoning

Typically, you’d use this one on pork sausages but that’s not entirely necessary. It goes well with beef, chicken, and turkey meat, it also goes well with a few other meals.

final sausage seasoning

You should try it yourself and see what you can do with it.

Blue Cheese Dressing

If you like buffalo wings and salads (who doesn’t like a good salad?), then this is for you.

Bleu cheese dressing is exactly what it sounds like; a dressing with mayonnaise, bleu cheese and a few other bits and bobs. Try it yourself and see what you think.

Alfredo Sauce

Ah, Alfredo. This is a favorite dish among pasta lovers, and it’s easy to see why.

The creamy texture and cheesy flavor add a bit of extra subtle savory flavor to the dish. If you want to make it yourself, it’s quite easy. Here’s the recipe for you.

Try a few of these Mason jar make-ahead meals, and be sure to pin this for later.

meal in a jar pin

5 thoughts on “Mason Jar Make-Ahead Meals – Meals In A Jar”

  1. Thank you for providing these recipes in a jar. I had done this for my family but, since the they have grown up gone out for themselves, just left myself to take care of i have just fell out of it. Now I am wanting to get back into it. But had forgotten most of my recipes. Yours will be a good beginning. It was so easy to just come home from work and grab a jar thirty minutes to an hour later dinner was ready. Or the slow cooker would have an excellent meal from being prepared in the morning from the freezer and the jar. Now to start working on filling the jars. 🙂

  2. I can’t seem to get the “ canning milk” page to open, not sure if the link is broken or what is wrong. Always takes me to the home page again. Thanks for your help.

  3. Hello there.
    Just started to get back into “prepping “. I’m technically challenged and am unable to printout your recipes. Do you or will you be putting out a paper and ink version? I would like to see it in my bookstore. Thanks

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