This post may contain affiliate links. See our disclosure policy.
This Soup in a Jar recipe is a perfect gift to give during the holidays, for birthdays, or to a friend. And it makes a hearty, healthy, delicious soup!
Featured with this Recipe:
This Soup in a Jar is such a fun gift to make and give to friends and family. We especially love to make a bunch of these around the holidays and gift them to neighbors, coworkers, babysitters, church leaders, and friends. It looks so pretty all layered in a jar with a cute tag. Plus, the soup is so delicious! It’s really easy for recipients to make, and warms up any chilly winter night. I also love making batches for myself and storing them in Ziploc bags in my pantry as meal prep for an easy lunch or dinner.
Ingredients in Soup in a Jar
- Beef flavor bouillon
- Dried onion
- Green split peas
- Barley
- Yellow split peas
- Alphabet macaroni
- Lentils
- Tri-colored pasta
When making the soup add:
- Ground beef
- Water
- Salt, pepper, and any other preferred seasonings.
Easy and Inexpensive Gift
When gifting this Soup in a Jar mix, you can mix all of the ingredients together in a resealable plastic bag with the tag, or you can layer the ingredients in a one quart glass jar. You can purchase one quart jars at most grocery stores. These mason jar gifts are fun to decorate with ribbons or gift bows.
The ingredients for the soup mix are inexpensive, especially if you are making several jars at once. The split peas, barley, and lentils can all be purchased in 1 lb bags for just over a dollar each, and there is enough in each bag to make four jars of the mix. I found the alphabet macaroni in a 7.05 oz bag in the Mexican food section of my local grocery store for .39 cents a bag. The exact same size bag of macaroni, just packaged a little differently, was in the Italian food section of the same grocery store for $1.99 a bag. Overall, the ingredients are easy to find and for a good price, so it’s a great gift idea.
Other Ingredient Ideas
Here are some options to add some variety to your soup in a jar, or if you need to substitute any ingredients, these will work great!
- Rice
- A bay leaf
- Thyme
- Basil
- Pinto beans
- Rosemary
- Parsley
- Black beans
Make it Vegetarian
For a vegetarian version of this Soup in a Jar recipe, the meat does not have to be added. The soup is very good without it. Vegetable bouillon can be used instead of beef bouillon. For a free printable of the instructions gift tag, click here.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can preserve the soup in a jar by adding all of the dry ingredients in layers to the jar. So whenever you’re ready to make the soup, you just add the dry ingredients, beef, and water, and you’ll be set!
When gifting, be sure to include the following:
A list the additional necessary ingredients to make the soup.
A list of included ingredients in the jar for people with allergies.
The cooking directions.
We use a ground beef as the flavor works well and is easy to make, but if you prefer chicken, pork or no meat at all, that’s fine too.
More Gift-Giving Recipes
We love making delicious recipes and gifting them to our dear friends and family. Try some of these cute and tasty treats to give out to your loved ones!
How to Make Soup in a Jar
Soup in a Jar
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup beef flavor bouillon
- 1/2 cup dried onion
- 1/2 cup green split peas
- 1/2 cup barley
- 1/2 cup yellow split peas
- 1/2 cup alphabet macaroni
- 1/2 cup lentils
- 3/4 cup tri-colored pasta
When making the soup add:
- 1 pound ground beef
- 12 cups water
- salt pepper, and any other preferred seasonings to taste
Instructions
To gift in a jar:
- Layer dry ingredients in the order listed in a quart-sized jar.
- Tip: Use a funnel to add the ingredients to the jar. This helps to layer the ingredients evenly.
- Add gift tag with Love Soup directions.
- Decorate with a ribbon or gift bow.
To gift in a bag:
- Mix all dry ingredients together and pour into a resealable plastic bag.
- Add gift tag with Love Soup directions.
- Decorate with a ribbon or gift bow.
To make the soup:
- Brown 1 pound ground beef in a skillet or frying pan.
- Bring 12 cups of water to a boil in a large pot.
- Add all dry ingredients, ground beef, and any preferred seasonings to the boiling water. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes or until lentils and split peas are soft.
- Leftovers can be frozen.
Notes
Recipe Tips:
When gifting be sure to include the following:- A list the additional necessary ingredients to make the soup.
- A list of included ingredients in the jar for people with allergies.
- The cooking directions.
I’ve never used Barley in a recipe, do you use hulled or pearled barley? And do you rinse it and then dry it again before putting it in the jars?
We use pearled barley and we don’t rinse it before adding to jars.
I made the soup I feel the onion is a lot and dried onion over powers the dish quite a bit
Is that accurate 1/2 c dried onion
I had some tonight which is day two. I feel like it’s a little less powerful but it’s still fairly overwriting. Am I the only one that feels this way? I suppose if I try to make it again, I could do half next recipe. I for sure was going to try it before I give it out as gifts. I’m not sure if I’m gonna make the whole thing again just to test a lower portion of the onions ?
Please add a gift tag that includes the instructions to make the soup!
That is a great idea!
Hi!
What spices would taste good with this? Specifically wondering about rosemary, thyme, and basil.
Thank you!
I think rosemary and thyme would be delicious in it, but not sure about basil.
I love this so much, thank you for this recipe!
Love this idea!! It truly makes a delicious & comforting soup! I make quite a few, so I can store & also give as gifts!
This is such great gift idea, followed it perfectly and gave it to my neighbors! They loved it. Thanks for this idea!
How much sodium in 1 serving.
We don’t have nutrition facts available on our site yet, you should be able to plug the recipe into a nutrition calculator like weigh watchers or Livestrong and they can give you a fairly accurate estimate. Hope this helps!
I noticed in the recipe it says 1/3 cup beef flavor bouillon, but the link takes you to beef bouillon cubes on amazon. Do you use cubes for the mix? If so, how many?
You can use 1/3 cup of beef bouillon, but if you make it with the cubes you have to make a cup and then use 1/3 of it and save 2/3 cup for another recipe!
No ,that would not be flavorful enough. It it a third of a cup of the concentrated beef bouillon. So you need to break up the little cubes till you have 1/3 of a cup of the granules. Hope this helps 😊💖
How many bouillon cubes are equal to 1/3 cup?
One cube is about 1 teaspoon of bouillon and there are 16 teaspoons in 1/3 cup. So, about 16 cubes.
Soup looks yummy
I just wanted to thank you all, for real recipe s, I am sure that your Momma is so proud of what you girls are doing. We need real food to be able too keep our health, and it sure does help when it tastes so good. Thanks again
I’m not a big beef soup fan. Could I substitute chicken bouillon and shredded rotisserie chicken for the beef and bouillon?
Do the tri-colored noodles turn to complete mush after 45 minutes? Could you leave them out or sub them with something else colorful?
They do get soft. You can easily substitute macaroni or rice. You can also add the trip-colored noodles the last 10-15 minutes that the soup is simmering. Thanks for asking!
I haven’t been able to find yellow split peas in our supermarkets (here) for quite some time. I like to make (yellow) split pea soup, with a ham bone, w/leftover meat attached to it. It looks sooo much more appetizing than green pea soup….since the diced ham, diced potatoes, onions, celery, minced parsley, and carrots look very nice floating around in the bowl. To me, green pea soup looks very unappetizing….much like a polluted swamp! Where do you get your yellow split peas, since I’m dying to make my mom’s “Yellow Split Pea Soup”?
Great idea and it sounds delicious. Thank you.
Looks wonderful I will be trying the soup for sure. Thank You
How many bouillon cubes are equivalent to 1/3 cup ?
Thanks!!
1 bouillon cube is equal to 1 teaspoon of powder. 1/3 cups has about 16 teaspoons in it. So 16 cubes.