How to Make Garden Vegetable Soup Mix in a Jar

This garden vegetable soup mix is what my family is getting for Christmas! Aren’t they lucky!!

Prairie garden soup mix in a gift bag with instructions label.
Prairie garden soup mix in a bag for easy mailing to family.

Also Read: How to Make Soup Mixes in a Jar, Vegetable Quinoa & Lentil Soup Mix, Chicken Noodle Soup Mix, Split Pea Soup Mix

It’s easy, fun and affordable to assemble homemade soup mix. Even if you’re pantry isn’t full of dried veggies and herbs, you can still put these soup mixes together very easily with a trip to your favorite bulk food store.

dehydrated veggies
I use a combination of my own dehydrated garden veggies and ingredients from the bulk store.

For my own cupboard, the cottage or friends and family that live close by, I like layering the mix in decorated jars.

Prairie garden soup mix in festive glass jar with instructions gift tag.
A festive jar complete with cooking instructions.

Garden Vegetable Soup Mix Recipe with Instructions

prairie garden soup in bag
Print Recipe
4.20 from 15 votes

Garden Vegetable Soup Mix

A delicious, easy to make mix perfect for your home, a friend or for the cottage or camper.
Prep : 10 minutes
Cook : 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup red beans
  • 3/4 cup dehydrated vegetable mix
  • 1/4 cup pot barley
  • 1/4 cup wild rice
  • 1/4 cup orzo (optional)
  • 1/4 cup black beans
  • 1/4 cup vegetable bouillon
  • 1 Tbsp onion flakes
  • 1/2 Tbsp parsley flakes
  • 1 tsp thyme

Instructions

  • In a pint size (500 ml) jar, layer first six ingredients as listed above.
  • In a small bowl mix remainder of ingredients until well combined. Place in a small plastic bag or wrap well in plastic wrap to keep separate.
  • Place spice pack on top of beans. Seal jar.
  • Decorate, label and include Cooking Instructions.
  • Cooking Instructions
  • Also Needed:
    14 oz can diced tomatoes
  • Remove spice pack. Pour remainder into fine mesh sieve, rinse well. Place in soup pot. Add spices and 7 cups water, boil. Boil for 10 minutes to remove any toxins from beans, then reduce heat. Add 14 oz (398 ml) canned diced tomatoes. Cover and simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until beans are tender. Adjust seasoning and garnish with parsley.
  • Makes 7-8 cups

Notes

If you have leftover pre-cooked veggies or meat in your fridge – add them in the last 15 minutes of cooking.
Fills a pint jar – 2 cups/500 ml 
Makes 8 cups of soup
Tried this recipe?Mention @GetGettyS or tag #GetGettyS

Nutrition Facts (per serving)

Calories: 173kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 1g | Sodium: 198mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 1g | Iron: 2mg
Course: Soup
Cuisine: American
Keyword: backcountry food, camping food, dehydrated, gifts from the kitchen, soup mix
Gift box with selection of 5 soup mixes each with their own instruction/gift tag.
A variety of soup mixes ready to send to Grandma and Grandpa.

Questions About Soup Mixes

Here are some added notes to common questions I’ve received from readers.

Printable Labels

Click here for soup labels to attach to your soup in a jar.

Soaking Beans

Typically when I use dried beans, I soak them first – either quick soak or long soak so they cook faster and I can remove some of the starches that cause flatulence. However, in a recipe like this soup mix, you can skip the soaking. In fact, an article in Epicurious says they prefer not soaking beans for any recipe.

I do, however like to wash beans before cooking. That’s why I recommend putting everything except the spices in a sieve and rinsing well. Don’t worry about rinsing the veggies and other ingredients – they’re all going to get soaked anyway.

In this recipe, the beans will be cooked for 1 hr 10 minutes, which works for us. If you find them too tough, cook until they’re the consistency you prefer.

Toxins in Kidney Beans

Raw kidney beans contain a high amount of protein called lectin that can lead to food poisoning. Even as few as 4- 5 raw kidney beans can cause some symptoms. As a result kidney beans should be boiled for at least 10 minutes. Undercooking kidney beans is said to actually intensify the problem.  Here’s some more info from Penn State Extension.

That’s why my instructions explicitly say to boil for 10 minutes. If you’re at all hesitant, consider omitting the kidney beans or replacing them with red lentils.

Homemade garden soup mix
Homemade garden soup mix

Interested in other Gifts from the Kitchen?

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Includes tips & links to 50+ ideas for homemade, shelf stable gift giving.

  • Cookies in a Jar
  • Soup in a Jar
  • Flavoured Infusions + Preserves

BONUS printable gift tags

Will you be making this soup mix for you or someone else? I’d love to hear. Just drop me a line. And, if you do make this mix, post a photo on Instagram with #getgettys so I can see it and like it!

24 Comments

  1. Ok, just have to comment. After boiling the kidney beans 10 minutes, DISCARD THAT WATER, otherwise if you use it for the soup, you will be ingesting the toxins. Just my opinion.

    1. Yes, you can definitely do that if you prefer. If you do, save the spice pack for the final pot of soup. That said – the toxins (lectin phytohaemagglutinin found in certain beans only) are deactivated by boiling the beans for 10 minutes, they do not leach into the water or anything like that, so boiling for 10 minutes does the trick, no need to replace the liquid. But you can if you prefer.

  2. When I read these directions, did you mean layer the first six ingredients so the black beans are rinsed and will they rinse the dehydrated vegetables?

    1. Yes, layer the first six ingredients (I edited the recipe, thanks to your comment) and keep the spices and bouillon separate. Everything else can be rinsed under running cold water without any issues, even the veggies. The veggies don’t need to be rinsed, but it won’t hurt them either. Alternatively, you could put them in a separate baggy or mix them with the spices and bouillon. Hope that helps.

  3. Hi, question on red beans. In the photo it appears you used dark kidney beans and you talk about them in the “because you asked ” section. the recipe calls for black and red beans. When I see “red beans” I usually use the beans actually called “red beans” which are smaller than kidneys, more the size and shape of black beans. Do those kind still have the same toxin issues that kidneys do?

    1. Hi Janice,
      Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any information about toxin levels in small red beans. You may want to contact Pulse Canada (http://www.pulsecanada.com/) to ask them. Or just be sure to boil your bean soup for at least 10 minutes.
      Good luck,
      Getty

    1. Hi Geni,
      Thanks for your question. Barley is a cereal crop grown in similar climates to where wheat and oats are grown, eg. the Canadian prairies. While famous for it’s use in making beer, it can be used like wheat to make cereal or flour. It can also be eaten in whole kernel form much like rice. There are three variations of barley kernels that you can buy to eat. Hulled barley, pot barley and pearl barley. They differ in the amount of polishing or processing they receive. Hulled barley is the whole grain version in which all of the bran and germ remain. Pot barley has some bran remaining while pearl barley is the most polished with no bran remaining at all. Only hulled barley is considered a whole grain.

      Pot barley has a little bit of the bran remaining and is less polished than pearl barley. It can be used interchangeably with pearl barley. In this recipe you can use any type of barley you have access to. Pot and pearl barley can be found in most grocery stores while hulled barley is available at most health food or bulk stores.

      Hope that helps.

      Getty

  4. Hello,

    I just want to confirm that there is 1/4 cup of bouillon going into this soup mix and that that isn’t a typo.
    I don’t have much space left in the jar for the seasonings this calls for.
    Thanks!

    1. Hi Nadia,
      It can be a tight fit for sure. As for the bouillon, check the instructions and ratio that come with your bouillon to confirm the amount. You’ll add 7 cups of water to the soup – use that amount as a guideline for your brand of bouillon. Another option would be to omit the bouillon and instead of adding water, change the instructions to include adding 7 cups of soup stock. Hope that helps.
      All the best,

      Getty

        1. I want to add a quick update to let you know that I gifted these out with some lovely holiday baskets I created this year and everyone loved this soup! I had some extra jars of this soup mix left over that my family and I are also enjoying. Super tasty and an easy healthy dinner!

          1. Aw, thanks Nadia! I’m so glad everyone enjoyed the soup and your lovely gift.

            I really appreciate you coming back to let me know how the recipe worked for you.

            All the best for a happy, healthy New Year.

            Getty

  5. I’m new to cooking dry beans. Love your site. There are so many conflicting ways of cooking dry beans, especially kidney beans. Is bringing the soup mix to a boil, reducing the temp then covering and simmering an hour enough to rid the beans of the toxin? I’d like to use your idea for a gift. Thank you.

    1. Hi Cindi,
      I apologize for not replying sooner, somehow your comment slipped past me. I have accounted for any toxins in kidney beans in the cooking instructions – there’s a total of 1 hour 10 minutes in the cooking time, enough to destroy the toxins. In the ingredient list I call for red beans (smaller versions of kidney beans) and black beans. I have not found info on whether the red beans carry the same toxins – black beans do not. So I treat the red beans like kidney beans just in case. Hope that helps future readers. Again, apologies for the very late reply.

    1. Hi Heather, I usually soak beans before cooking, but in these soup mixes I don’t. I do however cook the soup for quite some time, so I feel they get tender enough. Rinsing the whole mix (without the seasonings) before cooking helps remove some of the starch from the outside, but it doesn’t remove the flatulence inducing starches that you can remove with soaking. It is a trade off for sure. You do, however, need to boil for 10 minutes to ensure the red kidney beans are properly cooked.

      Your question prompted me to add a comment about this to the article. So thanks for asking!

    1. Hi Chris, I have bought bags at a bulk food store and at a craft store. I’ve also bought them at a packaging company. Every location seems to sell different sizes, good luck!

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