Pressure Canning Taco Meat

Canning taco meat is a great way to add fast food to your pantry without relying on less healthy alternatives on busy days.

Convenience is something we all crave. That’s why drive-thrus are so popular.

And when we’re tired or in a hurry, it’s so easy to just hit one of them on the way home.

So I started thinking about which drive-thrus I used the most.

And unsurprisingly, turns out it’s for tacos. Who knew? Lol

And while having canned ground meat makes tacos quicker to fix than starting from scratch, guess what’s quicker-er? 

I know, I know, that’s not a real word. But you get my point, right?

Home canned taco meat for the win (and the quickest tacos ever)!

This home canned taco meat recipe used homemade seasoning. You can find the tailored-to-suit-you taco seasoning recipe here.

If you are using purchased taco seasoning, refer to the directions on the pouch/box/container to determine how much you’ll need per pound of meat.

You can use any kind of red meat that you want to. I usually use a combination of half ground beef and half ground venison.

THIS RECIPE MUST BE PROCESSED IN A PRESSURE CANNER!

Pressure Canning Taco Meat

Yield: 8 – 9 pint jars

Equipment:

• Pressure canner
• 8 or 9 pint canning jars
• New one time use flat lids OR Tattler reusable lids
• Rings/screw bands
• Canning funnel
• Lid lifter
• Jar lifter
• Old towel

Ingredients:

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cups chopped onions
• 8 pounds ground meat (beef, venison, elk, bison)
• 16 Tablespoons taco seasoning (if using my homemade taco seasoning, or however much the directions call for per pound on your purchased brand)
• Boiling water

Instructions:

NOTE: I like to prep this taco meat recipe in 4 batches, so that’s how I’ve written the instructions.

Preparing your pressure canner, jars, and lids: 

Following the directions for your canner, add the amount of water recommended. Add a splash of white vinegar to cut any residue from hard water. 

For one time use lids: Put the flat lids in water and heat gently to soften the sealing compound and keep the lids warm until you are ready for them. 

For Tattler reusable lids: Follow manufacturer’s directions.

Remember to check the jars for cracks or nicks along the rim. Keep the jars hot until needed.

Preparing the Taco Meat

Heat the olive oil in a heavy bottomed skillet. Lightly sauté ½ cup of the onions just until translucent.

Add 2 pounds of the ground meat, and stir to break it up. Cook, stirring, until just browned. Don’t cook it all the way. It will continue to cook during processing.

Mix in 4 Tablespoons of the taco seasoning. Use a slotted spoon to remove the mixture from the pan and put into a large bowl.

Repeat for the rest of the onions and meat.

I put all 4 batches into a large mixing bowl, and mix the batches together as I add them.

Once all the meat has been browned, grab your hot jars and canning funnel.

Filling the Jars

Start filling each jar with the taco meat mixture. Don’t pack it in tightly, but don’t leave big gaps either. Make sure you leave 1 inch of headspace. 

Now, fill the jar with boiling water, again, leaving 1 inch headspace.

Use your bubble popper to remove any air bubbles by running it around the inside of the jar and sticking it into the middle. Top the water off if necessary to keep that 1 inch headspace.

Use a clean rag dipped in vinegar to clean the rim of the jar. The vinegar will cut any grease that may be on the rim.

Using a lid lifter magnet or a pair of tongs, grab the lids out of the hot water and seat them on the jars. Now grab the rings and screw those on just until finger tight.

If you overtighten the ring, the air will not be able to leave the jar and the lid will buckle and not seal.

After the lid and ring are on the jar, place the jar in the canner.

Fill and close remaining jars.

Processing

Put the jars in the canner, seal the canner lid, and turn the heat on high.

Please check your manual for the length of time your canner needs to exhaust before you put the regulator on and bring it up to pressure.

Process pint jars for 75 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure, quart jars for 90 minutes at 10 pounds pressure.

Always check the Altitude Adjustment Chart before you start so you know what your pressure needs to be!

Once the air has exhausted properly, put the regulator on the vent. Continue with high heat until the canner reaches the proper pressure. 

When the canner is at the right pressure, turn the canner down slightly and start your timer. You need to avoid abrupt temperature changes, so lower the heat gradually until the canner pressure is steady.

You may need to fiddle with the heat to keep the canner at the proper pressure for the correct amount of time.

If the pressure drops below what it should be, you have to bring it back up to the proper level and re-start your processing time.

After Processing

After processing, turn off the heat and allow the canner to cool off and the pressure to return to zero.

Never cool off a pressure canner with water. Never open a pressurized canner. And never remove the regulator from a pressurized canner.

Any of those things will cause the jars inside to explode and may cause the canner to warp and be unusable.

When the pressure has returned to zero, carefully remove the jars with the jar lifter and place on an old towel out of drafts. The jars will still be extremely hot and the contents will be boiling.

Also, the jars are not sealed yet, so you need to lift the jars straight up out of the canner without tilting them.

Don’t leave your jars in the canner overnight. The jars need to cool off faster than they would if they were still inside the canner. Leaving them in can cause a thing called “flat sour”. It’s not dangerous, but will give foods an “off” taste.

Put your jars on a towel lined cabinet and leave them undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours. After 12 hours you can check the seals.

Storing your Canned Taco Meat

If all the jars are sealed, remove the rings, wipe down the sides of the jar, and label and date the contents.

If you are going to put the rings back on for storage, make sure they are washed and completely dry. And don’t put them on tightly.

Now store them in your pantry in a cool, dark place.

There will be a layer of fat at the top of the jars. That is perfectly normal and perfectly safe.

How much there will be depends on how much fat was in the meat to start with, and how much fat rendered off when you browned it.

You can scrape it off and discard it when you open the jars, or you can leave it. I usually scrape it off and use it to fry onions or garlic before I add the meat to the pan.

The meat is already cooked, so all you have to do is heat it up. And that makes dinner so much faster to get on the table!

Always a win in my book!

Don’t limit yourself to just tacos with this fabulous addition to your canning pantry!

I use this taco meat for all kinds of other things: taco soup, enchiladas, taco salads, and burritos. You can also add it to queso and serve with tortilla chips for dipping as a great appetizer!

Other pressure canning recipes you might enjoy: