Over the past few years, I’ve noticed how much sweet stuff we end up with at the holidays. Everyone makes cookies to share, family fills your stocking with candy, and social media pushes sugar-laden Hot Cocoa Bars, full of whipped cream and sprinkles, and marshmallows and fudge drizzles. And everyone seems to want to give out candy canes (but no one seems to want to eat them). It can be a lot…
So this year I decided to start with savory items for my friend & neighbor gifts. I wanted to make something useful, and consumable. Something inexpensive, but thoughtful. Something that might get used on a busy week when the recipient needed an easy win. I did Friendship Soup in a Jar Mixes, and paired them with Ranch Oyster Crackers, packed up in some candy treat bags I had leftover from Ada’s birthday.
In doing so, I ended up doing a lot of Soup Math, to make sure I picked up enough of each ingredient. I firmly believe that if someone has to sit down and do a bunch of math for such a silly purpose, it might as well get shared to spare someone else the task of doing the same thing. So I’m going to break down how to make 1 jar, 4 jars, or 12 jars. I’ve included the costs, shopping at Walmart, as of January 2025. For one jar, you might even have everything in your pantry already…
For a single jar, you will need:
- ¼ cup dried minced onion
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- ⅓ cup beef granules
- 1 cup dried split peas
- 1 cup dried red lentils
- ½ cup pearl barley
- ¼ cup uncooked white rice
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ cup uncooked small pasta like Ditalini, small Shells, or Alphabet
Layer the dry soup ingredients in the jar in this order to prevent the seasonings from sifting through the dried legumes and grains:
- ¼ cup dried onion
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- ⅓ cup beef granules
- ½ cup split peas
- rice
- ½ cup lred entils
- ½ cup split peas
- ½ pearl barley
- ½ cup red lentils
- 2 bay leaves
- pasta (in a small plastic bag)
The Recipient of the Friendship Soup Adds:
- 1 pound lean ground beef, cooked and drained
- 3 quarts water
- 1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes
- 1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
- salt & pepper to taste
After you’ve filled your jars, you will need to write or print tags with directions for the recipients. I cheated and used one from ContainedCuisine.com. Honestly, this recipe is all over the internet, and lots of people have printable tags to go with it. The ingredients & directions are all the same, so I just picked one in black & white, because that’s what works for my printer. I printed on card stock, and added a note that other ground meats or meat substitutes could be used. If you want to make this vegetarian, you can seek out vegetable bullion granules, though Walmart doesn’t seem to carry them.
To make 4 jars, you will need: (If shopping at Walmart, this comes to $31.71, without the jars, but you will have leftovers of all the ingredients.)
4 1-qt Mason jars
2 2.35 oz jars of dried minced onion (you will have a bit leftover)
1 2.35 oz jar Italian seasoning (or make your own!)
1 jar of beef bullion granules (you will have a LOT leftover)
2 lbs split peas (you will have a bit leftover)
2 lbs red lentils (you will have a bit leftover)
1 lbs pearl barley
1 lb white rice (you will have about 1/2 bag leftover)
1 jar of bay leaves
1 lbs Ditalini pasta (you will have a bit leftover)
To make 12 jars, you will need: (If shopping Walmart, this comes to $60.40 with 1 dozen Mason jars. A total of $5.03 per jar.)
12 1-qt Mason jars
5 2.35 oz jars of dried minced onion (you will have a bit leftover)
1 2.35 oz jar Italian seasoning (or make your own!)
1 jar of beef bullion granules (you will have about 1/2 cup leftover)
5 lbs split peas (you will have a bit leftover)
5 lbs red lentils (you will have a bit leftover)
2 lbs pearl barley
2 lbs white rice (you will have most of the second bag leftover)
1 jar of bay leaves
2 lbs Ditalini pasta (you will have a bit leftover)
TIPS
If you’re going to pull out all the ingredients to make 1 jar, it really doesn’t take much more time to make 4 or 12 anyways. You can also keep these on hand, without the decorative fabric, to give as last minute gifts throughout the year. Just add a fabric based on the event or the recipient’s likes.
To make 12 at once, you should open all your bags of dry goods, and place them in large bowls, so you can scoop from them more easily.
Wide Mouth jars, and a canning funnel make this easier. If you only have regular mouth jars, you can still make these pretty easily, but in that case a funnel is extra helpful.
Lay out a tea towel, folded in half on your counter top. After each additional layer, gently tap the jar to settle the contents and even the layers.
To decorate the top of my jars, I pulled out some holiday and winter FQ’s, and scraps of ribbon leftover from other projects. To cover wide mouth jars, you will want to cut 7" squares or circles of fabric, and about 20-22" of ribbon per jar. I was able to do all my jars with just 2 Fat Quarters of fabric, with scraps leftover.
Anyone would be happy to receive this heartfelt gift.