Guys, I am so pumped for today’s post for one big reason—I think these dry soup mixes are the perfect handmade gift for you to give to your loved ones. They are affordable to make (just a few bucks a pop), they are delicious, they are thoughtful, and my favorite part—they are consumable. You give the gift, the giftee uses it and appreciates it, and then it’s gone—no tchotchkesitting around waiting to be donated to the thrift store in a few months.
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I am not anti-consumerism (I love a good sale as much as the next person!), but I do love the idea of shifting our holiday gift-giving to be less about stuffand more about being thoughtful, kind, and loving—and what’s more thoughtful, kind, and loving than giving the gift of cozy soup?
In fact, here’s what I think is the most perfect holiday gift: a simple, thoughtful handmade gift (like these jarred dry soup mixes or any of our other handmade gift ideas) and a donation to a charity a recipient believes in. It’s the best of both worlds!
Reality check: this year in the United States alone, we will spend $465 BILLION (with a B!) on holiday gifts. Experts estimate it would only take $175 billion to completely eradicate poverty for a year! Can you imagine the good work we could do if we just spent half the amount we normally do this Christmas and donated the rest?
Okay, enough of my bleeding heart spiel—let’s dig into these awesome soup mixes! They are easy and affordable to make. And they are super delicious! These suckers only use ingredients you can get at a regular supermarket—nothing fancy or special order.
You could make up enough of these for everyone on your list in less than an hour. At the very bottom of this post, you’ll find a printable recipe for all six flavors of dry soup mixes, plus free printable tags that give your giftee complete instructions for how to make the soup.
Alright, let’s make some gifts!
Italian Barley Soup Mix in a Jar
This barley soup is tomato-based (you add a can of diced tomatoes when cooking), vegetarian, and packed full of garlic and Italian herbs. To make Italian Barley Soup Mix in a Jar, layer these ingredients in the order listed in a wide-mouth pint canning jar:
- 1 cuppearled barley
- 1/2 cup sundried tomatoes (dehydrated, not packed in oil)
- 1 tablespoondried chopped onions
- 1 tablespoondried minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons dried basil
- 1 tablespoondried oregano
- 1 tablespoondried parsley flakes
- 1veggie bouillon cube
Instructions for cooking the Italian Barley Soup from mix: Remove wrapper from bouillon cube and add it, plus all remaining ingredients, plus four cups of water and one 14-ounce can of diced tomatoes to a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to low, and simmer until the barley is tender, about 20 minutes. Serve topped with grated Parmesan. Season to taste.
Download the Tags
Split Pea Soup Mix in a Jar
This beautiful green soup mix is so festive and green! I like to stir in a cup of chopped ham when it’s finished cooking to make it really hearty. To make Split Pea Soup Mix in a Jar, layer these ingredients in the order listed in a wide-mouth pint canning jar:
- 2 cups split green peas
- 1/2 teaspooncelery seed
- 1 tablespoon dried chopped onions
- 1 tablespoondried minced garlic
- 1bay leaf
- 1chicken bouillon cube
Instructions for cooking the Split Pea Soup from mix: Remove wrapper from bouillon cube and add it, plus all remaining ingredients, plus four cups of water to a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to low, and simmer until the peas are tender, about 30 minutes. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Stir in one cup of chopped ham before serving. Season to taste.
Download the Tags
Coconut Curry Soup Mix in a Jar
This lentil soup is bright orange, packed full of exotic flavor, and super delicious served with a stack of warm naan bread! To make Coconut Curry Soup Mix in a Jar, layer these ingredients in the order listed in a wide-mouth pint canning jar:
- 2/3 cuporange lentils
- 2/3 cupgreen lentils
- 1 tablespooncurry powder
- 1 tablespoon dried chopped onions
- 1 tablespoondried minced garlic
- 2veggie bouillon cubes
- 1 small dried chile pepper
Instructions for cooking the Coconut Curry Soup from mix: Remove wrapper from bouillon cubes and add them, plus all remaining ingredients, plus four cups of water and one 14-ounce can of full fat coconut milk to a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to low, and simmer until the lentils are tender, about 20 minutes. Remove and discard the chile pepper before serving. Season to taste.
Download the Tags
Five Bean Soup Mix in a Jar
It doesn’t get much more beautiful than this layered bean soup mix. This baby is vegetarian, but is still packed with flavor.You can see a full tutorial for how to make bigger versions of these jarsin this post. To make Five Bean Soup Mix in a Jar, layer these ingredients in the order listed in a wide-mouth pint canning jar:
- 1/3 cuppinto Beans
- 1/3 cupgreen peas
- 1/3 cupblack beans
- 1/3 cupgreat northern beans
- 1/3 cupkidney beans
- 1 teaspoondry mustard
- 1 teaspoonpaprika
- 1 tablespoons dried chopped onions
- 1 tablespoon dried garlic powder
- 1 tablespoonoregano
- 1bay leaf
- 1 small dried chile pepper (optional)
- 1 teaspoonrosemary
- 1veggie bouillon cubes
Instructions for cooking the Five Bean Soup from mix: Remove wrapper from bouillon cube and add it, plus all remaining ingredients, plus five cups of water and one 14 ounce can of diced tomatoes to a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to low, and simmer until the beans are tender and the soup is thick, about 90 minutes, adding more water as necessary to soften the beans. Remove and discard chile pepper and bay leaf before serving. Season to taste.
A note about cooking with dried beans: How old the beans are can change the amount of water and how much time is needed to cook the beans. Your best bet is to watch the soup and add more water if necessary. Taste test until the beans are tender.
Download the Tags
Chicken Noodle Soup Mix in a Jar
This soup makes a great holiday gift, and it’s great to keep on hand to give when someone you love comes down with a cold. To make Chicken Noodle Soup Mix in a Jar, layer these ingredients in the order listed in a wide-mouth pint canning jar:
- 1 tablespoon dried chopped onions
- 1 tablespoondried minced garlic
- 1bay leaf
- 1/2 teaspoondried rosemary
- 1/2 teaspoondried sage
- 1/2 teaspoondried thyme
- 1/2 teaspooncelery seed
- 1chicken bouillon cube
- 2 cups wide egg noodles
Instructions for cooking the Chicken Noodle Soup from mix: Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Sauté one diced carrot and one diced stalk of celery until just tender, about 5 minutes. Unwrap the bouillon cube from the soup mix, and then add it, plus all remaining ingredients to the saucepan. Add in 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until the noodles are cooked through, about 10 minutes. Stir in 2 cups chopped cooked chicken before serving. Season to taste.
Download the Tags
Spicy Black Bean Soup Mix in a Jar
This is such an awesome, hearty soup that’s packed with Southwestern flavors. I love it topped with sour cream and avocado. You can see how to make bigger size jars (for a BIGGGG batch of soup) by visiting this post. To make Spicy Black Bean Soup Mix in a Jar, layer these ingredients in the order listed in a wide-mouth pint canning jar:
- 1 1/2 cup black beans
- 1 tablespoon dried chopped onions
- 1 tablespoon dried garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon celery seed
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 veggie bouillon cube
- 1 small dried chile pepper
Instructions for cooking the Spicy Black Bean Soup from mix: Remove wrapper from bouillon cube, add it, plus all remaining ingredients, plus six cups of water into a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to low, and simmer until the beans are tender and the soup is thick, about 90 minutes, adding more water as necessary to soften the beans Remove and discard the chile pepper and bay leaves before serving. Season to taste.
A note about cooking with dried beans: the age of the beans can dramatically affect the amount of water and the amount of cooking time beans need. Older beans = longer to cook (and you don’t always know how old the beans in the store are). Best bet is to keep an eye on the soup, add more water if necessary, and taste test until the beans are softened.
Download the Tags
Looking for more handmade gift ideas?
We’re a big believer that handmade goodies make the very best holiday gifts! Here’s a few of our other amazing edible Christmas gift ideas:
- Chicago Mix Popcorn. Who doesn’t love a good salty and sweet combo?
- Homemade Coffee Liqueur. Cheers to family, friends, and loved ones with homemade kahlùa.
- 45+ Thoughtful & Easy DIY Food Gifts. Our whole collection of homemade foods perfect for gifting, from hot sauce to cookie dough to jams.
- The Best Sugar Cookie Icing. This is our go-to icing when we are decorating cookies. It always dries into a perfectly smooth finish, and there’s an option without corn syrup.
- Easy Rolled Sugar Cookies.And you’ll need a vehicle for that icing—enter this simple, no-fuss sugar cookie recipe!
Homemade Soup Mixes in a Jar
Yield: 1 pint jar
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
These homemade canning jar soup mixes are the perfect frugal holiday gift! Learn how to make six different flavors.
Ingredients
For Italian Barley Soup Mix
- 1 cuppearled barley
- 1/2 cupsundried tomatoes (dehydrated, not packed in oil)
- 1 tablespoondried chopped onions
- 1 tablespoondried minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons dried basil
- 1 tablespoondried oregano
- 1 tablespoondried parsley flakes
- 1veggie bouillon cube
For Split Pea Soup Mix
- 2 cups split green peas
- 1/2 teaspooncelery seed
- 1 tablespoons dried chopped onions
- 1 tablespoondried minced garlic
- 1bay leaf
- 1chicken bouillon cube
For Coconut Curry Soup Mix
- 2/3 cuporange lentils
- 2/3 cupgreen lentils
- 1 tablespooncurry powder
- 1 tablespoons dried chopped onions
- 1 tablespoondried minced garlic
- 2veggie bouillon cubes
- 1small dried chile pepper
For Five Bean Soup Mix
- 1/3 cuppinto Beans
- 1/3 cupgreen peas
- 1/3 cupblack beans
- 1/3 cupgreat northern beans
- 1/3 cupkidney beans
- 1 teaspoondry mustard
- 1 teaspoonpaprika
- 1 tablespoons dried chopped onions
- 1 tablespoondried garlic powder
- 1 tablespoonoregano
- 1bay leaf
- 1 small dried chile pepper (optional)
- 1 teaspoonrosemary
- 1veggie bouillon cubes
For Chicken Noodle Soup Mix
- 1 tablespoons dried chopped onions
- 1 tablespoondried minced garlic
- 1bay leaf
- 1/2 teaspoondried rosemary
- 1/2 teaspoondried sage
- 1/2 teaspoondried thyme
- 1/2 teaspooncelery seed
- 1chicken bouillon cube
- 2 cups wide egg noodles
For Spicy Black Bean Soup Mix
- 1 1/2 cup black beans
- 1 tablespoon dried chopped onions
- 1 tablespoon dried garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon celery seed
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 veggie bouillon cube
- 1 small dried chile pepper
Instructions
To make all jars:
- Layer all ingredients in a clean glass jar (pint size) in the order listed. Close lid, add tag, and gift.
To make soup (general instructions, see flavor-specific instructions in notes section below):
- Remove wrapper from bouillon cube, add it, plus all remaining ingredients, plus water into a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to low, and simmer until the soup is cooked. Remove and discard the chile pepper and bay leaves, if used, before serving. Season to taste.
Notes
- To Make Italian Barley Soup:Remove wrapper from bouillon cube and add it, plus all remaining ingredients, plus four cups of water and one 14-ounce can of diced tomatoes to a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to low, and simmer until the barley is tender, about 20 minutes. Serve topped with grated Parmesan. Season to taste. Download the tags here.
- To Make Split Pea Soup:Remove wrapper from bouillon cube and add it, plus all remaining ingredients, plus four cups of water to a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to low, and simmer until the peas are tender, about 30 minutes. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Stir in one cup of chopped ham before serving. Season to taste. Download the tags here.
- To Make Coconut Curry Soup:Remove wrapper from bouillon cubes and add them, plus all remaining ingredients, plus four cups of water and one 14-ounce can of full fat coconut milk to a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to low, and simmer until the lentils are tender, about 20 minutes. Remove and discard the chile pepper before serving. Season to taste. Download the tags here.
- To Make Five Bean Soup:Remove wrapper from bouillon cube and add it, plus all remaining ingredients, plus five cups of water and one 14 ounce can of diced tomatoes to a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to low, and simmer until the beans are tender and the soup is thick, about 90 minutes, adding more water as necessary to soften the beans. Remove and discard chile pepper and bay leaf before serving. Season to taste. Download the tags here.
- To Make Chicken Noodle Soup:Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Sauté one diced carrot and one diced stalk of celery until just tender, about 5 minutes. Unwrap the bouillon cube from the soup mix, and then add it, plus all remaining ingredients to the saucepan. Add in 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until the noodles are cooked through, about 10 minutes. Stir in 2 cups chopped cooked chicken before serving. Season to taste. Download the tags here.
- To Make Spicy Black Bean Soup:Remove wrapper from bouillon cube, add it, plus all remaining ingredients, plus six cups of water into a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to low, and simmer until the beans are tender and the soup is thick, about 90 minutes, adding more water as necessary to soften the beans Remove and discard the chile pepper and bay leaves before serving. Season to taste. Download the tags here.
