Canning chicken at home is an easy, simple way to preserve chicken that you don’t have room for in the freezer. It also gives you an easy, quick, last-minute meal available right at your fingertips. 

We pressure can a lot of things here on our homestead. From meats like canned venison, beef, pork, and even fish and rabbit to canning beans, carrots, bone broth and so much more. 

We raise meat birds, meat rabbits, turkeys, and ducks on our little homestead every year. But, added to the fresh venison, a whole cow and pig from local farmers and some frozen carrots, peppers, and tomatoes awaiting canning… freezer space is at a premium most of the year.

And while we have three freezers and I utilize every cubic foot of them, there’s always the risk of power failure. We do have temperature alarms (and I highly recommend them) and a generator, but our food is still at risk in the event of long-term power outages or failure. 

I don’t like that thought… at all. So, one of my favorite ways to preserve chicken is by canning it and our other meats to avoid those risks. While we by no means can every last morsel, we do try to put some away in jars just to have a safety net (and quick meals when life gets busy). 

Safely Canning Chicken at Home

I think my favorite part about canning chicken is the fact that it’s so simple. It doesn’t have to be cooked first, you don’t really need any special ingredients (just the chicken), and the prep work isn’t all that involved. 

Can You Can Raw Chicken?

You sure can! Any meat can be safely canned from a raw state, no it will not be raw when finished. That pressure canner is going to heat up to 240°F to 250°F (depending on your altitude) and get everything inside the jar nice and cooked through, I promise.

Hot Pack or Raw Pack?

I always choose to raw pack meat. While some say that hot packing produces the best taste, I find what I can up plenty flavorful and it doesn't take up much time or make any additional mess.

I like the fact that canning meat is so easy and doesn't require a bunch of mess and prep work. Just cut it up, put it in a jar, and can it. I'm busy homeschooling, homesteading, and running a business so, I choose to raw pack.

However, if you want to try your hand at hot packing your home-canned chicken you absolutely can. You will simply want to bake, boil, or steam the chicken until it is approximately ⅔rds of the way done.

Can You Can Bone-In Chicken?

You can do that as well! There are two caveats to canning bone-in chicken. One is it has to fit in the jar while allowing for proper headspace, so you will have to break it down into chicken pieces that may need to be broken down further. The other is you may waste more space in the jars because you won't be able to pack things in as tightly.

That being said, we usually can up boneless chicken thighs and boneless chicken breast pieces. However, you can fit several drumsticks or chicken thighs in a quart jar pretty easily.

Leaving the skin on is also an option, boneless or not.

Can I can fresh chicken?

Fresh chicken should always be chilled for 6 to 12 hours before cooking. This time allows for rigor mortis to settle providing more tender meat.

Can I can previously frozen chicken?

You absolutely can! We will often store our chicken meat in the freezer until we have enough to can a bunch. You'll want to thaw it overnight in the refrigerator and be sure it doesn't have freezer burn.

Note that freezer burn isn't a food safety issue, at all, it just results in a not-so-tasty flavor on your food.

Supplies You Need to Can Chicken At Home

To safely can chicken, you’ll need a few specific items, though. 

Pressure Canner - you must use a pressure canner to safely can chicken, a water bath canner will not cut it. I use, and love, my all-American canner, but there are other options available which you can read more about in my review of the best pressure canners. 

Canning Jars - we use pint or quart ball jars because they’re readily available and still made in the USA. Pints create enough chicken for a small meal, with quarts you may have some leftovers so plan accordingly for what will work out best for you.

Canning Lids & Rings - you can purchase small quantities of ball brand canning lids or we like to purchase superb canning lids in larger quantities, also made here in the USA. 

Canning Funnel - a good canning funnel will help keep the food going into the jar instead of all over your counter. 

Jar Lifter - You need a jar lifter to safely and easily remove the hot jars from the canner when they’ve finished processing. 

Bubble Remover - optional, but it can help you pack the chicken in the jars as well as check for proper headspace, so I highly recommend one.

Ingredients for Home Canned Chicken

Raw Chicken - of course! Bone in or deboned, skinless or skin on, it doesn't matter as long as it fits in the jar while allowing the proper amount of headspace.

Salt - is also optional, but we love utilizing Redmond's real salt.

Other Seasoning - you can safely add virtually any dried herbs or other seasonings to any canning recipe so long as it does not contain gluten or thickeners. The reason is the amount is so negligible that it doesn't matter what you add. Want to can Italian seasoned chicken? You can absolutely do that. Just play with the amounts to suit your tastes.

Personally, I use a touch of salt, pepper, and garlic powder in our canned chicken. You can even add a garlic clove to each jar, or a little onion... those are both safe options to add some flavor to the meat.

How to Can Chicken

As I said, it's incredibly easy to can chicken, especially if you utilize the raw pack method. I must stress the importance of utilizing a pressure canner, though.

Like all low-acid foods, the only safe way to can chicken is with a pressure canner. Yes, I know they can seem incredibly intimidating, but they're really pretty easy to use and not scary as long as you follow instructions. You can read my tutorial on how to use a pressure canner here.

Prepare Pressure Canner, Jars & Lids

Wash jars and lids in hot soapy water and rinse them well. If you're using the hot pack method of canning chicken, you need to heat the jars, simply fill them ⅔rds full of water, pour 2-3 inches of water in the bottom of the canner, and put them on the canning rack to heat up while you prep the chicken.

If you're raw packing, wash and dry the jars and fill your pressure canner with 2-3 inches of water and heat it on low while you prep and pack your jars.

Prepare Chicken

If using bone-in chicken then cut it up into pieces and ensure they will fit in the jar while still allowing 1 ¼" of headspace.

If using boneless chicken, cut it up into 1" cubes, removing the excess fat. You can remove the skin if you'd like, however, you do not have to.

Pack Jars

Raw pack chicken: Place the raw meat pieces or pieces of chicken in the clean jar, leaving 1 ¼" of headspace at the top of the jar. You can use your bubble remover, your fingers, or a pair of tongs to push the chicken in more tightly to keep that proper headspace.

Add 1 teaspoon of salt to pints, and 2 teaspoons of salt to quarts. You can also add a bit of pepper and a ½ teaspoon of garlic powder or a clove of garlic for some additional flavor if you want.

Hot pack chicken: You need to top the cooked chicken off with hot water or hot broth as a large amount of it has been cooked out. Be sure that the liquid is hot (boiling) before packing as you need everything hot when utilizing a hot pack method.

If you are using the raw pack method, no liquid is necessary, the meat will make its own liquid. That being said you can absolutely add a little chicken broth or cold water for some added flavor and to make sure the top pieces don't wind up out of the liquid.

Note if those top pieces do wind up not being covered by a liquid, they are still safe to eat.

Remove any air bubbles with a plastic knife or air bubble remover and double-check your headspace.

Place Lids

Wipe rims of the jars with a towel dipped in vinegar or hot water. Center the jar lids, then finger-tighten the rings on the jars.

Prepare for Processing

Place jars of chicken in the prepared pressure canner, making sure there is 2 to 3 inches of water in the bottom. Lock on the lid and heat over medium heat. Leave the weight off until you see a steady stream of steam escaping the vent pipe on the top of the canner.

Process the Jars

Once the canner begins venting, set a timer for ten minutes. After it has vented for ten minutes, place the weight on the canner.

Allow the canner to reach the proper pressure (listed below) and process the jars for the proper amount of time.

After processing time, allow the canner to come down to zero pressure naturally. Carefully remove the lid from the canner and allow the jars to sit for 2 minutes before removing them to a towel-lined counter.

Check seals after leaving the jars undisturbed for 12-16 hours.

How long do I pressure can chicken?

Processing times for both raw packed and hot packed chicken are the same. However bone-in chicken is processed longer than boneless chicken.

Boneless chicken (raw or hot pack methods) - process pints for 75 minutes, and quarts for 90 minutes.

Bone-in chicken (raw or hot pack methods) - process pints for 65 minutes, and quarts for 75 minutes.

Weighted gauge canner - 10 pounds of pressure below 1,000 feet in elevation, 15 pounds of pressure 1,000 feet and above.

Dial-gauge pressure canner - 11 pounds up to 2,000 feet in elevation, 12 pounds 2,001 feet to 4,000 feet.

How long is canned chicken good for?

Canned food will stay safe to eat on a pantry shelf for a long time, however, the quality of it begins to diminish 12-18 months after it is canned. That said, for the best flavor be sure to consume it within 18 months.

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