Having a stash of homemade tomato soup concentrate in your pantry is like doing a favor for your future self. Portioning it out in 26 ounce jars from Fillmore Container makes it look extra snazzy!
My tomato preservation approach is one that is forever evolving. I make a point of trying at least one new-to-me tomato recipe to each season, always hoping that I’ll discover something particularly delicious and worthy of my time, resources, and shelf space.
This year, there were two experimental recipes. The first was this barbecue sauce (which is quite delicious, but probably won’t be something I make every single year). The second is the tomato soup concentrate that I’m sharing today. I’m already hoping that when I get home from the trip I’m currently on (I’ve been away for a week, which accounts for the blog silence), I’ll be able to get enough tomatoes to make another batch.
Recipes for tomato soup concentrates that are safe for the boiling water bath canner aren’t always easy to find. I did a lot of reading and worked out more math problems than is typically required for a basic canning recipe in order to bring this to you today. I built my recipe upon the framework laid out in the National Center for Home Food Preservation’s water bath safe Tomato and Vegetable Juice recipe.
The thing in that recipe that made everyone here possible is the fact that it specifies that, “Not more than 3 cups of other vegetables may be added for each 22 pounds of tomatoes.” Taking my cue from there, I used 15 pounds of tomatoes, and a scant two cups of diced onions. I felt comfortable doing that, because I was keeping to their approach while reducing the batch size by one-third.
From there, it was a matter of chopping the tomatoes and cooking them down with the onion. Once they were soft, I pushed them through a food mill fitted with its finest screen. At that point, I had approximately 24 cups of flavorful tomato juice.
I added Italian seasoning and granulated garlic, and cooked it down until I had a thick, tasty 16 cups. Once I was finished cooking, I added salt to taste (it’s always best to wait until you’ve finished cooking something down before salting it. Otherwise, you can end up with something inedible).
Then I portioned 1/2 teaspoon of citric acid into five square sided 26 ounce jars from Fillmore Container and filled them up with my soup concentrate. I added five minutes to the processing time required by the NCHFP for the tomato and vegetable juice, to compensate for the increased thickness.
I love canning tomato products in these square sided jars because they give it a more professional look, and I find that the squared off sides make them easier to grab when I’m moving quickly. The 26 ounce size is also great from a portioning perspective. Reheated with a bit of milk, there’s just the right amount for two people to enjoy bigs bowls with a side of cheesy toast or garlic bread.
Oh, and if you find yourself liking the looks of the square shape, know that they’re also available in 8 ounce and 16 ounce sizes.
Disclosure: Fillmore Container is a Food in Jars sponsor. Their sponsorship helps keep the site afloat. They provided the jars you see here at no cost to me. All opinions expressed are entirely mine.
Tomato Soup Concentrate
Ingredients
- 15 pounds of tomatoes
- 2 cups diced onion
- 2 tablespoons granulated garlic
- 1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning
- 1 tablespoon salt plus more to taste
- 2 1/2 teaspoons citric acid
Instructions
- Wash the tomatoes and cut them into quarters. Heap the chopped tomatoes into a large pot and add the diced onion.
- Add about a cup of water to the bottom of the pot to prevent scorching. Place the pot on the stove and bring it to a boil.
- Cook, stirring occasionally for about an hour, until the tomatoes have lost their structural integrity and the pot contains nothing but super saucy tomatoes.
- Remove the pot from the stove. Fit a food mill with its finest screen and position it over a large heatproof bowl.
- Working in batches, start pushing the cooked tomatoes and onions through the food mill. You will probably need to stop three or four times to empty out the bowl into a clean pot.
- Once all the tomatoes are milled, add the granulated garlic and Italian seasoning. Set the pot on the stove and bring to a low boil.
- Cook for one to three hours, until the soup concentrate has reduced by at 1/3 and hopefully a bit more.
- When you're pleased with the consistency, stir in the salt. Start with a tablespoon. Taste and add more as needed.
- Divide the citric acid between five jars 26 ounce jars (the Ball brand 24 ounce Pint & Half jars are also a great choice for this one).
- Funnel the finished soup concentrate into the jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
- Wipe the rims, apply the lids and rings, and process in a boiling water bath canner for 45 minutes (if you live above 1,000 feet in elevation, please adjust your processing times accordingly).
- When the time is up, remove the jars and set them on a folded kitchen towel to cool. When the jars have cooled enough that you can comfortable handle them, check the seals. Sealed jars can be stored at room temperature for up to a year. Any unsealed jars should be refrigerated and used promptly.
I just picked 100 Lb of organic tomatoes today so I will be doing lots of canning this weekend. Have been looking for a soup recipe.
Square jars! And tomato soup after a long work day! This is a must try recipe.
Anything that I have made that contains tomatoes canned at the peak of their season – salsa, preserves or grated tomato sauce.
I love having strawberry jam or vanilla rhubarb jam. Both remind me of summer.
Square jars!
Peaches or tomatoes!
Strawberry vanilla Jam or spiced peaches. Yum!
I love seeing my strawberry preserves in the middle of winter. Reinforces the reason I put up all thru the summer months. Takes me out of the snow and into the sounds and smells of summer.
Spicy watermelon rind pickles are welcomed in the dead of winter, as well as dilly beans and whole Michigan peaches.
I feel like half of my answers are “rhubarb vanilla jam” — but it’s SO GOOD….
Strawberry jam and apple pie filling! Helps me to remember the summer and brings the lovely smells of the fall as it is snowing outside 🙂
I love to have huckleberry jam on the shelf…the berries are soooo good!
This sounds good. I’ll have to try it. I love my sauce year round & jelly. Lots of jelly 🙂
This is a really intriguing project I may just have to try. I love having the taste of summer tomato sauce and now maybe soup available in January – makes those long New England winters more bearable.
All the tomato products I can stuff into jars! Salsa, diced, chutney, soup, marinara…love them all 🙂
I typically use bottled lemon juice to acidify tomato canning recipes. Can I use lemon juice instead of citric acid, which I don’t have, in this recipe? Would you consider there to be a downside with using lemon juice? (In flavor, that is…)
In this case, it just adds liquid. With a concentrate like this, my goal is always to reduce the amount of liquid, which is why I opted for citric acid. However, they are interchangeable. If you want to use lemon juice, the exchange is 1/2 teaspoon citric acid = 2 tablespoons bottled lemon juice.
What perfect timing, I’ve been looking for a tomato soup recipe to use up some of my abundant tomatoes. And I keep using all my jars making other tomato products.
I love strawberry jam in the middle of January. And I was just looking for a tomato soup canning recipe today. Great timing!!
Tomato sauce! We use it every week for chili and pasta.
Definitely peach butter!
I ALWAYS have canned tomatoes in the pantry!! They’re the base for a lot of soups & the start of a lot of sauces in my household.
I’ve made sauce in the past and found I get more use out of regular crushed tomatoes, but having tomato soup ready to go sounds like a good idea and worth trying!
Can the tomatoes be juuced rather than put through the food mill to get the same result?
I haven’t done it that way, so I don’t know.
The homemade preserve that I most want on my shelf in January is strawberry jam!
Seems perfect for a quick Sunday lunch with grilled cheese. Thanks! I hope I get to make it. And I’ll definitely be glad come January. Though, my fav thing to have on the shelf in Jan is strawberry jam!
Just bought 150# of tomatoes last night for a canning weekend
Tomato jam is my FAVORITE thing to can, and I never make enough! It is so incredible on grilled cheese sandwiches in winter.
oh gosh! i just got into canning last year and as of now i would say applesauce… as boring as it is! i love that i can pack it in my kids lunch and it’s made from organic apples. last year’s was made from our own apples, but our tree didn’t produce with the weird cold spell we had in the spring. i am new to your blog after i got your book (my sis in law had it and i was in awe!). excited to learn and make more.
Anything tomato based for soups and stews. Peaches and apple pie fillings for desserts. We need tons of jams and jellies for the nieces and nephews!
Honestly, tomato s poo up is my favorite. I make tons and use it as a start to other soups, chili, sloppy Joes, or spaghetti sauce.
Can’t wait to try this. I have a bumper crop of Rutgers 250 tomatoes (the original tomatoes for Campbell Tomatoe Soup), all ripe and just perfect for soup. Although I would prefer to can them in 8 0z jars. How long should I process them in the water bath?
Five minutes less for pint or smaller jars.
Mango chutney!
Love having Colorado Olathe corn at the ready, Palisade peaches for pie and cherries for smoothies
Sliced peaches are my favorite thing to have on the shelf. Taste of summer in the cold Colorado winter always brightens my spirits.
Tomato soup with grilled cheese is wonderful on a cold winter day!
We love peach jam in January!
stewed tomatoes! eat those all winter long in chili and soup
Canned peaches. Just that little taste of summer gets me through the horrible winter.
I particularly love having plain peach jam on hand in the dead of winter, but I’m growing to appreciate crushed tomatoes more and more!
Home canned chopped tomatoes for me. They can be tomato soup, the start of sauce, pretty much anything.
I tend to go with basic crushed tomatoes so when I make tomato soup it’s a more rustic version rather than smooth Campbell’s tomato soup. I do love those jars tho.
I am so excited about this recipe! We grew up eating Campbell’s tomato soup and bagels with cream cheese and I miss it because I had a bad experience with Campbell’s as an adult and won’t go back. I made it fresh and it’s super yummy when tomatoes are good but winter and fall… This will solve all the things!
I just process tomatoes plain. Making a tomato soup base, or bloody mary base, or whatever strikes my fancy.
Pizza sauce and peach salsa (but not together!) are some of the things I’m happy to still have in January.
home canned tomatoes are the best tasting ones. the products in the stores just can’t compare. i will always can my own.
tomato confit
Applesauce and salsa, so fresh and everyone loves it.
I love to have my ground cherry vanilla compote in the middle of January. God…this is soooooooooo good!!!!
I love tomato soup. This is something I’d keep in my desk at work for lunches.
The tomato soup sounds tasty. I like to have some jam ready and am collecting wild blackberries for jelly.
Any size of jar is always useful. Thanks