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’m excited to try the orange smoke paprika tomato jam recipe. I make the original version from the first cookbook all the time and it is a big hit, but variety is a wonderful thing!
Strawberry jam! Or peach jam! Pear jam! Fig jam! Basically, jam. Anything that tastes like fresh seasonal fruit is welcome in the PNW winter.
Marissa, do you have a favorite brand when it comes to food mills? I’ve never owned one and the prices fluctuate so much from manufacture’s I’m confused on what would be the best value.
I don’t can in January, just spring, summer and autumn!
I’ve been using the OXO one for the last few years and really love it.
I love canning salsa… we use it for everything!
Thanks for the recipe. I love to can tomatoes and have their fresh flavor during winter.
Oh yum yum yum.. Can’t wait to try this. Tomato soup is my favorite cold day warm me up food.
Hmm, probably fresh peach jam or sweet cherry jam – tastes like summer!
Thank you so much for the soup recipe! I was just contemplating what to do with all my tomatoes this year with a friend. She suggested tomato soup, but I thought it wasn’t safe to water bath can. So glad to find that it can be done, It’s one of my work lunch staples – tomato soup with tuna on toasted whole grain, yum!
Canned tomatoes… Usually roasted and crushed
Apricot jam…simple.
Canned tomatoes and pressure canned chicken stock. Once you get used to having stock on hand all the time you just can’t get used to going without
Strawberry jam, gives me a hint of summer on those cold days. Can almost taste the sunshine.
I am hoping to make spiced peaches in the next few weeks with a co-worker. She described a recipe from her grandmother and I am fascinated by the idea- sounded delicious!
Yay, square jars!
I canned up a batch of yellow raspberry jam this summer and I’ll be canning a ton more of it next year. It’s SO good and I don’t want to share my small batch with anyone! haha.
In january, I think I’m happiest for pumpkin puree. It goes in oatmeal, sweet bread, lentil soup, ravioli, all sorts of things. It’s also one of the last things I harvest from the garden for the calendar year, plus we’ve used up a good share of everything from the garden by January, so starting the new year with it is kind of neat.
Looks delicious. I might have enough tomatoes on hand to attempt it.
I’m excited for apricot nectar!
Hard to choose…I love having tomato sauce canned for so many dishes, green beans for a quick veggie, and we like our dilly beans but the one thing I probably enjoy the most is peach syrup (originally was a recipe for peach butter that I made as a huge batch so it didn’t thicken-now, each year, I do it again, on purpose). It’s like a taste of summer on blueberry pancakes every Sunday morning.
I try to make enough fig preserves to last the year
I want to try apple butter
In January my favorite thing to have is pear sauce or peach butter, which I spoon into granola for breakfast (or I add icecream and granola and call it dessert!) I love homemade preserves! I am eating tomato soup I made today, and already canned a few quarts. I want to jar a few quarts of whole tomatoes and these large jars would be perfect for winter meals!
In January, I’ll be so happy to have my peach jam on the shelf!
Wish I saw this recipe two days ago! Just made sauce (ended up freezing since I didnt follow a recipe!) and plan on making NCFHP’s Chile sauce next! Love garden tomatoes!
tomato stuff, and jams whatever brings back the yum of summer
Canned whole tomatoes – so handy to have around!
Thanks for the recipe ideas, I always need something new to do with my produce!
Oh I have to try this one…and the jars would be great!
Definitely tomatoes. We use so many of them, so I’m always excited when we haven’t run out yet!
Definitely a berry jam of some sort – you need a taste of spring in the dead of winter!
Oh my, my favorite preserve come January??? Let me count the items… I love them all but I am going to say apricot jam. So versatile! I use it on toast, in sauces, over roasts and chicken, etc. YUM!!
I love Peach Butter, it has just the right amount of summer in it to make January’s lack of fresh fruit tolerable.
tomato soup – there is nothing better on a cold day in the winter w/ a grilled cheese sandwich!!
Tomato sauce since I use it soo many different ways!
The best use for tomatoes is this recipe from Australian Women’s Weekly — they call it chili coriander jam. Here’s the recipe with some modifications, from my blog: https://alliumstozinnias.wordpress.com/2009/09/17/when-the-glut-strikes/
Hoping to learn to make Indian tomato pickle from my neighbor’s mom!
Looks great! Have to use smaller jars since only one of us likes tomato soup
Apricot jam – so bright and cheery in the middle of winter! But also, basic canned tomatoes as they are the base of so many things I make in winter – and homegrown have so much more flavor than anything from the store. My favorite from last winter being Marisa’s Ground Beef Soup. I made it over and over again, sometimes with ground lamb or sausage and all were equally good!
This looks fantastic. I’ll have to save it for a red tomato year, this year looks mostly green. In my garden anyway.
Roasted corn salsa or corn relish. And cherry jam.
And marinara, because by January I’m tired of cooking.
Definitely strawberry jam!
A standard jar of tomato sauce is our go to for so many recipes in the winter. Also jardinere for some fresh from the garden crispness.
There are too many favorites 🙂
I just started canning last year, and had found way too many recipes (on other sites) that were just not good recipes. They left out vital information that would have, otherwise, made a great finished product. Instead of jams, I ended up with syrups, while tasty, were not what I wanted.
I was so happy to find this site. The first jam I made, that came out properly, was the Pear and Chocolate jam, from your recipe index. If I have to choose a favorite, that one is in the top 3.
Marisa: Hooray for this, and thank you! I have many, many canning/preserving books in my library (including all of yours) but the one recipe area that is woefully lacking is soup (I hate spending money on that chemical/corn syrup laden mess that crams grocery store shelves this time of year). If you were looking for a subject for your next cookbook, perhaps home preserved soups might be considered?
I’ve been making and freezing tomato soup bases and sauces since we started getting overwhelmed with tomatoes here. Maybe I’ll overcome my tomato canning fears and try your recipe!
I love having slow roasted tomatoes and various kinds of pesto.
Gosh…to pick one is hard. I’d have to say my pickled items. I have no desire to eat a sandwich, burrito, or taco anymore without them.
I just finished canning tomatoes and what a taste in January.
I just made a batch of tomato confit.
Tomatoes! I love having a canned tomato soup on the shelf. I use it as a base for chili and other soups sometimes, as well as eat it straight.
So hard to narrow it down but there’s nothing better than opening a jar of jam in the dead of winter and being transported back to strawberry season in early summer!
Canned tomatoes because they are so versatile!