Home Canned Tomato Soup – Easy Recipe for Canning Tomato Soup
Canning tomato soup is a great way to use up extra tomatoes. We like to can our tomato soup in 1 cup mason jars, which are perfect for a quick lunch option.
I've tried a few home canned tomato soup recipes over the years, but none of them were quite what I wanted for my family. All we wanted was a simple tomato soup, something like Campbells or Amy's, but using our own home grown tomatoes, veggies and herbs for fresher flavor.
This year we finally have a winner. This tomato soup recipe is slightly thickened/concentrated, so it takes up less storage space. When ready to serve, you can add your choice of water, broth or milk.
This tomato soup recipe must be pressure canned or frozen for safe storage, due to the low acid ingredients. (Read more about safe canning and botulism here.)
Process it in pint or half pint jars, not quarts, to insure even heating (because of the thickening).
If you're using paste tomatoes, the tomato soup will be thicker than if you use juicier tomatoes. Yesterday I made a batch with mostly cherry tomatoes and any other tomatoes I could find in the garden, and after thickening it was pretty much like regular soup, so I reduced the salt and canned it in pint jars instead of half pint jars.
Note: Need help getting your tomatoes to ripen? Check here for tips. Problems with blossom end rot? See this post for help. This recipe was adapted from Canning Homemade.
Easy Tomato Soup Recipe for Canning
Ingredients
- 8 lbs ripe tomatoes, unpeeled, quartered
- 1 cup celery, diced
- 2 cups onion, diced
- 1 cup fresh parsley
- 6 bay leaves
- 3/4 cup Clear Gel or E-Z Gel
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 1/2 Tablespoons salt (optional)
- 1/4 cup sugar (optional)
Directions
Place tomatoes, celery, onion, parsley and bay leaves in a large stainless steel pot. Cook gently, uncovered, until tender, stirring as needed. I aim to reduce the volume roughly by half, or until it starts to thicken.
Press through a food strainer or sieve into a large stainless steel or enameled cast iron saucepan. Set aside 2 cups of puree to cool.
Whisk together Clear Gel (E-Z Gel) and cooled tomato puree to form a slurry.
Bring the tomato soup back to a boil and stir in the Clear Gel (E-Z Gel) slurry. Continue to boil for two minutes, until it thickens. Add salt, pepper and sugar (if desired). Soup will not resemble commercial soup concentrate. Instead, it will look like a slightly too thick tomato soup.
Ladle into pint or half pint jars and fill to 1” headspace. Wipe rims and seat two piece caps.
Process in pressure canner at 10 pounds of pressure for weighted gauge and 11 pounds for dial gauge, for 25 minutes for pints or half pints. Do not use quarts for this recipe.
When ready to serve the canned tomato soup, just heat with equal amount of liquid such as milk, water or chicken broth.
Makes around 4 pints.
What is Clear Gel? What is E-Z Gel? Do I Need to Use these for Canning Tomato Soup?
Clear Gel and E-Z Gel are gluten free, non-GMO cornstarch products that can be directly added to any liquid, hot or cold, for instant thickness. They hold up to freezing, canning and refrigerating without weeping, thinning, or breaking down.
Do you need to use Clear Gel or E-Z Gel? Yes and no.
If you are canning tomato soup and want to thicken it safely before canning, Clear Gel and E-Z Gel are the safest, most reliable ways to do it.
Some grocery stores are starting to carry these products, or you can buy Clear Gel online here. You can get E-Z Gel here. Clear Gel is usually easier to find, but I prefer the smell and texture of E-Z Gel.
If you don't want to thicken before canning, just skip the Clear Gel and use corn starch or flour or homemade veggie powder to thicken after canning, if desired.
My friend, Tami, also uses this canned tomato soup recipe in casseroles or other recipes that call for tomato juice.
Print Friendly Recipe
PrintEasy Tomato Soup Recipe for Canning
This home canned tomato soup recipe is easy to make and kid friendly. The soup is condensed, so it takes up less storage space in the pantry. If you don't have a pressure canner, you can also freeze the soup.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 hours
- Total Time: 4 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 pints 1x
- Category: Soup
- Method: Canning
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 8 lbs ripe tomatoes, unpeeled, quartered
- 1 cup celery, diced
- 2 cups onion, diced
- 1 cup fresh parsley
- 6 bay leaves
- 3/4 cup Clear Gel or E-Z Gel
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 1/2 Tablespoons salt (optional)
- 1/4 cup sugar (optional)
Instructions
Place tomatoes, celery, onion, parsley and bay leaves in a large stainless steel pot. Cook gently, uncovered, until tender, stirring as needed. I aim to reduce the volume roughly by half, or until it starts to thicken.
Press through a food strainer or sieve into a large stainless steel or enameled cast iron saucepan. Set aside 2 cups of puree to cool.
Whisk together Clear Gel (E-Z Gel) and cooled tomato puree to form a slurry.
Bring soup back to a boil and stir in the Clear Gel slurry. Continue to boil for two minutes, until it thickens. Add salt, pepper and sugar (if desired). Soup will not resemble commercial soup concentrate. Instead, it will look like a slightly too thick tomato soup.
Ladle into pint or half pint jars and fill to 1” headspace. Wipe rims and seat two piece caps.
Process in pressure canner at 10 pounds of pressure for weighted gauge and 11 pounds for dial gauge, for 25 minutes for pints or half pints. Do not use quarts for this recipe.
When ready to serve the canned tomato soup, just heat with equal amount of liquid such as milk, water or chicken broth.
Makes around 4 pints.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
Keywords: tomato soup, soup, canning
Recommended products:
- Norpro Strainer & Sauce Maker
- Clear Gel
- 23-Quart Pressure Canner
- Presto Cooking/Canning Rack for Pressure Canner
- Ball Mason 8oz Quilted Jelly Jars with Lids and Bands, Set of 12
You may also find these articles useful:
- Spaghetti Sauce Recipe for Canning Made with Fresh Tomatoes
- Home Canned Salsa Recipe – Plus 10 Tips for Safe Salsa Canning
- Homemade Ketchup – Canned or Lactofermented
- Pickled Cherry Tomatoes for Canning, Plus More Cherry Tomato Ideas
- How to Can Tomatoes in a Canner or Large Pot
Stacking Jars in the Pressure Canning
This year the boys and I did so much canning that I tried something I hadn't done before – double decker canning in the pressure canner. If you have a taller pressure canner, it may be safe for you to can two layers of jars at once. You should check your owner's manual to be sure.
I have a 23-Quart Pressure Canner and also picked up a 16 quart canner on sale this year for smaller jobs. My owner's manual said it was safe to stack one layer of jars right on top of the other, but I prefer to use an additional rack between layers. (You can order an extra rack here.)
Canning two batches of tomato soup at once was a huge time saver. I'm so glad I finally gave stacking a try!
How's your harvesting and preserving coming along? (Or maybe it's planting season where you're at?) It's always fun to learn from different folks around the country and world.
Originally published in 2015, last updated 2018.
oh my gosh I just made a triple batch of this….heaven!!! I did add some garlic and basil, but other then that I kept to the recipe. I will never go back to any other tomato soup. Thank you for sharing your amazing recipe! Bring on the grilled cheese and tomato soup!!!
★★★★★
I’m glad it worked well for you. Thanks for taking time to leave a comment.
Can Pomona’s pectin be substituted for the clear jell?
No, they have a different texture. If you don’t have Clear Gel or Ultra Gel, it’s fine to can it without thickener, and then add thickening when you’re ready to serve the soup.
Can I use thermflo to thicken? Also, I have already done tomatoes that I ran through with no seeds and skins, can I just add the other ingredients and cook down then run through blender?
I haven’t used thermflo, but it looks like it can be used interchangeably with ClearGel.
Do you think I could use not fully ripened tomatoes? Not green, but not super red either.. I’m sure it’s a taste thing in the end, but I’m trying to use up my end of year tomatoes.
Tomatoes will ripen off the vine, so if you wait a few days, they should be red, and you’ll be good to go.
Excellent recipe. I opted to freeze mine as a “thaw, heat and eat”, rather than pressure canning as a concentrate so I left out the clear gel and for my second batch, I reduced the salt, pepper and sugar by 1/2. If I ever choose to cook it down to a concentrate to save storage space, I would use the original seasoning amounts. To us, it tastes a lot like Amy’s canned tomato soup and we are pleased with the consistency without any thickener added. Thank you for this recipe.
★★★★★
Laurie – this recipe is delicious! And so easy to make. I received a windfall of hundreds of pounds of San Marzano (?) tomatoes from a friend who had all of her seeds become viable seedlings and didn’t like the idea of not planting them. Hubby wanted lots of tomato soup in the pantry so I canned and freeze dried over 70 pints of this soup. I made double and triple batches at a time, which filled the pressure canner (double stacked).
When I first tasted the soup, a picture of a blizzardy Wisconsin day with a grilled cheese sandwich on the side popped into my head.
I can’t have corn so I didn’t use the Ultra Gel and somehow didn’t see the “simmer for about 4 hours” in the recipe so I simmered it until I liked the consistency and taste – usually and hour or two. It’s not a concentrate but it’s thick, rich, savory tomato soup ready to eat out of the jar. Making it as ready-to-eat and using the full amount of ground black pepper makes it nice and “zippy”. It’s nice to have somewhat flexible recipes – I made our soup with less salt and sugar to fit our tastes.
Thanks for the delicious soup recipe – we will enjoy it many times during the next year! ?
★★★★★
The cooking it down to concentrate is mainly to save shelf space. It also helps to concentrate the flavors, especially when you’re dealing with late season tomatoes that may be a little more bland.
I usually do double or triple batches, too. We even did a quadruple this season because the tomato harvest was so good, but it was tight fitting that on the stove top. I need a bigger pot!
I’m glad you like the recipe.
Can I leave out the parsley?
Yes, it will still be safe to can. The parsley does add a nice element to the flavor profile if you have it available.
Can I use Clear Gel instead of Ultra Gel? If so, would I use the same amount? I am wanting to can this tomorrow and only have clear gel.
Thank you!
As long as it’s the type that is stable when heated, yes, that’s fine, and use the same amount. (As I understand it, they have a couple different types. The label should mention something about cooking or “heat stable”.)
Thank you so much for your reply. I’ll try to let you know how it turned out!
Hi there, Can you tell me please, if Ultra Gel is the same as Clear Gel?
Thanks so much,
Yes, Ultra Gel and Clear Gel and similar products made by different companies.
Don’t EVER can food thickened like that, and please modify the recipe to follow safe canning rules per FDA. It isn’t safe.
Actually, Ultragel and Clear Gel are the only thickeners approved for canning by the National Center for Home Food Preservation. Here’s an example from their website – https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_02/can_pie/pie_fillings.html:
I’m excited to try this recipe. I currently have a pot of a garlic Italian tomato soup concentrate going right now. But…there are more tomatoes I hope will ripen on the vine! I have a blendtec and will blend everything up before I cook it. The chickens hate it because, well, less goes to them! Thanks for sharing.
Can you substitute ClearJel for UltraJel? Amazon says it’s a Non-GMO modified corn starch made to withstand the heat of canning. Use it just like you would flour. Says it stirs in much easier and no clumping.
…preferred for thickening canned pie fillings as well as other foods over other corn starches because it has less or no aftertaste, the thickened juices are smooth and clear, and foods thickened with Clear Jel may be frozen.
Yes, Clear Jel and Ultra Gel are similar products made by different companies, so it’s fine to substitute one for the other.
You stated that this recipe can be frozen, to freeze it do I just follow all the steps and put it in the freezer instead of pressure canning it?
Yes. I have not frozen it because my freeze space is typically filled with bulk meat, but you should be able to pack it in freeze safe containers with at least 1/2 inch headspace (to allow for expansion during freezing) and store it in the freezer. Don’t forget to date and label.
This is very yummy! I ended up with way more than 4 quarts. Almost double. Re-reading the recipe I’m thinking I should’ve simmered it much longer than I did (4 hours?). I simmered until the vegetables were tender, but was I supposed to do it for 4 hours?
★★★★★
Yes, I do usually slow simmer it for several hours to condense the soup. There’s nothing wrong with cooking it less, per se, it simply won’t be as thick.
Do you do the low 4 hour simmer before running through the food mill or after you have the end product & before jarring!
I cook down everything in the pot together until the volume of water is significantly reduced, then strain. It doesn’t necessarily take four hours, but I had to put in some default time. It depends on how juicy your tomatoes are and how thick you want the soup. I’ll try to make it clearer in the recipe.
I am so excited. Made homemade tomato sauce yesterday for the very first time. I used this recipe, minus the thickening agent so I ended up with 8 points. My husband ate what was left in the pan and loved it. Thank you for making canning this year’s veggies so easy. Next year I will be investing in a food mill, the strainer process is a lot of work.
★★★★★
You’ve very welcome and so glad that it worked out for you.
Spell check doesn’t like soup apparently. I made the soup the other day. I made the sauce a few weeks ago. 🙂 Already used a quart of that and have almost enough ripe tomatoes to make another half batch. Thanks again
You’re welcome. My sons and I tackled a batch of salsa and a batch of sauce today. It took a while, but it’s nice to have the pantry continuing to fill up.