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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.

home canned tomato soup in mason jar with tomatoes in basket

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.

cooking down tomato soup for canning
Stages of the soup ingredients as they cook down. Left side = fresh ingredients added to the pot, right side = ready to strain.

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.

straining tomato soup for canning

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.

finished tomato soup

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.

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Easy Tomato Soup Recipe for Canning

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4.9 from 7 reviews

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.

  • Author: Laurie Neverman
  • 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

Units Scale
  • 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

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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!

home canned tomato soup in mason jar with tomatoes in basket

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.

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92 Comments

  1. 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!!!






    1. 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.

  2. 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?

  3. 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.

  4. 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.






  5. 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! ?






    1. 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.

  6. 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!

    1. 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”.)

      1. Don’t EVER can food thickened like that, and please modify the recipe to follow safe canning rules per FDA. It isn’t safe.

        1. 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:

          “Selecting, Preparing and Canning Fruit
          Pie Fillings

          General: The following fruit fillings are excellent and safe products. Each canned quart makes one 8-inch to 9-inch pie. The filling may be used as toppings on dessert or pastries. Clear Jel® is a chemically modified corn starch that produces excellent sauce consistency even after fillings are canned and baked. Other available starches break down when used in these pie fillings, causing a runny sauce consistency. Clear Jel® is available only through a few supply outlets and it is not widely available in grocery stores. Find out about its availability prior to gathering other ingredients to make these pie fillings. If you cannot find it, check Internet stores, or ask your county Extension family and consumer sciences educator about sources for Clear Jel®.

          Because the variety of fruit may alter the flavor of the fruit pie, it is suggested that you first make a single quart, make a pie with it, and serve. Then adjust the sugar and spices in the recipe to suit your personal preferences. The amount of lemon juice should not be altered, as it aids in controlling the safety and storage stability of the fillings.

          When using frozen cherries and blueberries, select unsweetened fruit. If sugar has been added, rinse it off while fruit is frozen. Thaw fruit, then collect, measure, and use juice from fruit to partially replace the water specified in the recipe. Use only 1/4 cup Clear Jel® per quart, or 1-3/4 cups for 7 quarts. Use fresh fruit in the apple and peach pie filling recipes.”

  7. 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.

  8. 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.

  9. 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?

    1. 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.

  10. 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?






      1. Do you do the low 4 hour simmer before running through the food mill or after you have the end product & before jarring!

        1. 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.

  11. 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.






      1. 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

  12. Please send me instructions that relate to qts of juice. I need be able to multiply and measure qts of juice not pounds of tomatoes…… I love this recipe but I’m guessing. So far I’ve used 80 oz for the 8 pounds. Please advise

    1. I have no idea how many quarts of juice you would need, given that the amount of juice yielded would depend on the tomatoes. I found a juicing site that estimated a juice yield of 8 to 10 oz. per lb. of tomato, so if you like you can do the math and use that as an estimate.

  13. Why do you say that you can’t use quart jars for this recipe? I have a pressure canner and feel that if I just increase the canning time, all should be well. What are your thoughts?

    1. I don’t recommend using quart jars because I don’t have a way to test it. In the Ball Blue Book, they have a spiced tomato soup recipe which is thickened with an assortment of vegetables, and they only give the processing time for pints. I made that recipe first before I switched to the current recipe. The thickness of both products is similar, and there are no chunks, so a similar processing time should be effective. I don’t have a tested reference for quart size for this recipe.

      The National Center for Home Food Preservation has soup guidelines, but not for a basic tomato soup. Their general soup recipe includes meat, vegetables and seasoning making up no more than half the contents of the jar, with the rest being unthickened liquid. For the mix of solid chunks and liquid, they bump processing time all the way up to 60 minutes for pints and 75 minutes for quarts.

      In their Spaghetti Sauce without Meat recipe, they process quarts for 25 minutes, so it should be safe – BUT – the thickening is the wild card. If your soup looks more like thick soup and can move freely in the jar, then heat transfer should work well. If you’ve cooked it down fairly thick, and then added the UltraGel to make it really thick, that will slow down heat transfer. If you want quarts and don’t want to worry about how thick is too thick, skip the UltraGel and can away.

  14. What is meant by ‘two piece caps’? Sorry, but I’m also relatively new to canning I am going to try this recipe, though! Thanks.

      1. Thanks so much for you response. I am making a batch today, I am new to canning and am trying to make sure I do everything right. This recipe looks fantastic!

  15. I have frozen tomatoes. When they are thawed they are quite soft. Any recommendations on the first step of boiling them to make them soft?

  16. Can I just seed my tomatoes and follow the recipe but NOT put this through a food strainer and can
    it that way? still using the pressure canner and times listed.

  17. Can I just puree it all and sieve to get seeds out then cook it and why can’t this be hot water bathed? I do with my salsa and spaghetti sauce.

    1. You can do whatever you like, but I won’t recommend it. Only items with a pH of 4.6 or lower can be safely water bath canned, and with the added veggies, odds are that the pH will be above 4.6.

  18. I made a double recipe but ended up with 12 pints instead of the 8 I was expecting. I used coconut milk when making a jar to eat and it was very good but I will cut back on salt the next time.






    1. Living in Phoenix, AZ, I rarely have a bumper crop of tomatoes like when I lived in Illinois. Can I use canned tomatoes? If so, how much?

  19. Would it matter if I squeezed the tomatoes before cooking I have a 5 gallon bucket of juice and want to try something new this sounds good

  20. I have a similar recipe for tomato, basil bisque that I make. I take the tomatoes and vegetables that are cooked until they are very mushy, cool them, run them through the blender to puree, then run them through my Squeezo. Very little waste when I do this. I have never tried to can it. Still freezing it in meal size portions.

    1. It’s not fancy, just simple and good. The boys really enjoy it. They ate what didn’t fit in the canner with the first double batch I prepped this season right away for lunch.

  21. Hi, I’m sorry but I don’t know what the gel is that you mention. This sounds so good and the salt being optional is great for our low salt diet. I really want to make this

  22. Tomatoe vines on hog panels! What a great idea! We have stakes but don’t use them and this year is wet and may be drowned today. I grown cucumbers and pole beans on panels and even tried cantalope.
    Next year it will be tomatoes. Thanks for the tip.

  23. Instead of throwing away all that goodness, couldn’t you put in a blender? It seem like it would thicken a lot easier. But Iv’e never made it before so I don’t know. I still get jokes made about certain things I’ve tried before. 🙂

    1. Some people blender their tomatoes for sauce or soup. I did it – once. The seeds made it so bitter it was inedible – but I do have a very sensitive palate. Other people do it and claim to like it. Everyone has different tastes. If you give it a go, try a small batch first.

      1. When you blended it all instead, did you still pressure can it the same amount of time and pounds of pressure? I am wanting to try both ways, but really think I would like a bit of “chunk” in mine! Thanks 🙂

    1. It’s not generally recommended anymore because it is more likely to clump and heat unevenly, but you could try a batch and see how it turns out if you don’t want to order the UltraGel.

  24. I am fairly new to canning and the info I’ve sought out at my local extension office warns me about using recipes that are not tried and true (like Ball Blue Book recipes are) due to the safety component. What is your opinion on that? There are so many delicious looking canning recipes out there but I also don’t want to put my family’s health in jeopardy. The extension lady said I could freeze these recipes but I’m looking for things that are shelf-stable for space reasons. Thanks in advance, I love your blog!

    1. In general, I’d say your local extension office is spot on. There are a lot of recipes out there that are not safe. That said, as long as you follow safety guidelines, there is a little flexibility. For instance, this soup is a non-chunky liquid, so it should heat evenly, not leaving any cold spots in the jar because of unevenly sized or dense components. My canning time is based on a very similar recipe in the Ball Blue Book, and uses a pressure canner, so that should safely account for an unknown acidity level.

      For detailed information on the chemistry that makes canning safe, I’d highly recommend The Natural Canning Resource Book – https://commonsensehome.com/the-natural-canning-resource-book-book-review/

      1. Hi
        I used a vegetable strainer to strain everything except the bay leaves then I boil it for abou twenty min then add the clear gel mixture and bring it back to a boil then process the soup

  25. Thank you so much for the concentrated recipe! As someone who is into nutrition and don’t want any artificial ingredients, I have been trying to make my own “concentrated” tomato soup for the last couple of years now. My first batch was just two years ago, I just followed the recipe in my old Kerr canning book, which is NOT concentrated. Last year I tried reducing my tomatoes down and followed the same recipe (it does taste good) but still was not the “concentrated” form I was looking for. We love home made Dorothy Lynch salad dressing which calls for one can of Tomato Soup. For the dressing I replaced the sugar with honey and use Extra Virgin Olive Oil to make it healthy but my soup recipe was making this too thin. I’m anxious to try this recipe!!!

    I was going to ask what variety of tomato to use… Roma or regular tomatoes… because they all vary so much in water and taste but I think each person may have their own preference. My personal preference is Roma’s. I love Martino’s for sauce, they are small and have great flavor and the vines reach about 3-4′ tall and heavy producers. I also tried Amish Paste which are larger Roma’s with vines reaching 6′. These broke down quickly also in cooking. I wasn’t able to buy Martino’s this year and bought San Marzano’s. The tomatoes are twice the size with vines reaching 6′ on my hog panel fence. I just started harvesting and can’t compare how they cook up yet. I’ll probably just cold pack them. The Martino’s broke down quickly and would not hold up to canned diced so I’ll see how these do for diced tomatoes. Also, some tomatoes are more acidic than others and they don’t all taste the same, so you’re only going to get out what you put in as far as quality taste.

    1. I haven’t grown Romas in years, so I can’t speak for the taste with those. The first three batches I made were mostly paste tomatoes – Opalka, San Marzano, Amish Paste. The consistency was thicker and the flavor was smoother and more mellow – good with and without the added sugar. (I tried with and without sugar and salt.)

      The last two batches I made I used an assortment of heirlooms, including many cherry tomatoes – garden peach, green zebra, peacevine, yellow pear, pearly pink, black cherry, mortgage lifter and a few others. We’re had a ton of rain lately, and the tomatoes were really juicy. Even with thickening, the soup was still not “thick”, just less thin. Because of the acidity of the cherry tomatoes, I really felt the sugar was a good counter balance on the flavor. As I mentioned in the post, I cut the salt down and bottled it to use “as is”.

      All the different variations were good, but the batches with almost all paste tomatoes were most similar in flavor to commercial products, as one would expect.

      1. Very excited to try this soup! I’m wondering why your not adding a little lemon juice for safe canning?

          1. Thanks for the recipe and all the hints. Really enjoyed the information very informative thanks again.

    1. Holy cow! i just made this and alas there wasn’t room in the caner for that last jar. I was forced to add some milk and eat it. My son and i will never but that National Brand again. this is fabulous!
      I was thinking about adding some garlic, but the first time i make something i like to stick to the original recipe. Maybe next time.
      I do have one question (as i sit sipping this yummyness). i ran this through a Roma mill and the chickens were very happy to get the leavings so there is no waste. but i wonder how it would be if it were all scrambled in a ninja or vitamix to retain the part the chickens got. any thoughts?

      1. I’m about to make this recipe and I intend to just use my hand blender for 1 batch as I like a chunkier soup option.
        I’ve made the chunkier version before with different recipes. This recipe sounds delicious!