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Who doesn’t love tomato soup?! With homemade grilled cheese sandwiches. I could eat that every day, even in the summer when it’s 100F outside. This rustic tomato soup elevates the normal juiced puree into a delightfully fresh and textured tomato soup chock full of garden fresh tomatoes, fresh basil, and sauteed veggies for a hearty soup full of summer flavors to warm your bellies in the winter months. I’ve always enjoyed a chunky soup over a fully liquid one, so if you’re like me, try canning this homemade tomato soup because it’s absolutely DELISH and such a good recipe.

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Rebel Canning

This recipe can be considered rebel canning. This means this exact recipe has not been evaluated nor approved by the USDA or NCHFP (National Center for Home Food Preservation). Does the mean this recipe is unsafe? Sure doesn’t, as its one I and many others use and consume. What it does mean is as with any home canning, you should can at your own risk and use common sense. Make your own decisions because what I do and say I’m doing in my own home should not affect what you do in yours. If you are not comfortable with rebel canning, please don’t follow this recipe. In the end, you will have canned something you are afraid of and you will not eat it or use it and you will have essentially wasted your time and money. Live your life with common sense and the ability to make your own decisions for yourself. It will get your far.

Let’s get started on this homemade canned tomato soup recipe!

Best Tomato Varieties for This Soup

This recipe utilizes tomatoes in two ways: juiced and diced/crushed. For juiced, any tomato works. But for the diced or crushed tomatoes, for best texture, I prefer to pick the meatier varieties that aren’t super juice and don’t have big seed pockets. My favorite are the paste and sauce varieties as they hold up so well to roasting, these varieites being San Marzano, Amish Paste, Federle, and Opalka. Last year I canned this soup and ended up mixing yellow and red tomato varieties, and while it’s still a delicious tomato soup, it looks rather unappetizing on the shelf because the colors melded into a strange orange brown color :D So, just be thoughtful of that and not a goofball like me.

Equipment You Might Want

Large Rimmed Baking Sheets
Large Stock Pot
Canning Jars
Canning lids and bands
Steam Canner
Water Bath Canning Pot with a Lid

Ingredients

8 pounds of tomatoes
1/2 Tbs olive oil
2 large onions
6 stalks celery
8 garlic cloves
2 cups tomato juice
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp salt
1 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped

Step 1: Prep

Wash whole tomatoes, remove cores and any bad spots and halve.

Place on a baking sheet, skin side up. Broil for 6-8 minutes, or until skins are slightly charred. Remove from oven and let cool slightly so they are able to be handled.

While tomatoes are broiling, chop celery and onions.

Step 2: Cook

In a stock pot, heat 1/2 Tbs olive oil. Add celery and onions and cook over medium low heat until softened and fragrant.

Add tomato juice and garlic to stock pot and bring to a simmer.

While the tomato mixture simmers, slip skins off tomatoes. Once tomatoes are cool enough, add the roasted tomatoes to your stock pot one at a time, squeezing them in your hand to crush them up. You can also dice up with a knife if you’d prefer more uniform pieces. (Save those skins to dehydrate for tomato powder – more on that here!)

Bring mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat being sure to stir frequently to prevent burning. Add salt, pepper and basil. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Ladle hot soup into prepared quart or pint jars to 1/2″ headspace. Add acidifier of choice if desired* (see notes).

Remove air bubbles and add more hot soup if needed to maintain headspace.

Wipe jar rims and add a clean lid to the top of the jar and secure with a screw band.

Step 3: Canning

Place jars into a steam canner or water bath canning pot submerged by 1 inch of water and process pint jars or quart jars for 45 minutes, adjusting processing time for elevation of needed.

Once processing time is complete, shut off heat and remove jars to a heat proof surface lined with a clean towel to cool undisturbed for 18-24 hours.

Step 4: Storage

Once jars are cooled, remove bands and test seals, wash jars, label, and store in a cool dark place away from direct sunlight. Room temperature is fine as long as the jars are not exposed to extreme temperatures which can cause the seals to fail due to expansion of the food inside due to freezing or extremely hot temperatures.

This soup can also be frozen by placing in an airtight container, freezer bag, or freezer safe straight sided jar if you are not comfortable with canning.

Notes:

Approved safe canning of tomatoes includes the addition of an acidifier of choice to guarantee the acid level of the tomatoes is low enough for water bath canning safety (lemon juice, citric acid, or white vinegar). You can find guidelines on how much to add in any canning book or on the NCHFP website. I choose not to add an additional acid to my tomatoes as a personal preference, which has no bearing on what you do. General guidelines are to add to each pint ONE of the following and to double the amounts for quarts:

1 Tbs bottled lemon juice
1/4 tsp citric acid
2 Tbs 5% vinegar

If the soup is too acidic for you, add a pinch of baking soda after opening and dumping a jar to help reduce the acid. This is really good as a creamy tomato soup by adding a healthy pour of fresh cream and a handful of freshly grated parmesan cheese.

This is an easy way to get a really delicious quick lunch or dinner on the table in mere minutes. Cook up a deliciously crispy grilled cheese sandwich and dump a jar in a pan and warm it up and you’ll have dinner with very little effort that tastes like you worked on it all day. Put in the effort when you have a bumper crop of tomatoes and you’ll reap the benefits of that work for months! You won’t find anything this good in the grocery stores.

Rustic Roasted Tomato & Basil Home Canned Soup Recipe

Name: Rustic Roasted Tomato & Basil Home Canned Soup Recipe
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 110 min
Ingredients: 8 pounds tomatoes; 1/2 Tbs olive oil; 2 large onions (chopped); 6 stalks celery (chopped); 8 garlic cloves (minced); 2 cups tomato juice; 1 tsp black pepper; 2 tsp salt; 1 cup fresh basil (roughly chopped)

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 45

Cook Time: 20

Canning Time: 45

Total Time: 1 50

Servings: quarts

Author: Ruby – Red Feather Farm

Equipment

Baking Sheets
Large Stock Pot
Canning jars
canning lids and bands
steam canner
Water Bath Canning Pot with a Lid

Ingredients

8 pounds tomatoes
1/2 Tbs olive oil
2 large onions chopped
6 stalks celery chopped
8 garlic cloves minced
2 cups tomato juice
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp salt
1 cup fresh basil roughly chopped

Instructions

Wash whole tomatoes, remove cores and any bad spots and halve.
Place on a baking sheet, skin side up. Broil for 6-8 minutes, or until skins are slightly charred. Remove from oven and let cool slightly so they are able to be handled.
While tomatoes are broiling, chop celery and onions.
In a stock pot, heat 1/2 Tbs olive oil. Add celery and onions and cook over medium low heat until softened and fragrant.
Add tomato juice and garlic to stock pot and bring to a simmer.
While the tomato mixture simmers, slip skins off tomatoes. Once tomatoes are cool enough, add the roasted tomatoes to your stock pot one at a time, squeezing them in your hand to crush them up. You can also dice up with a knife if you’d prefer more uniform pieces.
Bring mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat being sure to stir frequently to prevent burning. Add salt, pepper and basil. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Ladle hot soup into prepared quart or pint jars to 1/2" headspace. Add acidifier of choice if desired* (see notes).
Remove air bubbles and add more hot soup if needed to maintain headspace.
Wipe jar rims and add a clean lid to the top of the jar and secure with a screw band.
Place jars into a steam canner or water bath canning pot submerged by 1 inch of water and process pint jars or quart jars for 45 minutes, adjusting processing time for elevation of needed.
Once processing time is complete, shut off heat and remove jars to a heat proof surface lined with a clean towel to cool undisturbed for 18-24 hours.
Once jars are cooled, remove bands and test seals, wash jars, label, and store in a cool dark place away from direct sunlight.
This soup can also be frozen by placing in an airtight container, freezer bag, or freezer safe straight sided jar if you are not comfortable with canning.