I’ve been making this condensed tomato soup canning recipe for about two years now. It’s a great way to use up lots of fresh tomatoes from the garden and preserve them in a hearty meal for the coming winter months. It’s a Mennonite recipe I found here.
Canning dairy products is a controversial subject among avid food preservers. Because the safety of canning with butter has not been adequately tested, the Center for Home Food Preservation cannot recommend it until further testing has been done.
I have chosen to follow the recipe as I found it, with the exception of substituting Clearjel for flour, which also is no longer recommended for canning recipes. Although I haven’t tried it yet, another optional alteration could be to add the butter to the tomato soup after the canning process as it is being reheated for consumption.
Condensed Tomato Soup Canning Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 onions small, chopped
- 1 celery chopped
- 8 quarts fresh tomatoes or 5-6 quarts of juice
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup canning salt
- 1 cup butter
- 1 cup Clearjel
Instructions
- Chop onion & celery.
- Place in large stockpot w/ just enough water to keep them from burning.
- Bring to a simmer over med-low heat.
- While this simmers, chop the tomatoes.
- Add tomatoes to pot & cook until tender.
- Return strained mix to pot.
- Add sugar & salt.
- Cream butter and Clearjel together, then mix thoroughly with two cups of COLD tomato juice, until dissolved (or blend together in a blender), to avoid lumps in the soup.
- Add butter mixture to the rest of the warmed tomato juice.
- Stir well.
- Heat just until hot. (If it gets to a boil, it can make the soup lumpy).
- Just prior to boiling, turn off the burner. It will continue to thicken as it cools.
- Ladle into warm, clean jars, leaving 1″ headspace. Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean cloth, then screw on the two piece lids finger-tight.
- Process pint jars for 55 min., quart jars 1 hour and 25 min., in a pressure canner at 10 pounds pressure, adjusting for altitude.
- Turn off heat and allow the canner to cool completely until the pressure has dropped back to zero before removing the lid.
- Remove jars and cool on countertop. Check lids to make sure they have sealed properly after 24 hours. If the lid hasn’t sealed, put the jar of soup into the fridge to be eaten within a week.
To Serve
Mix equal parts condensed tomato soup and milk in a pot over med heat, adding 1/2 t. of baking soda per pint as it reheats (1 t. per quart). Heat through and serve. It’s delicious with grilled cheese sandwiches!
A city girl learning to homestead on an acre of land in the country. Wife and homeschooling mother of four. Enjoying life, and everything that has to do with self sufficient living.
Wondering about adding lemon juice to the quarts before canning. What are your thoughts.
Are you saying one celery stalk or one bunch of celery
This is just like the one I had from 38 years ago except you’ve taught me how to replace the flour with Clear-Jel. Thanks so much! This is the best tasting tomato soup ever!!
The processing time seems long. I found another recipe using ClearJel that only processed pints for 25 minutes in a pressure canner. I wish I knew if I could cut the time down.
Just made this. Was a little shy on tomato juice so I blended up the only cans of tomatos I had on the shelf to make up the difference…fire roasted. I can not wait to open my first jar. No one else in the house eats tomato soup and I cant eat a whole can of the name brand by myself so I put it in jelly jars. The canner is jiggling away and I am just praying it all turns out well.
I have made a recipe for years and have never had any problems with the addition of butter to the recipe. Instead of wheat flour I use potato flour for the celiacs in our house. The potato flour doesn’t seem to change the flavor much. Sometimes the soup needs to be stirred up before serving.
Can you use ultra gel instead of clear gel? There is never any clear gel in our Walmart store or other grocery stores in our area but I have ultra gel.
What is the purpose of the baking sofa when cooking to serve? Thanks, I can’t wait to try it.
I think it cuts the acidity? Not sure, but I’ve tried it w/out the baking soda and it’s definitely not as good.
Yes you are correct about the acidity. Baking soda helps neutralize the ph in the tomato soup so that when milk is added to the soup, it will not curdled. Same goes when making oyster stew and old fashion tomato soup .
I am looking forward to trying this!
It’s very good. 🙂
This sounds just like the soup we ate as children!
We make my mother-in-law’s recipe, which is similar to this, but more like the tomato-veggie drink. This may be an option if canning butter is a concern. It uses the cooked and strained carrots, onions, and celery mixed together with the tomato juice. A hint form our local garden lady: if you want it thicker, cut and slightly crush the tomatoes and let them sit until you can take off some of the excess liquid to cut the cooking time. When it’s canned, we can drink it, make it into soup with the milk, butter, and baking soda, or use it in casseroles.