Canning Tomato Juice
Making tomato juice is one of the easiest ways to preserve your summer tomato harvest. If you can tomato juice, it will be shelf stable and save on freezer space. Use it for soups, stews, or canning whole tomatoes. Of course, you can always use it for everyone’s spicy, fruity brunch beverage.
At the end of summer, it seems we have a bazillion tomatoes to put up or risk losing them. We find as many ways as possible to make that happen, like tomato sauce, homemade salsa, tomato soup, ketchup, and pasta sauce.
We freeze tomatoes until we can’t fit another container in the freezers.
Products to make juicing easier
A few things will make the process easier. My favorite ones are my Kitchenaid attachments. Your Kitchenaid mixer will need the food grinder attachment and the vegetable strainer/ juicer attachment.
Initially, it is a bit of an investment, but if you do a lot of canning or freezing, it will save you hours and hours in the kitchen.
There are other hand-held vegetable juicer strainers available on the market as well. This one is very low-cost ($30). This is a Victorio, which is slightly more expensive but looks more sturdy.
No worries, though; if you don’t have the Kitchenaid attachments or another juicer, you can use a fine sieve or a food mill to remove the skins and seeds from the tomatoes.
Want to learn how to grow your own tomatoes? If you love growing your own produce, these posts are packed full of information about how to get that big harvest by the end of the season! Don’t miss our How to Start a Garden Series!
The first section is Planning Your Garden. Second is Preparing the Garden Site.
The third is Choosing Plants and Planting Your Garden. The fourth is Garden Maintenance.
The last is Harvesting a Garden and Preserving the Harvest, this article has over 100 FREE recipes for preserving your harvest!
What you need
- tomatoes
- lemon juice
- salt (optional, but recommended)
How to make it with a juicer
Step One:
Wash tomatoes well, trim any bad spots, and cut them into pieces that fit your juicer. There is no need to peel or remove the stem end.
Step Two:
Feed the pieces into the hopper of your juicer, with one bowl to collect the juice and another to collect the skins and seeds.
Step Three:
Run seeds and skins through multiple times to collect all of the juice.
Step Four:
Once they are juiced, place the juice in a large pot.
How to make it with a food mill or sieve
- Wash tomatoes well.
- Trim any bad spots off.
- Remove the stem end. Cut the tomatoes into pieces.
- Add the juice to a large pot in batches. Bring to a boil.
- Mash tomatoes with a potato masher in between additions.
- Once mashed, run the tomatoes through your food mill or sieve to remove the skins and seeds.
- Add the juice back to the pot. Bring back to boil. Boil for a minute or two.
Canning the juice
Step One:
Prepare jars and lids. Since the processing time is over 10 minutes, it isn’t necessary to sterilize the jars, but they should be warm. Add salt to hot jars.
Step Two:
Add lemon juice.
Step Three:
Heat to juice boiling. Reduce heat to medium-high. Cook for about 5 minutes to heat through.
Step Four:
Fill jars with juice. Using a clean ladle and a canning funnel, leave 1/2-inch headspace (the space between the product’s top and the jar’s top.)
Step Five:
Wipe rims with a clean, damp towel. Center the lids on the jars. Screw the bands on fingertip tight. Process the jars for 35 minutes for pints, adjusting for altitude.
Get the canner water hot. Wash the jars and lids. Add the clean jars to the canning pot to heat. Once the jars are filled, add them to the canning pot. Bring the water in the pot to a boil. Once the water is boiling, set the timer.
When the processing time is complete, remove the pot from the heat, carefully open the lid, and partially lift it off the top of the canning pot. Let it rest like that for 5 minutes.
Then, remove the lid and let the jars rest in the canning pot for an additional 5 to 10 minutes.
After resting, remove the jars onto a kitchen towel placed on your counter and let them thoroughly cool for 12-24 hours, undisturbed. You may hear the lids pinging sometime in the next hour. This is music to a canner’s ears. It is due to the reaction of the lids being sealed to the jar.
Check the seals. Press down in the middle of the lid. If it flexes up or down, the jar is not sealed and should be refrigerated and used first.
Then, remove the bands. Gently pick up the jar by the lid to check the seal further. Again, if it is not sealed, use it first.
Label jars with contents and the date. Store in a cool, dark place for at least a year. Avoid areas with large temperature fluctuations.
Do not stack jars on top of each other. This can compromise the seals. If you run out of room on your shelf, use a sheet of cardboard or a thin piece of wood and place that on top of a row of jars. Then you can put jars on top of that. This will distribute the weight evenly.
Before using any canned goods, always inspect the packaging and the food itself. Make sure that it looks and smells as it should. If it doesn’t, it’s best to err on the side of caution and discard it.
Pro- Tip: When canning, choose a reputable source for your recipe. The National Center for Home Food Preservation is one and the other is the USDA Complete Guide to Canning.
The National Center for Home Food Preservation and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. All of the recipes on this site are based on one or both of these trusted sources. We just do a more thorough job showing you how to do it, step-by-step.
How to use tomato juice
- Use tomato juice for canning whole or halved tomatoes.
- Perfect for soups, stews and chilies.
- Use it to make a delicious bloody Mary.
- Make a quick sauce for pasta.
- Just drink it because it is so delicious!
What types of tomatoes to use
Use any vine-ripened tomatoes that you have access to. Small and medium tomatoes will produce better results than large, slicing tomatoes, like Big Boy or beefsteak. I like to use various tomatoes for a more well-rounded flavor.
- Cherry tomatoes
- Romas
- Sauce tomatoes like San Marzano
- Early girl
- Celebrity
Pro tips to ensure your success
- It’s best to use fresh, ripe tomatoes. Either homegrown or farmers’ market/ stand will work beautifully.
- No matter which process you use, make sure to cook the tomatoes or the juice for 5 minutes to reduce the possibility of contamination.
- Depending on the variety, 3 pounds of tomatoes will make about one quart of juice.
- Always use the recommended amount of bottled lemon juice per jar.
- Salt is optional but enhances the flavor greatly.
- Keep juice hot until it goes into the jars.
- Only add hot juice to hot jars to minimize the risk of the jar cracking.
Other recipes to stock your pantry
- Tomato sauce
- Tomato soup
- Applesauce
- Hot sauce
- Cherry pie filling
- Jalapeno jelly
- Peach salsa
- Raspberry jam
- Peach bourbon BBQ sauce
- Apple juice
Tools I Use
- Water bath canning pot
- Canning tool set
- Kitchenaid juicer
- Kitchenaid grinder
- Quart jars
- Kitchenaid mixer
Connect with us through our social media pages! Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter.
Please ask any questions or share your comments in the comments section below. We’d love to hear from you.
I hope you enjoyed the recipe today.
Enjoy. And have fun cooking!
Canning Tomato Juice
Ingredients
- 3 lbs tomatoes
- salt
- Bottled Lemon Juice or citric acid
Instructions
How to make with juicer
- If canning, start water bath canning pot. The pot can take up to 45 minutes to boil.
- Rinse tomatoes well. Remove stems and cores. Cut out any bad spots. Chop in small enough pieces to fit into the hopper of your juicer. No need to peel or remove the stem end.
- Feed the pieces into the hopper of your juicer. With bowls to collect the juice and the skins and seeds.
- Once they are juiced, place the juice in a large pot.
- Heat to boiling. Reduce heat to medium high. Simmer about 5 minutes to heat through.
How to make with food mill or sieve
- Wash tomatoes well. Trim any bad spots off. Remove the stem end. Cut tomatoes in pieces.
- Add tomato quarters to large pot, in batches. Bring to boil over medium high heat. Once heated, add remaining tomatoes. Crush tomatoes with potato masher, in between additions.
- Once mashed, cook them for 5 minutes, until softened.
- Run the tomatoes through your food mill or sieve to remove the skins and seeds.
- Add the juice back to the pot. Bring back to boil. Boil for a minute or two, stirring constantly..
Canning the juice
- Prepare jars and lids. There is no need to sterilize the jars.
- Add salt to hot jars. Add lemon juice or citruc acid. See important notes below for quantities.
- Using a clean ladle, fill jars with hot tomato juice, leaving 1/2 inch headspace ( the space between the top of product and the top of jar.
- Remove any air bubbles with wooden or plastic chopstick or knife.
- Wipe jar rim with clean, damp towel.
- Apply lids.
- Attach bands, fingertip tighten.
- Place jars in canning pot. Once water boils, start timing the processing time.
- Process quart jars 40 minutes, process pints for 35 minutes, at sea level. adjust for altitude.
See all of my favorite tools and gift ideas on my New Amazon Store!Check out Binky’s Amazon Store!Video
Notes
- Lemon juice or citric acid is required to achieve a safe acidity level for water bath canning.
- It’s best to use fresh, ripe tomatoes. Either home grown or farmers’ market/ stand will work beautifully.
- No matter which process you use, make sure to cook the tomatoes or the juice for 5 minutes to reduce the possibility of contamination to reduce the possibility of contamination from bacteria like Clostridium botulinum. The bacteria that causes botulism..
- 3 pounds of tomatoes will make about one quart of juice, depending on the variety.
- Always use the recommended amount of bottled lemon juice per jar.
- Salt is optional but enhances the flavor greatly.
- Keep juice hot until it goes into the jars.
- Only add hot juice to hot jars to minimize the risk of the jar cracking.
Nutrition
Originally published September 2, 2020. Updated November 9, 2021.
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I get a small commission if you go to the link and purchase something at no additional cost to you. See FTC Disclosure here.
if I use thawed frozen tomatoes, do I need to peel, thaw, and drain excess water off before putting through juicer?
The juicer should take care of doing all of that for you. You need to thaw them but the juicer will remove the skins and seeds. Keep the liquid, too. Once it is cooked down it will add good flavor to the juice.
Question, how do you stop the juice from separating once canned. Have tried couple times and each jar separates. I can tomatoes both stewed and regular, also can sauce and salsa.
Bottom line is that you don’t. The juices and soups will separate. You just have to shake it up before serving. Commercially canned products add thickeners, stabilizers, and emulsifiers, so theirs are more uniform. You can cook most of the water out and that will minimize separation, like commercially condensed soups. Then you have to add water before serving.
can I use vinegar instead of lemon juice?
Yes but the flavor may be a bit off.
A+ to this recipe easy and very good. Will be putting the seeds and peeling leftovers in dehydrater tomorrow to make tomato seasoning.
Thanks 😁
How much lemon juice and salt per jar or 3 pounds of tomatoes?
Sorry Donna, that got through our proofreaders. I added instructions for quantities now. For quart jars, use 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and one teaspoon of salt.