Making tomato juice is one of the easiest ways to preserve your harvest of tomatoes in the summer. 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 as well!
At the end of the summer it seems I have a bazillion tomatoes to put up, or risk losing them. I find as many ways as I can to make that happen. Like this tomato sauce, homemade salsa, tomato soup, pasta sauce.
Shoot, I even freeze tomatoes until I can’t fit another container in any of the freezers.
Products to make juicing easier
There are a few things that will make the process easier. My favorite one are my Kitchenaid attachments. You will need the food grinder attachment and the vegetable strainer/ juicer attachment for your Kitchenaid mixer.
It is a bit of an investment initially, but will save you hours and hours in the kitchen, if you do a lot of canning or freezing.
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 and is slightly more, 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
- Wash tomatoes well. Trim any bad spots off. Cut tomatoes in pieces that will fit in 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.
- Run seeds and skins through multiple times to collect all of the juice.
- 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 tomatoes in pieces.
- Add tomatoes to large pot, in batches. Bring to boil quickly.
- Mash tomatoes with 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
- Prepare jars and lids. Here is a great guide from the National Center for Home Food Preservation. The section on jars and lids is specifically page 1-14. Add salt to hot jars.
- Add lemon juice.
- Heat to juice boiling. Reduce heat to medium high. Cook about 5 minutes to heat through.
- Using a clean ladle, fill jars with juice, leaving 1/2-inch headspace ( the space between the top of product and the top of jar.
- Wipe rims with clean, damp towel.
- Apply lids.
- Attach bands, fingertip tighten.
Place jars in water bath canner. Bring to boil. Reduce heat but keep the water boiling for the entire time they are processing. You may have adjust temperature occasionally. Process for 35 minutes for pints and 40 minutes for quarts. Adjust for altitude, see instructions here.
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.
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 a variety of different 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 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.
- 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.
Other recipes to stock your pantry
- tomato sauce
- 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
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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. Here is a great guide from the National Center for Home Food Preservation. The section on jars and lids is specifically page 1-14.
- 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.
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.
Donna
How much lemon juice and salt per jar or 3 pounds of tomatoes?
Beth Neels
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.
Gail Montero
This is the best way to use up all that yummy fresh tomatoes from summer! Thanks for the helpful tips and info!
Beth Neels
You’re welcome! Glad to help!
Heidy Linn
I loved this freshly canned tomato juice! It was delish and had so much flavor. Great instructions! I will be using this method again for sure.
Have a great weekend
Beth Neels
Thank you Heidy! I’m so glad you like it!
Justina
can I use vinegar instead of lemon juice?
Beth Neels
Yes but the flavor may be a bit off.
Noelle
I loved reading this! Lots of great tips, can’t wait to try them out soon 🙂
Beth Neels
Thanks Noelle! Have a great weekend!
Ms C
A+ to this recipe easy and very good. Will be putting the seeds and peeling leftovers in dehydrater tomorrow to make tomato seasoning.
Thanks 😁
Beth Neels
That’s a great idea! I’m so glad you like the juice Ms C!
Anita
I’ve yet tried my hand at canning anything. This recipe is simple that is only requires 3 ingredients, other than the tools of course. I think this is an ideal recipe for beginners to try. 🙂
Beth Neels
It’s so much easier than people believe. Don’t be intimidated. Give it a try. If you need help, let me know!
Lizet
In Paraguay our tomatoes are ready in December. So I’m reading up on how to can tomato juice, stew tomatoes and salsa. This is a great article. I’ll be coming back in December.
Beth Neels
Great Lizet! So happy to help!