Canning Tomato Soup Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Do you really need lemon juice when canning tomatoes? ›

The short answer to the question is “Yes, to ensure safety, acid in the form of lemon juice, citric acid or vinegar must be added to tomatoes that will be processed by a pressure canning option”.

Ladle hot soup into hot jars, leaving 1" headspace. Remove air bubbles with a knife. Adjust two piece caps. Process pints 1 hour, quarts 1 hour and 15 minutes, at 10 pounds pressure in a pressure canner.

If your recipe called for lemon juice and you forgot to put it in, your mixture will not be acid enough for safe canning. You have to open the jars and put the mixture into a sauce pan.

Acidifying Home-Canned Tomatoes and Tomato Products

Acid should be added directly to the jars before filling with product. *Note: Recipes list lemon juice or citric acid but vinegar in listed amounts may be used instead.

Sometimes soup just needs to simmer longer to reach the perfect consistency. Check to see if the vegetables are tender, and then taste the broth. If the soup tastes a bit watery, give it more time.

Heavy cream is the best way to get that classic creamy flavor we know and love. In its place I have tried, to no avail, every other dairy for creamy tomato soup: half-and-half works in a pinch, milk makes the soup too thin, and yogurt is too acidic.

Add flour or cornflour

Put a tablespoon of either into a small bowl and stir in 2-3 tbsp of the soup until you have a smooth mixture. Stir this back into the soup and bring it to a simmer. Cook for a few minutes to allow the starch granules to burst to thicken, and to cook out any flour flavour.

- Adding baking soda to tomato soup and tomato sauces helps balance the acidity of the tomatoes. Tomato flavors really shine, and your sauce or soup will not curdle if you add milk. - Adding ¼ teaspoon of baking soda to 1 cup of tomato sauce or soup will make flavors sparkle and become less acidic.

How to give tomato soup more flavor? ›

Use Herbs and Seasonings

Add chopped fresh basil or parsley at the end of cooking to bring out that rich tomato flavor. Turn to your pantry for seasonings like fresh cracked black pepper, Italian seasoning or oregano, stirring them in while the soup is still cooking.

Open-kettle canning and the processing of freshly filled jars in conventional ovens, microwave ovens, and dishwashers are not recommended, because these practices do not prevent all risks of spoilage.

The boiling water canning method is an easy way to get started because the equipment investment is minimal, says Vinton. It's suitable for acidic foods, like fruit jams and jellies, salsas, tomatoes, and vegetables that have been made more acidic with the addition of vinegar, lemon juice, or citric acid.

Lime juice

Lime juice is the best substitute for lemon juice, as it can be used as a one-to-one replacement and has a very similar taste and acidity level ( 5 ). In fact, when canning or preserving food, it's the ideal substitute for lemon juice because it has a similar pH level.

By using bottled juice, you ensure that your preserves have a consistent level of acidity, which makes them safe for canning. And when making jams or jellies, the degree of acidity in any citrus juice added affects the natural fruit pectin's ability to gel.

As expected, tomatoes canned with commercial cider vinegar and bottled lemon juice had altered flavors. Note that the flavors mellow (like most pickled or acidified products) after 4 to 6 weeks, so it's best to test your canned products after several weeks.

Recommended Methods. Boiling water or pressure canning are both accepted methods for canning tomatoes. Other methods such as oven canning and open-kettle canning can be hazardous and should not be used. All steps in preparing and cooking the foods need to be followed for the processing time as recommended by the USDA.