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Home / Meals / Zesty Tomato Soup

Zesty Tomato Soup

Filed Under: Meals, Seasonal Summer, Soup, Tomatoes

This may be the best tomato soup recipe you’ve tasted. If you know folks who have been put off tomato soup because of the tinned stuff from the stores, they may like this.

Jars of this tomato soup are great to have on hand as a portable, healthy lunch choice. You just have to get tomatoes at a reasonable enough price to make it worth while.

This recipe is easily doubled or tripled, and in fact, you may wish to do to make it worth firing up the pressure canner.

A pressure canner is required for safety. If you don’t have a pressure canner, you can freeze jars of it, leaving appropriate headspace. (see: Headspace for freezing.)

This recipe is from Bernardin.

See also:

Spicy Tomato-Vegetable Soup

Tomato soup from home-canned tomato sauce

Vine-fresh tomato soup (for water bath canning)

Contents hide
  • 1 The recipe
  • 2 Zesty Tomato Soup
    • 2.1 Ingredients
    • 2.2 Instructions
    • 2.3 Nutrition
  • 3 Reference information
  • 4 Recipe notes
    • 4.1 Using canned tomatoes
    • 4.2 Recipe source
  • 5 Nutrition information
    • 5.1 Regular version
    • 5.2 Sugar and Salt Free Version

The recipe

Jar size choices: Either quarter-litre (½ US pint / 8 oz) OR half-litre (1 US pint / 16 oz)

Processing method: Pressure canning only

Yield: 4 x half-litre (US pint) jars

Note on yield: Ball says the yield is 8 pint jars. Bernardin says 4, and in fact we got 4 several times when making this. In reality, yield at any given time will likely depend on how juicy the tomatoes used are or are not. Watery ones will yield more volume for instance than Roma-type tomatoes.

Headspace: 3 cm (1 inch)

Processing pressure: 10 lbs. (69 kPa) weighted gauge, 11 lbs. (76 kPa) dial gauge (adjust pressure for your altitude when over 300 metres / 1000 feet.)

Processing time: 20 minutes either size jar

Print

Zesty Tomato Soup

Yield: 4 x half-litre (US pint) jars
Course Soup
Cuisine American
Keyword Tomatoes
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 2 hours
Servings 4 half-litre (US pint) jars
Calories 478kcal
Metric - US Customary

Ingredients

  • 3 kg tomatoes (6.5 lbs. 16 cups after being peeled, chopped, and cored)
  • 600 g onion (1 ⅓ lbs. After being peeled and chopped, about 3 ½ cups)
  • 450 g celery (1 lb. After being chopped, about 2 ½ cups)
  • 300 g red bell pepper (2 cups. Measurements done after seeding, chopping. 2 large / 10 oz)
  • 125 g carrot (4.5 oz. Peeled and sliced, about 1 cup)
  • 1 clove garlic
  • cheesecloth
  • 7 bay leaves
  • 1 teaspoon cloves (whole)
  • ¼ teaspoon allspice (ground)
  • 250 g brown sugar (1 cup / 8 oz)
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Metric - US Customary

Instructions

  • Prep all the ingredients from the tomatoes down to and including the garlic. Put in a large pot.
  • Make a spicebag with the cheesecloth, bay leaves and cloves. Add in.
  • Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer until vegetables are soft.
  • Fish out spice bag and discard it.
  • Purée mixture in a blender or food processor (or food mill.) How coarse / smooth you want the texture is up to you.
  • Put back in pot, add allspice, sugar, salt and pepper. Heat to a boil.
  • Put into jars piping hot: jar size can be either ¼ litre (½ US pint / 250 ml / 8 oz) OR ½ litre (1 US pint / 500 ml / 16 oz).
  • Leave 3 cm (1 inch) headspace for either size jar.
  • Wipe rims, apply lids, set in pressure canner.
  • Processing pressure: 10 lbs (69 kPa) weighted gauge, 11 lbs (76 kpa) dial gauge (adjust pressure for your altitude when over 300 metres / 1000 feet.)
  • Process time: 20 minutes either size jar.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 478kcal | Carbohydrates: 106.7g | Protein: 3.4g | Fat: 0.7g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 1862mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 71.7g

Reference information

How to pressure can, step by step.

When pressure canning, you must adjust the pressure for your altitude.

What is the shelf life of home canned goods?

Recipe notes

  • If you’re out of celery, you can use 1 tablespoon celery seed instead.
  • If you don’t have cheese cloth, you could try using a tea genie, or strong paper towel instead.
  • Yes, you must peel the tomato and carrot, for safety reasons. Most of the bacteria is on the skin.
  • Want to thicken this? When you open a jar to heat, add some DIY SOS mix.
  • Instead of the salt, you can use a non-bitter, non-clouding salt sub. We have found Herbamare Sodium-Free performs well in that regard.
  • You can reduce the sugar, or use the same volume amount of granulated Splenda®, or use 1 teaspoon of liquid stevia. For stevia, we’d recommend Better Stevia liquid stevia. The sugar is just in this recipe as a seasoning; it’s not a safety control factor.
  • Some people have said they found the recipe too sweet, though remember everyone’s taste is different. You might wish to just add half the sugar, then taste it from the pot to see what you think before adding more.

Using canned tomatoes

Instead of fresh tomatoes, you could start with 16 cups / 4 litres of canned (either store or home canned) tomatoes. Include the juice from the cans.

Recipe source

Spiced Tomato Soup. Bernardin Guide to Home Preserving. Toronto, Canada: Bernardin Ltd. 2013. Page 95.

Spiced Tomato Soup. Ball Blue Book. Muncie, Indiana: Healthmark LLC / Jarden Home Brands. Edition 37. 2014. Page 106.

Modifications made:

  • Lowered the cloves from 1 tablespoon to 1 teaspoon. You can increase it back up if you wish. Ball calls for 1 teaspoon;
  • Added ¼ teaspoon allspice;
  • Put the bay leaves and cloves in a spice bag for easy removal.

Nutrition information

Regular version

Per 1 jar (half-litre / 2 cups / 16 oz)

  • 478 calories, 1862 mg sodium

zesty-tomato-soup nutrition sugar salt

Sugar and Salt Free Version

Per 1 jar (½ litre / 2 cups / 16 oz)

  • 240 calories, 101 mg sodium
  • Weight Watchers PointsPlus®: 2 points per 1 cup (250 ml / 8 oz); 5 points per ½ litre jar (1 US pint / 16 oz / 2 cups).

zesty-tomato-soup-nutrition-sugar-free

* Nutrition info provided by https://caloriecount.about.com

* PointsPlus™ calculated by healthycanning.com. Not endorsed by Weight Watchers® International, Inc, which is the owner of the PointsPlus® registered trademark.

* Better Stevia ® is a registered trademark of the NOW Foods Company.

* Herbamare ® is a registered trademark of the A. Vogel Corporation.

Filed Under: Meals, Seasonal Summer, Soup, Tomatoes

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. janet

    August 26, 2022 at 11:55 am

    can this recipe be made with tomatoes (pure) that have simply been cooked, then frozen?

    Reply
    • Healthy Canning

      August 29, 2022 at 9:42 am

      If you knew that before cooking and freezing you had started with the quantity called for by the recipe, then that would be fine.

      Reply
  2. Debbie

    July 06, 2022 at 9:16 pm

    Can this be water bath canned?

    Reply
    • Healthy Canning

      July 20, 2022 at 12:01 pm

      No. But here is tomato soup recipe for water-bath canning. https://www.healthycanning.com/vine-fresh-tomato-soup

      Reply
  3. marc

    September 04, 2020 at 10:04 pm

    4 stars
    The Tomato’s are they seeded or just cored and peeled
    I did not see anywhere that it was a option

    Reply
    • Healthy Canning

      September 21, 2020 at 11:44 pm

      The recipe didn’t mention seeding per se.

      Reply
  4. Kathryn Burgess

    August 16, 2020 at 11:42 pm

    I didn’t see any lemon juice or citric acid added to this recipe. Most bottled tomato soups call for this. To keep acid levels balanced. Is there a reason why it isn’t added? I like the ingredients of your recipe and will have lots of tomatoes ready soon, to do something with. Thanks foe sharing.

    Reply
    • Healthy Canning

      September 22, 2020 at 1:08 pm

      The safety control factor here is the pressure canning.

      Reply
      • Jaime

        August 26, 2022 at 8:25 pm

        I am not sure whether this has been changed since this recipe was written but my understanding (from USDA) is that all tomatoes, regardless of pressure canning or water bath, need added acid.

        I’m interested in this recipe as the one I used last year was way too acidic tasting upon opening, but I don’t want to make this if it isn’t safe anymore.

        If you could advise on this I would appreciate it.

        Reply
        • Healthy Canning

          August 28, 2022 at 12:21 am

          Hi Jaime, we’ve discussed that exact topic here: https://www.healthycanning.com/why-do-some-tomato-products-need-acidification-but-not-others/

          Reply
  5. Lorrie L Chismark

    October 18, 2019 at 9:12 pm

    5 stars
    I canned 30 pints of soup following this recipe exactly as given in 2017. It’s what I would call an old-fashioned tomato soup and I was certain my husband wouldn’t care for it. He loved it and asked me to use the last few bushels of our tomatoes from 2019 to can more. I plant and preserve using a three year rotation so I hope to do 40 to 50 pints this year. This is now a “go-to” recipe for me and that’s high praise indeed!

    Reply
  6. Bur

    September 21, 2019 at 7:51 am

    The recipe states 125 mg carrot (which is 1/8th of a gram). That cannot be right. I suspect this is a typing error and you meant to write 125 g carrot.

    Reply
    • Healthy Canning

      September 25, 2019 at 8:11 pm

      Thank you for the catch. It was a typo as you say, and as you say, one giving an amount of carrot absolutely unmeasurable in a home kitchen. Corrected now.

      Reply
  7. Laura

    June 12, 2018 at 10:20 pm

    can these soups be made without the onion and garlic?

    Reply
    • Healthy Canning

      June 19, 2018 at 8:18 pm

      Absolutely. The onion and garlic is just there for flavouring.

      Reply
  8. Teresa Warner

    January 16, 2018 at 7:40 pm

    I have made this several times and LOVE it! Can passata be substituted for the tomatoes in this recipe? If so, how much should I use?

    Reply
    • Healthy Canning

      February 09, 2018 at 10:54 pm

      Teresa, 1 1/2 to 2 litres / quarts passata would be equivalent to what the peeled, cored, chopped tomatoes will simmer down to in the first part of making the soup.

      Reply
  9. Sarah Reid, CNP (@jo_jo_ba)

    September 09, 2017 at 11:55 pm

    I found this oppressively sweet – can I reduce / eliminate the sweetener and still be safe?

    Reply
    • Healthy Canning

      September 10, 2017 at 12:02 am

      Absolutely. The sugar there is just a seasoning, it plays no role in safety. To read more about what role sugar does and doesn’t play in home canning, see here: https://www.healthycanning.com/sugars-role-in-home-canning/

      Reply
  10. Rebecca Elliott

    October 16, 2015 at 6:19 pm

    Made it. It is awesome! Even my teen-agers are eating it and commenting on how great it is. I ran my food through my food processor followed by food-mill…I wanted a smooth soup. Perfect. I did use Herbamare (not sodium-free) otherwise I pretty much followed the recipe. Twenty pints made so far. I will be making more. Three were eaten in the first week.

    Reply
    • Healthy Canning

      October 16, 2015 at 10:35 pm

      Passing it through a food mill is a great idea, especially for teenagers! Addresses any possible “texture” objections they might have! Did it take a long time to pass through the food mill?

      Reply
      • Rebecca Elliott

        October 19, 2015 at 6:06 pm

        The food mill did take some time but that is in part because I was running a three gallon batch through. It helped that I had already ran it through my food processor. It was a family event so I enjoyed the time in the kitchen with others as well as the work-out (no saggy arms for me!) I would do it again. In fact, I plan to. Doing another three gallon batch this coming week-end. That’s 20 pint jars for the shelf (great for work-week lunches for those with microwave access) plus a nice potful with grilled cheese sandwiches for supper.

        Reply
If you need FAST or relatively immediate canning help or answers, please try one of these Master Food Preserver groups; they are more qualified than we are and have many hands to help you. Many of them even operate telephone hotlines in season.

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