Canning Tomato Juice

Marie Overton
Feb 21, 2022
3 min read

Updated: May 22

It is nice to have options for how to preserve our garden yield. This canning tomato juice recipe is lovely because it not only makes tomato juice but has a byproduct of tomato sauce as well. Some of my favorite uses for Tomato Juice are to use it instead of water to boil my tortellini or pasta. I also love to add tomato juice to my Spanish Rice or as a soup base. Use it in the place of water anytime you want to add a rich tomato flavor.

Tomatoes surround a glass of orange juice on a wooden tray. The setting is a wooden floor, creating a fresh and natural look.

Tomato Juice

This recipe makes 1 quart of tomato juice.

Tomato JUice Ingredients:

5.5 pounds quartered tomatoes
2 tbsp lemon juice per quart

Begin making the juice by simmering the tomatoes until they are soft. Usually about 20 minutes.

Person in red top using a food strainer to process tomatoes into a bowl. Large metal pot on the counter. Kitchen setting, casual mood.

After the tomatoes are soft, feed them through a food mill. This will separate the more solid portions like the seeds and skins. I like to run the waste through a second time to get as much moisture out of it as I can. Alternately, you could put the mixture through a blender to make it smooth and chop up the skins and seeds but it tends to make the sauce a little more bitter. I then use my husband’s honey strainer (Which I absolutely love!) to separate the pulp from the juice. You could use cheesecloth or a different kind of strainer but the honey strainer with its double wire mesh is my favorite.

The skin and seeds I send out to the chickens but you could actually use it. It can be dehydrated and then ground into a powder to add nutrients to many different dishes. The pulp I set aside to make into spaghetti sauce later.

Pot with liquid simmering on stovetop, wooden spoon inside. Text: "190 degrees for 5 minutes." Hexagonal tile backsplash in view.

Now that you have a lovely juice, all you have to do is bring the juice up to 190 degrees for 5 minutes. Do not let it start to boil or you will lose too much liquid through the steam.

Hands pouring yellow liquid into mason jars using a glass pitcher and measuring cup on a speckled countertop, kitchen in background.

After 5 minutes, it is time to place it in quart jars and can it. I like to put a little tomato juice in the bottom of the jar before adding the lemon juice to give the jar a buffer from the cooler temperature of the lemon juice.

Person pours golden liquid through a funnel into jars on a kitchen counter, with a stove in the background. Mold jar, reddish attire.

Using a jar funnel, I then fill it up leaving 1/4 inch headspace.

A pot with jars boiling on a stove next to a hexagonal tile backsplash. A bowl with rice and a red bowl with orange powder are nearby.

Place the lid on top of the jar and add the ring. Tighten the ring to fingertip tight and process in a boiling water bath canner for 40 minutes if at sea level. (Remember to adjust your processing time if higher than 1000 feet elevation.)

Once your juice has completed the appropriate time in the boiling water bath canner, turn off the heat, remove the lid and let it cool for 5 minutes. Then, take out the jars and set them on a heat resistant surface, spacing them about an inch apart, for 24 hours to cool and completely seal.

Tomatoes surround a glass of juice on a wooden tray against a gray tiled floor, creating a vibrant and fresh display.

Tomato Juice

If your jar of juice did not seal then place it in the fridge and use it immediately. Store the sealed jars in your pantry to enjoy for the next 1-3 years. After three years the nutritional value of canned food diminishes. The quality is best in the first year.

If you have any questions about canning with the boiling water canner or how to adjust the pressure or processing time for altitude, take a look at our canning basics videos.