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Roasted tomato basil soup turns a heavy late-summer tomato harvest into jars of smooth, savory soup that taste like the garden long after the garden is done for the year. Roasting the tomatoes first deepens their flavor and gives you a warm, comforting bowl that is ready to heat and serve straight from the pantry shelf.
Table of Contents
- Notes from My Kitchen
- Quick Look at the Recipe
- Choosing Tomatoes for Tomato Soup
- Ingredients for Roasted Tomato Basil Soup
- Roasted Tomato Basil Soup Variations
- How to Make Roasted Tomato Basil Soup
- Canning Roasted Tomato Basil Soup
- Altitude Adjustments
- Tips for Success
- Serving Ideas for Roasted Tomato Basil Soup
- Yield Notes
- Roasted Tomato Basil Soup FAQs
- Soup Canning Recipes
- Roasted Tomato Basil Soup Recipe
- Meal in a Jar Canning Recipes
This recipe has been reviewed for safety and accuracy by a Master Food Preserver certified through the University of Cornell Cooperative Extension.
This is a tested pressure canning recipe from The All New Ball Book of Canning and Preserving, and it skips the lemon juice and vinegar that go into most home-canned tomato products. The acid is not needed here because the soup is processed in a pressure canner, which means you get all that roasted tomato flavor without the extra tang, and without any added sugar to balance it out.
I use a hearty vegetable broth to keep this in the vegetarian soup canning recipes category, but a rich chicken broth works just as well if you want a little more body and protein in the jar.
Notes from My Kitchen
Autumn is when tomato soup weather arrives here in Vermont, and it tends to land right when we are pulling homegrown tomatoes in by the bucket and the basil plants have grown to the size of an unwieldy toddler. Roasting a few sheet pans of tomatoes at once fills the whole house with that warm, late-harvest smell, and it is one of the few canning days that feels as cozy as it is productive.
I have been canning this one in Ball’s nesting mason jars, which are meant to stack in storage when empty. That is handy, but the real draw for me is that they look like a drink tumbler, so a smooth soup like this heats and sips right out of the jar. It has quietly become my go-to work lunch all winter.
Quick Look at the Recipe
- Recipe Name: Roasted Tomato Basil Soup
- Recipe Type: Soup Canning Recipe (smooth, blended tomato soup)
- Canning Method: Pressure Canning
- Prep Time: About 30 minutes
- Cook Time: About 1 hour 25 minutes (including roasting)
- Canning Time: Pints 50 minutes, Quarts 60 minutes
- Yield: About 6 pints or 3 quarts
- Jar Sizes: Pints and quarts
- Headspace: 1 inch
- Ingredients Overview: Roasted tomatoes, onion, garlic, dry white wine, vegetable or chicken stock, fresh basil, salt, and pepper
- Safe Canning Recipe Source: The All New Ball Book of Canning and Preserving
- Difficulty: Moderate
- Similar Recipes: Canning roasted tomato basil soup is a lot like other smooth tomato soups for the pantry, such as Heirloom Tomato Soup and Southwest Tomato Soup, and you will find the full collection in my tomato soup recipes for canning. If you love putting up a tomato harvest, there are plenty more ideas in my tomato canning recipes.
Choosing Tomatoes for Tomato Soup
Plum tomatoes are my first pick for this soup because they are meaty, hold less water, and cook down into a thicker base without much fuss. They peel easily after roasting, and their lower moisture means you spend less time simmering off liquid to get a soup with real body to it.
That said, you do not need a paste tomato to make this work. Slicing tomatoes and heirlooms both roast up beautifully, you just need a few more pounds of them since they carry more juice. If you are working with juicier varieties, plan on roasting them a little longer to drive off the extra water, and reach for about 10 to 12 pounds in place of the 8 pounds of plum tomatoes the recipe calls for.
Ingredients for Roasted Tomato Basil Soup
This is a tested pressure canning recipe adapted from The All New Ball Book of Canning and Preserving, and the exact amounts live in the recipe card below. Here is what each part does and where you have room to adjust, so you can shop and prep with a little more confidence.
- Tomatoes: The backbone of the soup, and roasting is what concentrates their flavor and natural sweetness. Plum tomatoes give the thickest base, but slicing tomatoes or heirlooms work too if you bump up the weight. If you would rather put your tomatoes up plain for now, see my full tomato canning recipes for other options.
- Broth or Stock: A good stock builds the savory background of the soup. I use homemade vegetable broth to keep it vegetarian, but chicken broth adds more richness. Store-bought is fine, and in a pinch water will stand in as the liquid.
- Dry White Wine: The wine simmers down and really makes the tomato flavor pop, but it is not strictly required. You can replace it with more broth, or use water plus a tablespoon of vinegar to get a similar tang in the finished soup.
- Onion and Garlic: These cook gently in olive oil to build a savory base before the tomatoes go in. Cook them until fragrant but not browned so they stay sweet rather than sharp.
- Fresh Basil: Basil ties the whole thing together, but it is optional. Leave it out for a plain roasted tomato soup, or swap in another green herb like parsley if that is what you have on hand.
- Salt and Pepper: Used in two stages, once on the tomatoes before roasting and once in the pot, so the seasoning runs all the way through. Salt is for flavor here and is safe to adjust to taste.
A few things stay out of the jar on purpose. There is no flour, cornstarch, or other thickener in the canning recipe, and no cream or milk either, since dairy and thickeners are not safe to pressure can in a soup. Those are easy additions to stir in later if you want a creamier bowl, and I will cover that down in the serving section.
Roasted Tomato Basil Soup Variations
This is a tested pressure canning recipe from The All New Ball Book of Canning and Preserving, and the processing time and pressure are what make it safe to keep on the shelf. Do not shorten the process, lower the pressure, or try to water bath can this soup. Tomato soup is a low-acid product once you blend in the onion, garlic, stock, and wine, so a pressure canner is the only safe way to process it, and the times below are not adjustable. You can read more about the science behind safe soup canning in the National Center for Home Food Preservation soup guidelines.
You do have room to play with the flavor without touching the safety of the recipe. The basil is optional, you can use another green herb like parsley, and the wine can be swapped for more broth or for water with a tablespoon of vinegar. Save any thickeners, cream, milk, cheese, or a swirl of pasta for serving, since those go in after you open the jar, never before canning.
How to Make Roasted Tomato Basil Soup
This soup comes together with surprisingly little simmering on the stove, because the real work happens in the oven. Roasting concentrates the tomatoes ahead of time, so by the time everything goes in the pot you are mostly just bringing the flavors together.
Read through the whole method once before you start, and get your pressure canner heating partway through so it is ready when the soup is. The full measurements are in the printable recipe card, and the steps below walk through how it all fits together.
Roast the Tomatoes
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Core the tomatoes and slice them in half from top to bottom, then scoop out the seeds with a spoon or give each half a quick squeeze over a bowl. Arrange them cut side up on a rimmed baking sheet and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper.
Roast for about 45 minutes, until the tomatoes are very soft and have started to dry out a bit around the edges. Once they are cool enough to handle, the skins slip right off, so peel them and coarsely chop the roasted flesh. At this point your tomatoes are seeded, peeled, and roasted, and ready for the pot.
If you would rather not peel and seed by hand, you can roast the tomatoes whole and run everything through a food mill with a fine screen afterward to catch the skins and seeds. I find it quicker to scoop the seeds before roasting and slip the skins after, since they come off so easily, and that way I skip washing the food mill. I tried it both ways across several batches, with a food mill and a mesh strainer, and scooping first was the cleaner route for me.
Simmer and Pack the Jars
Warm the olive oil in a large pot and add the onion, garlic, and the remaining salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat until fragrant but not browned, about 8 to 10 minutes, then pour in the white wine and simmer until most of it has evaporated, around 10 minutes. Add the roasted tomatoes, stock, and basil, and cook for about 20 minutes until everything is heated through. While the soup cooks, preheat your pressure canner.
Blend the soup completely smooth with an immersion blender, or work in batches in a standing blender and return it to the pot. Bring it back to a simmer, then ladle the hot soup into prepared jars, leaving 1 inch of headspace. Remove air bubbles, wipe the rims clean, and add two-piece lids tightened to fingertip tight. If you are not canning, the soup is fully cooked at this point and keeps in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Canning Roasted Tomato Basil Soup
This soup is hot packed and pressure canned, and a full batch makes about 6 pints or 3 quarts. If you want to scale down, the smallest batch you should run is 2 quarts or 4 pints so the canner has enough jars to come up to pressure properly. If you are new to this method, my beginner’s guide to pressure canning walks through every step in detail.
To can, prepare your pressure canner, jars, and lids. Ladle the hot soup into the jars leaving 1 inch headspace, remove air bubbles, wipe the rims, and apply lids and bands fingertip tight. Load the jars into the preheated canner, close the lid, and vent the steam for 10 minutes before adding the weight and bringing it up to pressure.
Process pints for 50 minutes or quarts for 60 minutes at 10 pounds pressure in a weighted gauge canner or 11 pounds in a dial gauge canner, adjusting for your altitude using the table below. When the time is up, turn off the heat and let the canner cool and depressurize naturally. Never force cool a pressure canner, since that can cause the jars to lose liquid or fail to seal.
Altitude Adjustments
With pressure canning, the processing times stay the same at higher altitudes, but the pressures change. Here are the altitude adjustments for pressure canning roasted tomato basil soup.
For dial gauge pressure canners:
- 0 to 2,000 feet: 11 lbs pressure
- 2,001 to 4,000 feet: 12 lbs pressure
- 4,001 to 6,000 feet: 13 lbs pressure
- 6,001 to 8,000 feet: 14 lbs pressure
For weighted gauge pressure canners:
- 0 to 1,000 feet: 10 lbs pressure
- Above 1,000 feet: 15 lbs pressure
Tips for Success
Roast in batches if your tomato haul is large, since crowding the pans steams the tomatoes instead of roasting them and you lose that concentrated flavor. A single layer with a little space between the halves gives you the most even browning, so use a second sheet pan rather than piling them on.
Keep the soup at a simmer, not a hard boil, once everything is in the pot, and blend it fully so the texture is even from jar to jar. A smooth, uniform soup heats more evenly during processing, and it also makes for that nice sippable texture if you are reheating straight from the jar.
Serving Ideas for Roasted Tomato Basil Soup
This soup is ready to go right out of the jar. Pour it into a pot, simmer for about 10 minutes to heat it through, and it is done. Because it is already blended smooth, it also reheats well enough to sip straight from a wide-mouth jar for a quick lunch.
Serving is also where you add anything that could not go in before canning. Stir in a splash of cream or a handful of grated cheese for a creamy tomato soup, swirl in a little cooked pasta or rice to make it heartier, or whisk in a small slurry to thicken it. A homemade grilled cheese sandwich on the side never goes amiss, and if you are stocking the pantry with more cozy options, my full soup canning recipes and meal in a jar canning recipes have plenty of ideas for the winter ahead.
Yield Notes
A full batch fills about 6 pints or 3 quarts. Ball lists this recipe on the conservative side, and how many jars you actually get depends a lot on how juicy your tomatoes were and how long you simmered the soup, so do not be surprised if you land a little above or below that. Have an extra clean jar or two ready just in case.
This recipe scales up and down cleanly if you want more or fewer jars, but keep the ingredient proportions the same so the soup processes safely. The smallest batch worth running is 2 quarts or 4 pints, since a pressure canner needs enough jars to hold and build pressure properly.
A few common questions come up with this one, mostly around canning safety and how to tweak the flavor, so here are the answers before you get started.
Roasted Tomato Basil Soup FAQs
No. Once the tomatoes are blended with onion, garlic, stock, and wine, this is a low-acid soup, so it is not safe for water bath canning. You need to use a pressure canner to reach a temperature that makes safe, shelf-stable jars.
No, the basil is optional. You can leave it out for a plain roasted tomato soup. None of these changes affect the safety of the recipe, only the flavor.
Yes. The wine adds flavor but is not required for safety. Replace it with an equal amount of broth, or use water plus a tablespoon of vinegar to bring back some of the tang the wine provides.
No. Cream, milk, flour, cornstarch, and other thickeners are not safe to add before pressure canning a soup, because they slow heat penetration in the jar. Stir in cream or a thickener on the stove when you reheat the soup to serve.
Properly processed and sealed jars keep for about 12 to 18 months in a cool, dark place, though they stay safe well beyond that. Refrigerate after opening and use within 3 to 4 days.
Looking for more savory soups to keep on the shelf? Here are a few more from the soup canning collection.
Soup Canning Recipes
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Roasted Tomato Basil Soup
Equipment
- Canning Jars, Lids and Bands
Ingredients
- 8 lbs plum tomatoes, cored and halved (or 10 to 12 lbs slicing or heirloom tomatoes)
- 5 tsp. salt, divided
- 2 tsp. ground black pepper, divided
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2 cups onions, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves, tightly packed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 F.
- Core the tomatoes and slice them in half top to bottom. Scoop out the seeds and arrange cut side up on a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle with part of the salt and pepper.
- Roast until very soft and starting to dry out, about 45 minutes. Peel the roasted tomatoes and coarsely chop.
- Warm the olive oil in a large pot and cook the onion, garlic, and remaining salt and pepper over medium heat until fragrant but not browned, 8 to 10 minutes.
- Add the white wine and simmer until most of it evaporates, about 10 minutes. Add the roasted tomatoes, stock, and basil.
- Cook until heated through, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat your pressure canner.
- Blend the soup completely smooth with an immersion blender, or work in batches in a standing blender. Return to the pot and bring back to a simmer.
- Ladle the hot soup into prepared jars, leaving 1 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles, wipe the rims, and add lids and bands fingertip tight.
- Process pints for 50 minutes or quarts for 60 minutes at 10 lbs pressure in a weighted gauge canner or 11 lbs in a dial gauge canner, adjusting for altitude. Use a natural pressure release and never force cool the canner.
Notes
- 0 to 2,000 feet in elevation – 11 lbs pressure
- 2,001 to 4,000 feet in elevation – 12 lbs pressure
- 4,001 to 6,000 feet in elevation – 13 lbs pressure
- 6,001 to 8,000 feet in elevation – 14 lbs pressure
- 0 to 1,000 feet in elevation – 10 lbs pressure
- Above 1,000 feet – 15 lbs pressure
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
And if you are building out a pantry of jarred meals, these recipes are ready to heat and eat straight from the shelf.
Meal in a Jar Canning Recipes
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I was wondering can Roma tomatoes be used for this recipe?
Yes, that’s perfectly fine. Enjoy!
I’ve been making delicious tomatoes basil soup for a few years. I lost my original recipe and started using others but could not get the taste or results I wanted. I discovered Ceative Canning site and thought I would give it a try. I am pleasantly happy with this recipe. Some times I can it but most time my family and I just eat it, freeze it or freeze dry it. I’m making it today to take to a church activity tomorrow night for. I’m sure I’ll get request from many for the recipe after they eat it.
Wonderful! I’m so glad it’s so popular when you make it! And freeze drying it is a great idea too.
Can this be done in an instant pot or do you need to have a pressure canner?
If you’re canning in jars, you need a pressure canner. You can make the soup itself in an instant pot if you want, but you cannot use an instant pot as a canner. (More on that here: https://creativecanning.com/instant-pot-canning/). If you don’t have a pressure canner, you can store this in freezer safe jars in the freezer until you need it.
Can I make this with dried basil instead? I’m at the end of the season here and have no fresh basil left. I made my first batch a few weeks ago and it was fantastic!
Of course you can use dried basil, that’s perfectly fine. Guessing the amount might be tricky, but I’d go with maybe 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon as a good starting point. Let me know how it turns out for you!
If I do not have a pressure canner, is there anything I can add such as lemon juice or citric acid to each pint or quart, then boiling water can?
This particular recipe is only tested as a pressure canning recipe, but there are a number of waterbath canning recipes for tomato soup. You can find those listed here: https://creativecanning.com/tomato-soup-recipes-for-canning/
Can I leave the skin and seeds in. I don’t mind the texture but wasn’t sure if it would adversely affect it in some way. Thank you!
The skins and seeds can make the soup bitter in some instances, so I don’t recommend it.
For the skins, the national center for food preservation says they need to be removed in tomato canning recipes to reduce the bacterial load in the canner (as the outsides have more potential for bacteria than any other part). They give that as a blanket statement, but then they do actually publish a bunch of recipes that don’t have you peel the tomatoes, so it’s a bit confusing how strictly necessary that is for canning safety. The seeds don’t have any canning safety implications, they’re just removed for texture and taste.
Thank you!!!
I’m not an expert but I have been researching canning for a few months and processing time is also relative to the area in which you live. I have not found a recipe for tomato basil soup on the usda website for safe canning. However I’m still going to try this recipe and freeze it. Ty
Process times (or pressures) are relative to where you live only in that where you live determines your altitude. For waterbath canning, you adjust the canning time to altitude, and for pressure canning (like this recipe) you leave the time the same but adjust the pressure. This particular recipe is not from the USDA, but was developed and tested by Ball Canning.
Can this be made with frozen tomatoes?
Yes, that should work fine. You’ll end up with a lot of liquid when you defrost them, and you can drain it and cook the soup down less when you make it (or include it into the pot and follow the recipe as is). Enjoy!
Hi! I’m excited to try this. I’ve never cooked with white whine…is there specific one you’d recommend for this recipe? I’m totally clueless lol. Thanks!
Great question, and no worries, you definitely don’t need to be a wine expert for this one. Any dry white wine works well in tomato soup, something like Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, or Chardonnay. You just want to avoid anything sweet (like Moscato or Riesling). If you wouldn’t mind drinking a small glass of it, it’ll taste great in the recipe, and most of the alcohol cooks off during simmering, leaving just a subtle depth of flavor.
When I made this, I used an inexpensive Pinot Grigio.
I sent a comment about the processing time but don’t see a response. Have you been successful using the 50 or 60 minutes at 15# pressure stated in the recipe?
Just got back to you a minute ago. Sorry about that, I’ve been away from my computer all week.
A VERY good recipe for Roasted Tomato Basil soup. It came out perfect. I will be making more as soon as more of my tomatoes become ripe. Thank you for the recipe!
You’re quite welcome!
I love the soup. However, I question the processing time. I have to wonder if there is an error, should it be 5 or 6 minutes rather than 50 or 60? In hindsight, I should have recognized this, but always being extra cautious about canned foods I followed the instructions.
I have been pressure canning for over 50 years and have never had so many jars that have not sealed. I made a double batch and ended up with 7 quarts. I assured that there was plenty of head space. I was surprised and disappointed when only three sealed. A lot of the contents spilled out of the jars.
Hi Judy,
This recipe is straight out of Ball Canning’s new cookbook, and the times are their tested times. I didn’t have any issue with the canning time or sealing rate on this recipe. All my jars sealed, no liquid loss and they all tasted great. However, I do agree with you, it seems like a long process time. The reason for the long time, as best I can determine, is that this particular recipe isn’t acidified as many are. Generally, tomato soup canning recipes have a good bit of added acidity which allows them to be either waterbath canned or pressure canned for just a few minutes.
This one isn’t acidic, which is great for flavor, but means more canning time. Even still, looking at similar recipes from the NCHFP for things like their “Tomato and Veggie Juice Blend,” which also has no added acidity and added veggies, and their pressure canning times are 35 and 40 minutes (source: https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can/how-do-i-can-tomatoes/tomato-and-vegetable-juice-blend/). My assumption is that this recipe is a bit longer because the soup comes out a bit thicker than a straight tomato juice.
Can you freeze the soup instead of canning?
Yes, of course! Just be sure to use freezer safe containers (not all jars are freezer safe). Enjoy!
I didn’t weigh my tomatoes because I have a lot of different variety. I have a pot of sauce from them all. How much tomato “sauce” would you suggest going into the recipe? How much sauce does the 8lbs produce?
So that’s a tricky question. When you run the tomatoes through a food mill to get the seeds and skins out, you get something called “passata” which is basically a sauce that hasn’t been cooked down but doesn’t count as “sauce” to most people yet (including the National Center for Home Food Preservation). But some people call that sauce, so it’s confusing.
I pulled measurements from the NCHFP, and they have pounds of tomatoes to make “thin sauce” which is cooked down by about 1/3, or thick sauce, which is cooked down to about half volume. Here’s what they say on conversions of pounds tomatoes to sauce:
Quantity: For thin sauce – An average of 35 pounds is needed per canner load of 7 quarts; an average of 21 pounds is needed per canner load of 9 pints. A bushel weighs 53 pounds and yields 10 to 12 quarts of sauce-an average of 5 pounds per quart.
For thick sauce – An average of 46 pounds is needed per canner load of 7 quarts; an average of 28 pounds is needed per canner load of 9 pints. A bushel weighs 53 pounds and yields 7 to 9 quarts of sauce-an average of 6½ pounds per quart.
10/10 amazing. It’s so so good
So glad you liked it!
Can this recipe be done in hot water bath canning?
This particular recipe is for pressure canning, but I do have other tomato soup recipes that can be waterbath canned. They’re listed here: https://creativecanning.com/tomato-soup-recipes-for-canning/
I’m looking for processing time in a hot water bath process. I had a bad experience with pressure canning, so back to the “old fashion” way. Thank you in advance, Kay
This one is designed as a pressure canning recipe because it doesn’t have added acid, and it has chicken or veggie stock in it. There are, however, a number of tested waterbath canning recipes for tomato soup. I have all of them listed in this article: https://creativecanning.com/tomato-soup-recipes-for-canning/
This looks great! How many pint jars or quart jars will this recipe make (approximately)?
This recipe makes 6 pints or 3 quarts.