Heirloom Tomato Soup

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Heirloom tomato soup makes the most of colorful heirloom tomatoes in season, and canning these vibrant heirlooms allows you to preserve a rainbow of colors on your pantry shelf.

Prep Time20

Cook Time1

Canning Time40

Total Time2

Course: Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Canning Heirloom Tomatoes, Heirloom Tomatoes, Tomato Soup

Servings: pint jars (or 4 quarts)

Equipment

Ingredients

14 to 16 lbs heirloom tomatoes 42 to 48 medium-sized tomatoes, or less with extra large heirlooms
1 medium sweet bell pepper choose color based on your tomato color
1 medium onion white onion will give great taste and neutral color
2 cloves garlic minced
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper ground
Citric acid or bottled lemon juice for safe canning, see notes

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Making Heirloom Tomato Soup

Prepare the tomatoes: Wash, core, and quarter your heirloom tomatoes. For a smooth soup, remove the skins and seeds later with a food mill.
Chop the vegetables: Dice the bell pepper (discarding the stem, seeds, and membranes) and peel and chop the onion.
Cook the soup base: Heat the olive oil in a large stock pot or Dutch oven. Add the chopped onion and minced garlic, sautéing until the onions are translucent but not browned.
Simmer the soup: Add the prepared tomatoes, bell pepper, sugar, salt, and pepper to the pot. Bring everything to a boil, then lower the heat and let it simmer, uncovered, for about 30 minutes. You want the tomatoes to soften and the mixture to thicken slightly.
Strain the soup: To remove the skins and seeds, use a food mill or food strainer. This will give you a smooth, velvety texture. Popular options include the Kitchenaid food strainer attachment, a Victorio manual food strainer, or a rotary food mill.
Simmer again: Once the soup is strained, return it to the pot and simmer for another 25 to 40 minutes to thicken it further. The total time will depend on how watery your heirlooms were at the start. You’re going for soup thickness, so stop before you reach a tomato sauce consistency.

Canning Heirloom Tomato Soup

Preheat a Water Bath Canner: Fill a water bath canner and bring it to a gentle simmer before filling your jars.
Prepare your jars: Place the necessary amount of citric acid or lemon juice directly into each jar before filling. Do not skip this step; it's essential for the safe water canning of this tomato soup recipe!
For pint jars: Add 1/4 tsp citric acid or 1 Tbsp lemon juice. For quart jars: Add 1/2 tsp citric acid or 2 Tbsp lemon juice.
Fill the jars: Ladle the hot soup into your prepared jars, leaving about 1-inch of headspace at the top.
Seal and process: Apply the two-piece canning lids, screwing the rings on until they’re “finger tight.” Process the jars in a water bath canner for 40 minutes for both pint and quart jars.
Cool and store: After the processing time is complete, carefully remove the jars from the canner and let them cool on a clean towel on the counter for 12 to 24 hours. Be sure to check the seals after cooling; unsealed jars should be refrigerated and used right away or reprocessed.

Notes

The lemon juice or citric acid is added directly to each canning jar rather than into the soup pot. This ensures that each jar gets enough added acidity for safe waterbath canning (and this can be extra helpful if your yield is slightly off, due to natural variation in heirloom tomatoes).

For pint jars, you'll need 1/4 teaspoon of citric acid or 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. For quart jars, use 1/2 teaspoon of citric acid or 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.

Altitude Adjustments for Water Bath Canning

If you live at a higher altitude, be sure to adjust the processing time as follows:

Under 1,000 feet: Use the standard processing time (40 minutes).
1,001 to 3,000 feet: Process jars for 45 minutes.
3,001 to 6,000 feet: Process jars for 50 minutes.
6,001 to 8,000 feet: Process jars for 55 minutes.
8,001 to 10,000 feet: Process jars for 60 minutes.

Nutrition