Mom's Best Tomato Soup Canning Recipe

"My Mennonite mother's 'famous' tomato soup - hard to beat! Perfect anytime of the year! Enjoy! Here's what I purchased (for you to use as a baseline reference): - to yield 75 quarts of soup - 3 bushels of tomatoes, 6 lbs. butter, 5 lbs. sugar, 3 bunches celery, 5 lbs. flour. Hope that helps! (RECIPE BELOW IS FOR 8-10 QUARTS) (I make lots, and then frequently give this as a gift for a new mother, a hostess gift (when invited to dinner), a get-well meal, etc..) Super quick - easy to make, and can easily add garlic bread and a salad and dessert for a quick meal to bless someone. ENJOY!"
 
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Ready In:
1hr 50mins
Ingredients:
7
Yields:
8-10 quarts
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ingredients

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directions

  • Chop onion& celery.
  • Place in large kettle w/ just enough water to keep them from burning.
  • While this simmers, cut tomatoes (remove stems if not using strainer).
  • Add to kettle& cook until tender.
  • Place this all through Victorio strainer (or similar).
  • Return to kettle.
  • Add sugar& salt.
  • Cream butter and flour together& mix thoroughly with two cups of COLD juice, until dissolved (or blend together in a blender), to avoid lumps of flour in the juice.
  • Add butter/flour mixture to warmed tomato juice. (Add before it's hot, to avoid lumps of flour!).
  • Stir well.
  • Heat just until hot. (If it gets to a boil, it can make the flour lumpy).
  • Just prior to boiling, turn off the burner. (It will continue to thicken as it cools.).
  • Ladle into jars& close securely with lids.
  • Return to canner & process 20-30 minutes (start timing when it's at a 'rolling' boil).
  • Remove from canner & allow to set until sealed (approx. 12 hours) To serve, mix equal parts tomato concentrate to milk, and add 1/2 t. of baking soda per pint as it cooks (1 t. per quart).
  • .

Questions & Replies

  1. Can I skip adding the flour and butter during the canning process and add it when I'm heating the soup to eat instead? If so, how much of each would I use for pint and quart jars?
     
  2. My tomatoes aren't ripe yet. Can I use canned tomatoes. If so how much. Also, Do you have a recipe for a smaller batch so we can try it before canning.
     
  3. How many pounds of raw tomatoes does it take to equal 8 quarts?
     
  4. Is this Water bath for 20-30 minutes or pressure can?
     
  5. I love the reviews and want to try this recipe but I need conversions of the onions and celery into actual amounts (cups). (the recipe calls for one bunch of celery but I doubt it really means the whole bunch! esp since the conversion she gave for 75 qts - was 3 bunches.) Thanks for any help
     
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Reviews

  1. This is not a review, but an observation. It sounds good enough for 5 stars to me, but I have not tried it yet, but I hope to try it soon. What I am about to say is in no way intended as a criticism of the recipe, but a point of information only. Anyone planning to can it should be aware that, according to current USDA standards, the use of starches in home-canned products is not considered safe, even if processed in a pressure canner for 75 minutes. The butter is another problem, too. Freezing the soup as it is written is a safe option, or adding the butter and flour to thicken it after opening the jar is another. There are many many heirloom recipes which are no longer considered safe without some simple changes. For instance, today's tomatoes have been bred to be less acidic than the old time ones, so acid must be added to them in many recipes. There is a canning forum on RecipeZaar that is very helpful with recipes and safety issues for those who would like more information.
     
  2. This appears to be an heirloom family recipe from the contributor's grandmother's time. <br/><br/>The guidelines have evolved over the years based on laboratory research. What once were perfectly acceptable canning practices and recipes might not be so anymore. <br/><br/>If you're following current USDA/NCHFP (US National Center for Home Food Preservation) recommendations for shelf-stable food storage safety (updated in 2009), they no longer recommend canning things with flour as a thickener. Likewise, butter and dairy products. <br/><br/>If you do decide to can this soup, I'd suggest you pressure can it. As one of the reviewers said, "This soup was extremely good...heaven in a bowl. Like another reviewer mentioned, I would NOT recommend canning this in a water bath...I canned it in a pressure cooker for 30 minutes at 10 pounds pressure."
     
  3. I made this today and had some for supper. It was very good. I did the same amount of veggies, reduced the sugar by 1/4 (maybe even less next time) and cut the salt a bit as well. I was canning this so I didn't add the butter or flour. For supper I sprinkled with cheese and threw in 1/4 cup dried milk. The kids both seemed to love it. I just pureed everything in the food processor, cooked it, and pureed again. Good, quick and easy... I got a little over 7 quarts in the first batch.
     
  4. I have always used organic home-grown & canned tomatoes to whip up soup in the winter but decided this year's bumper's crop contributed enough fruit to can homemade soup as well. I had a 5 gallon pot of tomatoes cooked down into sauce already so I used 20c. of that with 6 stalks of garden celery and 5 smallish onions. I added a 1/2 tsp. ground cloves (which does something lovely to the overall flavor.) I heated everything until the veggies were soft, then used the immersion blender to puree. No thickener needed as the sauce was already a good consistency. Processed at 10 lbs. for 30 minutes. Yielded 12 (12 oz.) jars which filled the canner with enough left (4 c.) for dinner. I will add milk (about 1/2 c.) to the soup when heating for a bisque style dish. Delish!!!
     
  5. UNBELIEVABLE! I got talked into making soup with some of our bounty of tomatoes. I found this recipe and became an instant hero! I'm not a tomato soup eater but didn't mind this...the ones who like tomato soup swear it's the best they ever had. Good thing it's easy to make is all I can say because it appears that I will be making it for as long as I'm growing tomatoes. Most thought it was good as is - without adding milk - although I add a little just to make it go farther. Thank you for making me look good!!
     
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Tweaks

  1. I only want to use 4 tomatoes (medium size). How do I gauge the ingredients?
     
  2. WOW!! I'm trying to tighten the budget, and tomato soup is something I frequently purchase. I simmered the celery and half the onion required (Not enough onions) I placed them in the food processor-placed in a colander and pressed to remove as much liquid. I used tomato juice instead of tomatoes. Since I was shy on the amt. of onions I used onion powder. Much thinner than I expected-perhaps due to too much water in the celery/onion? I added onion powder to the tomato juice since I ran shy of onions. Next time-YES NEXT TIME, I will use just onion powder (I hate crying anyway) instead of chopped. Hmmm...to make it even easier is there such a thing called celery powder? Awesome recipe-Thank You for sharing this recipe I'm a Tomato Soup Freak!
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

Hello, and welcome to my recipe collection online! My full-time career is that of Realtor...I was born & raised in the Mennonite faith all of my life. My husband was raised in the Amish faith. Together we have a very rich food heritage from both of our parents- much of which has been passed down through the generations - and I'm happy to share some of these recipes here with you! (including canning & freezing recipes) Hope you enjoy them!
 
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