This Homemade Tomato Juice tastes similar to V8 but is SO much better! Serve as a refreshing drink, in so many recipes or as a soup base!
Homemade Tomato Juice
Homemade Tomato Juice is so rich, delicious, and filling! It tastes so much better than V8 Juice and probably a lot better for you since you know exactly what is in it. I am not even kidding, this stuff is like liquid gold at our house. Even the kids love drinking it! I like it best drinking it ice cold, but I save plenty to use in all sorts of recipes and as a base for many soups. If you’re not sure about making your own tomato juice, read on. It’s really quite simple and it tastes so much better than those store bought varieties.
Canning Tomato Juice
When canning tomato juice, follow the directions in the recipe card below, but make sure to leave about a half inch of air space at the top. Store it in a cool, dry place and you’ll be able to enjoy this juice for up to two years. If you are looking to make a LOT of juice (which I like to make at least 25 quarts at a time) you will want to save yourself some frustration by getting a Tomato Strainer. THIS is the EXACT one that I use. I also have the little attachments, seen here. This will save you lots of time having to press everything by hand through a colander. I have seen cheaper ones on Amazon and even one that attaches to a Kitchen Aid— I am sure all of them are great (I am really tempted by the Kitchen Aid one because you don’t have to manually turn the crank.. if I cave and get it I will let you know). Anything that keeps you from having to do extra work is a winner in my book.
More Canned Tomato Recipes
We end up with bushels of tomatoes from our garden each year and it seems they go bad before we can use them all. Here are some of our favorite ways to can tomatoes so we can enjoy them all year long. Try a few for yourself!
- Canned Salsa
- Homemade Canned Spaghetti Sauce
- How to Can Diced or Crushed Tomatoes
- Savory Canned Salsa Recipe
Recipes that Use Homemade Tomato Juice
Use this delicious homemade tomato juice as a base for so many rich recipes, like these:
- Creamy Tomato Basil Soup with Sausage
- Cafe Zupas Tomato Basil Soup
- Sirloin Steak with Tomato Basil Sauce
- Mom’s Cheater Chili
How to Make Homemade Tomato Juice
Ingredients
- 23 lbs Tomatoes 3 1/4 lbs. per quart or 23 lbs per canner load of 7 quarts
- water approx. 1/4 c. to 1 c.
Per Quart of Juice:
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. onion salt
- 1/4 tsp. celery salt
Instructions
- Wash, core and remove blemishes from tomatoes.
- Cut into small sections.
- In a large stock pot, add tomatoes and very little water (at most 1 cup).
- Bring to a boil.
- Put through colander to remove seeds and skin (see above notes for tips).
- Discard seeds and skin.
- Return juice to the stock pot and bring to a boil again, adding salt, onion salt, and celery salt according to how many quarts of juice you have yielded.
- If canning, pour 2 Tbsp lemon juice into sterilized quart-sized jars. Add tomato juice leaving about 1/2" air space at the top.
- Discard seeds, and skin.
Shelley says
Because tomatoes are a borderline low-acid food you need to acidify the tomato juice with lemon juice or citric acid before you waterbath can the quarts to safeguard against botulism. To each quart of tomato juice add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice or 1/2 teaspoon of citric acid. Then process them for 40 minutes in a WB canner….not 25. (Depending on your altitude.) Here’s a link to the National Center for Home Food Preservation’s directions. http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_03/tomato_juice.html
Jeanine says
Can you just put the lemon juice in the whole pot while you cook it before you water bath it
Erica says
You probably could– just by putting them in each jar you know there is enough acid in each individual jar.
Judy C Donahue says
I use a Tomato Juicer and you don’t loose anything. It is quick and separates pulp etc. Much much quicker
Margie Herrold says
We used a strainer like yours called a Squeezo for years. My husband was always trying to figure our how to motorize it because sometimes we would do 5 or more gallons at a time. We finally got the attachment for my Kitchenaid. It is great but does not have a screen fine enough for blackberries. We wore our first attachment out. The bushing wears out and allows the juice to flow back into the mixer. Looks like leaking grease. Hubby used directions found on Pinterest to dismantle and clean mixer. We never cook our tomatoes first. Do raw, then bring to a boil in pot. We only add salt but will try the onion salt and celery salt. Throw in a tobasco pepper before you seal and let age if you want it spicy. In your directions you say throw away the pulp. That comes through the screen with the juice. You are just throwing away the skin and seeds. Throw those in the garden for a great crop of volunteer tomato plants next year (if you did not precook). We use an heirloom Roma type tomato for lots of pulp.
Erica says
Thank you so much for your comment, especially about the Kitchen Aid attachment… very good to know! Also, thank you for spotting that typo– I will fix it now!
Susan says
I am making your spaghetti sauce right at this moment. I have processed my tomatoes with my Kitchenaid vegetable / fruit strainer. Your recipe says for 25 lbs of tomatoes. I have no clue how many lbs I used. I just haul them in from the garden and processed them. Do you know how many gallons is 25 lbs of tomatoes?
Emily says
Generally 1 lb is about 2 cups (16 oz.)
Mindy says
When you say process for 25 minutes, are you talking about processing in a pressure cooker or a water bath?
Erica says
Water bath or steam… pressure cooker would be different (I don’t know how different because I don’t have a pressure cooker … :/ )
Garry says
Boil for how long
Erica says
You just need to bring it to a boil each time. Once it is boiling (even as you stir it), it should be up to the right temperature. Hope this helps!
George Lay says
Is it 1 cup of water per quart or total
Favorite Family Recipes says
1 cup total. You only use the water for cooking the tomatoes.
megan says
Processing is referring to the sterilization of the jars?
Erica says
You will want to clean and sterilize the jars first– “processing” is so the lids seal onto the jars, making it safe for long-term storage.
Micki says
Can you use cherry tomatoes?
Favorite Family Recipes says
I don’t see why not!
Adam says
Thanks for sharing, I realy enjoyed this recipe
Ana says
I just read the instructions but you didn’t mention if you waterbath canned this or pressure can. And for how long.
Favorite Family Recipes says
We usually only water bath or steam bath. It takes about 40 minutes to process each batch. Hope this helps!
Marilyn Thompson says
I canned tomato juice but ended up with the juice at the bottom and tomato pulp at the top. This has never happened to me in over 40 years of making juice. With the hurricane I had to use tomatoes I purchased and not the ones from the garden. A few of them were bruised but I cut all the bruised part completely out. About five quarts actually had white stuff at the top. I did everything just the way you have in your recipe and this has never happened before. When I shook the jars up all the junk settled back down in the jar and the white disappeared. I opened a pint and everything smells fine. I am actually scared to taste of it. Any suggestions or should I just throw them all away. The first cooking that I did some of the jars were okay. The last cooking all of them looked bad.
Favorite Family Recipes says
Hi Marilyn– I have never experienced white stuff when canning tomatoes before. I’m not sure how to advise you there. :/ However, I have done a batch or two where it has separated a little bit– nothing drastic but I have definitely seen a little separation. That is nothing to be worried about. If it separates, we just shake it really well before opening and it is fine. The white stuff though..? I’m not sure. I don’t know if that is from the tomatoes or contamination or what? If it were me I would err on the side of caution and probably toss out those ones. Hope this helps!
Gail Sellers says
Delicious, but I’m not adding but 1/4 tsp salt to quarts next batch and add 2 Tablespoons lemon juice or use citric acid. Little too salty for me.
Erica Walker says
It is fine to leave the salt out, just don’t leave out the lemon juice unless you are substituting it with something that can bring up those acidity levels. Just for safety reasons. Glad you liked it! Hope this helps!
Dee Zombotti says
I made this juice and let me say……. ‘It’s DELICIOUS!! I’ll definitely be making more of it!! It would make a great Bloody Mary, a base for vegetable soup or chili and it’s so good over ice!! Thanks for sharing this recipe!!
Erica Walker says
Hi Dee! I am so glad to hear you like this recipe! We love using it as a base for soups too! SO tasty! Thank you for sharing your nice comment and thanks for the 5-stars!
Amber says
Where dose it say anything about lemon juice in the recipe? I just started the water bath and didnt put any lemon juice in the jars!? How is this going to affect the juice? Will it keep?
Erica Walker says
To be safe, you always want to add lemon juice to the bottom of your jars. It just helps with the acidity levels. You may want to re-process your jars if you are worries about it or if you think you will use them soon, you can keep them refrigerated.
Carolyn Turner says
I use a Foley Food Mill for processing foods with skins and seeds like tomato juice, grape preserves, etc.
Haven’t actually made your tomato juice yet, just started cooking about 2 quarts of yellow grape tomato juice that I juiced using my blender. Next I will run the cooked juice through the Foley Food Mill before adding the spices.
Norman Maas says
Instead of straining to remove the seeds and skin, can it all be pureed in a blender? If so, does it still taste good?
Favorite Family Recipes says
We have not tried it that way, so I can’t definitively say how it would affect the taste or texture. Let us know how it turns out if you do try it!
cathy b colyer says
I fix mine like that leaving the skin an seed it was really good
Tracy L Jones says
Don’t throw away the pulp and seeds. Dehydrate them for tomato powder. Tomato powder is the best of ever, It can be used in so many things. Meat loaf, soup, mixed in your hamburgers, etc.
Favorite Family Recipes says
I’ve never heard of that before! I will have to try it!
Gretchen Reinsvold says
This was our first time at making tomato juice. Just used every variety of tomato we had in our patio garden. Canned a bunch and sampled what didn’t fit in to the jars. In the words of Guy Fieri, “Winner, winner, chicken dinner!” Wouldn’t change a thing.
Ellen says
This was delicious!!! Followed recipe exactly except used a Weston tomato press to squeeze the juice. Wonderful recipe. Sometimes for a smaller batch I don’t can it, just put it in the fridge. It never lasts long. Larger batches get canned proper. A+.
Noelle says
The perfect drink! I love knowing exactly what I am putting in my body so making my own drinks is perfect, thanks for the idea!
Beth says
Growing up I loved V8 juice but never thought I could make it myself! This recipe has reminded me of something I used to love and I’m excited to try making it from home! Printing this recipe now!
frances says
can you put the tomatoes through the grinder to remove the skins and seeds before boiling. what happens if you dont boil first. will it still be safe to use.
Favorite Family Recipes says
I haven’t tried it that way, but I think that should be fine. The tomatoes will still cook when you simmer the sauce.