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Tomato juice is a delicious and versatile drink that can be served as a refreshing beverage, as an ingredient in recipes, or as a soup base. But did you know that it’s also super easy to make at home?
Featured with this Recipe
This Homemade Tomato Juice recipe tastes similar to V8 but is SO much better! Serve it chilled or hot—either way, you’re going to love the zesty flavor and fresh taste of this homemade tomato juice.
We’ve gathered our favorite ways to preserve tomatoes at home so that we can enjoy them all year long. Try some of our recipes such as Salsa Recipe for Canning, Homemade Canned Spaghetti Sauce, How to Can Diced Tomatoes, and Savory Salsa Recipe for Canning.
Made with Home Grown Tomatoes
We love growing tomatoes in our garden each summer for canning. If you love canning as much as we do, we hope you will enjoy this and all of our other easy canning recipes!
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.
Ingredients in Homemade Tomato Juice
- tomatoes – preferably from a local farm or home garden when in season
- water
- salt
- onion salt
- celery salt
Ingredient Additions and Substitutions
- cayenne pepper (if you like a little spice)
- black pepper
- garlic
- basil
- oregano
- decorative vegetable option: veggies like carrots or celery for garnish
Canning Tomato Juice
When canning tomato juice, follow the directions in the recipe card below, but make sure to leave about a half inch to one inch of air space (or as some say an inch headspace) at the top below the lids. 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. I also have the little attachments. This will save you a lot 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.
Is Drinking Tomato Juice Good For You?
According to the National Institute of Health, food sources that are high in lycopene, such as tomatoes, have many potential health benefits. Lycopene may reduce the risk of certain cancers, help with cardiovascular disease, and get this… reduce the risk of SUNBURN. These are just a few of the potential health benefits from drinking tomato juice. Read more about the health benefits from the source at the National Institute of Health.
Does tomato juice reduce body fat?
In a study done by the Department of Nutrition in China, and published by the National Institute of Health, it was found that tomato juice supplementation significantly reduced body weight, body fat, waist circumference, and BMI in healthy women between the ages of 20-30. Pretty cool. Right?! Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3850026/
What nutrients does it have?
Tomato juice contains lots of good nutrients such as potassium, vitamin c, fiber, vitamin a and protein, making it a well rounded healthy drink.
Reduced Sodium Tomato Juice:
Did you know that store-bought tomato juice can be VERY high in sodium? This causes the store-bought juice to lose some of it’s health benefits. By making tomato juice from scratch at home, you have full control over the amount of sodium that is added! Reduce the salt in your juice to your specifications in this recipe and enjoy your healthy drink!
Frequently Asked Questions About This Recipe
When it comes to juicing tomatoes, it’s always a good idea to use nice, beefy, juicy varieties, but you almost can’t go wrong with any kind. Some of our favorites are Park’s Whoppers (these grow GREAT in our area, so this one is a favorite), Early Girl, Beefsteak, Better Boy, Celebrity, or Brandywine. Check your local nurseries to see what varieties grow best in your area.
If you are making it fresh and storing it in your refrigerator in an air-tight bottle or jar, tomato juice can last 2-3 days. If you decide to can your tomato juice, it can last 12-18 months after it has been canned. After the jar has been opened, it can last 2-3 days, refrigerated– same as if it were fresh.
Yes! And there are lots of health benefits in doing so including weight loss, better digestion, lower cholesterol, and healthier skin. Not to mention tomatoes are chock-full of antioxidants! The benefits far outweigh the downsides for most, but everyone is different, so it’s always a good idea to talk to your doctor to see what works best for you.
No need to crush or blend the tomato mixture, this method requires cutting quartered tomatoes, a rolling boil, and a tomato strainer.
Both pint jars and quart jars work great! Just make sure they have been cleaned and sanitized before using.
Make It A Virgin Bloody Mary
Turn this tomato juice into a non-alcoholic Bloody Mary by simply adding a squeeze of fresh lemon and a few drops of hot sauce (such as Tabasco sauce). Serve with ice cubes, fresh parsley, celery, or pickles.
Read Next: Easy Dinner Ideas
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!
Recipes that Use Homemade Tomato Juice
Use this delicious homemade tomato juice as a base for so many rich recipes, like these:
- Cafe Zupas Tomato Basil Soup
- Sirloin Steak with Tomato Basil Sauce
- Mom’s Cheater Chili
- Creamy Tomato Basil Soup with Sausage
How to Make Homemade Tomato Juice
Tomato Juice Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 23 pounds tomatoes 3 ¼ pounds per quart or 23 pounds per canner load of 7 quarts
- water approximately ¼ cup to 1 cup
Per Quart of Juice:
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon onion salt
- 1/4 teaspoon 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 tablespoons lemon juice into sterilized quart-sized jars. Add tomato juice, leaving about 1/2" air space at the top.
- Discard seeds, and skin.
Notes
Recipe Tips
- 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 a lot 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.
Is it normal for the tomatoes to look separated after the water bath? 1st time trying this.
If you don’t reduce it down to remove the excess water, it will separate after it is canned. There is nothing wrong with it, just some extra water in the jar.
Do you put jars in a water bath after canning?
Yes, that will help seal the lids. 40 minutes for quarts (35 minutes for pints). Hope this helps!
Do you use regular table salt or use canning salt?
We used regular table salt!
Thank you
Ripe tomatoes here are around 4$ per pound. So 23lbs of tomatoes is $92. So if this makes 7 quarts this is $13 per quart. I guess this is just for people that grow tomatoes.
try roadside farm stands and farmers markets you can purchase a bushel of tomatoes for far less than grocery stores. Cut out the middleman
I’m going to try this recipe this week. How long should one boil during steps 4 and 7? Thanks!
You just cook it until it comes to a boil. Hope this helps!
Quick question!!
When canning do you put 2 tablespoons of lemon juice into each quart jar?
Thank you!
You add the lemon juice before adding the tomato juice. You put the lemon juice in the clean, empty jars. Hope this helps!
I have the sieve attachment for my KitchenAid mixer and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I use it for tomatoes, fruits (I make lots of pear butter because I don’t have to use sugar) and anything that needs to be pureed.
Get one, you’ll be glad you did!
I have the KitchenAid attachment. What a game changer. No blanching, no peeling ~ just AWESOMENESS!!!!!!
I’m buying tomato juice in stores. But had no clue this was so easy to make at home. Thanks! I will definitely give your recipe a try. Looks so healthy and super simple.
I had no idea I could make tomato juice at home! Homemade bloody mary, here I come!
Are we talking about adding lemon juice to raise the acidity of tomatoes?! COOKED and processed tomatoes? Yikes.
Hi Chef! This is how we’ve done it in our kitchen for years! Do you have a different way of doing it?
OMG! This tomato juice is absolutely amazing! We had lots of tomatoes this year and canned 17 quarts of tomato juice. So much better than store bought. Super simple to make. Thanks so much for sharing your recipe!
Perfect tomato juice for Bloody Marys! I also have a super fantastic recipe for tomato cheddar biscuits which requires tomato juice. This is the BEST for that!
I love tomato juice and never thought to make it myself, but this recipe was amazing, super easy to make, and perfect, I love that I know 100% of the ingredients that were used to make it!
This is really good, I can’t wait to try it in Bloody Marys next!
How long to process in the water bath canner?
40 minutes for quarts (35 minutes for pints). Hope this helps!
23 lbs tomatoes? I’m thinking must be 2-3 lbs?
This is a canning recipe so it makes a lot. 23 pounds is correct!
This is a fabulous recipe for tomato juice. Delicious!
I drank homemade tomato juice as a kid and have always wanted to make it myself. I’ll plant some extra tomato plants this year and make some delicious juice.
I served this and people wanted to know what brand it was. When I said that I made it, one of my guests was astonished. She didn’t know you could make tomato juice. Excellent recipe canning it keeps it stable for a very long time.
Does the Tomato juice taste like lemon? I’ve never used that before.
I don’t think it tastes like lemon. If you are worried about it, you can reduce the amount.