Tomato Basil Soup in a Jar (Just Add Water!)

Raise your hand if you’ve stood in front of the pantry at 5:00, tired and hungry, with zero clue what’s for dinner.

Been there more times than I can count.

That’s exactly why I fell in love with meals in a jar. You do the work once, store it on a shelf, and when dinner sneaks up on you, all you have to do is add water.

Today I’m sharing one of our very favorite pantry meals: tomato basil soup in a jar. It fits neatly into a single pint jar, it’s shelf-stable, and it cooks up in about 20 minutes. It’s the kind of thing that turns a rough evening into a warm bowl of soup with almost no effort.

Why This Recipe Earns a Spot in Your Pantry

A lot of “just add water” meals taste like sad, watery disappointment. This one doesn’t, and there’s a reason for that.

We build in two thickeners and a little dairy powder so the soup comes out creamy and satisfying instead of thin and sad. It’s still a soup, not a stew, but it has real body to it.

And here’s the frugal part I love: this is a fantastic way to use up your garden tomatoes. If you dehydrate tomatoes into powder or flakes, this recipe puts them to work.

Store-bought versions of shelf-stable soup cost a small fortune and come loaded with ingredients you can’t pronounce. This one you make yourself, so you know exactly what’s in it, because you put it there.

It’s also a smart little insurance policy. Power outage, tight grocery week, or a season when you just can’t run to the store? A shelf of jarred meals means your family still eats well. That’s stewardship, plain and simple.

What You’ll Need (Fills One Pint Jar)

Layer everything into a clean pint jar. It fills all the way to the brim, so tamp it down and give it a shake as you go, or you won’t fit it all in.

The base:

• ½ cup tomato powder
• Your choice of sundried tomatoes, dehydrated tomatoes, or tomato flakes (a small handful)

The thickeners:

• ⅔ cup mashed potato flakes
• 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder or cornstarch

The creaminess:

• ½ cup milk powder

The flavor:

• 2 tablespoons dried minced onion (or 1 tablespoon onion powder)
• 2 tablespoons crushed basil, freeze-dried or dehydrated (crush the leaves as you add them)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon chicken bouillon powder or chicken broth powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder (or 2 teaspoons dried minced garlic)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ½ teaspoon ground thyme (or 1 teaspoon thyme leaves, ground fine)

A few notes from my kitchen:

If you’re using sundried tomatoes, reach for the fully dehydrated kind, not the ones packed in oil. Oil-packed won’t store shelf-stable in a dry jar.

The sugar isn’t there to make things sweet. Tomato powder gets surprisingly acidic once it’s concentrated, and that little bit of sugar smooths it right out.

Your bouillon already carries some salt, so I keep the added salt light. If you’d rather, leave the salt out of the jar entirely and just salt to taste at the end.

How to Cook It

When you’re ready for dinner, the whole thing comes together in one pot:

1. Empty the jar into a medium saucepan and add 7 cups of water. That’s it. The mix plus water is your entire recipe.
2. Bring it to a boil, stirring occasionally. When you first pour it in, the spices float to the top and it looks a little chunky. Don’t worry, it all comes together as it cooks.
3. Lower to a simmer for 20 minutes. Once it’s simmering, stir frequently. Tomato products love to scorch on the bottom of the pot, so keep that spoon moving.
4. Blend if needed. If you used whole sundried tomatoes, scoop out the solids along with about ½ cup of the liquid and blend them smooth with an immersion blender, then stir it back in. This gets rid of any big chunks and adds even more body. If you used tomato flakes, you can usually skip this step.

Twenty minutes of simmer time and you’re done.

Want it richer? A splash of heavy cream stirred in right at the end is never a bad idea. I do it about half the time.

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One Storage Rule to Remember

Do not vacuum seal this jar.

I know we’re all about vacuum sealing around here, but tomato powder holds onto moisture, and sealing it tight turns the whole thing into a solid brick. Just cap it with a regular lid, store it in a cool, dry spot, and you’re good.

Hope you enjoy it!