Recipe: How To Make Your Own V8 Juice (Easy Homemade Vegetable Tomato Juice) (2024)

Would you rather have your refreshing summer vegetables raw? Check out my quick and easy gazpacho recipe. Is your garden full of green tomatoes that won't have time to ripen? Turn them into my super simple, super popular salsa-like green tomato relish. Or learn how to ripen green tomatoes indoors the really easy way.

I have a sheep farmer friend who recently told me that she swears by Campbell's V8 juice when working out in the heat. She says it's more rejuvenating than drinking water or Gatorade and literally makes the difference between wanting to keel over and being able to keep going for hours.

This is the kind of stuff I need to know—especially during haying season.

But Campbell's V8 juice is mostly made from water and tomato paste, plus a frightening amount of salt. (Since you lose so much sodium while sweating, this may be part of the reason for its revitalizing abilities.) So what would be better than V8? Homemade V8!

Technically my version is only V4, but you can add more vegetables if you like. Either way, this healthy, easy to make vegetable tomato juice will blow that V8 away.

This juice makes great Bloody or Virgin Marys, too.

Gardener's Delight Tomato Vegetable Juice
Makes about 6 cups (48 oz)—Adapted from Gourmet via Simply Recipes

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I doubled Elise's version on Simply Recipes and then applied my More, More, More philosophy, which included upping the onions and tossing in some fresh parsley.

You can also add even more vegetable goodness. Campbell's V8 juice also contains beet juice concentrate, along with celery, carrot, lettuce, parsley, watercress, and spinach juice concentrates. Since I can't bear to eat my beets any other way than caramelized with garlic I'm thinking about tossing in some carrots or Swiss chard (which is so easy to grow, even in containers!) or perhaps even some sweet red peppers.

If I'm going to be drinking this while picking up hay or otherwise sweating profusely, I double the amount of salt.

Ingredients:
6 pounds of vine-ripened, organic tomatoes (preferably heirlooms), coarsely chopped
2 cups chopped organic white or yellow onion
2½ cups chopped organic celery
1 cup chopped fresh parsley (stems are fine)
2 Tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cumin powder
6 drops hot sauce, such as Tabasco or Sriracha
Splash or two of Worcestershire sauce
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions:
Put all the ingredients in a large stainless steel pot. Bring them to a simmer and cook, uncovered, until very soupy, about 40 minutes.

If a thicker juice is desired, first carefully blend the vegetable mixture in batches in a counter top blender, then put it through a food mill. For a smoother and more delicate juice, go straight to the food mill.

A sieve might work but it would probably take forever. Next time I'll try using my hand blender instead of the counter top blender. Update: The hand blender worked really well.

Chill for at least several hours before adding more salt or other seasonings. This juice will keep for at least a week in the fridge. I tried freezing some in a small plastic freezer container, but haven't defrosted it yet. I'll let you know how it comes out when I do.

Update: When I defrosted the frozen tomato juice it had separated some, so that you could see teeny bits of tomato. It tasted okay but looked a little odd. I put it in the blender, and that made it all bubbly and sort of orange, though after sitting in the fridge for a while it settled down.

Got a bumper crop? More Farmgirl Fare tomato recipes:

Greek Salad Pitas with Baby Spinach and Quick Kalamata Olive Tapenade

Greek Style Panzanella Salad with Pan-Fried Olive Oil Croutons

Mexican Jumping Bean Slaw (and Tacos) with High Kickin' Creamy Tomato Dressing

Middle Eastern Vegetable Salad (Fattoush)

Savory Tomato, Mozzarella, and Basil Pesto Pie with an Easy Cheesy Biscuit Crust

(refreshing chilled tomato vegetable soup)

Saving the Harvest with No Sugar Green Tomato Relish