This is a recipe for spicy V-8 style vegetable juice that was passed down to me from my father-in-law. This yummy and healthy vegetable drink makes superb Bloody Mary’s, goes great in red beers, and is delicious to drink on its own. We use it as sauce for various meat dishes as well. The prep and cooking time is approximately two hours to make 2 gallons of this juice.

Ingredients:

15 Lbs of fully ripe tomatoes or 11 lbs of canned tomato puree

2 cups celery, chopped

3 cloves garlic minced and mashed

3 large onions chopped

2 tablespoons of salt

¾ tablespoons of pepper

2 tablespoons of horseradish

1/3 cup of lemon juice

1/3 cup of Worcestershire

¼ cup of sugar or Splenda

(Optional) ½ lbs of jalapeno peppers

Combine all ingredients in a large pan over medium/high heat. When mixture boils reduce heat to medium and cook for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool 15 minutes.

After mixture has cooled puree ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth using about ¼ of the mixture at a time. If using fresh tomatoes strain juice through a sieve or food mill to remove skins and seeds. (If using canned tomatoes you can bypass this step). Once cooled the vegetable juice is ready to drink.

If you are not going to be using all the spicy V-8 vegetable juice within a week of creation, you can follow the directions blow for canning the juice.

Pour mixture into quart canning jars leaving ½ inch of headspace

Wipe sides of jar and screw on lids

Place jars in large pan on stove and cover jars with water

Bring water to boil and process for 50 minutes

Remove jars from boiling water and let cool over night

Test lids to make sure they have sealed by pressing down on the middle of the lid with your finger. If the lid springs up when you release your finger, the lid is unsealed. If the lid is concaved (curved down slightly in the center) and does not spring up when pressed, then the juice is ready to be set on a shelf in your pantry and will stay good for months to come.

Homemade vegetable juice is not only delicious but healthy as well. This spicy V-8 style recipe is so good that you will want to can some for later in the year when fresh tomatoes are not in season.