Canned Tomato Sauce Recipe
Canning tomato sauce is a good way to preserve tomatoes for long-term storage. Learn how to safely can your tomatoes in this complete guide—from prepping the tomatoes to picking the right jars.
Servings: 4 quarts or 8 pints
Calories: 408kcal
Ingredients
- 20 pounds tomatoes about 80 plum tomatoes
- Citric acid or bottled lemon juice
Instructions
- Wash tomatoes. Core and cut tomatoes into quarters.
- Place a single layer of tomato quarters in the bottom of a large saucepan. Mash with a potato masher, and heat over medium-high heat until juicy.
- Add in the remaining tomatoes in 3-4 batches, mashing after each addition. Once all tomatoes are added, simmer until tomatoes are tender and juicy.
- Remove from heat. Run the tomatoes through a food mill to remove peels and seeds.
- Return purée to saucepan. Cook purée, uncovered, over medium-high heat until purée thickens, stirring to prevent sticking. Cook until volume is reduced by one-third for a thin sauce, or one-half for a thick sauce.
- Prepare boiling water canner. Heat jars in simmering water until ready to use, but do not boil. Wash lids in warm soapy water and set aside with bands.
- Add ¼ teaspoon citric acid or 1 tablespoon bottled lemon juice to a hot pint jar; ½ teaspoon citric acid or 2 tablespoons bottled lemon juice to a hot quart jar. Ladle hot sauce into hot jar, leaving ½-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust for headspace. Clean jar rim. Center lid on jar and adjust band to fingertip-tight.
- Place jar on a canning rack in the boiling-water canner. Repeat until all jars are filled.
- Cover the canner and bring water to a boil. Process pint jars 35 minutes or quart jars 45 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Start timer once the water is at a full, rolling boil.
- Turn off heat, remove canner lid, and let jars stand 5 minutes. Remove jars and cool for 12-24 hours on a folded towel. Check lids for seal—they should not flex when center is pressed. Label and store jars.
Notes
- You can safely add dried herbs to your tomato sauce jars to add flavor to this basic sauce. Here are a few options: Italian tomato sauce—Add ½ teaspoon each of dried basil and oregano, ¼ teaspoon garlic powder, and a small pinch of red pepper flakes to each pint jar before packing with tomatoes. Tex-Mex diced tomatoes—Add 1 teaspoon chili powder, ½ teaspoon each cumin, oregano, and coriander, ¼ teaspoon garlic powder, and a small pinch of red pepper flakes to each pint jar before packing with tomatoes.
- We prefer to leave our jars unsalted, but if you want to season your tomatoes before canning, add ½ teaspoon of salt per pint jar at the same time you add your citric acid or lemon juice.
- Tomatoes (and in particular tomato sauce) are prone to siphoning—where some of the liquid is pulled out of the jar from the pressure building up. As long as your jar seals properly, it's still safe to enjoy, even if some of the sauce has siphoned out. To reduce siphoning, when processing time is up, make sure to turn off the canner, remove the lid, wait 5 minutes, then remove the jars.
Nutrition
Serving: 1whole quart | Calories: 408kcal | Carbohydrates: 88g | Protein: 20g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 113mg | Potassium: 5375mg | Fiber: 27g | Sugar: 60g | Vitamin A: 18892IU | Vitamin C: 311mg | Calcium: 227mg | Iron: 6mg
