Officially our most popular homemade spaghetti sauce canning recipe! You can use fresh tomatoes from your garden or buy produce at your local grocery store for this recipe!
You guys know that I’ve been growing a rather extensive garden this year and guess what? It’s time for harvesting!! I’ve already made several batches of, frozen apple pies, made applesauce, canned homemade salsa, and I’ve got quite the list to go!
I also made an amazingly simple batch of bruschetta and I still want to try ketchup so we’ll see how that goes! But I wanted to share with you how I made spaghetti sauce because it was so simple!
I know, spaghetti sauce is so cheap to buy at the store but making it homemade is incredibly more flavorful and you can can it for later too! As you can imagine you’ll need PLENTY of tomatoes and PLENTY of mason jars for this recipe!
A lot of my recipes are done with tweaking a little bit here and there to my personal desire but this is the recipe I pretend to follow most of the time. You’ll need about 15 pounds of fresh tomatoes to blanch. Now if you’ve never blanched tomatoes it’s EASY peasy.
Just dump some tomatoes into a large stockpot of boiling water for about 1-2 minutes, and then immediately remove them and dump them into a pot of ice cold water. If you look closely at the photo below in step 3 you’ll see that the skin has actually split off of the tomatoes – perfect!
When you’re done just peel the skin right off!
Cut your tomatoes into smaller pieces discarding the core/stem. Don’t worry about the seeds – I just leave them in there. You can remove them if you want but plan on adding an extra hour in if you want to get all of your seeds out! It’s pretty time consuming and if you leave them in they’ll end up dissolving right into your sauce anyway.
To make my life a heck of a lot easier I use this largecanner pot to help hold my tomatoes.
Next you’ll want to take two large onions and pop them into your food processor (I use this one for all my bulk work). If you don’t have a food processor consider purchasing a small one (this one is under $14) or you can cut up the onions as small as you can get them.
Cut them in the food processor and then dump them into your tomato pile. Then cut up 2-3 green bell peppers and add them to the mix. Mince & add 1/2 head of garlic (or 1 tsp. of the pre-minced garlic). Add 2 cans of tomato paste to help thicken it up.
Simmer it on your stove top for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally as not to burn the bottom! Add 1 Tbsp. oregano, 2 tsp. thyme, 2 tsps. rosemary, 1 Tbsp. lemon basil, and 1 Tbsp. Worcester sauce. Sprinkle in a bit of salt and pepper. Simmer 10-30 minutes depending on how thin/thick you want your sauce!
I canned my spaghetti sauce so I set up my mason jars with the canning funnel directly next to the pot and scooped it right in! I used the water bath to can them for 40 minutes to seal properly. This made about 4 quarts of spaghetti sauce for me!
So that’s it! A lot of just letting everything sit in the pot until it cooks. It’s amazing how the tomatoes will literally just dissolve right down into the sauce!
I HIGHLY recommend using Ball’s Dissolvable Labels since they wash right off when you wash the jar BUT a tip for these is to store your labels in the fridge – it makes them much easier to peel off! And if you prefer a hands-on cookbook this Ball Canning Cookbook has hundreds of recipes for you to try!
Puree 2 large onions in food processor then add to tomatoes.
Chop 2-3 bell peppers into small pieces and add to tomatoes.
Mince ½ head garlic and add to tomatoes.
Add 2 cans tomato paste.
Simmer 30 minutes.
Add all spices and Worcester Sauce.
Simmer 10-30 minutes depending on thickness.
Can or store as desired.
Recipe Notes
This spaghetti sauce recipe can easily be doubled, tripled, quadrupled or more! Just keeping adding tomatoes and ingredients until you’re satisfied with the flavor!
Enjoy some MORE of our delicious recipes below!
Flavorful Pumpkin Pie Homemade Bruschetta Super Simple Apple Pie Southern Banana Cream PieArtisan Beef Puff
Unripe tomatoes consist of a lot more acid as compared to fruit that has reached maturity. That is why it is recommended to make spaghetti sauce or preserve tomato-based sauces through the pressure canning method that requires no acid to be added to the sauce and ensures that the taste remains fresh even after days.
Because of the uncertainty related to the pH of tomatoes, ALL home-preserved tomato products must be acidified to a pH of 4.6 or below (using lemon juice, citric acid, or vinegar (5% acidity)) and processed as a low-acid food using a boiling water or pressure canner.
It's available in cans and tubes, but tubes are more convenient as you'll rarely need to use a whole can of tomato paste at one time. One of the best ways to make use of tomato paste is to treat it as a natural thickening agent for tomato-based sauces, says Arturo.
While pasta sauce stays fresh for about five to six days after opening, sauces that contain dairy, such as Alfredo, are best used within three or four days. What is the shelf-life of unopened pasta sauce? Unopened tomato pasta sauce in a jar can last 12 to 18 months if properly stored.
Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process pint jars for 35 minutes and quart jars for 40 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store.
To ensure safe acidity in whole, crushed or juiced tomatoes, add 2 tablespoons of bottled lemon juice or ½ teaspoon of citric acid per quart of tomatoes. For pints, use 1 tablespoon of bottled lemon juice or ¼ teaspoon of citric acid.
Same goes if you're canning tomatoes for a later time, when they'll probably be turned into a sauce. Though it's completely a matter of preference, for the smoothest, mellowest sauce, you might consider peeling.
If your tomato sauce is too acidic and verging on bitter, turn to baking soda, not sugar. Yes, sugar might make the sauce taste better, but good old baking soda is an alkaline that will help balance the excess acid. A little pinch should do the trick.
Both processes are based on having sufficient acidity and a pH less than 4.6 (ensured by adding lemon juice or citric acid) and are equivalent to each other. So for this recipe, adding lemon juice is as necessary for pressure canning tomatoes as it is for boiling water canning them.
Lemon juice is another natural acidulent commonly used in home food preservation. To assure safe acidity in whole, crushed, or juiced tomatoes, add 2 tablespoons of bottled lemon juice per quart of tomatoes or 1 tablespoon per pint.
But sometimes it's just too watery. In most cases, the reason is that it hasn't been simmered long enough. You see, fresh tomatoes contain a lot of liquids, which are released during cooking. And if you don't give them time to evaporate, your sauce will be diluted.
Cornstarch: Make a slurry of half water, half cornstarch and whisk until smooth. Cornstarch is a powerful thickener, so start by whisking in no more than 1 tablespoon of the mixture per 2 cups of simmering sauce; stir and simmer for 2 minutes, check the thickness, and repeat with more slurry as needed.
Can linings might discolor or corrode when metal reacts with high-acid foods such as tomatoes or pineapple. As long as the can is in good shape, the contents should be safe to eat, although the taste, texture and nutritional value of the food can diminish over time. Home canned foods should be used within 1 year.
Jars of pasta sauce that have been opened can be stored for 3-5 days in the refrigerator. If you don't use the sauce during that time frame but want to save it for future use, you can transfer it to a freezer-safe container and store it in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Most foods will freeze well in glass including fruit, vegetables, soups and sauces, baby food, leftovers, biscuits, and vegetable peels and scraps (great for making stock).
First, mix one tablespoon of cornstarch with one tablespoon of water to make a cornstarch slurry. Add the slurry directly to the spaghetti sauce as it's cooking on low heat. Stir continuously until the sauce reaches the desired consistency, and you'll be good to go.
Introduction: My name is Rev. Leonie Wyman, I am a colorful, tasty, splendid, fair, witty, gorgeous, splendid person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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