Home canned tomato sauce is the best tomato sauce you will ever taste. It doesn’t even compare to store bought tomato sauce. The work put in to canning tomato sauce is rewarding every time you pull a jar off the shelf to make a tomato-based meal. Knowing that each jar contains only 5 natural ingredients with no preservatives or coloring is a satisfying feeling. We make this sauce in quart jars, pint jars, and half pint jars to use according to how it will be used in a recipe.

The best tomatoes to use are paste tomatoes. Fresh ripe Roma, San Marzano, or Amish paste tomatoes are in this category of tomato. They contain less seeds, have less water content, and are very flavorful.

Tomatoes contain a special antioxidant called a carotenoid. There are carotenoids in a lot of vegetables, but the type in tomatoes is called lycopene. Lycopene protects cells from damage and is especially beneficial for heart health, cancer prevention, vision, protection, cognitive functioning, and digestion. All these awesome benefits from one little fruit.

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Tomato Sauce- Water bath canned

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Equipment

sheet pan
Immersion blender
Food Mill (I use the Kitchen Aid food strainer)
20 Quart stock pot
7-8 Pint Jars
Jar lids and rings
Food Funnel
Bubble popper
Water bath canner
Jar lifter

Ingredients

20 lbs Roma tomatoes
1 Yellow onion, large
4 cloves Garlic
2 tbsp Sea salt or canning salt
Lemon juice

Instructions

Cooking the tomato sauce

Preheat the oven to 400℉
Place garlic cloves and quartered onion onto a foil lined sheet pan.
Slice tomatoes in half lengthwise and place them cut side down onto the sheet pan with the garlic and onion.
Roast the tomatoes, onion, and garlic for about 15 minutes. The skins from the tomatoes should begin to separate and wrinkle and will be slightly charred.
Remove the 1st batch from the oven. Place the garlic and onion into the large pot. The skins of the tomatoes should easily peel off, but it's okay if they don't completely come off, they will in the food mill.
Prepare the sheet pan full of halved tomatoes and continue roasting. Two sheet pans in the oven at a time is faster and fine to do.
Begin straining the first batch of tomatoes by running them through the food strainer. Strain the juice directly into the pot that the onions and garlic are in.
Once the first batch of tomatoes are strained, turn the burner on to medium heat.
Using an immersion blender, puree the onions and garlic in the tomato juice.
Continue roasting and straining the tomatoes until the batch is finished, filling the stockpot as you go.
Add the salt to the tomato sauce and stir.
Once all the tomatoes are in the pot, simmer over medium heat until the liquid is reduced to half. This takes about 2-3 hours.

Canning

Prepare the water bath by filling the canning pot with water. Turn the burner on high to boil the water.
Wash the jars with very hot, soapy water.
Place 1 tablespoon of lemon juice into each jar.
Using the funnel, fill each jar with the tomato sauce, leaving 1/2-inch headspace.
Run the bubble popper through each jar to ensure that the bubbles are removed.
Wipe each jar rim with a clean paper towel.
Place a clean lid on each jar and turn the bands fingertip tight.
Using the jar lifter, place the jars into the boiling water bath.
Place the lid on the water bath and process for 35 minutes.
Turn off the stove and carefully remove the jars from the water bath with the jar lifter.
Place the jars onto a towel lined cutting board to cool.
Leave the jars for 12 hours to cool before checking for the lids to be secured and labeling the jars.
Store in a cool dry place for up to 2 years.