Home canned tomato sauce is the best you will ever taste. Store bought tomato sauce doesn’t even compare to the freshness and quality of homemade sauce. The work put in to canning homemade sauce is rewarding every time you pull a jar off the shelf to make a tomato-based meal. It’s a gratifying experience to reach for a jar from your pantry, knowing that each one contains only five simple, natural ingredients. This recipe for home canned sauce is free of preservatives and artificial colors.
We prepare this savory sauce in a variety of jar sizes to ensure flexibility in meal preparation. Quart jars are ideal for generous family servings of hearty dishes like Spaghetti & Meatballs, Venison baked ziti, or cheesy Manicotti. Pint jars fit perfectly into your plans for preparing two delightful Homemade Pizzas. For meals that call for less sauce, half pint jars are just right. These small jars are just the right size for classic Sloppy Joes or a quick dish that requires only a cup of sauce.
What Tomatoes to Use for the Best Sauce
When it comes to selecting tomatoes for the best sauce, paste tomatoes reign supreme. Varieties such as fresh, ripe Roma, San Marzano, or Amish paste tomatoes are perfect choices. These tomatoes are known for their low seed count and reduced water content. This results in a more concentrated flavor that is perfect for sauce. For an in-depth exploration of these remarkable tomatoes, check out the informative link: What Are Paste Tomatoes and Why You Should Grow Them – Bountiful Gardener
Health Benefits of Homemade Tomato Sauce
Beyond their luscious taste, homemade tomato sauce is packed with health benefits. Tomatoes are rich in a powerful antioxidant known as lycopene. Lycopene is crucial for protecting cells from damage. This carotenoid boasts a wide range of health advantages. These include promoting heart health, aiding in cancer prevention, supporting vision and cognitive function, and as well as enhancing digestion. It’s incredible to think that such a small fruit can offer so many remarkable benefits.
Water Bath Canning
This tomato sauce recipe utilizes the classic water bath canning method, which is perfect for long-term storage. Tomatoes are classified as high-acid foods, making them suitable for this technique. When following this recipe, you can expect to yield about eight pint jars of sauce. Total yield can vary, however, depending on the desired thickness of your sauce. In addition, you can also easily double or triple the recipe to stock up your pantry with a bountiful supply of freshly processed sauce. Once the jars are properly sealed, store them in a cool, dark place where they can last for up to two years, ready to use whenever they are needed.
Tomato Sauce- Water bath canned
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.
Nutrition
Seems easy to make. Will try and possibly never buy canned again