Canning Tomato Sauce Step by Step

Canning tomato sauce is on every homesteader’s to-do list. There is just no comparison between the taste of homemade tomato sauce, made with delicious summer tomatoes, and the one we can get at the store. And… It might be the best way to preserve tomatoes since there are so many ways to use tomato sauce. Let’s learn how to can tomato sauce at home.

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I don’t know if there is anything better than a true summer tomato… whether it’s one you grew yourself in your garden or one that you picked up at the farmer’s market. Red, warm, and juicy… I think that tomatoes, more than any fruit or vegetable, bring people out to the garden or to the farmer’s market during the growing season.

And if you ever tasted a true homegrown summer tomato I bet the first thing you thought about was how to preserve the taste so you don’t have to go without it. That’s where canning tomato sauce comes in! It’s a wonderful way to preserve the summer harvest and it gives you the option to use summer tomatoes in so many ways even after the growing season is long gone.

Canning Tomato Sauce…

If you are a gardener and you grow your own tomatoes, you probably know that it takes a lot of work. We start tomato seeds indoors, then transplant them to the garden (here is a video on how to do that), they need a good support system, a lot of feeding and pruning, and so on… So aside from preserving the taste of summer tomatoes, you probably want to preserve your harvest simply because you worked so hard for it.

Every year, I can stewed tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, and tomato sauce from the tomatoes that I harvest from my garden (even though this batch was made from too-ripe tomatoes that I came by at the farmer’s market for a next to nothing price and just couldn’t resist!). Even though there are many ways to can tomatoes, I have to say that canning tomato sauce is always the way that I turn to first simply because I can use tomato sauce later in so so many ways.

What Kind of Tomatoes Are Good for Canning Tomato Sauce?

Paste tomatoes have less water in them and therefore are better for canning tomato sauce simply because it takes less time to cook the sauce. They are thick and meaty. Some of the famous paste tomato varieties are Amish Paste and Roma. Make sure to choose very ripe tomatoes for canning.

However, you can can any type of tomato and you can even make a mix of a few varieties. The flavor will change obviously and the cooking time might change depending on the water content of your tomatoes but you can use this tutorial to can any variety of tomatoes.

The important thing here is that you want to use very ripe tomatoes! If you grow your own tomatoes, make sure to pick them at the Green Mature Stage and let them ripen indoors. Also, if you grow your own tomatoes and can’t can them right away or you need to wait until enough of them are ready for canning, remember that you can always freeze tomatoes and can them later, it’s literally the trick that saved my summer sanity!  

Ingredients…

• Tomatoes – again, very ripe tomatoes preferably canning tomatoes like Amish Paste or Roma (but any kind can be made into sauce and canned). I used 26 pounds of tomatoes here which is what fits in my large stock pot. I’m recommending that you don’t process more than 25 pounds at the time… It gets a bit too much to handle. 25 pounds of medium to large tomatoes should yield about 7 quart jars of tomato sauce (or 14 pints).
• Seasonings – note that you can season your tomato sauce as you cook it with salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and so on… I usually choose to leave my tomato sauce plain since whatever dish I’m gonna use it in later is going to be seasoned anyway.
• Bottled lemon juice – in order to safely process the tomato sauce in the water bath canner, we want to increase its acidity just a bit. To get that done, we’ll use two tablespoons of bottled lemon juice (not fresh lemon juice! We use bottled lemon juice because it’s stable and its acidity is known) per quart jar or one tablespoon per pint jar. The acidity of the bottled lemon juice will prevent the growth of C. Botulinum bacteria; the bacteria that causes Botulism.
  Some say that the lemon juice changes the taste of the tomato sauce, I personally don’t notice a change in taste so I use bottled lemon juice. But if you are concerned about the change in taste you can use citric acid (instead of the bottled lemon juice) which does not affect the taste at all. Add 1/2 teaspoon of citric acid to each quart jar or 1/4 of a teaspoon to each pint jar. Bottled lemon juice is easier to come by so that’s what I usually use.

Kitchen Tools…

• Large stock pot that can fit all of the tomatoes that you are going to process.
• Slotted spoon
• Large mixing bowl
• Food strainer is optional if you want to not only remove the skin of the tomatoes but also the seeds. Some people like running their tomatoes through it but I don’t. I’ll show you how I peel my tomatoes but I don’t mind the seeds in my sauce.
• Knife
• Cutting board
• Wooden spoon
• Immersion blender
• Measuring spoon
• Quart or pint jars
• Ladle
• Canning utensils
• Paper towel
• Water bath canner

How to Can Tomato Sauce…

Step 1 – prep the tomatoes. Wash the tomatoes well and core them (I removed the core of the tomatoes by inserting a sharp knife in the top of each tomato at an angle and cutting in a circular motion), then, cut a little X at the bottom of the tomato to help the skin come off easily.

Bring a pot of water to a boil, add the tomatoes in batches (not too many of them at a time), and let them cook for two minutes or so in the boiling water…

Use the slotted spoon to take the tomatoes out of the boiling water and set them in a large mixing bowl. Place the mixing bowl in the sink and run cold water on the tomatoes to cool them down so you can handle them.

Grab one tomato at a time and peel it. The skins should come off very easily. You can save those and dry them. If you have a food dehydrator it’s easy to dump them in there but you can also dry them in the oven. Some people eat them like chips and some grind the dry skins to make tomato powder which you then can add to soups or many other dishes as a seasoning.

A couple of notes here before we move on…

• I will admit that more than once I didn’t bother removing the tomato skin at all. I just threw the tomatoes in the pot and cooked them and mashed them with the immersion blender like you’ll see me doing below. The tiny pieces of skin didn’t bother me. It’s not ideal, but possible. 
• Another thing I’ve learned is that if you want to skip the hot-water-to-remove-the-skins step, you can simply throw your tomatoes in the freezer for a few days. When you thaw them, the skins will just come off easily. 
• Lastly, I’ve learned from one of the fabulous ladies that comment below that there is a very cool machine called the VICTORIO Deluxe Food Strainer that removes the seeds and the skin and makes a sauce of your tomatoes all at once. Then you just have to cook it however you want and can. 

Once the skins are gone, half or quarter the tomatoes and add them to a large stockpot for cooking the sauce.

Step 2 – cook the tomato sauce. Set the stockpot on the stovetop, turn the heat to medium-high and bring the tomatoes to a boil. Turn the heat down a bit to keep the tomatoes gently bubbling for the rest of the cooking time. Remember to stir frequently.

After about an hour of cooking, when the tomatoes are soft, use the immersion blender to blend the tomatoes into a smooth sauce (or you can leave it a bit chunky if you’d like).

How long it will take to cook your tomato sauce depends on the water content of the tomatoes that you started with and how thick you like your tomato sauce. It took almost three hours for my sauce to reach the thickness I wanted it to. You can choose to season it a little bit with salt and pepper, and maybe some garlic powder or oregano, but I decided to just leave it unseasoned so I can season it when I use it.

Step 3 – prep for canning tomato sauce. Fill the water bath canner with enough water to cover the jars that you are going to use by at least an inch. Set the canner on the stovetop, turn the heat to high, and bring the water to a boil. Wash the jars and lids in hot water and dish soap (since we are going to process the tomato sauce for more than 10 minutes in the water bath canner, there is no need to sanitize the jars and lids).

Step 4 – fill the jars. Add two tablespoons of bottled lemon juice to each quart jar (or one to each pint jar), then use the ladle and the canning funnel to fill the jars with the tomato sauce leaving about 1/2 inch of headspace.

Next, use the bubble remover to remove bubbles by moving it along the inside of the jar. Then, clean the rim of each jar with a damp paper towel…

Before centering the lid and closing the jar with the band finger-tight.

Step 6 – process the tomato sauce. Place the jars on the rack of the canner and lower the rack into the boiling water. Cover the canner and process pint jars for 35 minutes and quart jars for 40 minutes in the boiling water. Remember to adjust processing time according to the table below if you live above 1000 feet in elevation.

When the processing time is up, turn the stovetop off and uncover the canner. Let the jars stay in the hot water for 5 more minutes before you remove them. Use the jar lifter to remove them from the canner and set them on a kitchen towel on the counter to cool completely (8-12 hours).

Storing Canned Tomato Sauce…

Check that your jars have sealed by pressing the center of each lid. If there is no movement there it means that the jar is sealed and ready for storage. I usually wipe the jars and remove the band (it tends to rust and make it hard to open the jar down the road, it’s easier to monitor what’s happening in the jar without the band in the way, and I can reuse it) before storing the jars in a cool and dark place (a pantry, kitchen cabinet, root cellar…).

Canned tomato sauce will last on the shelf for up to 18 months. I find that after that it starts losing its taste.

Using Homemade Canned Tomato Sauce…

• To make marinara sauce – we eat spaghetti at least once a month. I use this canned tomato sauce to make marinara sauce for the pasta and we usually use the leftovers for a homemade pizza.
• Add to chili or soups – our favorite is this Southwest chicken chili (or leftover turkey from Thanksgiving!), or the Pioneer Woman beef and bean chili. I use this tomato sauce in both of those.
• Tomato soup – I mean… Nothing is better than tomato soup made with summer tomatoes in the dead of winter! This recipe is a favorite.
• Add it to shakes – if you are into vegetable shakes you can use this tomato sauce in your shakes, or you can strain it and just drink the tomato juice, or heck… Use it to make a tall glass of Bloody Mary!

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I hope that this tutorial was helpful! Making and canning tomato sauce is not complicated or hard but it does require a bit of work. It’s all worth it, though! Homemade canned tomato sauce is so much better than any tomato sauce you’ve tried before. I guarantee it.

More Canning Tutorials…

• How to Can Beets
• Canning Hot Peppers
• Canning Carrots Step By Step
• How to Can Milk
• How to Can Meat
• Canning Roasted Red Peppers

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