How to Make Tomato Sauce {Optional Canning Instructions}
Canning tomato sauce is one of the best ways to utilize lots of tomatoes from your garden. It is very simple with a water bath canning pot.
If you have a garden, you know that even if you just plant a few tomato plants, you end up with a ton of tomatoes by the time the growing season is over.
One of the easier ways to use up a bunch of them is to make tomato sauce. Which you can enjoy all year long!
Don’t Have Time to Make Sauce Now?
If you are short on time, there are a couple of ways to just get the fruit prepped and then can them when you have time. I even make tomato sauce in the winter when the kitchen isn’t so hot.
To preserve them for later use, freeze tomatoes whole, in chunks or as juice.
Alternatively, they can be placed in a food mill or vegetable juicer/ strainer and then frozen. I like this attachment for my kitchen aid mixer. It makes quick work out of the job.
Then, when you have time to finish the sauce, just thaw and proceed with the recipe.
What Type of Tomatoes to Use
Any tomato can be used but meaty tomatoes will produce more tomatoes sauce than slicing tomatoes.
- Roma: Roma tomatoes are a classic choice for making tomato sauce. Their dense, meaty texture and rich flavor make them perfect for cooking down into a thick sauce.
- San Marzano: Use San Marzano tomatoes, an Italian variety of paste tomatoes often used to make tomato sauce. They have a sweet, slightly tangy flavor and are known for their thin skin, which makes them easy to peel.
- Amish Paste: Amish Paste tomatoes are an heirloom variety that is great for making tomato sauce. They have a rich, sweet flavor and a meaty texture and are especially popular among home gardeners.
- Jersey: Jersey tomatoes are another popular choice for making tomato sauce. They have dense, meaty flesh and a deep flavor that is well-suited for cooking.
All tomatoes make a delicious sauce, and each variety has a slightly different flavor. Some varieties may need to be cooked down longer to remove lots of the juice, but they are all good.
Cherry tomatoes make a delicious sauce with a touch of sweetness, but most are very juicy, so you’ll need lots of tomatoes to make your sauce.
What you Need
- Tomatoes: many tomatoes may be acidic enough to can without lemon juice, but it is always recommended since the acidity of the fruit varies immensely.
- Lemon juice or citric acid: Always use bottled lemon juice because it is tested for acidity levels.
- Salt (optional): Choose canning salt, or kosher, or sea salt if you use it. Do not use table salt for canning.
Pro Canning Tips
- Preheat the Waterbath: When you start the recipe, fill the canning pot about ¼ or ½ way up. Heat the water. Place the prewashed jars into the pot so the jars can get hot, too.
- Lids: Never reuse lids. Lids are meant to be single-use. This will ensure that your food is shelf-stable and safe for your family to eat. If you’d like to repurpose them, use them for dry storage, not to recan something else.
- Non-metallic Utensils: When canning, use wooden or heat-safe plastic utensils. This is more to prevent the jars from chipping or cracking than a food-safety issue.
- Hot Jars: Hot foods should be loaded into hot jars. We remove one jar at a time from the canning pot, where it has preheated, and fill it. Then, remove the next jar, fill it, and so on. Once all the jars are filled, remove air bubbles and wipe the rims of all of the jars. Then center prewarmed lids and screw on bands fingertip tight. Add all of the filled and capped jars to the canning pot with warm, not boiling, water.
- Bring the canning pot to a boil: You just want the water simmering when you add the filled jars. Turn up the heat once the jars are in the canning pot. Monitor the water. Once it boils, start the timer. Process the jars for the specified time in the recipe. Do not deviate from the recommended processing time. This could risk food safety issues.
- Jars will displace more water once they’re filled: When you add the filled jars, less water will be needed to cover them with two inches of water. Remove some of the water to reduce the risk of the pot boiling over. This is especially important for quart jars.
The National Center for Home Food Preservation and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. All of the recipes on this site are based on one or both of these trusted sources. We just do a more thorough job showing you how to do it, step-by-step.
New to canning? Start with our comprehensive article on “How to Can Everything“. It will walk you through all of the dos and don’ts related to canning.
Procedure with juicer
Cut tomatoes into pieces small enough to feed through the juicer’s tube.
Feed the pieces through a juicer/ strainer or food mill to remove skins and seeds.
Place juice in a large pot and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and low boil.
Reduce the juice by half for thick sauce.
Pour lemon juice into the jar. Add the salt, if using. Add the tomato sauce.
Ladle the hot sauce into warm jars leaving ½-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Wipe the rims of the jars with a damp paper towel.
Center the lid on the jar. Screw on the bands fingertip tight.
Bring the water bath canning pot to a low boil. Process pints for 35 minutes and quarts for 45 minutes; adjust the time for elevation above sea level. See this helpful article for an explanation on page 10.
Allow the jars to sit in hot water for an additional 5 minutes. Remove the jars from the canning pot. Leave undisturbed for 24 hours.
Procedure Without Juicer
Blanch the tomatoes in boiling water for a couple of minutes.
Halve the peeled tomatoes and scrape out the seeds. Chop up the tomatoes, or pulse them in a food processor a few times. (or use a food mill).
Cook down the juice as per the directions above for using a juicer.
Add lemon juice and salt to the jar. Ladle in the cooked-down sauce.
To Process Them in a Waterbath Canning Pot
Get the canner water hot. Wash the jars and lids. Add the clean jars to the canning pot to heat. Once the jars are filled, add them to the canning pot. Bring the water in the pot to a boil. Once the water is boiling, set the timer.
When the processing time is complete, remove the pot from the heat, carefully open the lid, and partially lift it off the top of the canning pot. Let it rest like that for 5 minutes.
Then, remove the lid and let the jars rest in the canning pot for an additional 5 to 10 minutes.
After resting, remove the jars onto a kitchen towel placed on your counter and let them thoroughly cool for 12-24 hours, undisturbed. You may hear the lids pinging sometime in the next hour. This is music to a canner’s ears. It is due to the reaction of the lids being sealed to the jar.
Check the seals. Press down in the middle of the lid. If it flexes up or down, the jar is not sealed and should be refrigerated and used first.
Then, remove the bands. Gently pick up the jar by the lid to check the seal further. Again, if it is not sealed, use it first.
Label jars with contents and the date. Store in a cool, dark place for at least a year. Avoid areas with large temperature fluctuations.
Do not stack jars on top of each other. This can compromise the seals. If you run out of room on your shelf, use a sheet of cardboard or a thin piece of wood and place that on top of a row of jars. Then you can put jars on top of that. This will distribute the weight evenly.
Before using any canned goods, always inspect the packaging and the food itself. Make sure that it looks and smells as it should. If it doesn’t, it’s best to err on the side of caution and discard it.
Can you Use a Pressure Canner?
Yes. You absolutely can use a pressure canner to can the tomato sauce. Prepare the tomatoes and cook the sauce as you would if you we using a water bath canner.
Load the jars into the canning pot. Secure the lid and let it vent for a full 10 minutes.
Place your weight or regulator on the vent. Allow the canner to come up to pressure, adjusting for elevation. (See details in recipe notes below.) Once it comes up to the correct psi, start your timer. If it ever falls below the target psi, you must restart the timer.
Once time has elapsed, remove the canner from the burner. Allow pressure to release naturally.
Once all the pressure has been released, carefully open the lid and move it partially off the top of the canning pot. Let it rest like that for 5 minutes.
Then, remove the lid and allow the jars to rest another 5 to 10 minutes in the canning pot.
After resting, remove the hot jars to a kitchen towel placed on your counter and let them thoroughly cool for 12-24 hours, undisturbed.
Check the seals. Press down in the middle of the lid. If it flexes up or down, the jar is not sealed and should be refrigerated and used first.
Then, remove the bands. Gently pick the jar up by the lid to check the seal further. Again, if it is not sealed, use it first.
Label jars with contents and the date. Store in a cool, dark space.
The sauce can also be frozen in freezer containers if you don’t want to can it.
How to use this tomato sauce
I just use this plain recipe when canning because then I can use the jars for whatever I like throughout the year. I can add whatever I want to it, such as; onions, green peppers, mushrooms, black pepper, herbs like basil, oregano, garlic, grated cheese, and the like
- Spaghetti Sauce
- Pizza Sauce
- Lasagna
- Casseroles
- Sloppy Joes
- Soups and Stews
- BBQ Sauce
Helpful tools
- juicer attachment
- Kitchenaid mixer
- food mill
- cutting board
- pH meter
- Water bath canning pot
- Pressure canner
- canning tools
- quart jars
- saucepans
- ladle
Other delicious canned goods for the pantry
- Candied jalapenos
- Zucchini relish
- Raspberry Jam
- Rhubarb vinegar
- Pickled Peppers
- Quick Pickled Cauliflower
Want to learn how to grow tomatoes? If you love growing your own produce, these articles are packed full of information about how to get that big harvest by the end of the season! Don’t miss our How to Start a Garden Series!
The first section is Planning Your Garden. Second is Preparing the Garden Site.
The third is Choosing Plants and Planting Your Garden. The fourth is Garden Maintenance.
The last is Harvesting a Garden and Preserving the Harvest, this article has over 100 FREE recipes for preserving your harvest!
I hope you like this article about canning tomato sauce. Be warned, once you make your own, you won’t want to buy it from the grocery store anymore!
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I hope you enjoyed the recipe today.
Enjoy. And have fun cooking!
Canning Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
- 26 pounds tomatoes
- 2 tablespoon bottled lemon juice or ½ tsp. citric acid
- 1 teaspoon salt optional
Instructions
Blanching and Food mill to skin and remove seeds
- Start a large pot of water over high heat boiling. Set up another large bowl with ice water.
- Once water is boiling, remove cores from tomatoes.
- With a slotted spoon, add small batches of tomatoes to the boiling water. Boil for about 2 minutes. Using the same spoon, pull tomatoes out of the boiling water and add to bowl with ice water.
- Working one at a time, slip skins off of tomatoes.
- Use the food mill to remove the seeds.
Juicer strainer attachment for Kitchenaid mixer
- Wash and core tomatoes. Cut into chunks large enough to fit through the hopper. Process the chunks of tomatoes with another large bowl or pot to collect the juices.
For both methods
- Add collected juice to large pot. Bring to boil.
- Once boiling, reduce heat. At a high simmer, cook down sauce to desired consistency, stirring occasionally, usually at least 40 minutes.
- Add lemon juice and salt, if using to each jar.
- Once sauce is cooked down, ladle sauce into jars, using a canning funnel to avoid spills. Leave ½ inch headspace..
- Remove air bubbles with bubble tool or knife.
- Wipe rim of the jar with damp paper towel or clean kitchen towel. Place hot lids on jars. Screw on the bands until fingertip tight.
- Process jars 45 minutes, depending on elevation. Remove from heat. Allow jars to sit in hot water an additional 5 minutes.
- Remove jars from canning pot using a jar lifter to avoid burns. Allow to rest on counter for 24 hours. Test lids for seal. (press lids in center, if they flex up and down, store that jar in the refrigerator.
- Store in a cool, dark place for at least 1 year.
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Notes
- 0-1000 feet above sea level – 35 minutes.
- 1000-3000 feet above sea level – 40 minutes
- 3000-6000 feet above sea level – 45 minutes
- above 6000 feet – 50 minutes
- 0-1000 feet above sea level – 40 minutes.
- 1000-3000 feet above sea level – 45 minutes
- 3000-6000 feet above sea level – 50 minutes
- above 6000 feet – 55 minutes
- 0-1000 feet above sea level – 6 pounds
- 1000-3000 feet above sea level – 7 pounds
- 3000-6000 feet above sea level – 8 pounds
- above 6000 feet – 9 pounds
- 0-1000 feet above sea level – 11 pounds
- 1000-3000 feet above sea level – 12 pounds
- 3000-6000 feet above sea level – 13 pounds
- above 6000 feet – 14 pounds
Nutrition
Originally published September 2, 2020. Updated March 2, 2025.
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