Canning Spaghetti Sauce

If you have access to fresh tomatoes from your garden, then it is a great thing to be able to learn how to can your own spaghetti sauce. Not only is this way cheaper than it costs to buy spaghetti sauce at the store, but it’s also much more economical as well. There is nothing easier to make for dinner than spaghetti, so it’s always nice to know that after canning spaghetti sauce you’ll have quite a few prepared for some quick & easy meals for those days you don’t really feel like cooking too much.

When you are canning spaghetti sauce, I recommend using a pressure cooker, since tomatoes are on that borderline of acidity. Do not use a water bath canner with this recipe, especially if you are adding meat to the sauce, as this is not safe at all as per the USDA guidelines for safe home canning. In general though, it’s really not a good idea to add meat to the sauce for canning anyways -  it doesn’t taste as good as using it fresh or frozen when you are actually making your pasta. Plus, meatless sauces have a lot more flexibility – you can use them for anything from pizzas to chili to chicken dishes, so I like to just make plain sauce. Not only is it safer, but the taste is a lot better, too. If you do add meat to your sauce, the processing time will be much longer as well.

Canning spaghetti sauce is not too much different than canning tomatoes in general. Once you get the basics down it all gets easier the more practice you get! This recipe should yield you about 7 pint size jars.

You Will Need:

30 pounds of tomatoes
1 cup chopped onions
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons minced basil
4 tsp salt (can use less or omit if low sodium is a concern)
2 tbsp oregano
4 tbsp minced parsley
2 tsp black pepper

Step 1: Prepare the Tomatoes: This usually takes awhile, so that is why it is the first step. You’ll want to choose the best tomatoes as possible, using Roma tomatoes if available. (If all you have is beef steak or another variety that’s okay – it’ll just take longer to cook) Some people like to use a blend of different tomatoes, too. Because we are making sauce, you’re going to want to peel and juice the tomatoes and make sure all of the seeds are removed. To peel them easily, dip the tomatoes in boiling water for 30-60 seconds, then dunk in ice water. Next you’ll want to cut away all the seeds and squeeze out the juice. Hand juicing works, some people have had a little luck using a citrus juicer too. You can save the juice for another use if you’d like.

Step 2: Get Everything Ready: Good organization is critical in making the canning process a heck of a lot faster and easier. So, make sure all of your jars are sterile, your lids are hot, and you have all of the supplies and materials needed ready to use and easy to reach.

Step 3: Make the Sauce: To make the sauce, put the tomatoes in a pot and slowly bring to a boil. You will likely not need to add any water for this since tomatoes are already pretty juicy as it is. As the tomatoes cook, they will start to thicken and form the sauce. Once your tomatoes are pretty close to boiling down to the sauce thickness you desire, stir in your seasoning. Once it is cooked, you are ready to place it into jars, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace. (If you do decide to add fully cooked meat it will need to be 1 inch)

Step 4: Process: If you want to process using a water bath canner, you will need to add about 2 tablespoons of bottled lemon juice to each jar. However, it is much safer, easier, and tastier to use a pressure cooker. The table below will help you determine which pressure to use, depending on whether you have a dial or weighted gauge pressure canner.

*If adding fully cooked meat to your sauce, process at the same pressure but for 60 minutes for pint sized jars. Add 5 minutes to processing time if using quart sized jars for spaghetti sauce without meat, if canning spaghetti sauce with meat process 70 minutes for quart size.

Step 5: Allow to Cool: You should let your jars sit somewhere where they will not be disturbed or bumped for at least 24 hours to finish the sealing process.

Now that you know everything for how to can spaghetti sauce, you’re ready to start canning your own spaghetti sauce to enjoy for easy dinners anytime!