Easy Recipe for Canning Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

This homemade canned spaghetti sauce with fresh tomatoes is full of flavor and fresh ingredients that give any meal an uplifting tomato taste. It's an easy recipe to make for any home cook that involves boiling and canning the rich spaghetti sauce for long-lasting flavor.

Homemade Canned Spaghetti Sauce in 1 Quart Jars

Contents

• 🌟 Why does this canning recipe works
• 🍽 Key Ingredients
• 🔪 How to make
• 📖 Recipe Variations
• 🥗 What to serve with
• 🙋 Frequently asked questions
• 🧊 Storage
• 🍳 Related canning recipes
• 👪 Serving size
• Homemade Canned Spaghetti Sauce with fresh tomatoes
• 💬 Comments

🌟 Why does this canning recipe works

Canning spaghetti sauce is the best way to preserve the fresh tomatoes' vibrant red color and rich flavor. The sauce can be used all year round without losing its taste, perfect for home cooks who make lots of recipes with tomato-based sauces.

Canning food is cost-effective and can save you hours of your time buying the ingredients or the ready-made cans from the grocery store - as one batch of this homemade spaghetti sauce with fresh tomatoes will cost you less than $10 to make several jars.

You know, there is no store bought sauce that will even come close to the flavor of this homemade sauce. But to get that flavor, you must use tomatoes that you've grown yourself or purchased from a farmer's market or a pick your own field.

The rich spaghetti sauce is made by boiling the tomatoes with key ingredients like garlic, peppers, onions, and herbs for an aromatic tomato sauce. This will give your pasta recipes the perfect balance of tomato flavor, or use it to spread on a pizza base for the best pizza sauce.

Using fresh tomatoes makes a huge difference to the overall flavor of the sauce that becomes more authentic, and the tomato paste gives it a bright red color and an intense tomato taste.

🍽 Key Ingredients

This flavorful homemade spaghetti sauce tastes so good with fresh ingredients - and it's processed using a pressure canner.

Tomatoes - Use fresh tomatoes for a more authentic flavor and tomato paste to give the sauce richness and bright red color.

Our tomato plants have been especially productive for us this year with each bush giving us at least 20 or so tomatoes. The steady rain along with the dead fish and crushed eggshells that we added to each hole have certainly paid off in a bountiful crop. You can read more about that in the post called our tomato planting tips for our tomato growing wisdom and garden pictures.

Vegetables - You'll need lots of garlic, onion, and green pepper to counteract the bitterness of the stewed tomatoes.

Herbs - Use a combination of dried herbs like oregano, basil, rosemary, and thyme. Dried herbs hold their flavor better when boiling the fresh tomatoes spaghetti sauce.

Worcestershire sauce - The Worcestershire sauce is a key ingredient in this sauce and many other sauces because of its Unami flavor and ability to add extra depth.

Substitutions

Tomatoes

Although fresh tomatoes are advisable and definitely worth buying, you can substitute them for canned tomatoes.

Herbs

You can use fresh herbs instead of dried to intensify the flavor, but only add them at the end and use half the quantity when substituting the dried herbs for fresh basil, thyme, oregano, and rosemary.

If you have a lot of tomatoes, you have to try this bruschetta recipe with mozzarella. It is so fresh, absolutely delicious and pairs perfectly  with pasta recipes.

🔪 How to make

Homemade spaghetti sauce with fresh tomatoes is an amazing recipe that will last up to one year using the pressure canner process, but like all good things, the sauce requires patience and time to infuse the ingredients for the best flavor.

Preparations

Step 1
Wash the tomatoes

Step 2
Blanch them in boiling water for 60 seconds.

Step 3
Plunge into ice-cold water. You can see that the skin will slip off easily.

Step 4
Core the tomatoes and cut them in halves or quarters. Place all of your cut tomatoes into a large pot. By the way, the yellow tomatoes are called Lemon Boys. Although they look like lemons, they are really sweet tasting tomatoes!

Step 5
Before you know it, you will have a sink full of split-skinned tomatoes! Bring the tomatoes to boil over medium high heat. Be sure to keep stirring the tomatoes because you do not want them to burn on the bottom!

Cooking instructions

Step 1
To quickly break down the tomatoes, I use a flat metal spatula to chop them as they are cooking. Turn down the heat and allow the tomatoes to cook for 20 minutes or so but remember to keep stirring!

Step 2
Meanwhile, peel and cut 4 onions into quarters. I put mine in the food processor, but if you don't have one, finely chop them.

Step 3
Add the chopped onions to the sauce and stir. I've found that a long-handled wooden spoon is very useful for all this stirring!

Step 4
Wash four green peppers. Here you see 5, but mine came out of the garden and they were on the small side. I cut my peppers into chunks and then threw them in the food processor.

Step 5
Add the chopped peppers to the sauce and stir some more!

Step 6
Now we like our spaghetti sauce nice and garlicky, so I use a whole head of garlic. But you may want to adjust the amount of garlic to your taste.

Finely mince the garlic and add it to the sauce. Don't forget to stir!

Step 7
Let the sauce simmer for about 30 minutes while stirring constantly. Then add your spices. I use 2 tablespoons dried oregano, 1 tablespoon dried thyme, 1 tablespoon dried rosemary,  and 2 tablespoons dried basil.

Now this is a real secret ingredient: 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce! Gives it a real depth of flavor! Simmer the sauce for an additional 10 minutes while you get out all of your canning gear.

Canning Process

21 quart canner with jar rack and 1 quart mason jars

1. Prep your canning equipment by washing your jars, lids, and screw bands.
2. Sterilize the jars by submerging them in hot water.
3. Add the lids to a separate pot of warm water and keep them warm.
4. Fill your water-bath canner half full of water and heat it to simmer. Screw bands do not need to be kept warm.
5. Add 2 tablespoons of bottled lemon juice to each jar. Do not use fresh lemon juice.
6. Using a funnel, transfer the spaghetti sauce into the jars. Leave ½ inch headspace at the top. Release any air bubble with a spatula.
7. Place a lid on each jar and hand tighten a screw band on. Do not over-tighten. Repeat until you've canned all of your tomato sauce.
8. Place your jar rack in the water bath canner, suspending it with the handles on the edge. Then put your jars in the rack.
9. Meanwhile, fill a water bath canner half full of water. Lower the jars into the canner and bring the water to a boil. Process the jars for 40 minutes, beginning the timing when the water starts to boil.
10. At the end of the 40 minutes, remove the jars from the canner using a jar lifter and place them on a clean, kitchen towel on the counter. Allow them to cool for 12-24 hour. Check to make sure each jar has sealed properly.

If you're like me, you'll definitely want to make a nice Italian dish for dinner. Try this Tonnarelli pasta recipe paired with this fresh homemade pasta sauce.

💭 Expert tips

Flavor

The longer you leave the sauce to simmer with the tomatoes, the more intense the flavor becomes.

Add lemon juice

To ensure the acidity in the tomato sauce and longer shelf life, add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice to it per quart of tomatoes.

Boiling tomatoes

Don't leave them in any longer because you don't want to cook your tomatoes, you just want their skins to split.

Thicken the Sauce

To thicken the sauce, I add 2 cans ( 12 ounce size) of tomato paste. You could omit this step, but you'd have to let your sauce cook for a few hours to reduce the amount of water in the tomatoes. Besides, I think the paste gives the sauce a richer taste.

📖 Recipe Variations

Three delicious canned spaghetti sauce variations using the same recipe.

Spaghetti sauce with meat

Add some meat to your spaghetti sauce with a pound of Italian sausage or ground beef. Brown it off in a hot skillet first and then add to the pot to simmer for a meaty Bolognese sauce.

Homemade spaghetti sauce with jalapeno

If you like spicy sauces, chop up 4 or 5 jalapenos and add them to the blender with the onions and green peppers before simmering the fresh tomatoes.

Homemade spaghetti sauce with red wine

The traditional Italian way of making a rich homemade fresh tomato sauce is by adding 1 cup of wine for every liter of sauce and simmering it to cook the alcohol, leaving you with a seriously rich sauce with a bright red color.

🥗 What to serve with

The options are endless with what you can serve with canned spaghetti sauce, from using it as a pasta sauce, pizza base sauce, for enchiladas, chili con carne, etc.

Spaghetti Bolognese

One of my favorite uses for this delicious spaghetti sauce is using it as the base for spaghetti Bolognese. Just add meat to the sauce and boil some spaghetti, top with parmesan cheese, and voilà - you have an authentic spaghetti Bolognese dinner the whole family can enjoy.

Pizza

This homemade spaghetti sauce makes the best pizza base sauce.

Macaroni and sausage

Make a simple pasta dish with macaroni and smoked sausage. It's as easy as sautéing the sausage in some olive oil with an onion and bell pepper and tossing it with the spaghetti sauce and cooked macaroni.

🙋 Frequently asked questions

Does tomato sauce need to be pressure canned?

No, it does not! You can safely can high-acidic foods like tomatoes with a water bath canner. To ensure safe acidity in tomato sauce with ingredients like garlic, onion, and green pepper, add 2 tablespoons of bottled lemon juice or ½ teaspoon of citric acid per quart of tomatoes. If you do not add citric acid, it is necessary to use a pressure canner, which is the same for all non-acidic vegetables, meat, and soup stocks. Did you know you can also use an Instant pot for sterilizing and canning high acidic foods? Read Instant Pot canning basics for in-depth guide.

Can I use freezer bags instead of canning?

Yes, this homemade spaghetti sauce freezes perfectly. Once your sauce has cooled, go ahead and fill large freezer bags with sauce. Lay each bag flat on a baking sheet until completely frozen, and stack neatly.

Why is my tomato sauce so acidic?

Tomato pH ranges from 4.3 to 4.9, while canned tomatoes have a pH of 3.5 or less. If your sauce is too acidic, heat your sauce and add a ¼ teaspoon of baking soda to a quart of sauce. It will foam up a little but not change the taste, but it will cut the acidity. If there is still a touch of acidity, add a teaspoon of unsalted butter to help tie everything together.

🧊 Storage

Canned spaghetti sauce is a great way to preserve the flavors of fresh tomatoes for longer and will last over a year unopened.

Unopened - you can store unopened spaghetti sauce in a cupboard for around 12 to 18 months.

Opened - Once opened, the sauce will generally stay fresh for a week before the air starts to create a mold on top.

If you like my canned homemade spaghetti sauce recipe. Try one of my fantastic canning recipes for your next meal.

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👪 Serving size

This canned homemade spaghetti sauce recipe with fresh tomatoes will give you approximately 8 quart-sized jars, enough sauce to easily last a family of four up to 6 months. You can use it to make creamy cajun sausage pasta recipe.

I use this canned spaghetti sauce with fresh tomatoes at least once a week on pizza, stirred into pasta recipes, or spaghetti Bolognese - and I only use half a jar. So this recipe is perfect for any family wanting to save themselves money and time on the canned variety for a good year!.

Looking for more canning recipes? Check my best mason jars recipes and tomato canning recipes collection with delicious recipes that you can make at home.

Homemade Canned Spaghetti Sauce with fresh tomatoes

Enjoy my homemade spaghetti sauce recipe that I have canned this week, and it is so GOOD! You know, there is no store bought sauce that will even come close to the flavor of this homemade sauce. But to get that flavor, you must use tomatoes that you've grown yourself or purchased from a farmer's market or a pick your own field.

• 21 quart water bath canner
• 1 quart canning jars
• canning jar lifter
• long wooden spoon
• large stock pot

• 25 pounds tomatoes (60-65 tomatoes)
• 4 onions (finely chopped)
• 4 green peppers (finely chopped)
• 8 cloves garlic (minced)
• 2 cans tomato paste (12 ounce cans)
• 2 tablespoons oregano (dried)
• 2 tablespoons basil (dried)
• 1 tablespoon rosemary (dried)
• 2 tablespoons thyme (dried)
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• lemon juice (see note)

Prepping Garden Tomatoes

1. Wash the tomatoes

2. Blanch them in boiling water for 60 seconds.

3. Plunge into ice-cold water.

4. Core the tomatoes and cute them in halves or quarters.

5. Place all of your cut tomatoes into large pot.

Homemade Canned Spaghetti Sauce

1. Bring tomatoes to a boil over medium high heat (stirring constantly to avoid burning and help break the tomatoes down).

2. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until tomatoes start breaking down into small pieces.

3. Add the tomato paste to the tomatoes and mix thoroughly.

4. Cut onions and green peppers into chunks and process in a food processor until finely chopped. Add to the simmering tomatoes and stir.

5. Mine the garlic cloves and add to the pot and stir.

6. Simmer for 30 minutes and stir the sauce constantly.

7. Add the oregano, rosemary, basil, thyme, and Worcestershire sauce. Stir to mix thoroughly and simmer for an additional 10 minutes.

Canning Process

1. Prep your canning equipment by washing your jars, lids, and screw bands.

2. Sterilize the jars by submerging them in hot water.

3. Add the lids to a separate pot of warm water and keep them warm.

4. Fill your water-bath canner half full of water and heat it to simmering. Screw bands do not need to be kept warm.

5. Add 2 tablespoons of bottled lemon juice to each jar. Do not use fresh lemon juice.

6. Using a funnel, transfer the spaghetti sauce into the jars. Leave ½ inch headspace at the top. Release any air bubble with a spatula.

7. Place a lid on each jar and hand tighten a screw band on. Do not over-tighten. Repeat until you've canned all of your tomato sauce.

8. Place your jar rack in the water bath canner, suspending it with the handles on the edge. Then put your jars in the rack.

9. Unhook the jar rack and carefully lower it into the hot water. Add more water if necessary to cover the jars with at least 1 inch of hot water. Heat the water to a full rolling boil for 40 minutes.

10. Remove your jars with a jar lifter and place them on a clean, dry kitchen towel away from drafts and allow them to cool completely for 12-24 hours. Test to make sure each jar has sealed and store in a cool, dark place.

Flavor

The longer you leave the sauce to simmer with the tomatoes, the more intense the flavor becomes.

Add lemon juice

To ensure the acidity in the tomato sauce and longer shelf life, add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice to it per quart of tomatoes.

Boiling tomatoes

Don't leave them in any longer because you don't want to cook your tomatoes, you just want their skins to split.

Thicken the Sauce

To thicken the sauce, I add 2 cans ( 12 ounce size) of tomato paste. You could omit this step, but you'd have to let your sauce cook for a few hours to reduce the amount of water in the tomatoes. Besides, I think the paste gives the sauce a richer taste.

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Source: https://cottageatthecrossroads.com/homemade-canned-spaghetti-sauce/

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