Canning homemade spaghetti sauce is a lot of work, but pays off when you want a quick easy dinner without preservatives.
Ingredients
- 30 lbs tomatoes
- 1 cup chopped onions, sauteed in 1/4 cup olive oil
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 lb fresh mushrooms, sliced
- 4 1/2 tsp salt
- Italian seasoning to taste
- Optional: 1 cup chopped green pepper or celery
- Tomato paste, to stir in after opening (not before canning)
Instructions
Canning homemade spaghetti sauce is a lot of work, but pays off when you want a quick easy dinner without preservatives. Spaghetti sauce is a low-acid food, so it MUST be processed in a pressure canner. It is not safe in a water bath canner, even with a USDA recipe.
Updated for safe canning: I now follow the tested USDA / National Center for Home Food Preservation proportions. The safety of the processing time depends on how much onion, mushroom and pepper is in the jar, so do not add more than the amounts listed, and do not add extra vegetables beyond these. Seasonings and herbs can be changed to taste.
Wash the tomatoes, dip them in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds, slip off the skins, core and quarter them. Boil them uncovered for 20 minutes, then put them through a food mill or sieve. Saute the onions, garlic, mushrooms (and pepper or celery, if using) in the olive oil until tender. Combine everything with the tomatoes, add the salt and seasoning, and bring to a boil. Simmer uncovered, stirring often so it doesn't burn, until it is thick enough to serve (it will cook down by nearly half).
Fill hot jars, leaving 1 inch of headspace, and process in a pressure canner: 20 minutes for pints, 25 minutes for quarts. Pressure for a dial gauge: 11 lbs at 0 to 2,000 ft, 12 lbs at 2,001 to 4,000 ft, 13 lbs at 4,001 to 6,000 ft (that's mine, since I'm above 5,000 feet), 14 lbs at 6,001 to 8,000 ft. For a weighted gauge: 10 lbs at 0 to 1,000 ft, 15 lbs above 1,000 ft. Makes about 9 pints.
Adding meat? Brown 2 1/2 lbs ground beef, sausage, venison or turkey (for the same 30 lbs of tomatoes) and add it before simmering. With meat the processing time is much longer: 60 minutes for pints and 70 minutes for quarts, at the same pressures.
Want it thicker? Stir in tomato paste when you open a jar to heat it up. Thickening before canning can keep the center of the jar from getting hot enough.
No lemon juice is needed in this one because it is pressure canned using the tested amounts. Source: National Center for Home Food Preservation, Spaghetti Sauce without Meat / with Meat.
