How to Make and Can Tomato Sauce From Fresh Tomatoes

Republishing this Tomato Sauce Recipe:  This recipe was originally published in Sept of 2019.  I am republishing it with Farmer Fred demonstrating his invention using a variable speed drill to speed up the extraction process for making the sauce.  Watch the video to see Farmer Fred and his amazing use of a power drill to make tomato sauce.

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Tomato sauce: I’m dreaming of a red winter. WHAT a red winter! But winter is white not red. Yup a red winter. Guess I have some explaining to do.  Yes, the official color of winter is white. White snow, white frost, white ground, white trees… But, in my kitchen it is red. I have red tomato sauce for my Classic Marinara, red pizza sauce, red tomato soup, and red Bloody Mary’s. Yup, it will be a red winter with the 25 quarts of tomato sauce I just finished canning from the tomatoes in my garden. Farmer Fred just kept bringing them in from the tomato patch, and before I knew it, we had canned 25-quart jars of tomato sauce. YUM!!!

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cut up tomatoes

SIS - Simple is Smart Tip

You will cook your tomato sauce to concentrate it before putting it in the jars.  Put the sauce in a large shallow saucepan with a large surface area, and it will cook down much quicker, saving you time and conserving energy use. However, if you are making a large amount of sauce, you will need a large 20-quart kettle to boil down the sauce. 

Squeezo Strainer
Squeezo Strain Set Up for extracting the pulp and juice from the tomatoes. The drill is attached where you see the hand crank and wing nut. there is a 3/8 inch shaft that the drill attaches to and turns the auger.

What do I Need to Make Homemade Tomato Sauce?

Supplies

  1. Squeezo Strainer
  2. Variable Speed Drill (optional) and someone like Farmer Fred who knows how to use it.
  3. A large kettle to boil the sauce down in.
  4. canning kit
  5. water bath canner
  6. canning jars with rings and lids

 

fresh tomatoes cut up
Fresh tomatoes ready to sauce
aking tomato sauce
Setup for making the sauce
Tomato sauce
Boiling down the sauce
tomato sauce in jars
Filling the canning jars with sauce.
Water bath sealing the jars.

Step by Step Instructions for Making and Canning Homemade Tomato Sauce.

  1. Wash and cut the tomatoes up.  
  2. Wash the canning jars that you are going to use to can the sauce. You can freeze or use the sauce in a recipe if you don’t can the sauce.   The sauce will last about 3 days in the refrigerator.
  3. Run the cut up raw, unpeeled tomatoes through the squeezo to extract the juice and pulp from the seeds and skin. Fred attached a drill to the squeezo to turn the auger instead of a hand crank.
  4. Boil the juice and pulp down until it is the consistency of spaghetti sauce. One quart of juice with the pulp will yield about one and a half cups of sauce.  This may vary with the variety of tomatoes you grow.  Roma tomatoes yield about 2 cups/ quart and slicing tomatoes yeild about one and a quarter cups of sauce/quart of what you get out of the squeezo strainer.
  5. Put the tomato sauce in quart jars and add a teaspoon of salt to each jar.
  6. Put a lid and a ring on each jar and hand tighten. 
  7. Process in a water bath canner for 20 minutes. (no pressure cooker required) tomatoes are a high acid food and safe seal using a to water bath process.

How many tomatoes do I need to make a quart of canned tomatoes?

You will need about 3 pounds of tomatoes.  If you want to fill a canner that holds seven quart jars you will need 21 pounds of whole fresh ripe tomatoes. 

What is the easiest way to can tomatoes?

The easiest way to can tomatoes is the method described here. 

  1. Blanch and peel the tomatoes.
  2. Put the peeled tomatoes in a quart canning jar and add a lid to the jar.
  3. Seal the jar by water bathing the jar.

Do I need to cook the tomatoes before I can them?

No it isn’t necessary to cook the tomatoes.

What is the best way to can whole tomatoes?

Peel them,  add them to a quart canning jar, and waterbath the jars to seal them.

How long do I need to boil the tomatoes to can them?

Twenty minutes in the canning jars.  Make sure the jars are completely submerged in the water.

Do you need to peel tomatoes for making sauce?

No you don’t need to peel the tomatoes.

Join the Conversation

  1. You’re amazing. Looks fabulous. Dr Jo
    Kathy

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