Canning tomatoes is an age-old tradition. It is a great way to preserve homegrown tomatoes. You can also preserve farmer’s market or store-bought tomatoes you got for a bargain before they go bad. Making tomato sauce or diced tomatoes at home lets you maintain an abundance and fill your pantry at a fraction of the regular price.
Whether you are making months’ worth of tomato sauce, whole tomatoes, or just dicing and canning a few extras from the store before they go bad, canning is an easy skill to learn that will last you a lifetime!
Why bother canning your own Tomatoes
Honestly? Control & money. lol. That’s putting it simply, but it’s the long and short of it. You get to control what tomatoes and other ingredients are being used. If you’re growing the tomatoes like me, you now know precisely what has been used in the making of the products from seed to jar.
Not to mention the money saved. A can of tomatoes, on average, costs you around $1.26 for a 15-oz can, where I’m at in SE Texas. It varies depending on name brand, store brand, or organic. If you’re making a small batch of, say, chili, you’ll probably need at least four cans of tomato sauce, which will cost roughly $5.04. Cheap, right? Absolutely. Cooking at home is always a cheaper option, and I encourage it!
But now try to think of this a bit differently. A pack of organic seeds costs around $2.99, depending on the source. Each pack has about 100 seeds or more. That’s $.03 per seed, so $.03 per plant that grows.
One tomato plant can produce, on average, 20 pounds of tomatoes a season. Each pound of tomatoes makes you 1 pint jar of tomato sauce or 16 oz. So one plant produces an average of 20 jars of tomato sauce a year. That’s 20 jars of sauce for well under a dollar, plus some TLC & potting soil.
Suddenly, that $1.26 a can is looking pretty steep!!
What you’ll need
- 3 or more pounds of tomatoes (to make the process worth it!)
- Lemon juice (citric acid)
- Canning jars. The pint jars are 16 oz, so they are closest to the common can sizes you are familiar with & fit in smaller/shorter pots.
- Canning starter kit. This will have the tongs, magnet, etc. that are really needed for efficient use. Here is an example of a set that doesn’t come with a pot, so it is a bit more cost-effective, but you can also find sets with a giant canning pot.
- Large pot. This will need to hold enough water to cover the jars you choose to use. I typically use a stew pot as it is perfect for pint jars. However, for something larger, like quart jars, you will need an actual canning pot for the tall sides.
The Process of Canning Tomatoes
- Sterilize Jars & lids
I do this in the large pot I plan to can in. It heats the water and keeps it ready to process jars, and keeps the kitchen just a bit less wrecked!
Lay the jars on their sides on top of the lids and stack if needed. You may have to do this in batches, depending on the quantities being canned.
Boil for roughly 10 minutes to sterilize everything, adding an extra minute for every 1,000 feet of elevation. If you have a sterilize setting on your dishwasher, this can work too! Just remember to hear water at the same time.
- Use warm tomatoes or sauce & warm jars
Wait until the last minute to remove and fill jars & use warm sauce, diced tomatoes, etc. You don’t want to put cool jars into boiling water when the pot bottom is very hot. Jars can and will break on you.
- Add lemon juice
If using pint jars, add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice; in a quart jar, add two teaspoons.
You can buy actual citric acid and keep it with your canning gear. If using this, it is 1/4 teaspoon for pint jars and 1/2 for quart.
- Fill jars
Carefully remove the jars from the water and place them on a towel. Leave the lids for now. Using the canning funnel, ladle or spoon the mixture into the jars, stopping at the jar thread or roughly 3/4 of an inch from the top.
Move these jars and on to the next! Fill everything up and see if you have a bit too much sauce or not quite enough to fill the last jar. If there is a small amount left, I distribute it between all jars. If it’s 1/2 can or so. I just set it aside and use it within a few days.
- Remove air and wipe lids
Use the air remover, which is the one that looks like stairs at the bottom, to get as many bubbles out as possible. You can also use a butter knife, just be careful. Hot jars seem to crack more easily. Plastic/rubber tools are better here.
Next, carefully wipe the tops of each jar to ensure they are clean and will seal properly.
- Put on lids
Now use the canning magnet to pull the sterile lids from the pot and set them onto the jars.
Add lid ring but don’t tighten. Put on just enough to hold the lid on during processing.
- Process
Using the canning tongs, carefully set the jars into your pot. Make sure the water goes over the jars by at least an inch. This is where the pot’s size matters.
Waiting for the water to simmer, then set a timer—30 minutes for pint and 45 for quart.
- Remove and cool
Lay out a kitchen towel and carefully remove the hot jars from the water bath. Most of the lids will still be popped up at this point, and that is completely fine. They will pop as they cool, usually within the first 10 minutes.
MAN. That pop is satisfying.
Let them sit until completely cooled, then check the tops. If not sealed, you can heat the tomatoes and try the process again, or pop them in the fridge and use them in the next few days. No big deal at all!
Recipes for Tomato Canning
This is my recipe for Simply Tomato Sauce.
Here is one for Easy Diced Tomatoes.
Until Next Time!
PJtxGirl
Did you enjoy this or find it helpful? Share with your friends!!
Frequently Asking Questions
Here are some of the common questions people have asked me when I’ve taught them to can or just had a little chat about it.
Is it safe to can tomatoes at home?
Absolutely! As long as you follow recommendations, mine or someone else who is experienced, and you work carefully, you and the end product will be safe.
However, be warned! Canning tomatoes is a gateway drug into preserving. Next comes pressure canning, followed by dehydrating. (Sigh) Your life may never be the same!
Why do you put lemon juice in tomatoes?
To raise the acidity. This is to prevent bacteria like botulism from making you or your family sick later. Tomatoes naturally have a bit of acid, but lemon juice lowers the pH, making them safe for canning and long-term storage.
Is it ok to can tomatoes without lemon juice?
The easy answer is yes. Sure, if you know you are making a small batch of, say, diced tomatoes to make them last longer and will be using and cooking them quickly, you could forgo this. BUT what if you don’t use them? Plans change, things happen. Will you remember later which ones have lemon juice and which don’t? How will you tell the difference?
It really is easier to make it a rule to add it, making your life a bit simpler in the pantry.
Can I use vinegar instead of lemon juice?
Yes, but while lemon juice doesn’t change the flavor of the tomatoes at all, vinegar can. I’ve never done this personally because I keep lemon and lime juice in the fridge pretty much all the time.
What other things can I use instead of lemon juice for canning tomatoes?
Lime juice, vinegar, white wine vinegar, zest from citrus fruits, and, of course, you can buy a small container of citric acid.
Citric acid can be found with the canning supplies at any store that carries them. This is an excellent option if you don’t keep lemons or lemon juice on hand regularly. It has a very long shelf life.
Do you need salt to can tomatoes?
Many people use it as a flavor enhancer, and it is definitely a common practice. However, we try not to salt everything and cut it where we can.
Not adding salt to tomatoes and other canned foods lets me salt the food as I cook… or not. If you’re keeping track of salt intake, this is an easy cut.
What happens if you don’t peel tomatoes for canning?
Answer? You will have tomato skins in whatever you use them in. Jokes aside, the skins can get pretty tough during the processing. They get stuck in people’s teeth or look a bit unappetizing in your food.
I’ve also read that the skin can harbor bacteria. While it seems the canning process would take care of this, I would rather not risk it.
Do you have to boil tomatoes before canning?
Nope. You technically do if you make a sauce, but for whole or diced tomatoes, I like to use the oven method to peel them because it helps warm them through a bit. You want to use a warm product in hot jars to prevent the jars from breaking in the pot of hot water due to temperature differences.
In fact, I don’t recommend boiling tomatoes before canning. Remember, they will be heated one way or another to peel the skins, and then cooked during processing. You don’t want them to cook into a chunky sauce.
Can you raw pack tomatoes for canning?
Absolutely. You may choose not to peel them, however, I recommend the boiling water process in my diced tomatoes article above. This way, they are pretty much raw, but you’re not dealing with peeling them later when you’re cooking.
Just peel (or not), leave them whole or cut in half, pack the jars, and cover the tomatoes with boiling water. Then follow the above instructions, starting with “Removing air & wiping lids”
Is it better to hot-pack or cold-pack tomatoes?
It’s a preference. However, cold packing can cause the tomatoes to leave space as they process. This means there will be less per jars. This is avoided if they are packed hot.
Leave a Reply