Spaghetti Sauce for Canning (Use Fresh or Frozen Tomatoes)
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My husband came in from outside the first time I was canning spaghetti sauce, smiled and said the house smelled like an Italian restaurant – a good Italian restaurant. I had to agree.
This sauce takes a while to cook, but the end result is delicious! It’s great for pasta sauce, pizza or topping spaghetti squash. Gluten free and meatless (you can add meat just before serving if you like).
We take you through the recipe step by step with photos, plus share tips for working with frozen tomatoes. A good homemade spaghetti sauce recipe for canning is a must in our house, because many store bought spaghetti sauces use ingredients like genetically modified high fructose corn syrup and soybean oil – not things we normally eat.
I start a batch in the morning, and slow cook it while I’m working on other things in the kitchen, like prepping the rest of the ingredients and canning equipment. Paste tomatoes yield a thicker sauce with less cooking, but you can use any tomatoes that you have available.
Spaghetti Sauce Recipe for Canning with Fresh Tomatoes – Step By Step Instructions
(Scroll down to bottom of post for print friendly version of recipe.)
My favorite canning spaghetti sauce recipe is adapted from The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery. This recipe is very close to the “Spaghetti sauce without Meat” recipe listed on the National Center for Home Food Preservation website, so you know it’s a safe canning recipe.
Salt and pepper can be adjusted to taste, or substitute Italian seasoning for the oregano. It’s okay to substitute an equal amount of fresh basil for some of the celery, green peppers or mushrooms.
You can also cut this spaghetti sauce recipe in half or to a fourth. Just keep the processing time the same, or freeze the marinara sauce in freezer bags or freezer safe containers instead of canning.
When we’re ready to serve the spaghetti sauce, we open a jar and heat it up, or brown some ground beef or Italian sausage and add the sauce to the skillet.
Ingredients
- 30 pounds tomatoes
- 1/4 cup butter or olive oil
- 1 cup chopped onions
- 5 minced garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 1 cup chopped celery or green pepper
- 1 pound sliced mushrooms (optional)
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- 2 tablespoons oregano flakes
- 1/4 cup minced parsley
- 1/4 cup brown sugar or unrefined cane sugar
Directions
Wash 30 pounds of tomatoes. Remove cores and quarter tomatoes.
Cook 20 minutes, uncovered, in large pan or pans to soften tomatoes. I cook mine at medium high heat in an assortment of heavy bottom stainless steel pots. I have also used a Nesco roaster and a slow cooker.
Thick bottom pans prevent accidental scorching, frequent stirring is recommended. Don’t use aluminum – it will react with the acid in the tomatoes. When I cook on the stove top, I start with four pans and cook the sauce down to one 8 quart stockpot.
Put tomatoes through a food strainer or food mill. I have a Back to Basics food strainer that works beautifully. (The Back to Basics strainer isn’t available anymore, but this Norpro strainer is similar.) We feed the seeds and skins to the chickens, or you can put them in the compost.
Years ago I used a chinois strainer. I still use it for small batches, but for large batches the food strainer can’t be beat. It’s so much faster! KitchenAid also makes a strainer attachment for their mixers.
Cook down the strained tomatoes to reduce volume and make a thicker sauce. We start with four pots and end up with one. This is the base of your spaghetti sauce.
While the tomato sauce is cooking, you can do the rest of the prep work, like chopping the rest of your veggies, filling the canner, and getting the lids and jars ready.
My pressure canner uses three quarts of water, to which I add one tablespoon of white vinegar to reduce hard water build up on the jars. I wash my jars in the dishwasher and keep them hot until I’m ready to fill.
I keep my lids in hot water in a one quart saucepan (do not boil lids), and use kitchen tongs for lifting them out of the water. The latest generation of canning lids from Ball do not require preheating, but I have a stock of lids that I am still working through.
To Finish the Sauce
Sauté in 1/4 cup butter or olive oil until tender: onions, garlic, celery or green pepper, and mushrooms. Combine sautéed vegetables and strained tomatoes. Add salt, black pepper, oregano, parsley and sugar.
Bring to a boil. Stir frequently to avoid burning. Reduce heat to simmer, keep hot while waiting to process.
Canning the Spaghetti Sauce
Fill jars, leaving 1 inch headspace. Adjust lids. Process in a pressure canner 20 minutes for pints, 25 minutes for quarts.
If using a weighted-gauge canner, set at 10 pounds pressure at 0-1,000 feet above sea level; set at 15 pounds pressure at higher altitudes.
If using a dial-gauge canner; set at:
- 11 pounds pressure at 0-2000 feet above sea level
- 12 pounds at 2,001-4,000 feet
- 13 pounds at 4,001-6,000 feet
- 14 pounds at 6.001-8,000 feet
- 15 pounds above 8,000 feet
Allow canner to cool and release pressure. Remove jars and set on towel on counter. Let rest until cool, or overnight.
Remove rings, wipe any spills. Date and label and store in a cool, dry location, out of direct sunlight. Best used within 1-2 years.
Yields around eight pints of home canned spaghetti sauce.
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What About Canning Spaghetti Sauce Without a Pressure Canner?
You need to use a pressure canner for canning this spaghetti sauce recipe, since it contains low acid ingredients like oil and onions. Freezing spaghetti sauce is a good option if you don’t have a pressure canner.
To use a water bath canner, the food you’re canning must have a pH of 4.6 or lower.
The homemade spaghetti sauce recipes with lemon juice added to make them safe for water bath canning taste like lemons to me, not tomatoes. I’ve tried them, but I can’t recommend them.
Citric acid lowers acidity without changing the flavor of the sauce, but there’s still the issue of the oil. Use the freezer instead.
See “How to Can Food at Home” for a review of safety basics.
How long does home canned spaghetti sauce last?
The flavor and nutrient levels in your home canned spaghetti sauce are best when used within one to two years. If you store the sauce in the freezer, try to use it within six months.
We’ve used a few home canned items at five years of age, but the flavor is not as good.
Never use a canned product with a broken seal, bulging lid or other obvious signs of damage or spoilage.
How do you thicken homemade spaghetti sauce for canning?
Low, slow cooking is my default option to thicken the sauce and concentrate the flavor of the tomatoes.
Other options include:
- Weigh and freeze the tomatoes, and then allow them to thaw in a colander to remove excess liquid before proceeding with the recipe.
- Can the sauce when it is somewhat thin, and then add tomato powder or dehydrated tomato puree to thicken when you heat the sauce for serving. I use this option when I make sauce out of cherry tomatoes or other very juicy tomatoes instead of paste tomatoes.
Some people grind up the skins and seeds to thicken the sauce. For our tastes, this made the sauce so bitter that we couldn’t eat it. Also, the skin and seeds of the tomatoes are where most of the lectins are.
Why Remove the Seeds and Skin?
Lectins are a type of protein that can bind to carbohydrates, and act as part of the plant’s self defense mechanism. They are difficult to digest, and may contribute to leaky gut syndrome. They may also have a negative effect on the immune system in sensitive individuals.
By removing the skin and seeds, we remove the majority of the lectins, making the tomato sauce easier to digest.
If You Don’t Have Enough Ripe Tomatoes from One Picking
If you don’t have enough ripe tomatoes at one time for canning spaghetti sauce, you can store tomatoes that are very ripe or damaged into the freezer, until you have enough for the recipe.
Our ripe, undamaged tomatoes will easily keep for a week or more at room temperature. Cracked or otherwise damaged tomatoes will only last a day or two before spoiling and/or attracting fruit flies. They should be processed in some manner within 24 hours, if possible.
I usually core the tomatoes and half or quarter them (depending on the size) before freezing. Then, when I am planning on canning spaghetti sauce the next day, I place them in the sink overnight to thaw. In the morning, you can pour off some of the clear juice if you like so that the cook down quicker. Weigh them out, dump them into your stockpot, and start cooking.
If you have fruit that’s refusing to ripen, check out “4 Reasons your Tomatoes Aren’t Ripening – And What You can Do About it“.
If you have tomato blossoms, but no fruit, we have help for that, too.
PrintCanned Spaghetti Sauce Recipe – Fresh or Frozen Tomatoes
Never buy spaghetti sauce from the store again.This homemade canning spaghetti sauce recipe is slow cooked and loaded with flavor. May also be used fresh or frozen if you don’t have a pressure canner.
- Prep Time: 5 hours
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 5 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: 8 pints 1x
- Category: Sauce
- Method: Canning
- Cuisine: American-Italian
Ingredients
- 30 pounds tomatoes
- 1/4 cup butter or olive oil
- 1 cup chopped onions
- 5 minced garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 1 cup chopped celery or green pepper
- 1 pound sliced mushrooms (optional)
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- 2 tablespoons dried oregano flakes
- 1/4 cup minced parsley
- 1/4 cup brown sugar or unrefined cane sugar
Instructions
- Wash 30 pounds of tomatoes. Remove cores and quarter tomatoes. Boil 20 minutes, uncovered, in large pan (or pans).
- Put through food strainer or food mill. Cook down tomatoes to reduce volume and make a thicker sauce. Reduce volume by 1/2 to 2/3rds.
- While the sauce is cooking, finish the remaining prep work, like chopping your veggies and getting the lids and jars ready. Prepare pressure canner according to manufacturer’s instructions.
To Finish the Sauce
- Saute in 1/4 cup butter or olive oil until tender: onions, garlic, celery or green pepper, and mushrooms.
- Combine sauteed vegetables and tomatoes.
- Add salt, black pepper, oregano, parsley and sugar.
- Bring to a boil. Stir frequently to avoid burning. Reduce heat to simmer, keep hot while waiting to process.
- Fill jars, leaving 1 inch headspace. Adjust lids.
- Process in a pressure canner 20 minutes for pints, 25 minutes for quarts. If using a weighted-gauge canner, set at 10 pounds pressure at 0-1,000 feet above sea level; set at 15 pounds pressure at higher altitudes. If using a dial-gauge canner; set at 11 pounds pressure at 0-2000 feet above sea level; 12 pounds at 2,001-4,000 feet; 13 pounds at 4,001-6,000 feet; 14 pounds at 6.001-8,000 feet; or 15 pounds above 8,000 feet.
- Allow canner to cool and release pressure. Remove jars and set on towel on counter. Let rest until cool, or overnight. Remove rings, wipe any spills. Date and label and store in a cool, dry location, out of direct sunlight. Best used within 1-2 years.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
You may also enjoy:
- Home Canned Salsa Recipe – Plus 10 Tips for Canning Salsa Safely
- 2 Homemade Ketchup Recipes
- Home Canned Tomato Soup
- How to Can Tomatoes
- Pickled Cherry Tomatoes for Canning, Plus More Cherry Tomato Ideas
This article is written by Laurie Neverman. Laurie grew up in the kitchen, learning baking and home cooking from her momma. At age 15, she and her mom and two sisters created Irene’s Custom Cakes & Catering. This was her summer job through most of high school and college.
Originally published in 2009, last updated in 2024.
Can you cook this in a crock pot?
Yes, if you have multiple crock pots, or divide the recipe to make a smaller batch. I sometimes use our Nesco roaster to cook down tomatoes for sauce or soup.
Very good. It is unique and a change from the absolute norm. Thank you.
Ms Neverman.. you have to have descended directly from Job..from the bible..I know of no other who could or would answer the very same question…over and over and over again. God Bless you…and thank you for teaching me something today. I was gonna do my first canning of marinara sauce for the winter. I too, was gonna water can it with lemon juice..I don’t have a pressure cooker..and not a bunch of freezer room…THANK YOU FOR THE HEADS UP…instead.. I am just gonna can the tomatoes and make the sauce after I open the can of tomatoes. Did I read it correctly…that you can water can the tomatoes safety add the one tablespoon of lemon juice and then process for 40 mins quarts 35 pints? Do you taste the lemon in just the tomatoes..or upon completing the sauce you can add enough ingredients to cover up the lemon taste.? Thank you so much for your time..and your patience. Lord knows I don’t have any! Maybe you got my portion also?? Lol.. Blessings
Hi Scott.
Thanks for your patience. I was working in the garden earlier today and had to run to town this afternoon to get critter food, so am just now catching up online.
For full tomato canning instructions, see “How to Can Tomatoes in a Canner or Large Pot“. I do taste the lemon juice, some people don’t.
If you want to keep the flavor more neutral, you can get non-GMO citric acid online (or regular citric acid if you don’t mind GMOs).
Use 1/2 teaspoon citric acid powder per quart, 1/4 teaspoon per pint.
Can the onions, green bell peppers and spices be left out?
Yes, it won’t have much flavor, but it will be safe to can.
Ok so if I leave bell peppers and mushrooms out can I replace with an extra cup of onion and a bit more garlic?!
Yes, it’s okay to substitute. Garlic will loose some “oomph” during canning, so you may still want to add a little fresh if you have time when you’re ready to serve the sauce if you want a lot more garlic kick.
Laurie, Thanks so much for your safe canning recipes and advice. I never want to take any chances when I don’t have to. I’ve cored, quartered, and frozen lots of tomatoes this season as they got ripe. Now that I’ve taken them out of the freezer I weighed them. Since I didn’t weigh them before I cored them, is it still about 30 pounds that I would use for your recipe?
Hi Beverly.
Not weighing before coring is not an issue, because you’ll end up with a bit more tomato. Adding extra ingredients with low pH (like tomato or vinegar) still keeps the recipe safe. Extra non-acidic ingredients are risky.
I know that canning beef/chicken has been done safely for decades. My question is can I add ground beef and or sausage and still safely pressure can it?
Yes. Use 2 and half pounds of ground beef or sausage and add with the vegetables.
Processing times increase significantly.
From the National Center for Home Food Preservation Spaghetti Sauce with Meat recipe:
Dial gauge canner – process pints 60 minutes and quarts 70 minutes at 11 pounds pressure
Weighted-gauge canner – process pints 60 minutes and quarts 70 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure
(They have altitude adjustments on the site for higher elevations.)
Can I use less meat IE only one pound of sausage? I don’t want a thick meat sauce.
Yes that’s fine, but stick with the longer processing time, since I don’t have a way to test the recipe with less meat.
Can leave the celrey/bell peppers out?
Yes, it’s okay to leave out the celery/bell peppers.
Hi, are you able to use this recipe with a hot water bath canning?? Thank you
No, this is not safe for water bath canning because of the low acid ingredients. It is safe to freeze if you don’t have a pressure canner.
I’ve made, and canned, a version of this recipe for many many years. If you try to water bath anything that has garlic or onions in it you are setting yourself up to get really sick. Used a pressure canner, it is not rocket science
Thank you, Pinky.
Way too complicated and no you don’t need to pressure can this.
Use lemon juice and no it doesn’t change the flavour of the sauce.
Jay – you’re not the one who could be held liable if someone ended up sick or dead from questionable canning practices. Millions of people visit this site for SAFE canning advice every year. I take that responsibility very seriously. I’ll stick with tested recipes. I spent a months growing beautiful tomatoes. A few more minutes in the kitchen for another year of SAFE food in my pantry is worth it to me.
Yes, some of us can taste the lemon juice, to the point where it ruins the sauce. Not everyone tastes it. Some people grind up the skins and seeds too, and keep them in the sauce. I tried that once, and had to toss the sauce out in the compost because it tasted vile. People have different perceptions of taste. It’s not a “one size fits all” sort of thing.
Jay, you are sadly mistaken
When canning sauce can Parmesan cheese be added?
Home canning of dairy products is not recommended. If you would like to add cheese to the recipe, freeze or freeze dry for long term storage.
I don’t have enough paste tomatoes this year for the recipe. Any suggestions on where I can purchase them or good substitutes?
You can use any tomatoes you have available. Paste tomatoes just require less cook time to make a thicker sauce.
Are their any farmers markets or local vegetable growers of any sort in your area? Around here, there are some who will take bulk orders for produce, especially if you are willing to take fruit with small cosmetic imperfections that don’t sell well at market, but work just fine in sauce.
If there are no local fresh tomatoes to be found, you can used gallon cans of whole tomatoes. Just check the weight on the can and plan accordingly.
can you water bath spagettie sauce
Water bath canning of this recipe is not recommended because of the low acid ingredients, but it can be frozen.
Do I need to add all the oil and sugar? Doing WW and don’t really need the extra points in my sauce. Also, can I add more spices or is that a no-no.
Dry spices are okay in small amounts. Skipping the oil is okay. The sugar does help to act as a preservative and balances the flavors, but it should be okay without it.
I don’t want to use all that sugar. Do I have to to properly can the sauce?
The sugar helps balance the flavor and it’s only 1/4 cup for 30 pounds of tomatoes, but if it is problematic, you don’t have to use it.
My tomato sauces are alw as ys so watery or thin. Is there anything I can do? What could I be doing wrong? How long do you cook your tomatoes?
For a thicker sauce, it really helps to start with very meaty paste tomatoes. Without paste tomatoes, I end up cooking it down for most of the day.
Another “cheat” you can use to thicken your sauce is adding tomato paste or tomato powder, but I normally add that after canning, when I go to use the sauce, if needed. (Sometimes I end up making sauce with whatever tomatoes are left in the garden, or using up cherry tomatoes so they don’t go to waste.)
I like Frontier organic tomato powder, but there are other options available. Sometimes I make tomato puree and dehydrate it, and then add chunks of the dehydrated puree to thicken my sauce when getting ready to serve it.
Oh – dried, very finely shredded zucchini can also be used to thicken the sauce and sneak in more veggies (when you’re getting ready to serve, not before canning), but of course it doesn’t add more tomato flavor.
How long do you cook the tomato sauce down for?
As long as it takes to get the sauce to your desired thickness. This will vary depending on the moisture content of your tomatoes, your stove, your cooking pots and how frequently you stir. As I mentioned in the post, I start out cooking multiple pots, but when the spaghetti sauce is ready to process, it all fits in an eight quart stock pot.
Does the size of the chopped mushrooms or celery or onion make a difference? Could they be pulverized with an immersion blender to “hide” them from my kids but still have the taste?
It’s no problem at all for the veggies to be well blended. If anything, it’ll improve heat transfer within the jars.
That’s a good idea!!
Hi could I cut everything in half to make a smaller batch? Thank you can’t wait to try!
Sure, that’s fine.
Hi there.
So I’m interested in trying your recipe but I would love to add olives without decreasing the other vegetables. I understand that this would offset the approved acidic level that you have. What would I need to do to bring it back into balance? More tomatoes? Longer processing time? And thoughts or suggestions?
Thank you.
Add them when you heat the sauce for serving? That would be the simplest. With pressure canning, there is some wiggle room in the pH (because it’s used with low acid foods), but I’m hesitant to make specific recommendations because your sauce might be thicker or thinner, or… You can probably add a cup or so, but I sure as heck don’t want to be responsible for someone mixing up something that get’s them sick.
The big thing to watch for is that you don’t get whatever your canning so thick that it can’t move freely in the jar. (Pumpkin butter, for instance, is not recommended for canning, but pumpkin chunks in water are fine because the water can circulate the heat.)
My sauce is extremely runny despite cooking it down forever. Is it safe to add cornstarch to thicken prior to canning? I might add that some of my tomatoes were previously frozen and some were fresh. It measured about 30+ pounds. And if I omit the mushrooms do I have to add another cup of peppers, celery, or onions?
You don’t need to add addition peppers, celery or onions.
If all you have available for thickening is corn starch, it’s better to wait to thicken until after canning. Corn starch may clump during canning. A better alternative is UltraGel or ClearGel, which is specifically made not to clump during canning.
Thank you for the quick response!
You’re welcome. We need to tackle garden chores and cleaning this afternoon (our open house is coming up soon), but I know others are working on weekend projects, too.
Another option for thickening is plain tomato powder, which you can buy in bulk. I usually order Frontier organic tomato powder (amazon link). Sometimes I add very finely shredded dehydrated zucchini, too. It crumbles up and dissolves right into the sauce. More on that here – https://commonsensehome.com/extra-zucchini/
If I use all paste tomatoes, the sauce turns out thicker. With a mix of tomato types, or if the weather has been rainy, it’s tough to get it as thick as we prefer with just cooking it down.