We may earn a commission when you click on the affiliate links in this post.
This homemade canned spaghetti sauce is FAR better than anything you can find in a store. You’ll love the rich, savory flavor. The best way to use fresh garden tomatoes! Canning spaghetti sauce is easy and rewarding and makes for the best pasta sauce ever!
Table of Contents
- Ingredients in Canned Spaghetti Sauce
- Why Can Spaghetti Sauce?
- Tomatoes: A Family Tradition
- Family Tested, Dad Approved
- How Can I Use Canned Spaghetti Sauce?
- Water Bath Canning Spaghetti Sauce
- How to Use a Pressure Canner
- Where to Buy Canning Jars
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Still Have a Question about Canning Spaghetti Sauce?
- More Delicious Pasta Recipes
- Homemade Canned Spaghetti Sauce Recipe
This canned spaghetti sauce is HANDS-DOWN, the very best with home-grown tomatoes. We are kind of crazy about our tomatoes over here. The taste of this savory tomato sauce stays fresh and turns any pasta dinner into something special.
Canning is the way to go when you want to preserve fresh produce. See our guides for canning fresh tomatoes, canning peaches and canning pears for more ways to enjoy homegrown fruits and vegetables all year long.
Ingredients in Canned Spaghetti Sauce
All you need for perfect spaghetti sauce are some herbs, spices and of course, fresh ripe tomatoes! This sauce couldn’t be simpler to make:
- Tomatoes – About 25 pounds. This recipe makes a huge batch of tomato puree. Garden tomatoes work best. I have used Roma, Celebrity, Early Girl, Park’s Whopper, San Marzano, and Beefsteak with success. I have even thrown in handfuls of cherry tomatoes when I have excess!
- Onions – I start with about five large yellow onions. You’ll end up with 7-8 cups chopped onions.
- Red bell peppers – four large peppers work great.
- Green bell pepper – dice one large pepper
- Tomato paste – four 6-ounce cans should do the trick.
- Soy sauce – Sounds weird, but trust us, it deepens the tomato flavor like you won’t believe!
- Worcestershire sauce – stir in a little sauce to enhance the flavor of the tomatoes and give the sauce a meaty flavor.
- Brown sugar – a little sweetness balances the acidity of the tomatoes and all the herbs.
- Seasonings – Salt, garlic, oregano, basil, red pepper flakes, and bay leaves is all you need to season this delicious sauce.
- Lemon juice – for the jars. I just use the bottled lemon juice from the store.
Why Can Spaghetti Sauce?
Canning spaghetti sauce offers several great benefits. It may take a little time up front but I love the satisfaction of walking into my pantry and seeing rows of freshly canned spaghetti sauce jars! Here are some more great benefits to canning:
- Long-term preservation: Enjoy homemade sauce even when fresh tomatoes are out of season.
- Control over ingredients: Customize the flavors, spices, and level of heat to suit personal taste preferences.
- Convenience and time-saving: Have ready-to-use sauce on hand for quick and easy meal preparations.
- Cost-effective: Save money by utilizing homegrown or bulk-purchased ingredients.
Tomatoes: A Family Tradition
Growing tomatoes is a “family tradition” of sorts for us. Our Uncle Larry is arguably the best gardener ever. He always has an immaculate garden and has studied and taught about gardening. The man knows ALL the tricks to get plants to grow. Uncle Larry has 10 green thumbs! His techniques have been passed around the family, luckily for us. He shared his secrets with our mom, who also grows a bountiful garden every year. To learn more about our tips and tricks for growing tomatoes, see our full guide for growing tomatoes.
Tomato growing is our family’s way to connect year after year. We compare notes on everything, from how our crops are faring, to what varieties we planted, to what has been canned so far. And of course, we love talking about all the delicious ways we can eat them! Along with the abundance of tomatoes comes a million ways to prepare them. One of our fondest memories growing up with our mom was making her delicious Homemade Canned Spaghetti Sauce. We’ve tweaked the recipe over the years and now it’s darn near perfection!
Family Tested, Dad Approved
Part of the reason we worked so hard to perfect this canned spaghetti sauce recipe is because of our dad. To know him is to know his passionate love for Italian food. He is super picky about spaghetti sauce; it has to be just right. Well, we’re happy to report that we served this sauce at family dinner recently and our dad loved it! He couldn’t get enough. In fact, he used a spoon to get all the excess off his plate. He’s crazy about this savory sauce, and you will be too!
How Can I Use Canned Spaghetti Sauce?
The name may say spaghetti, but this marinara sauce is so versatile, it’s sure to become one of your favorite staples, and not just on pasta night. Try it as a thickener for Italian-style soups like Minestrone, or add tomato paste to a serving to make pizza sauce. Here are some more delicious recipes that use spaghetti sauce:
Water Bath Canning Spaghetti Sauce
Water bath canning tomatoes is the most common way to can tomatoes, but it must be done the right way. Tomatoes are in the “gray area” of having enough acidity, so you need to add a bit of lemon juice or citric acid to ensure it reaches the correct acidity for canning.
You can learn all about water bath canning in my water bath canning guide. If you want to learn about the basics of canning and other ways to can, check out my Canning 101 post as well. Between these two posts, you will learn how to be a water bath canning pro in no time!
A Quick Note About Acidity Levels in This Recipe
We’ve tested this recipe for safe water bath canning nine times, exactly as written, and it has always been in the safe range. A pH of 4.6 or lower is considered safe for canning, and this recipe consistently comes in between 3.7 and 4.2. We have used Roma tomatoes, Celebrity, Park’s Whopper, and other red garden varieties with success. Acidity can vary between tomato types and the soils they are grown in so you still should always can at your own discretion and follow the Home Food Preservation Guidelines.
How to Use a Pressure Canner
For a weighted-gauge pressure canner, you will want to process 20 minutes for pint jars and 25 minutes for quart jars. I like to use the Presto 16-Quart Pressure Canner, which is great for canning spaghetti sauce, homemade jams, and more. You can get it at Walmart to start canning your own sauces.
Process at 11 pounds pressure up to 2,000 feet elevation, increasing by 1 pound for every 2,000 feet (12 lbs for 2,001–4,000 ft, 13 lbs for 4,001–6,000 ft, and 14 lbs for 6,001–8,000 ft). For more information on pressure canning spaghetti sauce, check out the National Center for Home Food Preservation website.
Where to Buy Canning Jars
We like to use 1-quart canning jars from Ball. They’re the BEST for canning spaghetti sauce. You can get 12 of them at Walmart for around $16, which makes it a little over $1 a jar and one of the more affordable ways to start canning. We also like to use them as drinking glasses, food storage, flower vases, and more, so you’ll get a ton of use out of them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do not, I repeat, do NOT skip this step if you are water bath or steam canning. Stick a reminder note on your jars or tie a ribbon on your finger so you don’t forget. You absolutely can not safely water bath or steam can tomatoes without bringing up the acidity first (this isn’t necessary for pressure canning). If you forget to add the lemon juice you will need to open the jars, add the juice, replace with new lids, and reprocess.
Fresh garden tomatoes are always the best choice. I’ve had great results with Roma, Celebrity, Early Girl, Park’s Whopper, San Marzano, and Beefsteak varieties. And when I have extras, I even toss in a handful of cherry tomatoes!
The number of tomatoes in 25 pounds really depends on the variety and size of the tomatoes. If you’re using smaller varieties like Roma or plum tomatoes, you’ll get about 70–80 tomatoes in 25 pounds. For medium-sized tomatoes, it’s closer to 55–65, and for large beefsteak tomatoes, you can expect around 35–40. So in general, 25 pounds of tomatoes will give you somewhere between 35 and 80 tomatoes, depending on the size.
You can add ground beef or ground Italian sausage ONLY if you are going to pressure can it OR if you freeze it instead of canning it (or you just want to eat it fresh or within a few days). Do not add ground beef if you are planning to water-bath can or steam can — it will not be safe to eat after sitting on the shelf.
Be really careful when adding or omitting ingredients to a canning recipe. You are usually fine adding spices but when it comes to adding fresh mushrooms, celery, parsley, thyme or meat it could throw off the acidity levels, thus making unsafe for canning. When it comes to canning it’s best to stick with a tried and tested recipe and don’t deviate.
We usually try to eat anything that we have canned within a year. You can probably go a couple years but probably not much longer than that. Some canning sites even say you shouldn’t go more than 6 months, but I think you are fine going longer than that.
Absolutely! This spaghetti sauce recipe freezes beautifully and lasts for several months in freezer bags or freezer-safe containers. Just make sure to thaw the sauce completely in the refrigerator before re-heating. If you DO want to add more random ingredients like ground beef or extra veggies, freezing is a good way to go if you are worried about acidity levels.
The only ingredient that has any gluten in this recipe is the soy sauce. It sounds weird to even have soy sauce in a spaghetti sauce recipe, but trust us, it is divine! Instead of cutting the soy sauce, opt for a gluten free brand. The rich flavor will knock your socks off!
I always peel the tomatoes and remove the rough stem area but they don’t need to be seeded. If you prefer to remove the seeds you certainly can. If you decide to leave the skins on, it won’t change the acidity but it will change the texture.
If you can get it to all fit, sure! Just simmer in the Crock Pot with the lid off until it reaches your desired thickness.
Yes, please adjust the sugar and salt to your personal liking. It will not affect the acidity so taste as you go and adjust in small amounts.
The amount of jars this recipe yields really depends on the water content of the tomatoes and how long you reduce the sauce. You can get more or less than what the recipe says depending on how thick you make it.
The easiest way is to just let it simmer until it thickens. You can also add tomato paste to thicken if needed.
If you like it more chunky, you can just roughly chop the tomatoes and veggies instead of blending.
YES. You can use ½ teaspoon of citric acid instead of lemon juice. Citric acid is more concentrated so you will need less. I like using lemon juice because it’s cheaper and more accessible but either one works.
If pressure canning. Yes! 1 tablespoon of fresh herbs = 1 teaspoon dried herbs. However, this recipe has not been tested for water bath canning with fresh herbs so we can’t say how it will affect the pH levels and we can’t recommend it.
We weigh our tomatoes before peeling.
Still Have a Question about Canning Spaghetti Sauce?
This recipe has been tried and LOVED by tens of thousands of you! Be sure to check out the comments to see everyone’s reviews about this canned spaghetti sauce. We also answer a lot of canning questions that have been asked in the comment section so if you have any questions, read below and I am sure you will find the answer you are looking for! Still can’t find an answer? Leave a comment and we will try to answer it as quickly as possible. With the sheer volume of comments we get, it may take a few days for us to respond but we try to get to every question!
READ NEXT: Ravioli Sauce
More Delicious Pasta Recipes
Homemade Canned Spaghetti Sauce
Video
Ingredients
- 25 pounds tomatoes, (Any garden variety. I have used Roma, Celebrity, Whopper, Early Girl, Beefsteak, San Marzano, and even handfuls of cherry tomatoes)
- 5 medium onions, (about 7-8 cups chopped)
- 4 red bell peppers
- 1 green bell pepper
- 4 (6oz) cans tomato paste
- 1/4 cups soy sauce, Sounds weird, but trust us, it deepens the tomato flavor like you won’t believe!
- 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2/3 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup salt
- 10 cloves garlic, chopped or minced
- 3 tablespoons oregano, dried
- 3 tablespoons basil, dried
- 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 1/4 cups lemon juice, for jars (this is only needed for water bath and steam canning, if you are pressure canning this can be left out)
Instructions
- Fill a large pot or Dutch oven half-way with water, bring to a boil. Using a slotted spoon, add tomatoes one at a time until you can't fit any more (about 8-10 tomatoes).
- Boil for 1-2 minutes. Remove tomatoes one at a time with slotted spoon and plunge in an icewater bath. Peel and quarter tomatoes. Do this over a large bowl so it catches all the juices when you slice them, you want to keep all those juices for the sauce. Note: I get a LOT of questions about if the tomatoes need to be peeled and seeded. I always peel the tomatoes and remove the rough stem area but they don’t need to be seeded. If you prefer to remove the seeds you certainly can though. If you decide to leave the skins on, it won’t change the acidity but it will change the texture and appearance.
- In a food processor, cover and process peppers and onions in batches until finely chopped (if you want to add extra flavor, saute the peppers and onions in a little oil and a pinch of salt before processing).In a large stockpot, combine the tomatoes, onion/pepper mixture, tomato paste, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, salt, garlic, oregano, basil, pepper flakes, and bay leaves.
- Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 4-5 hours, stirring every 15 minutes or so (tomatoes burn easily so keep an eye on it). Discard bay leaves.If you want to make your sauce thick and smooth, use an immersion blender to blend the tomatoes until smooth with no large chunks (you can also blend it in batches in a blender).
- Add 2 tablespoons lemon juice to each jar. This typically yields 8 to 10 hot 1-quart jars (depending on how much sauce you have and how much it is reduced when simmering). If using pint jars, use 1 tablespoon of lemon juice per jar.Ladle hot mixture into jars, leaving 1/2-in. headspace at the top. Remove air bubbles; wipe rims and adjust lids. Do not forget the lemon juice! If you forget to add the lemon juice you will need to open the jars, add the juice, replace with new lids, and reprocess.
For Water Bath Canning:
- Process for 40 minutes in a boiling-water canner for altitudes of 1,000 feet or less. For altitudes up to 3,000 feet, add 5 minutes; 6,000 feet, add 10 minutes; 8,000 feet, add 15 minutes; 10,000 feet, add 20 minutes.
For Pressure Canning:
- Using a weighted-gauge pressure canner, process 20 minutes for pint jars and 25 minutes for quart jars. Use 11 pounds pressure up to 2,000 feet elevation, increasing by 1 pound for every 2,000 feet (12 lbs for 2,001–4,000 ft, 13 lbs for 4,001–6,000 ft, and 14 lbs for 6,001–8,000 ft).
Notes
- This recipe makes 9-10 quart-sized jars. This can be more or less depending on how much the tomatoes simmer down and thicken.
- Our Uncle Larry is arguably the best gardener ever. He always has an immaculate garden and has studied and taught about gardening. The man knows ALL the tricks to get plants to grow. Uncle Larry has 10 green thumbs! His techniques have been passed around the family, luckily for us. He shared his secrets with our mom, who also grows a bountiful garden every year. To learn more about our tips and tricks for growing tomatoes, see our full guide.
- This spaghetti sauce recipe freezes beautifully and lasts for several months in freezer bags or freezer-safe containers. Just make sure to thaw the sauce completely in the refrigerator before re-heating. If you DO want to add more random ingredients like ground beef or extra veggies, freezing is a good way to go if you are worried about acidity levels.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Love this recipe?
We want to hear from you! Please leave a review.
Can I use red wine vinegar or balsamic in this recipe?
We have not tested this, so I can’t answer confidently one way or the other. Be really careful when adding or omitting ingredients to a canning recipe because it can throw off the acidity levels, thus making it unsafe for canning.
Hi, I’m new to canning and this recipe looks amazing! I’m just wondering if I’m understanding it right that I don’t have to run the tomatoes through a food mill or juicer?
Hi Todd, you don’t have to run the tomatoes through a food mill or juice, just quarter the tomatoes. As they simmer, they will cook down in the sauce. Thanks for asking!
I absolutely love this recipe, thank you so much for sharing.
The recipe says it will yield 9-10 quarts but I only get 5. I’m starting out with 25 pounds of tomatoes, before they’re processed. Is that what I’m doing wrong? Should it be 25 pounds after peeled and cored?
I don’t think you are doing anything wrong. The amount of jars this recipe yields really depends on the water content of the tomatoes and how long you reduce the sauce. You can get more or less than what the recipe says depending on how thick you make the sauce. It is 25 pounds of tomatoes prior to being peeled and cored. Thanks for asking!
About how many cups of quartered tomatoes equals 25 pounds.?
It’s tricky giving an exact amount because the water content of the tomatoes can differ and we don’t drain off the juices from the quartered tomatoes. However, 25 lbs of tomatoes should yield approximately 35-40 cups of quartered tomatoes. I hope that helps!
The recipe say the green peppers with the onions. When do you put in the red peppers???
You put all the peppers in together, both red and green 🙂 I fixed it on the recipe to clarify
Thank you! Do you process for 40mims for pints as well as the quarts?
Pints process for 5 minutes less.
I have used this recipe for years and always give it a five star! It is simply fantastic. I love family dinners in the fall. We operate a family farm in Iowa and nothing better than homemade spagetti sauce with our own ground beef. I love canning the spagetti sauce and putting it in a basket with noodles and other items as gifts.
Totally agree! Family dinners in the fall are the best. What a great idea to can it and give it as gifts with noodles. I bet your friends and neighbors love you!
This sauce is absolutely amazing but I did not have 25 pounds of tomatoes. So I cut the recipe in half. My question is should it be really runny? Because it is. It is still excellent though.
It needs to cook down until it is thicker. Depending on how watery our tomatoes are, sometimes we have to cook it down for several hours before it thickens up to our liking. If you want to speed up the thickening process, you can also add tomato paste. Hope this helps!
I just found your wonderful recipe and I love it! For how long do you store a jar from this recipe? How long can it stay on the shelf? Thanks.
For best quality, we recommend using it within one year. Thanks for asking!
I failed to remove the 2 bay leaves before I canned. It was at midnight last night. Do I need to open the processed jars and remove the 2 leaves? If so, can I reprocess?
Hi Dana – you are totally fine! You can keep the bay leaves in there, no problem. You can remove them when you open the jars to re-heat. The only reason people remove bay leaves is because they are tough and aren’t recommended to eat whole. That being said it’s easier to remove them before canning but if you accidentally can them it doesn’t affect the acidity or anything. You can just leave them in and remember to remove them later.
will be trying this recipe this week but I do have a question, can you leave the peels on the tomatoes and run them through the food processor before combinging them with everything else to cook or would that alter the consistency or flavor? I tried to read all the comments to see if this question had already been asked/answered, so sorry if its a duplicate!
I don’t like to leave the peels on the tomatoes. I always peel them for the best consistency. You can leave them on but I can’t promise the consistency will be the same. It shouldn’t affect the flavor or acidity at all. It really just comes down to personal preference. Hope this helps!
How much is a serving? A cup?
A serving of spaghetti sauce is 1/2 cup. Thanks for asking!
I’m eager to try this recipe! Quick question, can I leave the tomato skin on them and then blend it ? Or will that change the pH do you think?
Hi! To answer your question, no, leaving tomato skins on won’t alter the pH. I have never left them on and blended them before so I’m not sure if it will alter the texture much or not. If you try it, please come back and let me know how it turns out!
I got all 25 lbs of tomatoes from my garden. It cleaned it out good. Had to add some cherry tomatoes in to get to 25 lbs. I used onions, garlic from the garden as well and added a bit more garlic. I also used fresh herbs from garden (rosemary, basil and parsley) instead of the dried and went ahead and sauteed the onions and mostly shoshito peppers in the pan before blending. Took a while and didn’t realize it all wouldn’t fit in one pot. But I think it tastes delicious!
Josiah – your sauce sounds amazing! What a blessing to have such a beautiful and bounteous garden. I’m so glad this recipe worked for you. All of that work will be worth being able to enjoy delicious sauce for many months to come! Thank you for sharing this with us.
Can you replace the lemon juice with citric acid (Mrs Wages)? If so is it the same measurement ratio to the lemon juice? Or just follow the ratio on the citric acid for pints and quarts? Thanks. 😊
YES. You can use 1/2 teaspoon of citric acid instead of lemon juice. Citric acid is more concentrated so you will need less.
Wonder if I could simmer in the crock pot instead of the sauce pan. Less heat in the kitchen this time of year is best.
Yes you definitely can! A Crock Pot is a great idea!
I’d really like to make this sugar-free. Maybe using chopped carrots for a sweet note. Do you have any suggestions on what else can be used to replace the sugar? Thx.
Carrots could definitely help but we haven’t tested adding carrots to see how it affects the acidity. That may take some research. If you do want to make it sugar free, you will want to reduce the salt content as well, the two balance each other. My suggestion is to leave both out and then just add salt slowly until you get the flavor you want. Hope this helps!
Do you take all the seeds out after you peel and quarter the tomatoes?
No, I don’t bother removing the seeds but you definitely can if you would like!
First time canning sauce and this recipe is amazing! Won’t even try another recipe after this one. What would be the processing time for pint jars? Thank you
So glad you liked it! The processing time for pint jars is only 5 minutes less than quart jars for this recipe. You will still need to check your elevation to get the exact amount of time needed for processing. Hope this helps!
I have a question…instead of real sugar, can I use a sugar substitute like swerve?
I haven’t made it with a sugar substitute, I’m sure it would probably work but if you can I would stick to traditional sugar.
This is by far the best spaghetti sauce out there
The recipe is phenomenal! It’s a favorite of many i share it with. We all love that it has a little bite (heat) to it! The red pepper flakes i think are a perfect addition. I will Add that i don’t use a food processor, I like the larger chunks. i used to cut all of it by hand. I now use a hand chopper i dice it into quarters and take my aggression out on my new chopper (doesn’t work with frozen tomatoes)
For a few reasons I never blanch my tomatoes anymore. I freeze them. One, I don’t have enough plants to get enough at a time to make a batch. Two, when you take them out put in hot tap water (doesn’t need to be boiling, just as hot as your tap gets) leave for 30-60 seconds the skin will peel right off. You could maybe cut the stem part of before freezing. Three, when you go to cut the tomatoes they are usually still kinda frozen which makes it easier to cut if you use a sharp knife. They don’t fall apart into mush right away. This method saves me a ton of time!
Despite your warning, I did accidentally manage a very slight burn on the sauce, but it gave the sauce a “roasted tomato” flavour. The family loved it. In future I’ll try to avoid that burn, but I might add another hour to the prep time by purposefully roasting the veg ingredients. Thanks Erica. This recipe is in my keepers.
Oh dang, sorry you got a little burn but glad it didn’t taint the sauce at all! So glad you liked it, and you are very welcome! Thanks Martin!
How would you go about this recipe with frozen tomatoes
I actually haven’t tried and testes this recipe with frozen tomatoes before so I can’t say for sure. Freezing tomatoes may change the texture a little but I’m not sure to what extent. I would thaw them first, peel off the skins, then continue with the recipe as directed. Don’t forget to add acidity to the jars! Hope this helps!