Canned Spaghetti Sauce Recipe

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Tomatoes: Fresh garden tomatoes are best. I have used Roma, Celebrity, Early Girl, Park’s Whopper, San Marzano, Beefsteak, and even a few cherry tomatoes mixed in.
• Onions and bell peppers: These add body and flavor to the sauce. Red bell peppers add a little sweetness, and green bell pepper gives it a classic savory flavor.
• Tomato paste: This helps thicken the sauce and gives it a deeper tomato flavor.
• Soy sauce: It sounds a little strange in spaghetti sauce, but it deepens the savory tomato flavor. Use gluten-free soy sauce if needed.
• Worcestershire sauce: This adds richness and a little meaty flavor without adding meat.
• Brown sugar: A little sweetness balances the acidity of the tomatoes.
• Garlic: Fresh garlic gives the sauce the best flavor.
• Spices: Dried oregano, dried basil, red pepper flakes, salt, and bay leaves give the sauce that classic homemade spaghetti sauce taste.
• Bottled lemon juice: This is added directly to the jars for water bath or steam canning. Bottled lemon juice is recommended because the acidity is consistent. The National Center for Home Food Preservation recommends 2 tablespoons bottled lemon juice or ½ teaspoon citric acid per quart of tomatoes, and 1 tablespoon bottled lemon juice or ¼ teaspoon citric acid per pint.

Ingredient Additions and Substitutions

Canning spaghetti sauce is different from making a regular pot of sauce for dinner. With a fresh sauce, you can add a handful of this and a little more of that. With canning, you need to be much more careful because changing ingredients can affect acidity, thickness, and processing safety.

• Sugar and salt: These can be adjusted to taste. Start with the recipe amount, taste as the sauce simmers, and adjust a little at a time.
• Soy sauce: Use gluten-free soy sauce if you need this canned spaghetti sauce recipe to be gluten-free.
• Citric acid: You can use citric acid instead of bottled lemon juice. Use ½ teaspoon citric acid per quart jar or ¼ teaspoon per pint jar.
• Tomato varieties: A mix of paste tomatoes and juicy garden tomatoes works really well. Roma and San Marzano tomatoes make a thicker sauce, while larger garden tomatoes add fresh flavor.
• Frozen tomatoes: Frozen tomatoes can be used. Thaw them first and drain off extra liquid so the sauce does not take as long to thicken.
• Fresh herbs: For water bath canning, stick with the dried herbs in the recipe because that is how the recipe has been tested. If you want fresh basil, parsley, mushrooms, extra garlic, or meat, add those after opening the jar.
• Meat: Do not add ground beef, sausage, or meat if you are water bath canning this recipe. If you want a meat sauce, add cooked meat when you open the jar, or use a tested pressure-canning recipe for spaghetti sauce with meat.

How to Make Canned Spaghetti Sauce

1. Peel the tomatoes. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and fill a large bowl with ice water. Add the tomatoes to the boiling water for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the skins begin to split. Move them to the ice water, then peel and quarter the tomatoes over a large bowl so you save all the juices.

2. Prepare the vegetables. Pulse the onions and bell peppers in a food processor until finely chopped. You can sauté them first in a little oil with a pinch of salt for extra flavor, or add them straight to the sauce.

3. Simmer the sauce. Add the tomatoes, chopped vegetables, tomato paste, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, garlic, salt, oregano, basil, red pepper flakes, and bay leaves to a large stockpot. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 4 to 5 hours, stirring often so the sauce does not scorch.

4. Blend and prepare the jars. Remove the bay leaves. Use an immersion blender if you want a smoother sauce, or leave it chunkier if that is how you like it. Add bottled lemon juice or citric acid to each hot jar before filling.

5. Fill the jars. Ladle the hot sauce into hot jars, leaving ½ inch headspace. Remove air bubbles, wipe the rims clean, and add the lids and rings.

6. Process and cool. Process the jars using the water bath canning or pressure canning. When processing is finished, let the jars cool undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours, then check the seals, label the jars, and store them in a cool, dark place.

Altitude Adjustments

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.

Pressure Canning – 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).

Recipe Tips

• Weigh the tomatoes before peeling. That is how we measure them for this recipe.
• Use hot sauce and hot jars. Hot sauce going into hot jars helps prevent cracking.
• Do not skip the bottled lemon juice for water bath canning. Add it directly to each jar, not to the whole pot of sauce.
• Include the pepper juice. If liquid comes out when you pulse the bell peppers, add it to the sauce.
• Stir often while simmering. Tomatoes can scorch on the bottom of the pot, especially once the sauce starts to thicken.
• Use an electric roaster carefully. It can work for cooking down a large batch, but I would not leave it unattended overnight. Stir it often and watch for burning.
• Thicken by simmering longer. The final yield can change depending on how juicy your tomatoes are and how long the sauce reduces.
• Use an immersion blender for smooth sauce. For chunkier sauce, pulse the vegetables less and skip the blending.
• Do not over-tighten the rings. Fingertip tight is enough.
• Check every seal. Any jar that does not seal should be refrigerated and used soon or reprocessed with a new lid.

Frequently Asked Questions

Make Ahead and Storage

• Make ahead: You can wash and sort the tomatoes the day before. You can also chop the onions and peppers ahead of time and refrigerate them until you are ready to make the sauce.
• Using frozen tomatoes: If you freeze tomatoes as they ripen, thaw them in a strainer over a large bowl or pot so extra water can drain away before cooking.
• Shelf storage: Store sealed jars in a cool, dark place. I like to use home-canned sauce within a year for best quality.
• After opening: Refrigerate opened jars and use them within a few days.
• Freezing instead of canning: This sauce freezes well. Let it cool, portion it into freezer-safe containers or bags, and freeze for several months. Freezing is also the best option if you want to add extra vegetables or meat without worrying about canning safety.

Our Family History with Tomatoes

Growing tomatoes has always been a family thing for us. Our Uncle Larry is one of the best gardeners I know. He has studied gardening, taught gardening, and somehow seems to know every trick for getting plants to grow. We joke that he has ten green thumbs. He shared so many of his garden tips with our mom, and she has always grown a beautiful garden too. See our full guide for growing tomatoes.

Tomatoes are one of those things that connect our family year after year. We compare what varieties we planted, how the crop is doing, what we have canned, and what we still need to make. Some of my favorite memories are from the kitchen with baskets of tomatoes on the counter and a huge pot of sauce simmering on the stove.

This canned spaghetti sauce recipe came from that tradition. We have tweaked it over the years, tested it, made it for family dinners, and served it to my very picky Italian-food-loving dad. When he approved it, we knew we had a keeper.

Acidity Testing for Canned Spaghetti Sauce

Tomatoes can be tricky for canning because their acidity can vary by variety, ripeness, and growing conditions. The CDC classifies low-acid foods as foods with a pH higher than 4.6, and low-acid foods need special care because they are the foods most often linked with botulism in home canning.

We have tested this recipe for safe water bath canning nine times, exactly as written, and it has consistently tested in the safe range, between 3.7 and 4.2 pH. A pH of 4.6 or lower is considered the key cutoff for high-acid foods. We have used Roma tomatoes, Celebrity, Park’s Whopper, and other red garden varieties with success. Even with that testing, it is still important to follow the recipe as written, use bottled lemon juice or citric acid in each jar for water bath canning, and follow trusted Home Food Preservation Guidelines.

Water Bath Canning vs Pressure Canning

Water Bath Canning is the method I use when I make this canned spaghetti sauce recipe as written with bottled lemon juice added to each jar. It works for high-acid foods or properly acidified foods. A boiling-water canner needs enough water to cover the tops of the jars, and the water needs to stay boiling for the full processing time.

Pressure Canning uses higher temperatures than water bath canning and is required for low-acid foods like meat, vegetables, and sauces with meat. Some tested tomato recipes also include pressure-canning instructions, but that does not mean you can freely change the recipe. For tomato products, you still need to follow the tested recipe, use the correct jar size, process for the full time, adjust for altitude, and add bottled lemon juice or citric acid when the recipe calls for it. The National Center for Home Food Preservation lists spaghetti sauce without meat as a pressure-canning recipe with processing times of 20 minutes for pints and 25 minutes for quarts, with pressure adjusted for altitude.

For this recipe, follow the processing instructions in the recipe card and do not guess on processing time. If you are new to canning, read through our Canning 101 post or your canner manual before starting and double-check your altitude.

Where to Find Canning Jars and Cookers

You can usually find canning jars at grocery stores, Walmart, Target, farm supply stores, hardware stores, and online. I like 1-quart canning jars from Ball for spaghetti sauce because one jar is a great amount for pasta night, lasagna, or a casserole. Pint jars are nice for smaller meals, pizza sauce, or recipes that only need a little sauce.

A few things to remember:

• Use jars made for home canning.
• Check jars for chips or cracks before filling.
• Use new lids each time for canning.
• Rings can be reused as long as they are not rusty or bent.
• If you find jars secondhand, inspect them carefully and buy new lids.
• You can use these jars for other recipes like canning fresh tomatoes, canning peaches, or canning pears.

For a weighted-gauge pressure canner, I like to use the Presto 16-Quart Pressure Canner, which is great for canning spaghetti sauce. I found mine at Walmart and it has worked great for me. You can also find good ones on Amazon.

Pairing Ideas

This canned spaghetti sauce is perfect over spaghetti, but I use it for so much more than pasta night. It is great in Lasagna with Cottage Cheese, Chicken Parmesan Stuffed Shells, Easy Chicken Cacciatore, Baked Ziti, Pasta e Fagioli Soup, Minestrone, and any recipe that calls for jarred marinara or spaghetti sauce. You can also simmer it a little longer after opening a jar and use it as pizza sauce. Any of these Italian dishes are amazing with our Homemade Breadsticks or Garlic Bread.

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