Garden Tomato Sauce Recipe

Your tomato plants have bloomed beautifully, and you have a plentiful bounty. Let's turn that bounty into sauce we will be eating well into the winter!

Personally, when I make Tomato Sauce, I will do 1 huge batch in a day in a 5-gallon Pot.

Tomato Sauce Recipe

Step I: Getting your tomatoes ready

1. Harvest, inspect, and clean your tomatoes

2. Fill a pot with tomatoes first, then add water to fill.

3. Place pot over med - high flame, and heat tomatoes until skins start to split.

4. Allow tomatoes to cool.

5. Rinse in cold water, and remove the skins (Skins can be dehydrated, and turned into flakes that are delicious in stews)

6. Add skinless tomatoes into cans for canning - or pot for making Sauce.

Step II: Ingredients for Tomato Sauce

• 1/3 cup Olive Oil

• Pinch of red pepper flakes

• 4 crushed garlic cloves

• 3/4 cups chopped onion

• 1 teaspoon oregano

• 1 tablespoon basil

• 1 teaspoon mint

• 1 teaspoon sugar

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

• 2 Quarts of tomatoes

• 2 tablespoons butter

• Lemon Juice (If canning)

Step III: Making the Sauce

1. Crush up the tomatoes (Or use a blender if you want it smoother)

2. Pour olive oil and add red pepper flakes, garlic, onion, sugar, salt, pepper & most of the oregano, basil and mint into a pot with a lid, over med-high heat.

3. When the onions and garlic start to cook, stir and heat for five minutes.

4. Add the tomatoes and heat to a boil.

5. Reduce to simmer, partially cover and simmer 90 minutes.

6. remove from heat and add the reserved herbs and butter.

7. Serve - or if not serving yet, continue to Canning section.

Step IV: Canning

1. Fill a large 5-gallon pot or water bath canner with enough water to cover the jars that you are going to use, by at least an inch.

2. Set the canner on the stovetop, turn the heat to high, and bring the water to a boil.

3. While water is heating up, wash the jars and lids in hot water and dish soap.

4. Using a ladle and a funnel, fill the jars with the tomato sauce, leaving about 1/2 inch of head space.

5. Add two tablespoons of bottled lemon juice to each quart jar (or one to each pint jar)

6. Next, use the bubble remover to remove bubbles by moving it along the inside of the jar.

7. Clean the rim of each jar with a damp paper towel

8. Center the lid and close the jar.

9. Place the jars on the rack of the canner and lower the rack into the boiling water.

10. Cover the canner and process pint jars for 35 minutes and quart jars for 40 minutes in the boiling water. See chart below*

11. Once processing time is up, turn the heat off and uncover the canner.

12. Let the jars stay in the hot water for 5 minutes before removing them.

13. Use the jar lifters to remove the jars from the canner and set them on a kitchen towel on the counter to cool completely (8-12 hours) before storing them

14. Wipe the jars down and store in a cool dark place like a pantry or a kitchen cabinet for up to 18 months.

* Remember to adjust processing time according to the table below if you live above 1000 feet in elevation.

Did you try this recipe, or have any tips on how to make it better? Let me know in the comments below!