Kate and I are definitely lovers of sauces and spreads. We make a mean BBQ Sauce, delectably sweet caramel, and chocolate sauces, fantastically flavorful green chili sauce and flavored butters and sandwich spreads galore. And we get email after email after email saying, “Hey, I love this! I want 48 bottles on my shelf all at once! Can I can it?” And our answer is always the same: sorry, no dice. Canning is a science, and it’s really important that you only can recipes that are formulated and tested for safe home canning. I’ve had loads of people emailing in that they’re loving our Fresh Tomato Basil Sauce from our latest cook book. It’s one of my summer favorites, too! But alas, it wasn’t meant for canning (freezing however is A-Okay.) So for those of you who like me, have ripening red tomatoes in the garden, and want to preserve every last drop, I bring you this simple sauce, made for home canning!
Now, I feel like I need to warn you if you’ve never canned tomato sauces before. The first time I ever tried, it literally took me ALL day. I labored, I toiled, I peeled, I chopped, and I simmered. And when I was done I had like, 2 jars of sauce and I wanted to cry. How those 427 pounds (slight exaggeration) of tomatoes boiled down to 2 measly jars was mind boggling to me. That being said, I’ve really learned how to streamline the process (see my note later in this post about prepping and freezing tomatoes) so it’s not a huge process for me. This recipe still only produces 6 pints (pints are fairly small jars) so I usually do it once or twice during the summer. But for me it’s totally worth it when I crack open one of those lids and taste fresh summer tomatoes. I save these sauces for special things like homemade pasta, fresh breadsticks, or a yummy simmered chicken dish. As opposed to like, dumping it over spaghetti noodles for my kids on a hurried weeknight. I want them to appreciate that darn sauce! They always think it’s cool when I remind them that they helped pick those very tomatoes.
We’ll need to start by peeling the tomatoes. When I can salsa, I never peel my tomatoes, but for something like a delicate sauce, I think it’s always better to peel. This is super easy, and just like we do peaches. Start by making a small “X” incision on the bottom of each tomato, just barely piercing through the skin.
Place tomatoes in a large pot of boiling water. It just takes about 30-60 seconds; I watch for the skin to just start splitting like in this picture below. If you wait too long, the delicate tomatoes turn to mush under that skin, so remove them when the just start to crack like this:
And plunge them immediately in a bow of ice water.
The skin should peel right off rather easily.
Leaving you soft, juicy skinless tomatoes. Now, you might be noticing how beautifully perfect these tomatoes are. I’m using a few gorgeous, round ones for this tutorial because I knew they’d be the best for demonstrating the technique.
But be aware (lest you think I have some super human ability to grow perfect produce) that most of my garden tomatoes end up looking like this:
Misshapen and imperfect, like me. Since I don’t always have 12 pounds of tomatoes sitting around at once, and the peeling process can be tedious, what I often do is peel small batches at a time, just whenever I have a good picking, and pop them in the freezer. I always weigh them first and label the bag so as soon as I have enough, I can use them in a recipe like this. I do the same thing for my salsa, just with diced tomatoes. It makes the whole canning process so much more manageable.
Once your tomatoes are peeled, take a knife and gently remove the core if needed (sometimes you don’t even need to on small tomatoes.) I use a set-up like this photo below with a large cutting board set over my sink. I very roughly chop the tomatoes and slide them into the bowl below, and any garbage just goes into the sink and down the drain. Don’t stress about chopping too well, the tomatoes simmer for so long that they’ll get totally broken up on their own.
Once they’re all in the pot, add some sugar, salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar. All of those ingredients really enhance the natural flavors in the tomatoes.
Bring that mixture to a boil on the stove and then reduce it to a steady simmer. You’ll notice it’s very watery, and that’s okay. This sauce will simmer for about an hour and a half, uncovered, so the extra moisture evaporates and the flavors are concentrated. The original recipe suggests simmering for 70-80 minutes, and I’d say I do closer to 90. My mixture started about 2 inches from the top of that pot when I started, so you can see how far down it’s moved.
When it’s done simmering, we’ll add in some roasted garlic. You can have this roasting while your sauce simmers and it will have plenty of time to cook and cool off a bit. Also your house will smell like heaven. (For a tutorial on how to roast garlic, click here.)
Next in goes a bunch of fresh basil,
and then a cup of any assorted herbs you like. You could just add more basil if you want; I added stuff I have in my garden right now, lots of oregano, a little thyme and sage and some rosemary.
Ladle the sauce into hot canning jars that have a little lemon juice in them (necessary for acidity purposes for safe canning- don’t skip it.) See how dark and gorgeous that is?
After placing lids and rings on the jars, you just process them in a waterbath canner. Don’t let a canning term scare you- all you’re doing is placing your jars in a large pot of simmering water! So easy! You don’t even have to have a big special canning pot, it just needs to be able to have the jars covered by an inch or two of water, and fit some sort of rack on the bottom of it for good circulation (a round cake cooking rack works well). Then you’re all set to enjoy your garden-in-a-jar during some cold winter months. Doesn’t this jar look so cute all dressed up for gifting? Well it’s just a clever ruse. I give away jams and jellies without a second thought, but I hoard every last jar of this sauce for myself.
Try this sauce on pasta, or used to simmer chicken or bake eggs. I’ve even added chicken broth and crumbled Italian sausage and veggies for an amazing tomato soup.
And if you’re curious about how that jar is prettied up, see comment #6 below for info on the brown labels, and I just wrapped some washi tape around the ring!
Tomato Basil Simmer Sauce with Roasted Garlic
Recipe from BHG
This recipe has been written specifically for, and tested, for safe home canning. Do not stray from the recipe to ensure food safety. If you’d like to alter the ingredients and or/ratios, feel free to freeze the sauce instead of canning it. You can also adjust the flavor after opening sealed jars to use them- try sauteing Italian sausage and onions and adding the sauce to simmer, or adding fresh grated Parmesan cheese.
For an intro to home water bath canning (easy!) Click Here.
Ingredients
12 lbs ripe tomatoes (about 25 good size plum tomatoes), peeled
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons kosher salt or 4 teaspoons table salt
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups lightly packed fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 cup lightly packed assorted fresh herbs (such as oregano, thyme, parsley, etc.)
6 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons minced roasted garlic (about 2 heads of garlic)
Instructions
Cut peeled tomatoes into large chunks and place them in 7- to 8-quart nonreactive (that means avoid aluminum. Go for stainless steel or enamel covered cast iron like Le Crueset) heavy pot. Add brown sugar, salt, vinegar, and black pepper to the tomato mixture. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a steady simmer (it should be bubbling all over). Continue to simmer, uncovered, for 70 to 80 minutes (a little longer if necessary), stirring occasionally, until mixture is reduced to about 11 cups and is desired sauce consistency. Remove from heat; stir in herbs and garlic.
Spoon 1 tablespoon lemon juice into each of six hot, clean pint canning jars (or do 2 tablespoons in each of 3 larger quart jars). Ladle sauce into jars with lemon juice, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Wipe the jar rims; adjust lids. Process filled jars in a boiling-water canner for 35 minutes (start time when water returns to a full boil). Remove jars; cool on wire racks. Sauce is shelf stable for up to one year.
Optional add-ins: Stir in 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes with the herbs for a spicy sauce. Or for a double-tomato sauce, add in 1 cup snipped dried tomatoes (not oil packed) with the herbs.
And pssst…new secret dinner recipe was just added to the Timeless Originals Channel! It involves chicken, cheese, and breadcrumbs. Can’t go wrong there. Click Here to find it!
Questions & Reviews
If I were to freeze this and not can it, do I still need to add lemon juice? Do you freeze in bags or still in jars?
No, the lemon is acid for canning. When I freeze sauce I use my foodsaver, but you could do glass or freezer bags.
First timer here missed the line in the herb section about add near the end? Is this going to be an issue?
Nah, you’ll be fine.
I spent the evening making this and it’s delicious. The tomatoes were easy to peel following your instructions. I used fresh herbs growing in my garden. I ended up with 8 pints of sauce. I used my immersion blender to make sure all the tomatoes were smooth. I will make again.
Does the oil used in the roasted garlic create potential risk for botulism?
This is a recipe published in Better Homes and Gardens so it’s been tested and safety approved!
Can I used dried herbs? Amounts?
Sure, the rule of thumb is 1 part dry = 3 parts fresh
Hi! The taste of this was amazing, but it was sooo runny. I had to let it cook down for a long time then the flavors was so concentrated. What did I do wrong??
Thanks,
Tiffany
My first attempt @ canning — Thank you! I started with a full bushel of tomatoes & finished with 15 beautiful quarts. All went well, tasted great & all jars sealed perfectly. Now that I proudly have my labeled jars lined up on shelves… I realize that after roasting the garlic, I did not chop the cloves, rather just squeezed them whole into the sauce. As I am new to canning, everything makes me nervous! Is this a potential problem in the safety of my sauce?
My daughter (a huge fan of yours — has all your cookbooks, gives gifts of your infused olive oils for Christmas, etc.) found this recipe so I made it for her today. Couldn’t.stop.drinking.it. It was THAT awesome! I used romas (24.8 pounds) so ended up with quite a bit more, I’m thinking because they didn’t need to cook down as far? Seven pints and three quarts worth. The more, the merrier!
Oh my, this sauce is awesome! Don’t mean to be selfish, but I’m not sharing…it’s THAT good!
I’ve made this recipe a couple of times this summer. It is delicious and will be a yearly pantry staple for me. BUT – – – I think BHG has their measurements off. There is no way that 12 lbs of tomatoes are used to produce 6 pints of sauce. There is no way that 25 roma tomatoes is 12 lbs either. The first time I increased the tomato count to 30 large roma tomatoes and the sauce was really too thick after processing. The second time I used roughly 40 of all different sizes roma tomatoes, and they totaled under 6 lbs and the sauce started out at 4 qts and was still fairly thin when reduced to 11 cups in approximately the right amount of simmering time. At that rate 12 lbs of tomatoes would start out with approximately 8 quarts and no way could be reduced to 11 cups in 90 minutes. Also, I had to blend part of the sauce to get it to resemble a sauce and not be like stewed tomatoes.
Just a quick note to say that I love the blog. I’m canning tomato sauce with a girlfriend this week who wanted me to provide her with a recipe… which is hard to do when you cook “until it tastes right, smells right & feels right. When I found your simmer sauce, I celebrated! “Use this one! She cooks like me.” Simple, elegant, clean eating ingredients.
The only thing I do differently is maple syrup instead of refined brown sugar, but I’m Canadian, eh?
Congrats on your weight loss & know that waaaaay up North in the far reaches of North Easter British Columbia, there’s a trio of women in a log house, simmering your sauce and celebrating fall.
🙂
thank you so much for this recipe! i just finished my first canning experience with this sauce and it was delicious! canning is so intimidating and it’s such a lost art- thank youu!
I just made 9 quart jars of this. Tasting as I went along, this was really great. Thanks so much for this recipie!
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE tomato soup, and am hoping for a little more instruction on how you use this sauce to make yours! Pretty Please…
I’d also love to use this for soup! How much sausage, veggies and broth did you add, and how long did you let it simmer?
Thanks so much!
I really just eyeball it. It makes a great base, so just add broth for consistency and flavor to taste. Enjoy!
Do you have a recipe for canning salsa?
I don’t have one that’s blog-ready. Sorry!
Just made 3 quarts and all I can say is WOW, that’s goooood. I too was thinking Christmas gifts (no way). Also made the peach bbq sauce and my whole family LOVES it. Just about every great thing I make comes from OBB. One lady asked me for the Sausage tortellini soup recipe the other day and before I could answer, she said “let me guess, Our Best Bites, right?” 🙂 thanks….once again.
What elevation is the 35 minutes of boiling time for?
Good question Whitney. The original recipe (linked, at BHG) simply states 35 minutes. I would assume that’s at sea level and you can follow the normal rules of thumb for elevation changes in canning. I know where I live, I usually add 5 mins.
I’d say probably 3-6 months.