I make this pizza sauce for canning every August when tomatoes are taking over my life. Opening a jar in January feels like finding money in your pocket. This classic recipe simmers down fresh tomatoes with garlic and herbs until it’s thick and perfect. An afternoon spent making this is time well spent.
This waterbath canning recipe is great for using up all those tomatoes from your garden. Remember, you can combine this with homemade pizza dough for a super-frugal pizza night. Or just keep things simple and use it as a dipping sauce for mozzarella sticks.
Table of Contents
Ingredients and Tools You’ll Need
The spices are flexible in this recipe, but the lemon juice is not. If you’d like to substitute the fresh garlic for dried, that’s fine too. A food mill or blender will help you get the sauce nice and smooth.
This will make six pints of sauce. If you want to make more, you can double or triple the recipe by making adjustments in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. However, you will need to do it in batches, and I recommend doing one batch per day so you don’t burn yourself out.
Equipment
- Water Bath Canner
- Food mill or blender
- Ladle
- Funnel
- Mason jars with lids and bands
Ingredients
- 10 pounds ripe tomatoes, peeled and seeded (Roma tomatoes are less watery and will thicken up faster, but any kind works)
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon summer savory (this can be hard to find if you don’t grow it, so you can just increase the basil a bit if you don’t have any)
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon sugar, optional, to taste
- 2 small bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons bottled lemon juice
How to Make
Remember, canning is simple. You’re making a sauce, just like you always have, putting it in jars, and boiling the jars to seal them. You can do it.
Step One: Prep The Tomatoes
First, get those tomato skins off. Cut a little X on the bottom of each one, dump them in boiling water for maybe a minute until the skins start peeling back. Then, put them straight into an ice bath – this trick makes peeling SO much easier. Once they’re cool, the skins slip right off, and you can crush them up however you want. I use my hands because it’s faster than dragging out the food mill.
Step Two: Start Your Base
Heat up some olive oil in your biggest pot and throw in 3 minced garlic cloves just until it smells amazing – about a minute.
Then, add all those crushed tomatoes plus a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste.
Step Three: Season And Simmer
Now for the good stuff: basil, oregano, a little summer savory if you have it, salt, pepper, maybe a tiny bit of sugar, and 2 bay leaves. Bring it all to a simmer, then turn it down to LOW and let it bubble away for 2-3 hours. Stir it when you think about it.
Step Four: Prep Your Jars
While that’s happening, get your jars heating up and your lids sterilized.
Step Five: Finish the Sauce
When your sauce looks like actual pizza sauce (thick enough to stay put on dough), fish out those bay leaves and stir in 2 tablespoons of bottled lemon juice. This isn’t optional, it’s for safety.
Step Six: Fill And Process
Ladle the hot sauce into the hot jars, leaving half an inch at the top, wipe the rims clean, and seal them up.
Process in your water bath canner for 35 minutes.
Step Seven: Cool and Wait
Turn off the heat and let those jars sit in the canner for 5 minutes. Then lift them out with your jar lifter and set them on a towel somewhere they won’t be bumped. Now you wait 12-24 hours and listen for the sound of those lids going PING as they seal. Don’t mess with them during this time.
Canning Tips
Canning can seem stressful and overwhelming. So I have a list of general canning tips here. And below you’ll find ways to make this sauce the best ever.
- A blend of tomatoes is my favorite way to make this, but it’s not a big deal if you only have one kind.
- After your jars cool, press the center of each lid. If it pops back up, it didn’t seal and needs to go in the fridge.
- Write the date on your jars with a Sharpie so you know what you’re working with next year.
You can do this! It’s not hard. Remember, if you need immediate help, you can always ask your local cooperative extension. Find yours here.
Storage Instructions
You don’t have to can this if you don’t want to! You have options.
After Canning
Allow the canned jars to cool undisturbed for 12-24 hours. After a while (or sometimes immediately) you’ll hear the lid seal. Once a seal has formed, the lid won’t flex up and down when pressed in the center. Store the sealed jars in a cool, dark place like a pantry or a cellar. Avoid direct sunlight and extreme temperature changes. Properly canned and stored sauce will last at least a year.
Freezing Instructions
If you prefer to freeze some sauce, or if a jar didn’t seal properly, freezing works! Just pour into a bag or use a glass jar with at least half an inch of headspace.
The sauce can be frozen for up to 3-6 months for the best quality. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before use.
Making Ahead + Refrigerating:
You can also just pop this in the fridge for a week. If you’re just freezing or refrigerating, you don’t need the lemon juice since the pH won’t matter.
Questions and Troubleshooting
Keep simmering with the lid off. Some tomatoes just have more water, and it can take up to 4 hours to get that thick pizza sauce consistency.
Nope, I just don’t like the texture. If seeds don’t bother you, leave them in and save yourself the work.
Yes, use ½ teaspoon citric acid per pint jar, but honestly bottled lemon juice is cheaper and works exactly the same.
The olive oil in this recipe is fine because it’s just 1 tablespoon in a huge batch of acidic tomato sauce. The sauce is still water-based and acidic (especially with the lemon juice), which makes it safe for water bath canning.
More Tomato Season Recipes You’ll Love
We love tomatoes around here! Growing them, preserving them, and eating them. Here are some of our favorite ways to enjoy them:
- Have a comforting bowl of creamy tomato basil soup with a grilled cheese.
- Enjoy this smoked mozzarella bruschetta chicken that’s easy to make and a summertime favorite.
- This tomato tart feels and looks fancy…but it really, REALLY isn’t.
- Cucumber and tomato salad is refreshing and so easy.
Printable Recipe
Pizza Sauce for Canning
Equipment
- Food mill or blender
- Ladle
- Funnel
- Mason jars with lids and bands
Ingredients
- 10 pounds ripe tomatoes peeled and seeded
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon summer savory
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon sugar optional, to taste
- 2 small bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons bottled lemon juice
Instructions
- Prepare the tomatoes. Start by blanching your tomatoes to remove the skins. Cut a small "x" on the bottom of each tomato and immerse them in boiling water for about a minute until the skins begin to peel away. Transfer them to an ice bath to cool.
- Crush the tomatoes. Once cooled, peel off the skins, remove the seeds, and crush the tomatoes by hand or with a food mill.
- Cook the garlic. In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add tomatoes. Stir in the crushed tomatoes and tomato paste. Mix until the paste is evenly distributed.
- Add seasonings. Add the basil, oregano, salt, pepper, sugar (if using), and bay leaves. Bring the mixture to a simmer.
- Simmer. Reduce the heat to low and let the sauce simmer uncovered for 2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally, until it reaches the desired consistency for pizza sauce.
- Prep for canning. While the sauce simmers, heat your mason jars. Wash the lids and bands in hot soapy water, the place them in hot water so they're ready when you need them.
- Add lemon juice. When the sauce is ready, remove the bay leaves and stir in the lemon juice.
- Fill jars. Ladle the hot pizza sauce into the hot mason jars using a funnel, leaving ½ inch of headspace.
- Wipe jars and apply lids. Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean cloth to ensure a good seal. Place the sterilized lids on the jars and screw on the bands until they are fingertip tight.
- Process. Process the jars in a boiling water bath for 35 minutes.
- Cool. Once the jars have been processed, remove the canner from the heat and let the jars sit for 5 minutes. Then use a jar lifter to carefully remove the hot jars. Place them on a cloth in a heat-safe area to cool for 12-24 hours. You should hear a 'ping' sound of the jars sealing.
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Notes
Nutrition
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