Share the love

Jump to Recipe Jump to Video Print Recipe

crushed tomatoes — Don’t forget to add the lemon juice to the jars before canning

For some reason when we plant a garden, we never plant just 1 or 2 tomato plants. We end up planting a small army of tomato plants. We are looking for ways to can the tomatoes to use in recipes. Canning tomatoes is a bi-yearly event. We can enough to last a few years. Fresh canned food is best. Check out how we can crushed tomatoes.

Canning Tomatoes

Canning crushed tomatoes requires the water bath method. What this means is you are not putting the jars in a pressure cooker and processing the tomatoes. You are canning in water bath and boiling the jars for a certain amount of time. The tomatoes are processed in a large pot under water to cook the tomatoes.

We use crushed tomatoes in our chili, swiss steak, goulash, spaghetti and sometimes tomato soup.

What Size Jars Do You Can With?

Crushed tomatoes are still pretty chunky, so we put them in a quart jar instead of a pint. A quart jar has more volume (obviously) and it will allow you to save space in your cupboard as well.

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Canning Crushed Tomatoes

Canning crushed tomatoes is a great way to have tomatoes on hand when you need to make pasta sauce, chili & more. Speed up cooking meals.

Course: Canning

Cuisine: American

Author: Regina Sober

Equipment

Ingredients

lemon juice or citric acid
washed tomatoes

Instructions

Blanching Tomatoes

Boil the lids to sterilize (until the water boils).
Blanch the tomatoes using the strainer pot and place in a bowl or another pot (allow to cool, these can be hot!)
Remove the stem and skin from the tomatoes.
Cut into half or quarters and place into a 5 quart pan.
Stir occasionally and mash with the potato masher.
Once the tomatoes come to a boil, remove from heat.

Canning Tomatoes

In in quart add 1/2 teaspoon citric acid or 2 Tablespoons lemon juice into each jar.
If using pints, put in 1/4 teaspoon citric acid or 1 Tablespoon lemon juice into each jar.
Fill the jars with the tomatoes, leaving a 1 inch head space.
optional: You can add 1/2 teaspoon salt in pints or 1 teaspoon salt in quarts.
Clean the top of the jars with a clean towel or wet cloth.
Place the seal and band on the jar and tighten slightly.
Place the jars in the canner with hot water and cover. (water should be 1" over top of jars)
Allow the water to boil and keep in water bath for 35 minutes for pints and 45 minutes for quarts.
Remove the jars and place on the counter to cool.
Place a towel around the jars to allow them to slowly cool.
Once cooled, write the date and what is in the jar on the lid with a sharpie marker.

Video

What Kind of Tomatoes Do You Crush?

We use a canning tomatoes like Arkansas Travelers, Beefeaters. You want a tomato that is meaty. If you are planting them yourself, read the details on the tag on what the tomatoes are good for. Canning tomatoes state they are good for canning.

What Do You Make With Your Canned Tomatoes?

You can make a rustic tomato soup, add them into chili, pasta sauce or put them into goulash. Wherever a recipe calls for crushed tomatoes, these work perfectly.