Super easy, no-fuss garden pasta sauce for easy dinners, the freezer, or for canning!

Tomato season. One of my very favorites. As a first year gardener, I had one goal. Grow and preserve enough tomatoes for an entire year. Tomatoes are easy to grow in an abundance, and very simple to preserve. I thought it was a great starter goal as we strive towards sustainability. Stay tuned to see if we accomplish that!

This recipe is so simple and really a great beginner recipe. Tomatoes have such a high acidity, they are safe to water-bath can. Meaning, you need very little equipment! Just some clean jars, lids, and any stock pot will do! I will add links to this recipe, so you know what my favorites are. Some of these are affiliate links, meaning we make a very small commission from them, at no additional charge to you, thank you for supporting our family.

Recipe Details:

Makes 4-5 quarts of pasta sauce
Prep time: 1 hour
Process time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

10-12 pounds of ripe tomatoes
3-4 mild peppers, we like bell peppers. Anaheim’s are great too
5 medium onions, white, yellow, or whatever you like
6-10 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup salt (more to adjust for flavor)
Black pepper, to taste
1/4 cup basil, fresh or dried
1/4 cup oregano, fresh or dried
1/4 cup parsley, fresh or dried
1/4 cup thyme, fresh or fried
1/4 cup sugar or adjust to your liking. *optional, I prefer my sauce with no sugar

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees
Wash and quarter all your tomatoes, onions, and peppers.
Peel your garlic
Add tomatoes to a roasting dish skin side up
Add peppers, onions, and garlic to a roasting dish *optional, but highly recommended for the flavor
Roast everything for 20-25 minutes at 400 degrees
Strain the water that has separated from the tomatoes
After discarding the water, add the tomatoes to a large stock pot with the roasted peppers, onions, and garlic
Blend with an immersion blender, or a traditional blender
Strain the sauce with a food mill, or seed and skin sifter. I use this one *optional, but recommended
Keep your sauce over medium heat and mix in spices, herbs, and optional sugar if using
Adjust salt + pepper to taste
If you are going to use your sauce fresh, or store it in the freezer, it is ready to be used.
Simply cool it and store it in freezer safe containers
If you’re going to can your sauce, move to the next step

Canning your sauce:

Wash your quart size jars with soap and warm water
Ensure you have fresh flats and rings, i use these
I am using my digital pressure canner that has a water bath setting. I prefer this over using my gas stove in the heat of the summer. You do NOT need this. Any stock pot will work
Fill your stock pot with enough water to submerge the jars
Place your empty jars in, bring your canning water to a boil to heat the jars
Fill the hot jars with the hot pasta sauce (do NOT use cold jars with hot sauce, or hot jars with cold sauce, it can lead to breakage)
Leave one inch head space. My stainless steel canning funnel helps me measure head space, get one here
Clean your rims gently with vinegar, then place your flats on, and the rings on fingertip tight
If you need a step by step video tutorial, access one here
Using your jar tongs, Lower the jars into the boiling water, and make sure they are covered with 1 inch of water.
Process the quarts for 40 minutes from the point of a rolling boil
If you are over 1,000 ft altitude, increase your time by 5 minutes per 3,000 ft altitude, per the ball canning recommendations
Using your jar tongs, remove your boiling jars, and let them rest for 12-24 hours
After 24 hours, remove the rings and check the seals. The one’s with a good seal are ready for the pantry!

*Notes

*Roasting all your veggies is optional, but highly recommended. This adds an amazing flavor profile, and separates the water from the tomatoes for you, which cuts down significantly on cooking time.

*Adding sugar is optional, I choose not to

*Sifting your seeds and skins is optional, but I feel it makes a creamier sauce and prefer the flavor long term.

*If I have jars that do not seal first try, I will either process them for another 40 minutes, or I will freeze that sauce, if I don’t have time to re process.