Homemade Pasta Sauce Recipe: Freezing or Canning

Spaghetti, lasagna, linguini, tortellini, rotini… the list can go on and on with all these delicious pastas. And what better topping for pasta than a delicious homemade pasta sauce? From garden to canning, to plate, we will turn those juicy red tomatoes into the perfect sauce for your next pasta night!

Making the Sauce

There are endless options for making pasta sauce, in this recipe, we will be using tomato puree to start our process. Check out my post here for steps on how to make tomato puree.

In a large stock pot, bring 24 cups of tomato puree to a simmer and add our spices and seasonings to the pot. Let the sauce simmer to soak up all those yummy flavors until the puree has reduced to your desired thickness.

• 2 TBSP Garlic Powder
• 2 TBSP Onion Powder
• 1 1/2 TBSP Italian Seasoning
• 1/2 tsp Red pepper flakes
• 3 Bay Leaves
• 2 TBSP salt
• 1 TBSP pepper

Now that your kitchen smells like a 5-star Italian restaurant, you can dish yourself up a plate of spaghetti and enjoy your pasta sauce! I imagine you are not going to eat this entire batch in one sitting, so next we can talk about how to preserve your sauce.

Preserving the Sauce

Canning

My favorite option is to can my sauce in pint jars which is about the perfect amount for our family. This makes it so easy to grab for a quick meal not having to worry about thawing my sauce.

Prep

Keep your sauce at a low simmer. Fill your water bath canner partway with water and bring to a boil. I like to add a splash of vinegar to my canner to help prevent hard water buildup on my jars.

In a separate kettle, bring enough water to submerge your jars to a boil for sanitizing.

While your canner is heating, wash your jars, rings, and lids in hot soapy water. I typically leave my jars in my hot soapy water until I am ready to fill them. When I am ready to fill, I rinse the jar well, and place it in the separate kettle of boiling water with a ring and lid. This will sanitize and ensure your jar is hot before filling it with hot sauce. Remember, hot food needs hot jars.

Filling Jars

Once you are ready to fill your jars, remove the jar from boiling water. Add 1 TBSP (pint jar) or 2 TBSP (quart jar) of bottled lemon juice to the hot jar. Using a canning funnel, fill jars with hot pasta sauce leaving 1/2 inch of headspace. Swirl a bubble popper to remove any air bubbles in your jars. Wipe rims clean with a damp cloth and carefully center your lid on your jar, ensuring the rubber seal is touching all the way around. Place your ring on your jar only finger tight so the air can release as it cans.

Canning

Once your jar is filled, immediately place it on your canning rack. Once your canner is full, carefully lower the rack into the water. If you do not have enough jars of sauce to fill your canner, you can add empty jars or jars filled with water to help hold everything in place. You will want to have your jars fully submerged with about 1″ of water above them. Once your canner is at a rolling boil, you will start your timer. You will process pint jars for 35 minutes at 1,000 feet altitude. Please note your altitude and adjust your time as needed!

After Processing is Complete

Find a location to set your jars where they will be out of the way and undisturbed, lay out a towel. Once you have processed your jars for the required time, lift the canning rack out of the water. Carefully remove each jar using a jar lifter and place on the towel, being mindful not to tip your jar. Gently cover all the jars with a light towel and let the jars sit untouched. As the jars cool, you will hear some “popping” sounds as the jars seal. After 12-24 hours, check the seals on your jars by gently pressing on the center of your lids, if they flex up and down, it means your jar did not seal. You can put that jar in the fridge and use within a week. Remove the rings from all your sealed jars, date and label your jars, and store them in a cool, dark place. Be sure to use your canned goods within 12-18 months.

Freezing

If you do not have a canner, you are also able to freeze this sauce. For freezing, you will want to let your sauce cool, I bring mine down to about room temperature or cooler, add to freezer-safe containers/jars leaving about 1″ of headspace, and place in the freezer. Easy peasy! When it comes time to serve the sauce, I prefer to let mine thaw in the fridge, or if I am running short on time, I run warm water over the container enough so I can pop the sauce out of the container and into a saucepan to heat. I have found with freezing pasta sauce, it can become freezer burnt with time, so I try to use it up relatively quickly if I am freezing it.

Pasta Sauce Recipe

Ingredients

• 24 cups reduced & pureed tomatoes
• 2 TBSP Garlic Powder
• 2 TBSP Onion Powder
• 1 1/2 TBSP Italian Seasoning
• 1/2 tsp Red pepper flakes
• 3 Bay Leaves
• 2 TBSP salt
• 1 TBSP pepper
• 12 TBSP bottled lemon juice

Instructions

1. In a large stock pot, heat tomato puree on low-medium heat. If you are starting from fresh tomatoes, go here to learn how to puree your tomatoes.
2. Add garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, bay leaves, salt and pepper. Let simmer until the sauce has reduced to the desired thickness, stirring frequently.
3. Once sauce has reached your desired thickness, proceed by canning or freezing.

Canning

1. Fill water bath canner with water and start heating to a boil. You can add a splash of vinegar to prevent hard water buildup on your jars.
2. Wash in hot soapy water, rinse well, and sanitize jars lids and rings in boiling water.
3. While your jar is still hot, add 1 TBSP of bottled lemon juice to pint jar.
4. Using a funnel, ladle hot sauce into the hot jar, leaving 1/2″ headspace.
5. Swirl a bubble popper to remove any bubbles. Wipe rim with clean damp cloth and center a lid and ring, finger tight, onto the jar.
6. Place jar on water bath canner rack. Repeat until canner is full.
7. Lower canning rack and jars into water, ensuring jars are completely covered with at least 1″ of water.
8. Bring canner to a rolling boil, process for 35 minutes at 1,000 ft elevation or less. Be sure to check your elevation to add time if needed.
9. One processing is complete, carefully raise the rack out of the water. Using a jar lifter, remove each jar and gently place on a towel.
10. Cover all jars with lightweight towel and allow to sit untouched for 12-24 hours.
11. Check the seals after 12-24 hours by pressing on the center of the lid. If the lid flexes up and down, it did not seal properly. If that happened, store that jar in the fridge and use within a week.
12. Remove rings from jars, label, and store in a cool dark place. Use within 12-18 months.

Freezing

1. Allow sauce to cool to room temperature or cooler.
2. Ladle sauce into freezer-safe jars or containers, leaving at least 1″ of headspace.
3. Label and place upright in a freezer. Use within 3 months for best quality.

Let me know if you have any questions or thoughts, I love hearing from you!