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I’ve canned a lot of tomato sauce recipes over the last decade in search of a universal pasta sauce recipe that you can use for homemade pizzas, spagehetti, lasagna, you name it!
I’ve made recipes from Mennonite cookbooks, friends favorites, and this marinara sauce (that is also delicious)!
However, nothing beats this recipe! This has got to be my favorite pizza sauce recipe ever, because it does really taste like the store-bought stuff, if not better!
To me, that’s huge! If I don’t have to buy jarred pasta, pull it off my shelf, and if it tastes compatible to store-bought sauce, that’s a win-win!
This my friends, is what pizza sauce should taste like! Sweet and tangy. Aromatic from all the dried spices (basil being dominate). Delicious and vibrant red!
Did I mention that it can be made from fresh garden tomatoes or store diced tomatoes? I’ve tried both and it works great! Either way this stuff will replace the watered-down jarred stuff!
Homemade Canned Pizza Sauce
Homemade pizza sauce is one of my favorite canning recipes that I make sure to restock whenever I’m low!
You will not regret making this delicious home-canned pizza sauce! I have to give a shout out to my friend Monica, who shared this recipe with me.
It’s actually, interesting now, that I’m mentioning this. But, she had brought these Pizza-roll-ups (popular on the blog), when our families ate supper together, using this pizza sauce.
I tell you, that pizza sauce tasted so good (I think I even thought it was store-bought pizza sauce), but nope, she said it was homemade!
Well, today I’m sharing that same pizza sauce recipe she had brought over, years ago. I hope you will enjoy it just as much as we do! Happy canning!
P.S. Water bath canning is so easy! It’s really just boiling jars in hot water, I’ll get into all the details below if you’re a beginner!
How To Make Canned Pizza Sauce:
Let’s walk through how to canned pizza step-by-step. Make sure you have all the ingredients and tomato products before starting.
Make the Crushed Tomatoes
The first step to making canned pizza sauce is making sure you have all the tomato products on hand. Cook fresh tomatoes first, if you need to crush them with a stick blender or use home-canned tomato juice, or diced tomato puree.
Either ones will work for making the “crushed tomatoes”.
However, you will want to use store-bought canned tomato sauce and paste to make a superior product at home.
Sauté the Garlic
In a large kettle, sauté the garlic until fragrant. This brings out the garlic aroma. Then add a finely chopped onion and cook it until it’s soft.
Next, add the dried herbs and seasonings followed by all the tomato products.
Crushed tomatoes work as the base. The tomato sauce will make this a vibrant red pizza sauce, and the tomato paste acts like a thickener.
Simmer the Sauce
Slowly bring this mixture to a boil at medium heat and let it boil 10 minutes, stirring often. Reduce to low, and simmer covered, for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
The simmering will help thicken the pizza sauce and soak up all the flavors from the herbs.
Canning Pizza Sauce
Once the sauce has simmered long and slow, it’s time to process the pizza sauce for longer storage.
Wash all your pint jars under hot soapy water or run them through the”sanitize cycle” in your dish washer.
Arrange all the clean jars upright and put a funnel in a jar. Place the pot of pizza sauce nearby on a heat pad and start ladling the pizza sauce into each jar to the head space (not reaching the neck of the jar).
Cap each jar with a lid and band. Shut the band finger-tight (important so it doesn’t burst open in the water bath).
Place jars in a large canner (I use my 24-quart kettle), and cover pint jars with an inch or two of water. This pizza sauce recipe makes about 12 pints.
Bring the water to a boil and water bath the jars for 25 minutes.
Remove jars using a jar lifter and place them on the counter to cool. Check seals after 24 hours. I like to line my counter top with a kitchen towel before placing jars on top.
After water bath canning, I also like to screw shut any loose bands to help them seal better. But you have to be very careful and never do this on pressure canned goods.
Checking Lids
In the morning check the lids for seals. Simply press down the center of each jar to detect if they vacuumed sealed shut or not. If you hear a click, the jar didn’t seal. I like to buy these Superb lids (they pretty much always seal good for me).
If you have any pizza sauce jars that didn’t seal, place them in the fridge and try to use them up within a week.
If you have too many that didn’t seal (it could be for various reasons like bad lids, low acidity, etc…) you can try re-canning them with an addition of citric acid, lemon juice, or vinegar.
For example, if I have 4 jars that didn’t seal after a water bath, I’d add a tsp of lemon juice or vinegar and re-do the water bath process. If using citric acid add 1/4 tsp.
This pizza sauce recipe works great though, I don’t think I’ve ever had more than one not seal properly. So, I wouldn’t worry about that.
Well, I hope you see how easy it is to can pizza sauce. Leave a comment below if you tried this! I’d love to hear your feedback!
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Canned Pizza Sauce Recipe
Equipment
- 1 24 quart kettle, (or canner)
- 1 6-quart pot, (for making pizza sauce or use the 24-quart kettle and just wash it before water bath canning)
Ingredients
- 4 liters tomato juice*, see notes
- 4 Tbsp olive oil
- 6 cloves garlic, (1 T heaping minced)
- 1 onion
- 24 oz tomato sauce
- 28 oz tomato paste
- 5 tsp dried basil
- 5 tsp dried parsley
- 2 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 5 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 5 tsp Italian seasoning
- 5 tsp garlic salt
Instructions
- In a large pot, sauté garlic in oil until fragrant. Add onion and cook until soft (about 10 minutes). Add seasonings and tomato products. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce to low and simmer covered for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
- Ladle pizza sauce into pint jars leaving a 1-inch head space (to the neck of the jars). Cover with a lid and twist bands finger-shut.
- Place jars into a canner (or large 24-quart pot) and cover with 1-2 inches of lukewarm warm tap water. Bring to a boil and then time and water bath for 25 minutes.
- Check lids after 24 hours. If jars sealed, store on the shelf for years!
Notes
- I remove the bands after checking for seals (12-24 hours).
- This pizza sauce recipe makes about 12 pints. It can keep stored in a cool dark place (like a canning shelf) for months or years if sealed properly.
- **Tomato juice is pureed garden tomatoes that have been cooked to a mushy consistency and then pureed. You can use store-boughed crushed tomatoes. I like to use canned diced tomatoes when garden tomatoes are out of season and just puree that in the can, to make 4 liters of tomato juice.
- Store any unsealed jars in the fridge for up to a week or freeze.
Nutrition (per serving)
Tried this recipe?
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