Easy Recipe for Canning Stewed Tomatoes

One of the best ways to preserve summer flavor to use all year long is by canning stewed tomatoes. If you haven’t tried it yet, this easy tutorial is for you!

One of the best things about summer is vine-ripe tomatoes, and I don’t know about you, but I always have the urge to preserve them in every way I can – because the flavor of greenhouse tomatoes in January, just isn’t the same.

One of my favorites is stewed tomatoes. they’re incredibly handy. Similar to diced tomatoes, but with some added flavor, and a little extra body.

Stewed tomatoes are essentially fresh tomatoes that have been cooked down a bit (stewed) with seasonings, making a flavorful, aromatic, chunky, sauce base. Use them in soups, stews, sauces, and casseroles.

We haven’t always had success growing tomatoes in the middle of summer heat, since tomatoes stop pollinating once the temperature consistently exceeds 90ºf, but we’ve had a milder, and wetter, summer than usual this year, and it’s been a dream.

It’s been a good year for canning tomatoes!

Ingredients for canning stewed tomatoes

• Ripe tomatoes
• Onion
• Celery
• Peppers (bell or poblano)
• Salt
• Sugar
• Lemon juice

All of these are either a base ingredient (tomatoes), a flavor ingredients (onion, celery, peppers, salt), or a preservation ingredients (salt, sugar, lemon juice).

Like all canning recipes, this one is formulated for safe canning. For tomatoes, this usually means adding lemon juice or citric acid to lower the ph of the tomatoes, to put it in a range that inhibits the growth of undesirable bacteria. Sugar also helps lower the ph, and salt retards bacteria growth as well. See more information at NCHFP. 

You can (and should) use bottled lemon juice for canning, as it has a standardized ph. You can also substitute citric acid where lemon juice is called for at a rate of 1/4 teaspoon to each tablespoon of lemon juice.

Tips for prepping your vegetables

Select ripe tomatoes. The riper they are, the easier they will peel.

But don’t overdo it and end up using mushy, past-their-prime tomatoes. Those can be very difficult to work with.

Blanch the tomatoes. This means dipping them in boiling water for 30-90 seconds (depending on the ripeness) to loosen the skins, and then rinsing quickly under cold water to stop the cooking. When properly blanched, skins should slip right off. If the tomatoes were underripe, or for whatever reason, don’t slip their skins, slip your paring knife under the skin, hold on with your thumb, and pull the skin off in sections.

Use a food processor to chop onions and peppers to save time. This saves a lot of time when canning large batches of stewed tomatoes.

Canning supplies

In order to can, you need… canning supplies!

Home canning tomatoes is actually easy though. since tomatoes are considered a high-acid fruit, we use a boiling water bath to can them, rather than a pressure canning.

So while your processing times may vary a bit depending on your altitude, there’s not need to worry about high pressure canners.

You just need a kettle that’s tall enough to cover the jars, plus a couple inches, and a rack to go inside the kettle.

You can order a handy water bath canning kettle with the rack on Amazon, or use a stock pot and rack from a pressure canner, the canning section at a grocery store, etc.

You will also need canning jars. I usually can my tomatoes products in pint jars. Occasionally, I use half pint jars, but in my little family, we seldom need a quart of tomato products.

In any case, any mason jar you have will get the job done. I have multiple different brands, and I can’t say one seals better than the other. Now with lids, it’s a different story.

You’ll also need lids. Most new jars come with new lids. Eventually though, or if you bought your jars at a thrift store or estate sale, you will probably need to buy replacements.

For new jars, I just use the lids that came with the jars, with the exception of Great Value brand. those lids, in my experience, are the worst.

For replacements, I like to order Denali canning lids in bulk. These lids are guaranteed to seal, and sure enough, they haven’t failed me yet in the years I’ve been using them (except that time a jar broke in the canner).

In addition to a canner, jars, and lids, you may also want to get a canning funnel, which will make filling jars faster and cleaner, and a jar lifter, also known as canning tongs, for getting your jars out of the canner while they’re still hot – or at least warmer than you’re comfortable dipping your hand into.

Recipe for canning stewed tomatoes

1. Blanch tomatoes by heating 2-3 quarts of water to a boil, and dipping tomatoes, working in batches, into the water until skin begins to split. This should take about 60 seconds.
   
   
2. Remove tomatoes from boiling water, and rinse under cold water to stop cooking process.
3. Slip loose skins from tomatoes, core, and chop roughly.
4. Finely dice celery, onion, and green peppers.
5. Add to a large pot with tomatoes, sugar, and salt.
   
   
6. Heat tomato mixture over medium heat, stirring occasionally until mixture begins to simmer.
7. Simmer for 20 minutes.
8. While tomatoes are simmering, prepare canning supplies, including preparing your water bath canner with warm to hot water.
9. Remove tomatoes from heat, and ladle into canning jars.
   
   
10. Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to each pint of stewed tomatoes.
11. Wipe rims with a soft cloth to remove any debris.
12. Screw down lids and rings firmly.
13. Process in water bath canner fro 40 minutes.
14. After processing time is done, remove from heat and let cool. One the conservative side, wait 30 minutes to remove lid from canner (removing the lid helps speed cooling), and another few hours before removing jars from canner.
15. Note on handling hot jars: This can be dangerous as extremely hot jars can break, or even explode. I advise waiting until jars are fairly cool to remove the jars, but during canning season, you may need your canner for another batch asap. In that case, use a jar lifter to remove jar, covering the jar with a towel as it comes out of the water bath. this will help protect it from drafts, and you from any scalding splatter and glass should the jar break.
16. Place hot jar on a towel-lined surface, and cover with a second towel immediately. Only lift that towel to add another jar until jars are cooled.
17. After 24 hours, time to check the seals, wash the jars if needed, and store in a cool place out of direct light.

Other tomato recipes for you:

• Canning tomato soup
• Canning cherry tomatoes
• How to make and can salsa
• Easy homemade tomato sauce

 

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