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Homemade canned spaghetti sauce recipe with penne pasta.

Homemade Canned Spaghetti Marinara Sauce

Yield: 4 quarts
Prep Time: 2 hours
Cook Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 4 hours

Ingredients

  • 12 cups peeled, drained, and chopped tomatoes (see note)
  • 1 cup finely chopped green bell pepper, about 1 large pepper
  • 1 cup finely chopped red bell pepper, about 1 large pepper
  • 2 cups finely chopped white or yellow onions, about 3 medium onions
  • 3 cans (6-ounces each) tomato paste
  • ½ cup vegetable or canola oil
  • ¼ to ½ cup granulated or brown sugar
  • 3 tablespoons salt, I use canning salt, see note for options
  • 2 tablespoons finely minced garlic, about 6 cloves
  • 1 ½ tablespoons dried oregano
  • 1 ½ tablespoons dried basil
  • 1 ½ teaspoons dried parsley
  • 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 bay leaf
  • ½ cup bottled lemon juice

Instructions 

  • Combine all the ingredients except the lemon juice in a large 8-quart pot, stir to combine well, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 1 hour, stirring often. Take out the bay leaf and discard. For a smoother consistency, use an immersion blender or transfer the sauce to a blender to process until smooth (optional).
  • Pour 2 tablespoons of lemon juice into the bottom of sterilized, hot quart jars. Ladle in spaghetti sauce within 1/2-inch of the top. Wipe the rim of the jar with a clean, damp cloth. Place a canning lid and ring on each jar.
  • Process the spaghetti sauce in a water or steam bath canner for 40 minutes (add 5 minutes if you live at 1,001 to 3,000 feet - if you live at higher elevation than that, you'll want to use a water bath canner since steam bath canners shouldn't be used to process jars longer than 45 minutes).
  • Remove the jars carefully from the water or steam bath and let cool to room temperature. Check to make sure the jars have sealed correctly (lightly press the top of the lid; it should be firm - if the center bubbles up and down when you press on it, it hasn’t sealed correctly and will need to be refrigerated or re-processed).

Notes

Amount of Tomatoes: this recipe calls for 12 cups of peeled, drained, and chopped tomatoes. I used a mix of Roma and non-paste tomatoes (I think I have early girl variety in my garden) - about 60 tomatoes/18-19 pounds. Measuring the tomatoes after they have drained and been chopped (I use my food processor) will ensure accuracy for measuring and for canning safety - and it also will eliminate any variances if using different varieties of tomatoes.
Also, a quick note about the peppers, you can use 2 green peppers instead of 1 green/1 red or 2 red peppers. I prefer one of each for flavor. 
Salt: if you don’t have canning or pickling salt and/or would prefer not to buy it, you can use coarse, kosher salt (or experiment with table salt) but make sure it doesn’t have added iodine or any other additives.
Peeling Tomatoes: I don’t like messing with a water bath and bowl of ice water to peel the tomatoes; instead, I cut them in half and place them cut side down on a large baking sheet (really cram them in there in a single layer). Broil the tomatoes for 3-4 minutes until the skins begin to pucker. Once they come out of the oven, the skins will wrinkle and peel right off and the baking sheet is easily cleaned. See pictures in the post for a visual.
Easy Chopping: for easy and fast chopping, I throw the peppers, onion, and garlic in the food processor and process until finely chopped.
Canning Safety: as with all canning recipes, this recipe has been developed and tested specifically to make sure the pH level is safe for canning. Altering the ingredient amounts, particularly increasing low acid vegetables and decreasing tomatoes, can affect the pH making the recipe unsafe for canning. I have not canned this recipe in a pressure canner, but I have given details here about steam canners vs. water bath canners. Please do your own research to decide what method is best for you.
Steam Canning: the only canning processing method I use these days is steam bath canning. It is used to process high acidity foods (the same foods that can be processed in a water bath canner). I've given more details above in the post. However, since this recipe requires a longer processing time (and that increases even more with higher elevations), if you live about 3,000 feet elevation, you'll need to use a water bath canner instead of a steam bath canner to safely process this sauce. You can read more here. 
Doubling Recipe: this recipe can be doubled or tripled (make sure you have a big pot ready!) or halved.