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    Home » Recipes

    The Easiest and Simplest Way to Can Tomatoes

    Published: Mar 21, 2020 · Modified: Jul 11, 2021 by Aimee Burmester · This post may contain affiliate links · 28 Comments

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    Canning tomatoes is a great way to preserve summer's bounty and enjoy your garden flavors into the winter. This is the method I use to can tomatoes with little effort and as little mess as possible.

    I moved to South Dakota ten years ago, and almost immediately after moving, my mom and dad started to call me Laura Ingalls Wilder.

    Why? Because I lived in the middle of nowhere.

    On a farm.

    And I canned. Everything.

    I became so fascinated with growing and harvesting and storing my own vegetables, that I HAD TO LEARN TO CAN.


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    So I taught myself from the youtube and other amazing bloggers (thank you all for sharing your knowledge.)

    Related: How to Can Strawberry Jam

    Not only was it budget friendly, but I could also control what was in my food.

    My favorite thing to can is tomatoes.

    The Easiest and Simplest Way to Can Tomatoes, Simple Tomato Canning, Tomato Canning Tips, Canning

    Since I started canning years ago, I’ve learned a few tricks and tips, and I want to share with you now the quickest, easiest, and laziest way to can tomatoes.

    Step One: Prep Your Tomatoes & Preheat your oven

    To start, you need tomatoes (duh). I will be honest, I have used a couple different types of tomato. I have used Big Boys and Romas and San Marzanos, and I definitely choose San Marzanos over any other type (you can read about that here), but Romas are just as good and easier to come by. They also grow easier in the Midwest.

    The easiest and simplest way to can tomatoes

    Big Boys, also called fat boys, grow really well in the Midwest, however, they have more water in them compared to San Marzanos and Romas. San Marzanos and Romas are meaty, very few seeds, and not much water. Big Boy might not matter much now as you’re reading, but later, when you try your hand at canning you’ll understand why I choose a meatier tomato. A tomato with less water takes less time to cook down and you don’t have as much “shrinkage,” in your final product.

    Today, because it’s March (in South Dakota), and I’m using this opportunity to teach someone how to can, I purchased my tomatoes from the grocery store. I’m using roma tomatoes. Like I said before they are not my favorite, but they work very well for canning. They are meaty and low on water.

    I preheat my oven to 350 degrees, and then take the stems off all the tomatoes and rinse them.

    Once rinsed, I halve all the tomatoes and place them cut side down on my aluminum foil-lined sheet pan. I drizzle olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic powder, and onion powder over all the tomatoes.

    The Easiest and Simplest Way to Can Tomatoes, Simple Tomato Canning, Tomato Canning Tips, Canning

    Step Two: Bake your tomatoes

    This is the sheet pan I like to use for baking. They are thick and sturdy and can fit a ton of tomatoes on them. I have two of them so that when I’m canning a large batch of tomatoes, I can always have one in the oven so I can speed up my process.

    Bake the tomatoes for about 40 minutes, then let cool about the same time. Cooking them in the oven begins the cooking process and helps the skin detach itself from the rest of the tomato. You will see the skins start to peel back and crack. That’s exactly what we want.

    Let the tomatoes cool. Once cooled, simply pull the skins off the meat. You have literally removed all the tomato skins without a single water bath. SO. EASY.

    Now that the tomatoes are done in the oven, turn the oven down to 200 degrees, and place your jars in there.

    The Easiest and Simplest Way to Can Tomatoes, Simple Tomato Canning, Tomato Canning Tips, Canning

    Step Three: Cook down your sauce

    After the skins are removed, I place all my tomatoes in my favorite pot, my enameled cast iron dutch oven, aka the Black Mamba of my kitchen. I use it to cook EVERYTHING. Just yesterday I used it to bake bread, brown some ground beef and make this sauce. It’s so freaking versatile.

    The Easiest and Simplest Way to Can Tomatoes, Simple Tomato Canning, Tomato Canning Tips, Canning

    I add garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt, pepper, and allow them to cook some of the water out.  I don’t measure any of those things; I probably should.

    I break up my tomatoes while they cook with this mix and chop tool. While most people use a mix and chop tool to break up ground meats, it actually helps to break up the tomatoes with it as well because it speeds the cooking process along by breaking down the tomatoes quicker.

    The Easiest and Simplest Way to Can Tomatoes, Simple Tomato Canning, Tomato Canning Tips, Canning

    Here is another one of my tomato canning cheats: I don’t water bath my jars. I was them in my dishwasher and use the sanitize cycle, then I put them in my oven at 200 degrees to keep them hot. I do boil my lids and rings so those are hot and sterilized, but using the dishwasher is such a clutch move. It keeps everything hot and food safe.


    The Easiest and Simplest Way to Can Tomatoes, Simple Tomato Canning, Tomato Canning Tips, Canning

    Step Four: Add Tomatoes to Jars

    Once everything is hot, and the tomatoes have cooked down to my desired “doneness,” I scoop them into the hot jars. I use Ball pint size jars for this recipe, and while I didn’t have any on hand this day, I prefer using the wide mouth jars because it is easier to scoop my sauce into.

    Normally, I will also use this canning kit from Ball, but because I was just doing a small batch, I didn't get out all my canning supplies. I definitely recommend this kit, however, because it has all the tools you need to move your food to jars the quickest and cleanest way.

    If you're looking for a list of essential canning supplies, check out this post: The Essential Canning Checklist to Get Started Canning

    The Easiest and Simplest Way to Can Tomatoes, Simple Tomato Canning, Tomato Canning Tips, Canning

    I add a bay leaf to each jar (don’t forget to take the bay leaf out later when you go to eat the ‘maters), and I leave at least a quarter inch of space in the top of each jar, wipe off the rim, then place the lid on, and twist on the ring.

    The Easiest and Simplest Way to Can Tomatoes, Simple Tomato Canning, Tomato Canning Tips, Canning

    Step Five: Let Jars Cool & Seal

    Then I flip my jars over and leave them to sit on my counter for 24 hours.

    The Easiest and Simplest Way to Can Tomatoes, Simple Tomato Canning, Tomato Canning Tips, Canning

    The best part of canning? Hearing the “pop” when the lids seal. Such satisfaction!

    I keep my jars of tomatoes for two years usually, and use them for everything: tomato sauce, additions to soups and stews, pizza sauce, chili base, anything that needs tomatoes.

    Tools I use to Can

    The investment in each batch of canned tomatoes is very minimal. There are some upfront costs to canning, but after purchasing the supplies initially, I’ve been able to use them over and over again. Here’s a list of the supplies I use nearly every time I can:

    • Wide Mouth Mason Jars
    • Baking Sheet
    • Canning Kit 
    • Dutch Oven
    • Large Stock Pot
    • Canning Rack
    • Extra rubber seal lids
    The Easiest and Simplest Way to Can Tomatoes, Simple Tomato Canning, Tomato Canning Tips, Canning

    Hope you enjoy!

    Step-by-step simple tomato canning

    Are you looking for other canning recipes? Check out these posts:

    Four Ingredient Strawberry Jelly Recipe

    Easy Pepper Jelly Recipe

    How to Make Small Batch Dill Pickles

    How to Can Pickles

    Simplest Way to Can Tomatoes
    Print Pin
    5 from 3 votes

    Canned Tomatoes

    Here is a basic recipe for canning tomatoes with very little mess
    Cuisine American
    Keyword canned tomatoes, canning tomatoes, tomato sauce
    Prep Time 1 hour
    Cook Time 45 minutes

    Equipment

    • Cookie Sheet
    • Dutch Oven
    • Wide Mouth Mason Jars with Metal Rings and Seals
    • Canning Equipment

    Ingredients

    • 20 Lbs Tomatoes makes between 7 and 8 pints
    • Garlic Powder or Minced Garlic
    • Alpine Seasoning
    • Bay Leaves
    • Olive Oil
    • Balsamic Vinegar
    • Onion Powder
    • Paprika
    • Salt & Pepper

    Instructions

    • Preheat oven to 350 degrees, wash and sanitize all jars, and then take the stems off all the tomatoes and rinse them.
    • Halve all the tomatoes and place them cut-side down on an aluminum foil-lined sheet pan. Drizzle olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic powder, and onion powder over all the tomatoes.
    • Bake the tomatoes for about 40 minutes, then let cool about the same time. Cooking them in the oven begins the cooking process and helps the skin detach itself from the rest of the tomato. You will see the skins start to peel back and crack which is perfect.
    • Turn oven down to 200 degrees, then place jars (just jars), in the oven to keep warm.
    • Let the tomatoes cool. Once cooled, simply pull the skins off the meat.
    • After the skins are removed, place tomatoes (in batches) in dutch oven. Add Alpine Touch and more garlic powder, and onion powder.
    • Allow tomatoes to cook down 10-20 minutes. At the same time, boil lids and metal rings from mason jars.
    • Once everything is hot, and the tomatoes have cooked down to my desired “doneness,” remove jars from oven one at a time and scoop tomatoes into the hot jars.
    • Add a bay leaf to each jar, and leave at least a quarter inch of space in the top of each jar, wipe off the rim, then place the lid on,and twist on the ring.
    • Flip jars over and leave them to sit on my counter for 24 hours to seal.

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      Recipe Rating




    1. Amber Register

      July 04, 2020 at 3:17 pm

      I’ve baked the tomatoes for 40 minutes at 200 but there’s no cracking in the skin? What did I do wrong?

      Reply
      • Aimee Burmester

        July 04, 2020 at 5:58 pm

        I am so sorry--thank you for catching that. I omitted/combined the step to cook tomatoes at 350, then heat jars to 200. I'm so sorry!

        Reply
      • Dianna

        August 24, 2020 at 6:35 pm

        You bake them at 350. The 200 temp is to keep the jars hot.

        Reply
    2. Destiny

      August 09, 2020 at 11:17 am

      How long do these last for?? Is refrigeration required??

      Reply
      • Aimee Burmester

        August 09, 2020 at 1:52 pm

        These last quite a long time, Destiny. I actually just opened a two-year-old jar for spaghetti last week, and they were still good. You don't need to water bath as long as you heat the jars in the oven and boil the lids and ring, and make sure they are all hot when you put the tomatoes inside.

        Reply
    3. Jaime

      August 11, 2020 at 1:03 am

      Do you need fresh or Dried bay leaves?

      Reply
      • Aimee Burmester

        August 12, 2020 at 7:20 am

        I always just use the dry bay leaves that come in jars.

        Reply
      • Sara

        August 25, 2020 at 1:38 am

        I’m so curious—how is it safe to not water bath the full jars? I’m really new to canning and thought you always had to do that for things that wouldn’t be refrigerated, or maybe you do refrigerate the finish product and I missed that somewhere? I also thought canned tomatoes needed some added citric acid to ensure the acidity is high enough?

        Reply
        • Aimee Burmester

          August 25, 2020 at 6:49 am

          Hi Sara,

          I have done this recipe both ways, with and without waterbathing. I keep my jars hot in my oven and my lids hot in boiling water until I fill them and seal them, and I have never had issues with shelf life. Earlier this week I had tomatoes that I had canned last summer without waterbathing. I have never gotten sick from this method, however, if you want to water bath you definitely can.

          Reply
          • Catherine Rivera

            September 26, 2020 at 10:15 pm

            5 stars
            I made this recipe except I did water bath. I use the same method of putting my jars in the oven always. The flavor in your recipe is phenomenal. I made two trays of just plain tomatoes, and puréed them for tomatoe sauce ( I did try to take out some of the seeds). Your method is so easy.

            Reply
            • Aimee Burmester

              October 02, 2020 at 5:26 pm

              I am SO GLAD this method worked for you! Thanks for letting me know!

    4. Mary

      August 11, 2020 at 9:23 pm

      Have you tried this method with salsa?

      Reply
      • Aimee Burmester

        August 12, 2020 at 7:21 am

        Yes, you can definitely do the vegetables in the oven this way, but when I do salsa, I add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice to every quart jar to make sure the acidity is correct. Then I also ALWAYS waterbath my salsa for 30-35 minutes.

        Reply
    5. Jennifer

      August 27, 2020 at 1:40 pm

      I can’t wait to try this but, I’m having a hard time finding the Alpine seasoning. Is there a substitute?

      Reply
      • Aimee Burmester

        August 30, 2020 at 10:25 am

        Yes! Alpine Touch Seasoning is a blend of seasonings that's made in Montana. In South Dakota its common, but I'm sure its hard to find in other parts of the country. There's a link in my blog to buy it online, but you could use any salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, etc. seasoning.

        Reply
        • Catherine Rivera

          September 26, 2020 at 10:17 pm

          5 stars
          Alpine seasoning is similar in taste to adobo.

          Reply
    6. Heidi

      August 28, 2020 at 4:38 pm

      5 stars
      Can I do this canning method with regular pasta sauce with all my fresh garden ingredients? Obviously without any meat..

      Reply
      • Aimee Burmester

        August 30, 2020 at 10:22 am

        Yes! Absolutely use your fresh garden ingredients!

        Reply
    7. Suzy Robinson

      August 28, 2020 at 5:51 pm

      What is Alpine Seasoning?

      Reply
      • Aimee Burmester

        August 30, 2020 at 10:25 am

        Alpine Touch Seasoning is a blend of seasonings that's made in Montana. In South Dakota its common and easy to find, but I'm sure its hard to find in other parts of the country. There's a link in my blog to buy it online, but you could use any salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, etc. seasoning.

        Reply
        • Lindi Phillips

          February 28, 2021 at 4:05 am

          Hi I love roasted tomatoes I have a Roasted Garlic and Tomato soup that I make. Anyway l live in the southern Hemisphere and I'm not sure what Alpine seasoning, I ve not heard of it before, I'm really hoping it's not chilli or spice related. I am allergic to chilli. Thankyou in advance... 🤩😊🌻

          Reply
          • Aimee Burmester

            March 03, 2021 at 9:03 pm

            Hello! Alpine Touch Seasoning is a salt blend that is made in Montana! You can find it and buy it here: https://www.alpinetouch.com/

            Reply
    8. Lori

      August 30, 2020 at 5:36 pm

      Hello if I don’t have balsamic vinegar can I omit it? Or do you need it .. would white vinegar be sufficient?

      Reply
      • Aimee Burmester

        September 03, 2020 at 7:45 pm

        Hi! I would just omit it!Thanks for stopping by!

        Reply
    9. Leticia Margarita Christopherson

      September 01, 2020 at 4:13 pm

      As a native South Dakotan but now Oregonian I was pleasantly surprised to stumble to your recipe. I love gardening but have never tried canning and I don't know how to start so this is perfect for me. I have onions, pepper, and jalapenos from my garden that I want to add. Do I cook them all up with the tomatoes? You don't refrigerate but where do suggest they be stored, somewhere cool? How long does it last once you open it? Sorry for all my questions but thank you!

      Reply
      • Aimee Burmester

        September 03, 2020 at 7:44 pm

        Hi! I love that you reached out! My boyfriend is originally from Corvallis, Ore., so I love the small worldness! 🙂 With your produce from the garden: cook that right along with the sauce and put it in your jars. However, I do recommend waterbathing it if you're putting other veggies in with the tomatoes. No need to refrigerate. I give this recipe a shelf life of about 18 months, but I have had jars last longer. Happy canning!

        Reply
    10. Julia

      September 16, 2020 at 3:25 pm

      Hi! Have you used quart size jars for this recipe?

      Reply
      • Aimee Burmester

        September 18, 2020 at 6:05 am

        Hi! Yes! You can use quart jars on this recipe!

        Reply

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    Aimee Burmester About Me Photo aimeeburmester.com

    Hi, I'm Aimee! I'm an elder millennial who wants to try everything! My goal is to help you enjoy the balanced elder millennial life full of good food & drink, travel, financial security, and a comfortable home. I hope you'll follow along!

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