Crock-Pot Tomato Sauce Recipe
INGREDIENTS
- 4 Pounds Fresh Tomatoes (After De-Seeding)
- 15 Ounces Bottled Lemon Juice
INSTRUCTIONS
- Cut the stem off each tomato, cut into quarters and then cut out as much of the seeds and excess juice as possible.
- Place prepared tomatoes in the bottom of a 6 quart or larger slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
- Using a slotted spoon, spoon the cooked tomatoes into the jar of a blender, leaving behind any excess liquid. (Dump out and discard any liquid from the slow cooker).
- Pulse the tomatoes in the blender a few times until you reach a puree.
- Add puree back into slow cooker and continue cooking, uncovered, until the sauce is as thick or as thin as you want it. I cooked mine for an additional 8 hours.
- Add 1 tablespoon on lemon juice to each cleaned and sterilized pint sized jar OR 2 tablespoons to each quart sized jar.
- Ladle tomato sauce into jars using a canning funnel to prevent spilling, leaving 1/2 inch of head-space.
- Use a plastic utensil or tool to place into the jar, to help the air bubbles to escape.
- Wipe off the top of each jar with a wet towel to wipe away any spillage.
- Place clean and new canning lids on each jar and screw on the rings until just finger-tight.
- Place the jars in warm water in a water bath canner on the stove-top.
- Turn the heat up under the water bath canning pot and allow the water to come to a full rolling boil. Place lid on the pot.
- For pint sized jars, process the jars for 35 minutes or 40 minutes for quart sized jars. Adjust the time accordingly if you are at an elevation above sea level.
- Times are quite uniform for tomato sauce, you just need to know your elevation.
NOTES
This recipe is designed for canning purposes and as such we do not recommend adding any other vegetables or meat to the sauce unless you plan on pressure cooking the sauce to make it safe to eat and store. Do not skip adding the bottled lemon juice to each jar either as this ensures that the tomato sauce is acidic enough to prevent botulism spores from growing in your canned tomato sauce. You can however add dried herbs to your tomato sauce after you have pureed it. If you want to make an Italian flavored tomato sauce add 1 tablespoon dried basil and 1 tablespoon dried oregano. This recipe will yield approximately 12 pints of sauce with a serving size of 1/2 cup.
NUTRITION
Calories: 34kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 0.4g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 15mg | Potassium: 395mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 1250IU | Vitamin C: 33.8mg | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 0.4mg