Alternative to Canning Tomatoes

An easy alternative to canning tomatoes.

Canning your own sauce is awesome for the freshness, but I hate canning. It’s hot, messy, and time consuming. Not to mention, buying the tools gets expensive.

An old friend of mine taught me this alternative way to canning tomato sauce. I’ve been doing it for years. It’s easy, I love it, and I want to share it with you. Even if you don’t have an overflowing garden of tomatoes (I don’t), go to your local farmer’s market and grab a bunch. That’s what I do.

Side note: I was playing around with Photoshop’s watercolor tool. Not sure I like it, but the photos kinda look artsy.

You’ll Need

18-20 quart stockpot
Immersion blender
8 gallon size freezer bags
20 pounds of fresh tomatoes (I used heirloom), quartered
1 1/2 cups of EVOO
2 large Spanish onions, quartered
1 (8 oz.) jar of marinade already peeled garlic, or 30 cloves of garlic
1 cup of basil, packed
1/4 cup of sugar
1 tablespoon of Sea Salt
1 tablespoon of Pepper

Let’s get started…

Tomato washing. If you buy from a farmer’s market, I wouldn’t worry about using any special vegetable wash. They usually do not use chemicals to help the growing process, but it’s always a good idea to ask. I just use warm water and a paper towel to wipe each one clean.

This recipe is also great for ‘no more tears.’ Instead of dicing your onions, chop your onions and tomatoes into big quarter size pieces.

No need to chop up or remove the stems from your basil, and I will show you why.

Fresh is best, but the point of this recipe is saving time. I use already peeled garlic to help me accomplish that goal.

Toss it all into an 18 to 20 quart stockpot. On the stove, bring it to a boil on high heat. Cover and reduce to medium heat. Let the tomatoes cook down for about 10 minutes.

By using an immersion blender you save time…

1. No fine chopping
2. No skinning the tomatoes
3. No long hours for it to all cook down

Using your immersion blender, start to blend all the ingredients together while it cooks. Warning: Do not lift hand tool out of the sauce while in use. Trust me. I’ve learned the hard way. Sigh.

Continue to blend for about five minutes.

Once everything is smooth and blended, bring sauce back to a boil, cover and reduce heat to simmer for about 30 minutes. If needed, add more salt and pepper to taste.

Make sure your sauce is smooth. If not, take the immersion blender back through the mixture.

Remove lid, and let cool until easy to handle.

I don’t know about you but I do not have much freezer space.

I like that the baggies can lay nicely on top of each other. Take a black sharpie and write on the gallon size freezer bags, Tomato Sauce and the date.  Put four cups into each bag. Sauce will store in your freezer for about six to eight months.

Recipe makes eight baggies. That is equal to eight 26 ounce store bought jars. This saves me $20, and the freshness is well worth the effort. This is an all purpose sauce to be used for any recipe needing tomato sauce.

Little time. Little money. Little mess. No preservatives. A fresh alternative.

#GL2E