Old Fashioned Canned Tomatoes. A great easy tutorial & recipe so you can capture the taste of Summer and enjoy during the Winter months!

Good Old Fashioned Canned Tomatoes. Oh boy! This is a wonderful family recipe, passed down through the generations and of course, when you can your own tomatoes, you get to lock in all the flavors right away!

The uses of canned tomatoes are endless! Use as a base for chili, pasta bakes, tomato soup, Spaghetti Bolognese, or have with a breakfast of sausages, bacon and eggs. The sky's the limit!

Here, JoJo has shared her very old family recipe for good old fashioned canned tomatoes, which she remembers doing together with her grandma when she was a child. Whilst tomatoes are cheap, in abundance and at their tastiest toward the end of Summer, then it's time to capture the goodness and can some, so at least come those Winter months, you can still have a taste of goodness and great tasting tomatoes.

This recipe is very easy, the only thing you really must be sure of is to make sure your jars are sterilized properly in order for the food within to keep bacteria free over the coming months. So let's see how we can make Grandma's Old Fashioned Canned tomatoes!

Recipe by JoJo Lanthier and various sources, see end of recipe for further details.

Instructions

1. Place the tomatoes in a bowl of boiling water for a couple of minutes. Then drain.
Use a sharp knife to pierce the skin then peel the skins, cut the tomatoes into quarters over a bowl (to catch any juice) and remove the stem part.

2. Place the tomatoes into pre-sterilized jars together with a basil leaf, ½ teaspoon of salt, and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Fill the jars ¾ full with the tomatoes. Using a wooden spoon, push down gently on the tomatoes to remove any excess air bubbles.

Then any excess juice you may have from cutting the tomatoes, add to the jars, leaving ½ inch of space at the top.

Instructions on using Mason Jars for canning

NOTES:

You can also add some other herbs or peppers etc in with the tomatoes, but I like to make them plain and then add extras when I am going to cook a meal.

Canning Guide

1. Fill the hot boiled jars with the ingredients as outlined above. Leave a space of about ¼ inch (0.5 cm) of top of jar. Wipe jar rim removing any food residue. Centre hot sealing disc on clean jar rim. Screw band down. Place jars back in the canner (boiling pot).

Ensure that all jars are covered by at least one inch (2.5 cm) of water. Cover canner and bring water to full rolling boil before starting to count processing time. At altitudes up to 1000 ft (305 m), process – boil filled jars – 40 minutes.

2. When processing time is complete, turn stove off, remove canner lid, wait 5 minutes, then remove jars without tilting and place them upright on a protected work surface. Cool upright, undisturbed 24 hours; DO NOT RETIGHTEN screw bands.

3. After cooling check jar seals. Sealed discs curve downward and do not move when pressed. Remove screw bands; wipe and dry bands and jars.

Store screw bands separately or replace loosely on jars, as desired. Label and store jars in a cool, dark place. For best quality, use home canned foods within one year.

Note : I boil by jars before and after. Also altitude is important.
This is the altitude chart for guidance, Click HERE to see it.

The ingredients proportions are from Bernardin. The jars come with a little recipe book sometimes and fruit proportion has been taken from there as well as some of the boiling instructions.

NOTE: Please be aware that recipes shared by readers of this page are not endorsed, checked or tested by Lovefoodies. Always follow USDA home canning recommendations.

We'd love to hear from you and what you thought of our post. Did you make any changes or add some other goodies? Let us know in the comments below. Thanks for reading and happy cooking!

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