Tomatoes—every backyard garden needs a few plants. You can grow all sizes, shapes, and colors to suit your palate! Tomatoes are one of the easiest veggies to preserve! Let me show you how to make Marinara Sauce.

In the busy summer/fall days when I don’t have time to process all the tomatoes; I freeze them in buckets in my freezers. I fit a 5 gallon bucket in my freezer—it is amazing what you can fit in a freezer when you want to. As the tomatoes ripen I remove the stems and just put them in the buckets whole….not cutting or slicing. When the bucket is full, I start another one! I add the leafy parts of celery, leftover onions, and pepper pieces into the bucket as well.

In the late fall early winter when I have the time…I remove the buckets from the freezer. They are left to thaw for 48 hours or until the tomatoes are completely thawed. See all the liquid that has accumulated. I 5 gallon bucket of tomatoes will make this recipe.

I removed the thawed tomatoes and strain the liquid from them. What I have left is the pulpy part of the tomatoes. I blend the tomatoes until they are very smooth. My blender does not get the seeds and skins fine enough so I still put the blended pulp through a Foley Mill.

I have my Foley Mill setting on an 18 quart kettle. Can you see how thick the pulp is?

The tomato pulp is so thick…you can mound it with a spoon. You will not need to cook your sauce as long since it is so thick. This is why I love to freeze tomatoes..…you can drain the liquid and have extra thick pulp. The liquid you can stain off can be added to soups like you would vegetable broth.

Another simple trip I have learned in canning tomaotes..is this. Add butter to you sauce and the tomatoes will not cook over. I added 6 tablespoons of butter to this 18 quart kettle that was just about full of sauce.

After the butter has melted I add the spices and sweetener. As you can see the tomatoes are bubbling but not cooking over. Do you see all the foam on top of the pulp? You need to boil the pulp until the foam is gone.

This kettle of goodness gives the most pleasant aroma when it is cooking. It fills you house with all the summer smells!

As you can see on this video below the foam is cooked away and the sauce is ready to be put into jars.

Ladle the sauce into jars. Wipe the rim of the jars with a damp paper towel. Add lids and rings. Place jars into a kettle to water-bath. I use a stainless steel kettle that is large enough that I can cover the jars with 1 inch of water. Bring to a gentle boil and boil for 30 minutes. You can also pressure can the Marinara Sauce at 11psi for 15 minutes.

Did you know…before the frost hard frost you can pick all your green tomatoes and they will ripen? I pick all the nice size tomatoes and lay them out on newspaper. As they ripen we either eat them or I freeze them to make sauce. You can extend your garden harvest this way.

Marinara Sauce THM S, Sugar-free, Low-carb

• 10 quarts tomato sauce
• 1 stalk celery
• 6 medium onions
• 2 green peppers
• 3 tablespoons chili powder
• 1/3 cup salt
• 1/2 cup parsley flakes
• 1/3 cup paprika
• 1/2 cup oregano
• 3 tablespoons dry mustard
• 6 garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoons black pepper
• 1 cup Gentle Sweet or Brown Sugar Sweetener Substitute
• 4 cups ketchup
• 3 cups Parmesan Cheese
• 3 6-ounce cans tomato paste
• In a large kettle combine 9 quarts sauce. Blend the celery, onions, and peppers with the remaining tomato sauce. Add spices and Sweetener of choice. Simmer for one hour. Whisk in ketchup, Parmesan Cheese, and tomato paste. Ladle into pint jars. wipe the rim of the jars with a damp paper towel. Add lids and rings. Place jars into a kettle to water-bath. I use a stainless steel kettle that is large enough that I can cover the jars with 1 inch of water. Bring to a gentle boil and boil for 30 minutes. Turn off heat and allow jars to set for 5 minutes. Remove form canner and allow to cool for 24 hours. Check for seal. Store in a cool place. Pressure Canning: You can also pressure can the Marinara Sauce at 11psi for 15 minutes. Follow manufactures instructions with your canner. 20 pints
• I have been canning this sauce for years with Parmesan Cheese. If you would rather not can with cheese you can omit it and stir it in when you open a jar.
• This sauce is a favorite of ours to serve with bread sticks, spaghetti, etc.

This post has affiliated links, if you purchase items through these links, I receive a small commission but your price doesn’t change. Your purchase help support this blog, keeps new recipes coming, and assist with our move to a mission outreach of our church. Below are a few of my favorites listed under the affiliate store I purchase them.

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Chili Powder

Parsley Flakes

Paprika

Oregano

Black Pepper

Ground Mustard

This is my favorite Food Mill to do tomatoes and apples. It is called a Foley Food Mill and is very easy to use. Bonus….it is also easy to clean.

Stainless Steel Water-bath Canner

Himalayan Pink Salt is one of the best salts to use. We use it on our salt shaker on our kitchen table.

The Trim Healthy Mama Store has wonderful products. Here is my affiliate link if you wish to use it. Trim Healthy Mama Store

You will find many more recipes in the spiral bound 600+ page Around the Family Table Cookbook. All recipes are sugar-free and label with the correct fuel. Books can be purchased using this link.  We have now added additional items to our store… Sourdough Starter Kits and more. Buy It Now