Canning Salsa and Tomatoes

I have a lot of tomatoes.A LOT of tomatoes!




I wanted to can some salsa. Since I am now gluten free I have to watch what they put into store bought salsa, canned tomato sauce, and stuff like that. So I want to find a great salsa, pasta sauce, and tomato sauce recipe so I can just can my own.

The first recipe I tried is from Belle Adorn. It claims to be the "best salsa recipe for canning" and had a lot of great comments saying it was the best salsa they had eaten so I was hopeful. It is pretty good, but my version was not hot enough. I seeded the jalapenos and would leave the seeds in next time for a little more heat.

This is a photo of the tomatoes after I blanched them and removed the skins.

Belle Adorn Recipe:

about 30 medium tomatoes, skinned and chopped

10 cups chopped onions

2 green peppers (didn't use b/c we don't like)

2 red peppers (didn't use b/c we don't like)

10 cloves garlic, chopped

1 cup jalapenos

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups vinegar

8 tsp pickeling salt

2 tsp black pepper

2 large cans (12 0z each) tomato paste

cilantro- 1/2 bunch if desired

Put all, except cilantro, into a pot on the stove and cook for one and a half hours. At the end put in the cilantro. Jar and process 35 minutes for pints, 45 minutes for quarts. Yeilds 17 pints (I got 13 pints)

I also canned 7 quarts of tomatoes

To can tomaotes heat water in a pot. Blanch and prepare tomatoes. I cut in half or quarters to fit into the jar. Add 2 TBSP lemon juice and 1 tsp pickleing salt to each jar. Fill with hot water to 1/2 inch headspace. Process for 35 minutes.

Then: I tried a second salsa recipe which made 6 pints. This one is from Get Rich Slowly.

8 cups tomatoes, peeled and chopped

2 1/2 cups yellow onions, chopped

1 cup jalapeno, chopped (I left the seeds in this batch)

1 can chili peppers- recipe calls for Chipotle peppers but all I could find was basic chili peppers

6 cloves garlic, minced

2 1/2 tsp cumin

2 tsp black pepper

1/3 cup vinegar

2 TBSP canning salt

15 oz tomato sauce

12 oz tomato paste

juice of 1 lime

1/4 cup cilantro

In non aluminum pot mix everything except the lime and cilantro. Cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lime juice and cilantro. Process for 15 minutes.

I like this recipe better because it had more heat with the jalapeno seeds and had the cumin flavor.