by Macy Marie
I had never canned a thing in my life! I actually didn’t know people actually still did this. So believe me, when I went home to visit my parents one weekend last summer I was shocked that my mom was just about to begin the process.
So of course I wanted in on this awesomeness! I remember as a kid, my mom and grandma always having canned tomatoes. But I had no idea she was still doing it. Not to mention, she wasn’t just canning tomatoes but was also making and canning HOMEMADE MARINARA SAUCE!!! Jackpot!
I am not sure who was more excited, me or my mom, that we were actually going to be cooking together in the kitchen.
She had just received a ton, and I mean a ton of tomatoes from a family friend and said it would be enough to make enough marinara sauce to last throughout the year. Having three little ones, I jumped on this. I mean what little kid doesn’t love spaghetti?! Not to mention how much money I would be saving by making my own.
So we began. First, we filled a large pot with water, added it to the stove and turned the heat on high. We began to add the tomatoes to the water as soon as the water began to boil. They hung out in the water for about 30 seconds or as soon as the skin started to peel away from the tomatoes.
This process continued until each tomato had been dunked in the boiling water bath. When they were removed from the water, we peeled the skin right off. It was so easy and didn’t take any time at all. I know it sounds very time consuming and tedious, but it really wasn’t.
The next step was the easiest part. Throwing all the ingredients into a pot and letting it simmer away. Just a few garlic cloves, green bell peppers, onions and skinned tomatoes. Allow them to hang out for almost 2 hours.
Next, we ladled the mixture into a blender and pressed go and smoothed everything out. Once that step was complete we poured the mixture back into the pot and added some more yumminess, sugar and fresh basil leaves to name a few. We allowed this to simmer for an additional 2 hours and then it was time to begin the canning process.
First things first, you must have some mason jars to can your goodies. We cleaned each jar and then this was the interesting part. We filled up a large pan with water and brought it to a boil. We added the jars to the boiling water along with the lids and rings. They took a boiling water bath for less then a minute. Why do this? Well, you must get the jars to the same temperature as the marinara sauce. Or the jars will crack.
When the jars were removed, we quickly added the marinara sauce one jar at a time and placed the lids on top and tightened the rings.
Then the amazing part happened. We sat and waited for each jar to make a popping sound! This is what guarantees the freshness and the ability for the jars to hang out in your cupboard for long periods of time without spoiling. It’s sort of like a vacuum that sucks the freshness inside the jar not allowing any bacteria to ruin your sauce.
This process not only created a delicious outcome, but it saved me a years worth of money on marinara sauce, not to mention the memories I made with my mom.
Check out the complete, step-by-step recipe for canned marinara sauce in our recipes section.
Now go make some of your very own canning memories!
Clean Eats 101 is a subscription based health and wellness website with over 300 recipes, 50 workouts, a customizable grocery cart, and much more with content being added weekly! Macy, Leigh, & Karina created the program to show people the everyday approach to taking control of their own health and wellness. To get a better idea of what it’s all about go to https://www.cleaneats101.com and check it out!
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