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Follow this step-by-step tutorial to learn how simple Canning Stewed Tomatoes can be. A key ingredient for so many comfort foods, canned crushed tomatoes is an easy recipe that can be pressure canned or done via water bath canning.
Canning stewed tomatoes, aka canning crushed tomatoes, aka canning quartered tomatoes is a wonderful way to preserve the summer harvest with minimal work.
Minimal work is, of course, a relative term when it comes to canning. But this stewed tomatoes canning recipe is very straightforward. Let’s do this!
If you decide that you love canning tomato products, you should also check out Canning Tomatoes {Whole Tomatoes} and Canning Tomato Soup.
What kind of tomatoes work best for making stewed tomatoes? Whatever tomatoes you have! Roma and other paste tomatoes work really well because they aren’t very seedy and will cook down easily.
I would personally not use cherry or pear tomatoes simply because they are small and annoying to work with. Much like my two kids.
How Many Tomatoes Do You Need for Canning?
This stewed tomato canning recipe will fill 7 quarts of tomatoes. For 7 quarts you will need about 22 pounds of fresh tomatoes. It works out to about 3 pounds of tomatoes per quart.
If you are canning pints, you’ll need approximately 14 pounds for 9 pints. If you use 14-16 oz cans of crushed tomatoes from the store, a pint jar will replace one of those cans.
If purchasing tomatoes in bulk, a bushel weighs 53 pounds and will yield approximately 18-20 quarts of tomatoes.
How to Can Stewed Tomatoes
*I’ll walk you through the process here in photos because it really helps, especially if you’re new to canning. At the bottom of the post, you’ll also find a printable and detailed recipe card.
Pressure Canning Instructions
Rinse all your awesome tomatoes and cut them in half and then into quarters. If you have big ol’ hunkers, cut them into smaller chunks.
Prepare a large bowl with ice water.
Wash and clean your jars. It is no longer necessary to sterilize jars before canning (hurray!) but you should make sure they are preheated enough to not crack when placed in hot water.
You can put them in a clean dishwasher and run them through a quick wash cycle, or place them in a large pan with some water in a low-heat oven (my lowest temp is 170˚F degrees) until you need them. I’ve even just put super hot tap water in them before and left them on the counter.
Wash your lids with hot soapy water, rinse, and place them in a clean bowl for now.
Add the tomatoes to a pot of boiling water and parboil them until you see the skins start to come off the tomatoes (about 1-2 minutes). If you are curious and need more info on this, this post on How to Blanch and Peel Tomatoes will give you an in-depth tutorial on the blanching process.
Use a slotted spoon and remove the tomatoes and place them in the ice water.
Working with the tomatoes one at a time, remove any skin that hasn’t already slipped off. Set the skins aside to make Homemade Tomato Powder.
Drain the pot you parboiled the tomatoes in, and add one-third of your skinned tomatoes to it. Cook over medium heat to maintain a gentle boil, stirring often.
Using a potato masher, gently crush the tomatoes to release juices. Add another one-third of the tomatoes, and gently crush those as well.
Add your final third of tomatoes, and maintain the pot at a low boil for 5 minutes. Stir often to prevent scorching. You do not need to crush these as having some intact tomatoes is fine and they will cook down even more in the canner.
Add 3 quarts of water to your pressure canner and put it on a burner set to high. Make sure there is a canning rack in the bottom of the canner.
Add lemon juice or citric acid to your canning jars (see recipe card below for exact measurements).
Using a canning funnel, ladle hot tomatoes in the jars. You really want to pack the tomatoes in there, so use a spoon to smoosh them down until they are covered in their own juices. Leave 1/2 inch headspace.
Using a long utensil (I prefer a plastic chopstick), remove all the air bubbles from the jar.
Clean the rim of the jar very well with a hot damp rag. Any juice or bits of tomato left on the rim may impact the seal of the lid in the canner.
Place a clean lid on the jar. Add a ring, and tighten to fingertip tight.
Using canning tongs, place the jars in the canner.
Lock the lid. Soon, steam will start coming through the vent pipe (I call it the steam chimney). Allow the steam to pass through for about 10 minutes. Then put the pressure regulator (I call it the chimney cap) on top.
Pretty soon, the air vent will pop up. That is a sign that you’re starting to build pressure inside the canner. Get excited, nerd!
Under normal conditions, stewed tomatoes need to be pressure canned at 11 pounds of pressure for 20 minutes for both pints and quarts. See the chart below for any changes to processing times.
Pressure Canning Crushed Tomatoes in a Dial-Gauge Pressure Canner
| Canner Pressure (PSI) at Altitudes of | ||||||
| Style of Pack | Jar Size | Processing Time | 0-2,000 ft | 2,001-4,000 ft | 4,001-6,000 ft | 6,001-8,000 ft |
| Hot | Pints or Quarts | 20 mins | 6 lbs | 7 lbs | 8 lbs | 9 lbs |
| 15 mins | 11 lbs | 12 lbs | 13 lbs | 14 lbs | ||
| *Source: National Center For Home Food Preservation | ||||||
Processing Time for Crushed Tomatoes in a Weighted-Gauge Pressure Canner
| Canner Pressure (PSI) at Altitudes of: | ||||
| Style of Pack | Jar Size | Processing Time | 0-1,000 ft | Above 1,001 ft |
| Hot | Pints & Quarts | 20 mins | 5 lb | 10 lb |
| 15 mins | 10 lb | 15 lb | ||
| 10 mins | 15 lbs | Not recommended | ||
| *Source: National Center For Home Food Preservation | ||||
When the dial gauge reaches the appropriate PSI, reduce the burner temp to medium, and start your timer. The pressure must stay at the PSI or (a little bit) above for the duration of the cooking time. You’ll likely need to adjust the temp on the burner a few times depending on your stove.
When the time is up, remove the canner from the burner and allow it to sit until you hear a distinctive “click” of the air vent dropping. Remove the pressure regulator and carefully remove the lid of the canner (Pro tip: I always use oven mitts when I take the lid off because the steam is super hot). Let the jars sit in the canner with the lid of the canner off for 5 minutes.
Place hot jars on a towel where they can sit undisturbed for 12 hours.
After a few hours, to check for sealing, gently press down in the middle of the lid. If the lid has no give, it’s sealed. If you can press the lid in and it pops a bit, your jars are not sealed.
WAter Bath Canning Processing Times
Processing Time for Crushed Tomatoes in a Water Bath Canner
| Processing Time for Crushed Tomatoes in a Water Bath Canner | |||||
| Process Times at Altitudes of: | |||||
| Style of Pack | Jar Size | 0-1,000 ft | 1,001-3,000 ft | 3,001-6,000 ft | Aove 6,000 ft |
| Hot | Pints | 35 min | 40 min | 45 min | 50 min |
| Quarts | 40 min | 50 min | 55 min | 60 min | |
| *Source: National Center For Home Food Preservation | |||||
Storage
Once the jars have sealed, remove the rings. Label and store sealed jars in a cool (best results are 50-70˚F) dark place for up to 12-18 months.
If you have the space available, do not stack the jars on top of each other more than two jars high.
Help! Why are my jars leaking tomato juice?
If you find that water/tomato juice has leaked out after they have sealed, you have experienced a common canning issue called siphoning. It happens to the best of us!
Siphoning is typically caused by not allowing the jars to rest in the canner after they have finished processing. In the directions, you’ll see that I recommend you remove the canner from the burner, remove the lid of the canner, and let it sit for 5 minutes.
This is important as it allows the jars time to rest before being allowed to cool on the counter. Doing this process will significantly cut down on siphoning.
IF YOU HAVE SIPHONING IN YOUR JARS, FOLLOW THESE STEPS:
- Check – are the lids still sealed?
- Look – have you lost less than half of the amount of liquid in the jar?
- Examine – do the tomatoes still look fresh with bright colors?
If the answer to the above three steps is “yes!”, then they are safe to eat.
What if my jars don’t seal?
If you’ve correctly processed your tomatoes, and the lids still didn’t seal, you can reprocess them.
Double-check to make sure there are no:
- Chips in the rim of the jar
- Dried juice or bits of tomato on the rim (anything between the rim and the lid may prevent a seal.
Best practices would involve using brand-new lids for reprocessing. Set aside the old lids to use for dry storage (related: Pantry Essentials for the Home Cook).
If the jars don’t seal on the second attempt, you likely have a bad batch of lids, or your canning process has a step missing. Email me and we’ll try to troubleshoot what is going on.
How to Use Crushed Tomatoes
Crushed/stewed tomatoes are wonderful in homemade chili like Instant Pot Turkey Chili or Butternut Squash Chili, soups like Creamy Instant Pot Tortellini Soup, Instant Pot Vegetable Soup), freezer spaghetti sauce, or rice dishes like Turkey Rice Casserole.
Pro Tips/Recipe Notes
- You can add salt to each jar prior to canning it. Use pickling salt and add 1 tsp per quart. Personally, I find the unsalted version more versatile to use in recipes because it allows me to control the overall sodium.
- Pressure canners can often leave white lines on lids and rings. It’s totally normal and safe. To prevent this, add 1/3 cup of white vinegar to the canner before processing.
- If you don’t have enough jars to fill the canner, consider Canning Water in a few jars to stock your emergency drinking water supplies.
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Canning Stewed Tomatoes
Equipment
Ingredients
- 22 lbs tomatoes
- 14 tbsp lemon juice {2 tbsp per quart}
Instructions
Pressure Cooker Instructions
- Rinse tomatoes and cut in half and then quarters.22 lbs tomatoes
- Prepare a large bowl with ice water.
- Wash and clean your jars. It is no longer necessary to sterilize jars before canning (hurray!) but you should make sure they are preheated enough to not crack when placed in hot water.
- Wash your lids with hot soapy water and place them in a clean bowl.
- Add the tomatoes to a pot of boiling water and parboil them until you see the skins start to come off the tomatoes (about 1-2 minutes).
- Use a slotted spoon and remove the tomatoes and place them in the ice water.
- Working with the tomatoes one at a time, remove any skin that hasn't already slipped off.
- Drain the pot you parboiled the tomatoes in, and add one-third of the skinned tomatoes to it. Cook over medium heat to maintain a gentle boil, stirring often.
- Using a potato masher, gently crush the tomatoes to release juices. Add another one-third of the tomatoes, and gently crush those as well.
- Add the final third of tomatoes, and maintain the pot at a low boil for 5 minutes. Stir often to prevent scorching.
- Add 3 quarts of water to your pressure canner and put it on a burner set to high. Make sure there is a canning rack in the bottom of the canner.
- Add lemon juice or citric acid to your canning jars.Quarts: 2 tbsp lemon juice OR 1/2 tsp citric acid. Salt (optional) 1 tspPints: 1 tbsp lemon juice OR 1/4 tsp citric acid. Salt (optional) 1/2 tsp14 tbsp lemon juice
- Using a canning funnel, ladle hot tomatoes into the jars. Pack the tomatoes using a spoon to smoosh them down until they are covered in their own juices. Leave 1/2 inch headspace.
- Using a long utensil (I prefer a plastic chopstick), remove all the air bubbles from the jar.
- Clean the rim of the jar very well with a hot damp rag.
- Place a clean lid on the jar. Add a ring, and tighten to fingertip tight.
- Using canning tongs, gently place the jars in the canner.
- Lock the lid. Soon, steam will start coming through the vent pipe. Allow the steam to pass through for about 10 minutes. Then put the pressure regulator on top.
- Pretty soon, the air vent will pop up.
- *0-2,000f ft {PSI: 6 lbs of pressure} = Pints & Quarts 20 min*0-2,000f ft {PSI: 11 lbs of pressure} = Pints & Quarts 15 min*2,001-4,000k ft {PSI: 7 lbs of pressure} = Pints & Quarts 20 min*2,001-4,000k ft {PSI: 12 lbs of pressure} = Pints & Quarts 15 min*4,001-6,000k ft {PSI: 8 lbs of pressure} = Pints & Quarts 20 min*4,001-6,000k ft {PSI: 13 lbs of pressure} = Pints & Quarts 15 min*6,001-8,000k {PSI: 9 lbs of pressure} = Pints & Quarts 20 min*6,001-8,000k {PSI: 14 lbs of pressure} = Pints & Quarts 15 min
- When the dial gauge reaches the appropriate PSI, reduce the burner temp to medium, and start your timer. The pressure must stay at the PSI or (a little bit) above for the duration of the cooking time. You’ll likely need to adjust the temp on the burner a few times depending on your stove.
- When the time is up, remove the canner from the burner and allow it to sit until you hear a distinctive “click” of the air vent dropping. Remove the pressure regulator and carefully remove the lid of the canner (Pro tip: I always use oven mitts when I take the lid off because the steam is super hot).
- Let the jars sit for 5 minutes in the canner and then lift them out with canning tongs. Pro tip: allowing the jars to sit in the canner with the lid off can help reduce the siphoning of liquid in your jars.
- Remove with canning tongs and place on a towel where they can sit undisturbed for 12 hours.
- After a few hours, to check for sealing, gently press down in the middle of the lid. If the lid has no give, it’s sealed. If you can press the lid in and it pops a bit, your jars are not sealed.
Water Bath Canning Instructions
- Follow steps 1-10 above in the Pressure Canning Instructions.
- Prepare your water bath canner by filling it with water. You just need to have enough water to cover the jars by 1 inch once the water is boiling.
- Set the canner on the stove. Turn the burner to high. Once it reaches a boil, reduce it to simmer. You want to keep the water hot so that everything is ready when the tomatoes are
- Follow steps 12-16 above in the Pressure Canning Instructions
- Return the water in the canner to a rolling boil.
- Using canning tongs, carefully lower the jars into the boiling water and place the lid on and set your timer.
- Process pints and quarts based on the elevation guide below: Pro tip: the water must return to a boil in the canner before you can start the timer.*0-1,000 ft = Pints – 35 min Quarts – 40 min*1,001-3,000 ft = Pints – 40 min Quarts – 50 min*3,001-6,000 ft = Pints – 45 min Quarts – 55 min*6,000 ft+ = Pints – 50 min Quarts – 60 min
- Once the stewed tomatoes have processed for the appropriate amount of time, remove the canner from the burner, carefully take the lid off the canner, and allow it to sit for 5 minutes. Pro tip: I tend to just slide it into the middle of my stove, as it weighs a ton.
- Carefully remove the jars using canning tongs, and place them on a thick towel in a place where they can be undisturbed for 12 hours. The lids should start to pop within 20-30 minutes of being removed from the water.
Notes
- 22 lbs tomatoes per 7 quarts, or 14 lbs tomatoes per 9 pints. About 3 lbs tomatoes per quart.
- Once the jars have sealed, remove the rings. Label and store sealed jars in a cool (best results are 50-70˚F) dark place for up to 12-18 months.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Great information.
Just an added note, when taking the cover off the pressure cooker after releasing the pressure, lift the side that is away from your body as steam will still come out.
Can you
Put spices in stew tomatoes before canning them
Hi Pat, it would depend on the spices and how you were planning to can them. Adjusting a safe recipe is not recommended, but if you plan to pressure can them, there is a big more wiggle room.
Do you not need to worry about de-seeding the tomatoes?
It is optional. Sometimes I do when I’m using non-paste-style tomatoes that seem extra seedy.
Love to see someone loving the canning as much as me. I’m in my own world in my kitchen canning tomatoes especially. It’s very relaxing and rewarding in the middle of winter opening a jar of your own canned. My canning started at the age of 9 with making jam from fresh picked strawberries. I’m 63 and doing even more than before. Love this site
Well…I don’t actually like canning. 🙂 But I like the results of it, so I keep doing it!
And you’re so right – opening a “fresh” jar of a summery food during a cold winter day is the BEST feeling.