• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Urban Farmie
  • Home
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Resources
    • Gardening
    • Substitutes
  • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Home
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Resources
    • Gardening
    • Substitutes
  • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • ×
    Home » Ingredient Guides

    Published: April 24, 2022 | Last Modified: April 24, 2022 by Shruthi Baskaran-Makanju | This post may contain affiliate links. 💬 - No Comments

    Best Canning Tomatoes

    Shares18Facebook1Pin17

    Tomatoes are a gardener's prized delight but you often end up with a surplus. I grew almost 90 pounds of tomatoes in my tiny, North-facing backyard last year! Canning them at their peak is a great way to preserve taste year-round. However, some tomatoes are better for canning than others. Read on to find out about the best canning tomatoes!

    Graphic showing overhead view of tomatoes on a plate with text overlay.

    Jump to:
    • What makes a good canning tomato?
    • How do you can tomatoes?
    • Best overall canning tomatoes
    • Best canning tomatoes for salsa
    • Best canning tomatoes for sauce
    • Best canning tomatoes for juice
    • Top tips and FAQs
    • Recipe ideas for canned tomatoes
    • 💬 Comments

    What makes a good canning tomato?

    Qualities of good canning tomatoes - what are they, flavor, water content and limited juice, few seeds, high yields at once; things that don't matter as much: heirlooms vs. hybrids. This is especially true for salsa or sauce.

    For whole tomatoes and juice, the moisture content is less of a concern than flavor. Other considerations for canning tomatoes for your garden include dependable yields, ripening timetable (spaced out or all at once), and disease resistance.

    How do you can tomatoes?

    Tomatoes can be canned as the fruit itself (whole, halves, quarters or even diced) or they can be canned for use in recipes, like in salsa, sauces, juices, ketchup, or just tomato paste.

    Further, there are three common methods by which tomatoes can be canned. While the time it takes to process varies across the methods, the jars must typically rest undisturbed for around 24 hours after, to ensure that the jars are properly sealed.

    • Water bath canning using a hot water bath or water bath canner, where you use boiling water and boil filled jars on a rack in a large pot.
    • Pressure canning, which is becoming more popular these days, where you use a pressure canner (not a pressure cooker!)
    • Atmospheric steam canning, which uses a steam canner

    Following the proper canning procedures are extremely important! Improper canning procedures can lead to botulism, so I recommend following a trusted resource, like the USDA's Complete Guide to Home Canning or my favorite, the Ball Blue Book for Canning. My friend Sarah, over at Sustainable Cooks, also has an excellent resource for canning stewed tomatoes!

    Best overall canning tomatoes

    A lot of us want to can tomatoes to use across a range of products - salsa, juices, stews, sauces and many more. So, if you want to use canned tomatoes for everything but don't want to plant as many varieties, you want to find a good "all purpose" canning tomato.

    Infographic showing different qualities of good canning tomato and three recommendations at the bottom. Check post for details.

    Most tomatoes will work well for this, but I have found that paste tomatoes (elongated, oval-shaped tomatoes) are the best option because they have all the ideal qualities for canning. They have a mild, sweet flavor; very few seeds; low water content; less juice and more flesh. My top three all-purpose picks are all paste-varieties:

    • Roma tomatoes (open-pollinated, determinate, 75 days) are the most versatile option. They are compact, making them great for packing into jars whole. They are also easily available in the store, so even if you don't grow your own tomato, they're a great option to pick up and can! Another pro for Roma tomatoes is that they're determinate tomato plants, so they usually fruit all at once, producing an awesome yield (at once) for canning.
    • San Marzano (heirloom, indeterminate, 85 days) is my favorite canning tomato. It is sweet, has dense flesh and very few seeds, and is great in sauces, juices, salsa, and everything. It is an heirloom variety, so you want to watch for disease resistance when you pick up seeds. San Marzano tomatoes are also indeterminate, so sometimes it can be hard to get enough tomatoes to can at once. But if you can manage to get the right yield, nothing beats this one!
    • Amish Paste tomatoes (heirloom, indeterminate, 80 days) are next on the list. While I absolutely love them for their flavor, they are sometimes huge! I've often had to quarter them in order to fit in a jar. Other than that minor issue, they are also a great all-purpose canning tomato. I've found that Amish paste tends to hold shape the best out of all of the tomatoes in this "all purpose" list. Similar to San Marzano tomatoes, Amish Paste tomatoes are also indeterminate. So, you should make sure you have enough plants fruiting!

    Best canning tomatoes for salsa

    Dense paste-type tomatoes (or plum tomatoes) are still the best for canning salsa (so the recommendations above are still great picks). You can also use a good slicing tomato, by following two key tips:

    1. Make sure to remove all the excess juice when you chop them up. This is usually what causes them to become super watery when you can.
    2. Add tomato powder when you can them so you can make up for the excess water and make sure the taste is not diluted!

    If you want to can salsa, I would suggest looking into the following in addition to the paste tomatoes (e.g., Roma varieties, San Marzano, etc.) that I mentioned above.

    • Golden fresh salsa (hybrid, determinate, 70 days) are a type of plum tomato that is firm and meaty. I love adding them along with other tomato types to develop a contrasting color in salsa! These are often disease resistant, which is a huge plus too.
    • Brandywine tomatoes (heirloom, 75 days) are a slicing tomato with a great, spicy flavor. They produce large fruit, and are quite heavy (the ones I grew last year averaged about a pound!) so use stakes! There are determinate and indeterminate varieties available, but most people think of the indeterminate vining variety when they say Brandywine!
    • German Johnson tomatoes (indeterminate, 78 days) are also great for canning salsa. They're quite versatile, with a classic sweet and tart flavor. It has small seed cavities, skin that’s resistant to cracking, is disease resistant, and thrives in heat and humidity. All plus points!

    I recommend following the National Center for Home Food Preservation's Choice Salsa recipe for the best salsa canning recipe.

    Best canning tomatoes for sauce

    When you're trying to make sauce, you'll want to look for tomatoes with lots of meaty flesh, little juice, and few seeds. So, as mentioned above, the paste or plum tomatoes work best. In fact, San Marzano tomatoes are my favorite sauce variety (for fresh and canned sauce!)

    However, in addition to the three all-purpose varieties mentioned earlier in the post (i.e., San Marzano, Roma and Amish paste), I also recommend Big Mama (hybrid, indeterminate, 80 days) for canning tomato sauce. It's a large tomato (most are 5 inches long!) and are super easy to peel!

    Best canning tomatoes for juice

    Unlike tomatoes that are best suited for salsa or sauce, since water content is less of an issue, so the type of tomato I typically pick for canning tomato juice is only based on flavor. So this is the one recipe where slicer tomatoes are actually the best (compared to paste or plum tomatoes). However, San Marzano tomatoes tend to work quite well here too, given their sweet flavor profile.

    The best tomatoes for canning juice include:

    • Better Boy tomatoes (hybrid, indeterminate, 70 days) are a popular mid-season fruit and they are highly adaptable compared to some of the other varieties. This is great if you want a classic tomato flavor.
    • Bonny Best (heirloom, indeterminate, 72 days) are a great firm round tomatoes in clusters that are uniform in size. It's great for canning and slicing and one of the OG canning tomatoes! It's got excellent flavor and lots of meat.
    • Brandywine (heirloom, 75 days) are also great here for juicing. I find that they have a nice spicy tang to them and they produce large fruit, so you need fewer fruits to get the same amount of flesh.

    Top tips and FAQs

    Unlike cooking, where you can adjust the recipe to your taste, canning recipes follow very strict protocols in order to ensure the safety of the food. So, follow them to a tee - do not make adjustments! Here are a few tips for canning tomatoes that can help ensure safety.

    • When making juice, simply wash the tomatoes, remove the stems, and trim off any bruised or discolored portions; the skins and seeds will be strained out later in the process.
    • Choose high-quality, disease-free, and firm tomatoes for canning. Using overripe, damaged or frost-damaged tomatoes can alter the safety of the canned product! Heirloom tomatoes are prettier but might have more disease issues than hybrid tomatoes, so that's something to keep in mind.
    • Follow a tested and reputable recipe (e.g., from the National Center for Home Food Preservation) Often, these recipes will have very specific measurements, so make sure you don't adjust these! For instance, there are no research-tested guidelines for processing salsa in quart jars - so a credible recipe will ONLY use pint jars. So, don't just extend the time for a quart jar! You might end up compromising the safety.
    • Research indicates that you need additional acid while canning some recipes to ensure safety. Most tomatoes have a pH more than 4.6, and adding bottled lemon juice can often help bring the pH below the 4.6 needed to prevent botulism. So, never reduce the amount of lemon or lime juice or other acid indicated in the recipe! You see a theme here.
    • Make sure to use dry measuring cups for the vegetables and liquid measuring cups for the lemon or lime juice.
    • Dry spices are typically okay to add, but don't use any thickeners before canning (e.g., cornstarch, flour etc.)
    • And finally: always store open jars in the refrigerator and consume within a few days!

    Troubleshooting and FAQs

    How long can canned tomatoes last?

    Canned tomatoes and tomato products, should be opened and consumed within 12 to 18 months. They could last longer, but the flavor will decrease after that time. Once you open a jar, store in the fridge and use within a few days!

    Are beefsteak tomatoes good for canning?

    You can can almost any kind of tomato. Roma is my most preferred variety for canning, but Brandywine, Beefsteak, and Big Red are also good for canning. Make sure to eliminate excess water and top up with some tomato powder if you want to enhance flavors.

    What tomatoes are best for homemade sauce?

    Roma, San Marzano, and other paste or plum tomatoes tend to have meaty texture and few seeds: as a result, they develop the best flavor when cooked into a sauce. My favorite is San Marzano.

    Recipe ideas for canned tomatoes

    Canned tomatoes are super versatile. Apart from just using salsa, sauces, and juices straight, you can also use them in a variety of different dishes (soups, stews, pizza, pasta, the list is endless!)

    Shakshuka straight from the stove, in the skillet, with garnishes of avocado, cheese and parsley

    Here are four of my favorite recipes for using canned tomatoes.

    • Moroccan shakshuka with feta, a great one-skillet recipe that can double down as both breakfast and dinner!
    • Chana masala, an authentic 30-minute Indian curry that is great with rice and flatbread and can be made into a wrap or bowl easily!
    • Efo riro, a Nigerian spinach stew, that is both hearty and comforting - a hug in a bowl!
    • Spicy Alfredo pasta sauce, made with a creamy tomato and red pepper base, and fresh herbs (or you can top with some cheese and cherry tomatoes!) This is a 30-minute weeknight dinner everyone will love!

    « Frozen French Toast Sticks in Air Fryer
    How Far Apart to Plant Tomatoes »

    Download your seasonal eating guide!

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    No Comments

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Shruthi Baskaran - Recipe Developer, Food Photographer, and Blogger at Urban Farmie

    I am Shruthi, the recipe developer, photographer and blogger behind Urban Farmie. I have two graduate degrees from Stanford, one focused on food systems. And I hope to bring you everything you need for healthy-ish, comforting, nourishing vegetarian cooking.

    Read more →

    Recipe Key

    Dairy free
    Gluten free
    Nut free
    Vegan
    Vegetarian

    Spring Favorites

    • Overhead close up of strawberry shortcake cookies
      Strawberry Shortcake Cookies
    • Close up of pickled onions on a fork
      Sweet and Spicy Pickled Onions
    • Close up of mango avocado salad
      Mango Avocado Salad
    • Close up of bowl of pasta with garnishes on the side
      Spring Pasta with Peas and Oyster Mushrooms
    year-round produce guide
    Shruthi Baskaran - Recipe Developer, Food Photographer, and Blogger at Urban Farmie

    I am Shruthi, the recipe developer, photographer and blogger behind Urban Farmie. I have two graduate degrees from Stanford, one focused on food systems. And I hope to bring you everything you need for healthy-ish, comforting, nourishing vegetarian cooking.

    Read more →

    Recipe Key

    Dairy free
    Gluten free
    Nut free
    Vegan
    Vegetarian

    Spring Favorites

    • Overhead close up of strawberry shortcake cookies
      Strawberry Shortcake Cookies
    • Close up of pickled onions on a fork
      Sweet and Spicy Pickled Onions
    • Close up of mango avocado salad
      Mango Avocado Salad
    • Close up of bowl of pasta with garnishes on the side
      Spring Pasta with Peas and Oyster Mushrooms
    year-round produce guide

    Delicious Vegan / Vegetarian Brunch Recipes

    Spinach Shakshuka (with Tomatillos)

    Square image of French toast with title

    Vegetarian & Vegan Air Fryer Breakfast Recipes

    Close up of croissant French toast bake slices on white plate, with berries and maple syrup on top

    Croissant French Toast Bake

    More Brunch Recipes

    Easy Vegetarian Weeknight Dinners

    Close up view of fried rice in white pot with brown chopsticks.

    Quick Fried Rice with Leftover Rice

    Spinach Shakshuka (with Tomatillos)

    Close up of cacio e pepe in a white bowl with a fork on the side.

    Authentic Bucatini Cacio e Pepe (3 Ingredients Only!)

    More Weeknight Dinners

    Fun Appetizers

    An image of air fryer samosas on a plate that's ready to be served.

    Easy Air Fryer Samosas

    An image of air fryer vegan cauliflower bites in a bowl

    Air Fryer Vegan Buffalo Cauliflower

    Overhead view of the spinach artichoke dip in a white bowl.

    Instant Pot Spinach Artichoke Dip

    More Appetizer Recipes

    Get Every Recipe To Your Inbox!

    As Seen On

    Footer

    Urban Farmie

    Urban Farmie

    Seasonal, global, vegetarian recipes and the stories behind them. Inspired by life and travels to 60+ countries. Always authentic, never boring.

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube

    Popular Posts

    Authentic Bucatini Cacio e Pepe (3 Ingredients Only!)

    Strawberry Shortcake Cookies

    Nigerian Jollof Rice

    Cast Iron Skillet Cornbread (or Quiche!)

    Chana Masala

    Healthy Samosas

    Back To Top

    Copyright Black Bicycle LLC. © 2023
    Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | Disclosure Policy | Website Accessibility Statement