I grew up canning fruits and vegetables with my mom and still enjoy doing it to this day. I’ve tried a few different blends in the past. This particular Canned Tomatoes Recipe is my aunt Lyuda’s, and the one that takes the number one spot for me.
Before I was married, I’d visit her often and looked forward to them each time they were served. I couldn't ever get enough of these tomatoes. Thank you Luyda, they are so good!
In my experience, tomatoes are way easier to can than pickles. Canning, in general, feels very therapeutic and satisfying to me. From start to finish. And then you enjoy the fruit of your work in your accomplishment. For their own reasons, my kids are not very big canned tomato fans, so I do not can too many jars. These 8 jars will be just enough for my husband and I, which is all right with me.
Once you’ve finished canning tomatoes, allow the jars to stand untouched for 30 days before opening a jar to allow time for the tomatoes to absorb and enrich with the flavors. They go perfectly with any potato dish (especially fried potatoes), any pasta dish, plov, etc... Have fun canning this season, and let me know what you think of this recipe. I would love to hear about your canning experiences as well.
📋 Recipe Ingredients
- Filtered water
- Organic sugar
- Kosher salt
- Distilled white vinegar
- Organic yellow onion
- Garlic cloves (I used homegrown garlic)
- Organic carrots (I used homegrown carrots)
- Peppercorns
- Crushed red pepper flakes
- Bay leaves
- Fresh dill (I used homegrown dill)
- Tomatoes (I prefer using smaller tomatoes for canning)
8 wide-mouth quart size (946 ml or 1 L) – canning jars
🔪 Recipe Instructions
How to Can Tomatoes
First things first, prepare the vegetables. Peel, rinse, and then slice an onion into 8 rings. Then peel and rinse garlic cloves. And then peel, rinse and cut a carrot into one inch (2.5 cm) long sticks. Set aside until ready for use.
Rinse tomatoes and set them aside.
Prepare the syrup. Add organic sugar, kosher salt, and vinegar to the water. Stir until sugar and salt granules dissolve. Set aside.
Rinse jars and lids with soapy warm water (NO NEED TO STERILIZE THE JARS). Place one ring of onion into a jar then 2 flower heads of fresh dill, 2 small garlic clove, and 6 carrot sticks.
Then add 2 bay leaves, 20 peppercorns, and ¼ tsp. of red crushed peppers.
Pack tomatoes into a jar as compactly as possible without squashing them. Fill jars with cold syrup.
Tomatoes Canning Instructions
Place 4 jars into Stove Top Canner pot, fill the pot with cold water until the jars are submerged ¾ in the water. Bring the water in the canning pot to a boil (when the water in the canning pot will start boiling you will also see the bubbles floating from the bottom to the top in jars, this means that the water in jars is boiling as well).
Let the water in the canning pot boil for about 3 minutes.
Then screw a lid with bare hands as tight as you can (this way you will feel if the lid is screwed properly not sideways, be careful not to burn your hands).
Put on canning gloves or use a canning utensil to remove the jar from the pot. Screw the lid pretty tight.
If you make this Canned Tomatoes Recipe, please share a picture with me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest. Tag with #valyastasteofhome. I’d love to see your creations!
📖 Recipe Card
Canned Tomatoes Recipe
Ingredients
Canned Tomatoes Recipe Ingredients
- 12 ¾ cups (3 L) – filtered water
- 6 tbsp. (75 g) - organic sugar
- 18 tbsp. (324 g) - Kosher salt
- 6 tbsp. (90 ml) - distilled white vinegar
- 1 medium - organic yellow onion
- 16 small - garlic cloves (I used homegrown)
- 1 large - organic carrot (I used homegrown)
- 160 - peppercorns (20 pieces per jar)
- 2 tbsp. - crushed red pepper (¼ tsp. per jar)
- 16 medium - bay leaves
- 16 flowers - fresh dill
- 8 lbs. (3.5 kg) - small tomatoes
Instructions
Tomato Canning Preparation Instructions
- Prepare the vegetables. Peel, rinse and then slice an onion into 8 rings. Then peel and rinse garlic cloves. And then peel, rinse and cut a carrot into one inch (2.5 cm) long sticks. Set aside.
- Rinse tomatoes set aside.
- Prepare the syrup. Add organic sugar, kosher salt and vinegar to water. Stir until sugar and salt granules dissolve. Set aside.
- Rinse jars and lids with soapy warm water (NO NEED TO STERILIZE THE JARS). Place one ring of onion into a jar then 2 flower heads of fresh dill, 2 small garlic cloves, and 6 carrot sticks.
- Then add 2 bay leaves, 20 peppercorns and ¼ tsp. of red crushed peppers.
- Pack tomatoes into a jar as compactly as possible without squashing them.
Tomatoes Canning Instructions
- Place 4 jars into Stove Top Canner pot, fill the pot with cold water until the jars are submerged ¾ in the water. Bring the water in the canning pot to a boil (when the water in the canning pot will start boiling you will also see the bubbles floating from the bottom to the top in jars, this means that the water in jars is boiling as well).
- Let the water in the canning pot boil for about 3 minutes. Then screw the lids with bare hands as tight as you can (this way you will feel if the lid screwed properly not sideways, be careful not to burn your hands).
- After the lid is screwed tight, flip a jar upside down and let it stand until cools (I leave them in this position overnight).
- Drain the water from the canning pot and repeat the same instructions with the remaining 4 jars of tomatoes.
Click HERE to download and print Tomatoes Jar Labels for FREE on THIS printable label paper.
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Kitchen items I used in making this recipe:
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I was waiting for this recipe. Thank you Valya!
My pleasure! Have fun canning! :)What would be the boiling time for 2 liters jars? Have you tried canning tomatoes using 2 liters jars? Thanks
Yes, I sure did. The boiling time is the same as long as the jars 3/4 submerged in the water. I prefer using 1 L (or quart) jars, because it doesn't go into waste. If you choose to use 2 L (half galon) jars you can use bigger size tomatoes for canning. I hope this clarifies a little bit more.
Oh my Goodness Valya...... My mother and my Babushka used to make this recipe all the time. They've both passed on without leaving a written recipe for me and my sister.. I'm so glad I found your recipe! Thank you so much!
Im so happy you found the recipe. Canned tomatoes are something I missed as well, because my mom past away at the early age and I didn't know how to can it. But if you read the intro paragraph I got this recipe from my aunt. We love it so much. I hope you will enjoy it as well!
Hi Valya,
So you dont need to flip the cans over or something like that? I have never canned anything and am curious about it. You made it sound simple. Could I use any regular pot to boil those glass jars in or must it be the one you mentioned? And can you use any tomatoes? Were you using Romas in here? Must it also be organic sugar?
Flipping a can upside down creates a stronger vacuum, so this step is important. Yes, I used Roma tomatoes as well, and boiling cans in a regular pot with small cloth place onto the bottom of the pot is totally ok. No, sugar doesn't have to be organic. I hope this help.
Hi! Question: most canning recipes use canning salt, but you use kosher.. I have canning salt but don't know if I need to adjust the proportions since the salt is different.. ? Really want to try this recipe bit font want to ruin it
I have not used canning salt for this recipe so can't tell the amount you will need. The salt will not ruin the recipe, it will turn out either saltier on not enough salt. Since everyone does not like the same amount of salt in recipes you can adjust the salt to your liking next time you're canning them again. When I got this recipe from my aunt I had to adjust the amount of salt to my family liking as well. I hope this helps. Let me know how it goes!
I made it a few years ago but it turned out very spicy, probably because of 160 – peppercorns (20 pieces per jar), i prefer more sweet taste of canned tomatoes.
The spiciness comes mostly from the crushed red pepper. You can omit that and add less vinegar for more sweet taste. I hope this helps.
Hi Valya, are you sure you put salt 3 times more than sugar? I put sugar two times more than salt 🤔 maybe we just like this way
Yes, that is right. This recipe is for saltier canned tomatoes, not sweet.
Are the canned tomatoes then shelf stable or do they need to be refrigerated?
Yes, they are shelf stable for up to a year. Thank you for asking!
Hi Valya, This will be the first time trying this recipe. Was wondering what I could do with all those cherry tomatoes in my garden. Good way to use up my dill, carrots, and onions also. Sounds good and can not wait to try. Just wondering if I can also use the orange tomatoes as well as red? Hope to hear from you.
Any tomatoes are great for canning no matter how small or it's color. I hope this is helpful, and I can't wait to hear how it went!