Use up your garden or local farmer’s market tomatoes to make up a batch of fresh Crock-Pot Pizza Sauce which you can then choose to can or freeze for long term storage!
Slow Cooker Pizza Sauce (Canning Version)
For the first time this year I made Crock-Pot Pizza Sauce by scratch to be canned. I had decided to focus my garden on things that I knew the family would eat and that I could preserve. I purchased a pressure canner so I could process meats, veggies and mixes of the two.
I’ve been canning for years, but was sticking to fruits and tomatoes. This recipe if it’s followed exactly, can be water bath canned. If you want to vary it a bit, or not be so concerned on the amounts of tomatoes to onions and garlic then it needs to be pressure canned. Either will work well.
This Crock-Pot Pizza Sauce can also be frozen if you wish to do neither, and of course can be used fresh, if your making a ton of pizza! The recipe uses honey to sweeten and you can replace with regular sugar, but I generally don’t suggest using artificial sweeteners when canning.
If you are interested in either water bath canning or pressure canning and don’t know where to start, the Ball Book of Canning and Preserving is the best beginners book to start out with.
This recipe was the first time I got to try out my new Kitchen Aid Immersion Blender, and frankly I wonder where it has been all my life! What a marvelous product.
I also used my trusty stockpot and my new Presto Pressure Canner. I’ve made it twice now, and working on a new one tomorrow.
Special Diets
Gluten Free | High Fiber | Low Calorie | Low Cholesterol | Low Fat | Low Sodium | Paleo | Vegan | Vegetarian
This recipe for Crock-Pot Pizza Sauce (Canning Version) is Weight Watchers Friendly on the new Personal Points plan. You can see the WW personal points for this recipe here on the Weight Watchers website. Click here for MORE of our Weight Watchers Recipes
Crock-Pot Pizza Sauce Recipe (Canning Version) Recipe
Ingredients
- 10 quarts Fresh Tomatoes (cored, chopped and seeds removed (40 cups))
- 2 cups Chopped Yellow Onion
- 6 cloves Garlic (minced)
- 2 tablespoons Honey ((or sweetener of your choice))
- 2 whole Bay Leaves
- 2 tablespoons Minced Fresh Basil (or 2 teaspoons dried basil)
- 2 tablespoons Dried Oregano
- 1 ½ teaspoons Dried Thyme
- Lemon Juice (only needed if you are water bath canning – you need to put 1 tablespoon of lemon juice per pint jar)
- 8 ounces Canned Tomato Paste
Instructions
- This can be done several different ways, I will first post how I do it.
- I wash tomatoes with vinegar and water to help clean them, picking out any that are spoiling or bruised ( soak in huge buckets).
- I cut the top off of the tomato, and then cut out much of the core and scrape the seeds out.
- In a Roma Tomato, it’s easiest to cut the tomato in half to get the seeds out.
- In a tomato that is more a round size, it’s easier to cut the top off, and then squeeze the tomato to get the seeds and juice out.
- I then boil, on medium, the tomatoes and chopped onions down until they are much more liquified, stirring often.
- I drain off the excess juices and place them into my 6 quart or larger slow cooker.
- I add the garlic, honey and bay leaves.
- Set on HIGH for about 4 to 6 hours.
- Do not place the lid on, once it is warm and stir every 30 minutes or so.
- Remove bay leaves when it’s done.
- If it still seems quite runny I would add a small can of tomato paste or dehydrated tomatoes.
- I then let it cool down a bit, and pour in a large container (I use my large water pitcher) and I use my immersion blender to make it a nice smooth consistency.
- Add your basil, oregano and thyme, and taste test it (I end up adding a bit more honey to mine).
- Remember if you are water bath canning add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to each jar and you need to follow the ratios of tomato vs onion/garlic exactly.
- Pour hot pizza sauce into pint jars, filling to within 1/2 inches of the top.
- Wipe the top of the jar with a towel soaked in a bit of vinegar to clean off the jar.
- Cover with a clean mason jar lid (that is been in boiling water) and screw a clean band on, tight but not too tight.
- You can then freeze them, and in fact I had an extra amount that didn’t fully fill a jar and froze that one with no issues.
- Water bath can for 35 minutes (pints) If you do quarts it’s 40 minutes.
- Or pressure can at 11 pounds pressure for 20 minutes at 1000 feet (please check a Presto manual online if you are at a different elevation for the poundage).
- If you are pressure canning quarts do it for 25 quarts.
Nutrition
I am having trouble pinning your recipes. When I click on the Pin button on your image and click pin…it says invalid pin. This has happened to several of your recipes. Very frustrating.
I am sorry about that Dawn, I will look into that right away and see if I can figure out what might be going on.
Do you leave the skins on the tomatoes?
Yes you leave the skins on the tomatoes in this recipe. You can of course skin them if you want.
Wondering if you add salt to this recipe?
Hi Karin, this recipe does not have any added salt. But you are welcome to add a pinch if you like.
For those of us who don’t have gardens and need to go buy fresh tomatoes from the market, about how many tomatoes is 10 quarts?
About 1.5 pounds of fresh tomatoes per quart is what I am getting with a Google search Beth.
Can you be more specific when you say to drain off excess liquid from tomatoes after cooking them with onions ? I’d like to try this in the next day or so. Thanks!
Pour the tomatoes into a strainer and drain off some of the excess liquid. Some tomatoes are juicier and than others so it will depend on how juicy your tomatoes are.
I made this recipe exactly as written. Then did a did a taste test. It was good but I felt it was lacking something. Though my family liked it just as it was.
I ended up adding salt, more garlic and Italian seasoning. The consistency was perfect!!!!! Great recipe.
Thanks for sharing how you adjusted the recipe for your personal tastes Jacqueline!
How long can you freeze it for?!?
Hi Amber, this slow cooker pizza sauce recipe should be good frozen for up to 1 year. It won’t go bad if it is kept frozen but it may loose a little flavor quality.
Just out of curiosity why is the tomato to onion/garlic ratio so important when water bath canning?
I am no canning expert Alyssa but I think it has to do with the acidity ratio needed for water bath canning. I think onion and garlic and low acidic foods thus bringing down the acidity from the tomatoes.
Can I halve this recipe if I’ve only got 20 cups of Tomato?
You should be able to halve this recipe Laura.
The photo shows a Jelly jar (half pint), but the recipe gives directions for canning pints and quarts. So I need to add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to the jar no matter the size? 1 tablespoon for 1 cup, 2 cups or 4 cups?
For every 2 cups.