Spaghetti Meat Sauce Pressure Canning Recipe

Yield:  Approx. 7 quarts or 14 pints

This is my go-to sauce when making a variety of meals requiring any red sauce base. My family’s favorite is Stuffed Shells using this sauce for the base and as its topper with cheese before serving. Prefer ground turkey rather than beef or pork, no problem, make the switch. Not a fan of mushrooms? No worries, remove them.  Enjoy making my family’s favorite spaghetti meat sauce pressure canning recipe – from my canner to yours.

Ingredients

30 pounds of Roma tomatoes, approx. a half-bushel

1 ½ pounds ground beef

1 ½ pounds Italian sausage

1 ½ cups onions, chopped (1 large)

½ cup green pepper, seeded and chopped (1 small)

8 garlic cloves, minced

½ pound mushrooms, sliced

6 tablespoons fresh parsley, coarsely chopped

4 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped fine

2 tablespoons dried oregano

4 teaspoons sea salt (optional)

3 teaspoons black pepper

½ cup brown sugar, packed

Instructions

1. Tomato Prep: Core and cut tomatoes into quarters and, while working in batches, purée in a food processor. Place purée in a large thick-bottomed stainless steel stock pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently to avoid scorching. Once to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. In a second stock pot, cook sausage and ground beef on medium-high heat until cooked through, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain off any excess fat and return meat mixture to a clean stock pot. Add onions, green peppers, garlic, mushrooms, parsley, basil, oregano, salt and black pepper. Cook on medium-high heat until onions are translucent and peppers are soft, about 10 minutes. Stir often.
3. Add meat mixture to tomatoes, mix well. Stir in brown sugar. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring often. Simmer for 5 minutes. 
4. Ladle hot sauce into hot jars leaving a 1” head space. Remove any air bubbles and add additional sauce if necessary, keeping the 1” head space.
5. Wipe each rim with a washcloth cloth dipped in vinegar. Place lid and rings on each jar and hand tighten. 
6. Place jars in pressure canner, lock the pressure canner lid and bring to a boil on high heat.  Let canner vent for 10 minutes Close vent and continue heating to achieve 11 psi for a dial gauge and 10 psi for a weighted gauge. Process quarts for 70 minutes and pints for 60 minutes.

Ingredient Tip:  I have learned it takes approximately 18 average sized Roma tomatoes to equal 8 cups pureed tomatoes. If you decide to use traditional canning tomatoes, please be sure to do the following before pureeing: Blanch and remove skins; halve each blanched tomato, remove seeds and place in a colander to drain for 3 hours to remove excess liquid which may make your spaghetti sauce thin and runny.

Photo Credit: Jeff Hage, Green Frog Photo