Canning is one of the easiest and best cooking pastimes. Have excess veggies or fruit from your summer garden? Instead of tossing them, can them! Below I’m going to share some easy canning recipes for you to try to stock up for the wintertime! Tomatoes and cucumbers are the most grown vegetable in the United States, so I’m going to share some recipes on canning these 2 veggies!
Basic Tomato Sauce for Canning:
Ingredients:
- 9 LBS of tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon unrefined sea salt
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice per pint jar
- Basil leaves (optional)
Instructions:
- To peel the tomatoes, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Wash the tomatoes and cut a small “x” at the bottom of each one. Place the tomatoes in boiling water and cook for about 1 minute. Place the tomatoes in an ice bath to cool. The skins should just slide off the tomatoes. Cut tomatoes into quarters.
- Place the tomatoes in a large pot and heat over medium heat. When they start to boil, crush the tomatoes with a potato masher. Then ass the rest of the tomatoes, do not crush, and boil gently for 5 minutes.
- For each jar add 1 tbsp lemon juice and one washed large basil leaf. Fill the jars with the tomatoes to about 1/2” headspace. Process in a boiling water bath for 45 minutes. Remove jars and make sure the lids are sealed.
- Cool completely and store. Canned tomatoes should be used within the year.
Crunchy Pickle Recipe
Ingredients:
- 8 lbs. cucumbers
- 8 cups of water
- 6 cups vinegar
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1/2 cup salt
- 1 tbsp pickling spices
- 8 cloves garlic
- 8 tsp mustard seed
- 8 tsp dill seed
Instructions:
Check jars for a sealed lid and store.
Into a large stockpot, add 8 cups water, 6 cups of vinegar, ¼ cup sugar, ½ cup salt, and 1 tbs pickling spices,
Bring the brine up to a boil on the stovetop.
Fill canning jars by adding 1 clove garlic, I tsp mustard seed and 1 tsp of dill seed.
Cut your cucumbers into spears or slices and pack the jars as full as possible.
Once the brine has come to a boil, remove from heat, and fill jars immediately leaving a ½ inch headspace.
Add your two-part canning lids and tighten.
Transfer the jars to a water bath, with the jars being completely covered by water.
Set your timer and keep the water temperature between 180-185 for a full 30 minutes.
Once 30 minutes have passed, remove the cans, and let them sit for 12 hours to cool.