How to Can Tomatoes Without a Pressure Canner

You can can tomatoes without a pressure canner when you follow a tested boiling-water recipe. You still need a suitable canning setup: a deep pot with a lid and rack, proper canning jars, and enough water above the jars throughout processing.

The method below follows the National Center for Home Food Preservation’s whole or halved tomatoes packed raw without added liquid. Its times do not apply to tomatoes packed in water, sauce, salsa, or other mixtures. Read the complete linked directions before starting.

Benefits of Canning Tomatoes

Canning lets you save a seasonal surplus for later meals. The important part is preserving it safely, not simply getting a lid to seal. Tomato acidity varies, so the tested method includes both a measured acid addition and a specified heat process.

How to Use the Boiling-Water Method for Raw-Packed Tomatoes

Use pint or quart Mason-type home-canning jars with suitable two-piece lids. Your pot needs a rack that keeps jars off the bottom, a fitted lid, and room for two inches of water above the jar tops without boiling over. Check that your stove can support the loaded pot and maintain a boil.

Have a jar lifter, measuring spoons, and a timer ready. Use a proper rack rather than stuffing kitchen towels between jars. If your equipment cannot meet these requirements, don’t improvise a shelf-stable canning process.

Step 1: Prepare the jars, lids, and water bath.

Wash and rinse the jars, inspect them for cracks or damaged rims, and keep them ready as the canning directions specify. Use new flat lids and follow their manufacturer’s preparation instructions.

A three- to five-minute boil does not sterilize jars. However, NCHFP says presterilization is unnecessary for tomatoes processed at least ten minutes in boiling water, as this recipe is. For this raw-pack method, preheat the water bath to 140°F.

Step 2: Blanch and peel the tomatoes.

Choose firm, disease-free tomatoes; don’t can fruit from dead or frost-killed vines. Wash them, then dip them in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds, or until the skins split. Transfer them to cold water, remove the skins and cores, and leave the tomatoes whole or cut them in half.

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Step 3: Measure the acid into each jar.

For each pint, add one tablespoon of bottled lemon juice from concentrate or ¼ teaspoon of citric acid. For each quart, use two tablespoons of that bottled juice or ½ teaspoon of citric acid.

These quantities come from NCHFP’s acidification directions. Don’t substitute freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice, omit the acid, or estimate the amount. Acidification is a safety step, not an optional flavor adjustment.

Step 4: Pack the tomatoes and leave the correct headspace.

Add the prepared raw tomatoes. Press them enough for their juice to fill the spaces between them, and leave ½ inch between the food and the top of the jar. This particular method does not add water or tomato juice.

Don’t use the times below for a different packing liquid or an improvised mixture with vegetables, meat, or thickeners.

Step 5: Clean the rims and fit the lids.

Wipe the jar rims clean and fit the prepared lids and bands according to the lid manufacturer’s instructions. Don’t overtighten them or treat an unprocessed closed jar as preserved food.

Step 6: Process the jars in the water bath.

Lower the jars upright onto the rack. For this process, maintain two inches of water above their tops. Cover the pot and bring the water to a full boil before starting the timer.

For the raw-pack method specified above, NCHFP gives the same boiling-water times for pints and quarts:

Keep the water boiling for the full time. If it stops boiling, bring it back to a boil and restart the entire processing time. Add boiling water around the jars as needed to maintain the level.

Step 7: Remove the jars from the water bath.

When processing ends, turn off the heat, remove the pot lid, and wait five minutes. Lift the jars upright onto a towel or cooling rack, leaving space between them. Don’t retighten the bands.

Let the jars cool undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours before checking their seals.

Step 8: Check the seals before storage.

After cooling, remove the screw bands and test the seals. A sealed flat lid curves slightly downward in the center; it should not spring up when pressed. A flat or bulging center is not a successful seal.

A failed seal is not permission to leave a jar on the shelf and use it within a week. If the food was correctly processed and the failure is found during the initial check, follow NCHFP’s failed-seal guidance: reprocess within 24 hours with a new lid after checking the jar, or promptly refrigerate or freeze as directed. A later leaking or suspect jar needs different handling; don’t taste it to decide whether it is safe.

Important Limits of This Method

The photo above is illustrative. Its one-piece lids and added herbs are not part of the tested raw-pack method described here. Use the specified two-piece canning lids and plain prepared tomatoes with the measured acid.

Use the exact product, jar size, packing method, acid quantity, and altitude adjustment in a tested recipe. Longer boiling is not a substitute for missing acid or an untested mixture, and a sealed lid alone does not prove the contents are safe.

Keep properly processed, sealed jars clean, labeled, and stored in a cool, dry place. If you find leaking, bulging, or otherwise suspect jars later, follow NCHFP’s spoiled-food handling directions rather than tasting or using them.

What About Tomato Juice?

Tomato juice has its own tested process. Don’t use the raw-packed tomato table above for juice.

Follow NCHFP’s tomato-juice recipe for heating, removing skins and seeds, reheating the juice to boiling, acidification, and filling jars with ½-inch headspace. Salt is optional; the required acid is not.

At 0–1,000 feet, that recipe’s boiling-water process is 35 minutes for pints and 40 minutes for quarts. Higher elevations require the longer times in its table. Read and follow the complete recipe rather than using these two low-altitude times as general directions.

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