The absolute easiest way to can tomatoes! This step-by-step photo tutorial will show you how to can tomatoes in no time. No peeling, no coring- just cut out the stem and dice them up. It’s super easy, plus if you grow your own tomatoes, it’s a big money saver too!
I started canning diced tomatoes several years ago after having an “aha moment” one evening while preparing dinner. As I was opening a can of diced tomatoes that I needed for the recipe I was making, I suddenly wondered why in the world I never tried canning them myself. I mean how hard could it be?
I grew up helping my mom can tomato juice and tomato chunks. And every year since we’ve been married, I’ve canned tomato juice as well as things like salsa and marinara sauce, so I was quite familiar with the process of canning tomatoes.
I decided to give it a try and it worked like a charm! It was not only super simple, it has also saved me from needing to buy diced tomatoes from the store.
How do you can tomatoes? Let me help you learn the process!
Supplies for Canning Tomatoes
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- Tomatoes, salt and lemon juice
- Dishpan or containers to put the tomatoes in
- Knife (This one is my favorite for slicing tomatoes!)
- Cutting board (The groove on this one is awesome because it catches the juice, creating less mess.)
- Vidalia Chop Wizard (Not a necessity, but you can dice the tomatoes in about half the time if you use it.)
– This gadget is also awesome for dicing tomatoes, onions, and peppers for salsa and potatoes and carrots for soups.
- Wide Funnel
- Damp rag to wipe jar rims
- Water Bath Canner
- Canning jars with lids and rings
- Jar lifter
- Old towels or rags to set the hot jars on
(If you are new to canning and need to buy both the jar lifter and a funnel, it’s cheaper to get this Ball Canning Utensil Set.)
How to Can Diced Tomatoes- a step-by-step tutorial
1. Wash tomatoes thoroughly.
Cut out the stem and any defects or blemishes.
Some people also peel the tomatoes, but I never do and we honestly have not noticed the peelings at all- and I’m even funny about textures like that in food.
I figure why bother with the extra step, plus it’s a bit healthier too!
2. Cut up the tomatoes.
Slice tomatoes into about ½ inch thick slices, then dice them into whatever size you want. I love using my Vidalia Chop Wizard for this!
3. Place diced tomatoes into a clean canning jar.
A funnel makes this super easy. Gently shake the jar to settle tomatoes so that you can fill it completely. The tomatoes should be packed tightly in order to produce enough juice. It won’t hurt if you press down on them a bit to get the jar packed full- in fact, this is probably going to be necessary.
The jar should be full to the base of the neck.
4. Add salt and bottled lemon juice.
For the salt, use ½ tsp. per pint and 1 tsp. per quart. You do not need to add salt when canning tomatoes, but I recommend it because I think it helps enhance the flavor.
For the lemon juice, use 1 Tbsp. per pint and 2 Tbsp. per quart.
Once the salt and lemon juice are added to the tomatoes, wipe the rim of each canning jar with a damp cloth to remove any tomato residue that may be there. (If there is even a slight bit of tomato juice on it, it may not allow it to seal properly.)
I updated the original post to include the instructions to add lemon juice after several readers commented and said that to be safe, you really should add it.
5. Prepare the canning lids.
Once you have 7 jars filled, place 7 metal canning lids in a small pan. Cover with water; bring to a boil.
When the water boils, use a fork or lid lifter to lift the jar lids out of the water and place them on the jars. Be careful not to burn yourself!
Secure each lid with a jar band/ring. (Heating the lids softens the rubber, allowing for a better seal.)
6. Place the filled jars of tomatoes in the canner.
Once jars are full and have the ring and lids on them, place them in the canner.
Then add hot water to the canner, enough to cover the jars by 1 to 2 inches. Turn the burner on medium high heat.
Once water starts to boil, reduce heat slightly and process for 45 minutes, making sure the water is boiling gently and steadily the whole time. (You may need to adjust heat to keep the boil going nicely, but really, as long as it is boiling, you are fine.)
7. Remove the jars of canned tomatoes.
After processing the canned tomatoes for 45 minutes, turn the burner off.
Remove jars using jar lifter- you may want to have a dishrag in your other hand to catch any hot water that drips from the jars as you remove them- and place on an old towel, blanket or another padded surface. (This is to protect your counter from the super hot jars.)
Allow at least a little bit of air space around each jar, making sure not to have jars close enough to touch. Do not move until jars are completely cool.
Jars should seal as they cool and you will typically hear a snap or pinging sound as the vacuum seal is formed. The lids will be slightly concave when sealed.
To test the seal, once jar has totally cooled you can lightly tap the center of the cooled jar lid. If it is firm and does not move, it should be sealed. If it pushes in, it didn’t seal properly. You can still use unsealed jars, just put them in the refrigerator and use them as soon as possible.
After jars are completely cool, you can remove the rings. Jars should be wiped clean before storing them.
Enjoy!
HELPFUL TIP: 1 pint of canned diced tomatoes is equivalent to 1 (15 oz.) can of diced tomatoes.
Other canning recipes you might also enjoy:
- How to Can Tomato Juice
- How to Can Peaches
- How to Can Homemade Applesauce
- How to Can Dill Pickles
- How to Freeze Green Beans
- How to Freeze Blueberries
How to Can Diced Tomatoes
Equipment
- Dishpan or containers to put the tomatoes in
- Knife
- Cutting board
- Vidalia Chop Wizard (Not a necessity, but you can dice the tomatoes in about half the time if you use it.)
- Wide Funnel
- Damp rag to wipe tops of jars
- Canner
- Canning jars with lids and rings
- Jar lifter
- Old towel, blanket or other padded surface to put hot jars on
Ingredients
- fresh tomatoes (approximately 2 3/4 lb. for 1 quart jar)
- salt (1 tsp. per quart or 1/2 tsp. per pint)
- bottled lemon juice (2 tbsp. per quart or 1 tbps. per pint)
Instructions
- Wash tomatoes thoroughly. Cut out the stem and any defects or blemishes. Some people also peel the tomatoes, but I never do and we honestly have not noticed the peelings at all- and I’m even funny about textures like that in food. I figure why bother with the extra step, plus it’s a bit healthier too!
- Slice tomatoes into about ½ inch thick slices, then dice them into whatever size you want. I love using my Vidalia Chop Wizard for this!
- Place diced tomatoes into a clean canning jar- a funnel makes this super easy. Gently shake jar to settle tomatoes so that you can fill it completely. The tomatoes should be packed tightly in order to produce enough juice. It won't hurt if you press down on them a bit to get the jar packed full- in fact, this is probably going to be necessary. The jar should be full to the base of the neck.
- Add salt (½ tsp. per pint and 1 tsp. per quart) and bottled lemon juice (1 Tbsp. per pint and 2 Tbsp. per quart). Wipe rim of each jar with a damp cloth to remove any tomato residue that may be there. (If there is even a slight bit of tomato juice on it, it may not allow it to seal properly.)
- Once you have 7 jars filled, place 7 metal canning lids in a small pan. Cover with water; bring to a boil. Once the water boils, use a fork or lid lifter to lift the jar lids out of the water- be careful not to burn yourself!- and place them on the jars. Secure each lid with a jar band/ring. (Heating the lids softens the rubber, allowing for a better seal.)
- Place 7 jars in canner. Fill with enough hot water to cover the jars by 1 to 2 inches. Turn the burner on medium high heat. Once water starts to boil, reduce heat slightly and process for 45 minutes, making sure the water is boiling gently and steadily the whole time. (You may need to adjust heat to keep the boil going nicely, but really, as long as it is boiling, you are fine.)
- After processing for 45 minutes, turn the burner off. Remove jars using jar lifter- you may want to have a dishrag in your other hand to catch any hot water that drips from the jars as you remove them- and place on an old towel, blanket or another padded surface. (This is to protect your counter from the super hot jars.) Allow at least a little bit of air space around each jar, making sure not to have jars close enough to touch. Do not move until jars are completely cool.
- Jars should seal as they cool and you will typically hear a snap or pinging sound as the vacuum seal is formed. Lids will be slightly concave when sealed. To test the seal, once jar has totally cooled, lightly tap the center of the cooled jar lid. If it is firm and does not move, it should be sealed. If it pushes in, it didn’t seal properly. You can still use unsealed jars, just put them in the refrigerator and use them as soon as possible.
- After jars are completely cool, you can remove the rings. Jars should be wiped clean before storing them.
Notes
Gillian
If you use very hot tomato juice in the jars the canned tomatoes are much tastier. It’s very inexpensive but well worth it for the extra taste. I’ve been canning tomatoes for over 40 years.
Lydia Beiler
Interesting, Gillian! I do think in this particular recipe though that adding juice would be a problem as you’d end up with too much liquid.
Carol Enns
Hi. Do you put the lid on the canner for the 45 minutes after it has come to a boil?
Lydia Beiler
Hi Carol! I typically do, but you don’t necessarily need to. I feel like it often helps to keep the temperature more the same (Which makes it easier to keep the water nicely boiling) so I think it’s helpful.
Joyce Harris
How long would I process pint jars? And can I use citric acid instead of lemon juice?
Lydia Beiler
Pints are processed for the same amount of time as quarts. And yes, if you have citric acid, you can use that instead of lemon juice. The recommendation is to add 1/4 tsp. citric acid per pint and 1/2 tsp. citric acid per quart of tomatoes. Hope that helps!
Amy K
Can you add herbs to tomatoes
Lydia Beiler
Yes, you can safely add herbs to this recipe if you’d like, Amy.
Amanda Myles
I just finished canning my tomatoes, but my finished jars don’t look like yours. All of my tomatoes are in the top half of my jar with o my liquid in the bottom half. Any ideas of what I may have done wrong? Do you think they’re still safe to eat?
Lydia Beiler
Yes, they are safe to eat, Amanda. The liquid is merely the juice from the tomatoes. This especially tends to happen if a juicier variety of tomato is used. I’ve had it happen less often when I used tomatoes grown in a greenhouse (they are firmer) or Roma tomatoes (also firmer). In the future, if you are using very ripe, juicy tomatoes and want to try to avoid the liquid at the bottom, you can drain a bit of the juice off as you are packing the jars. I hope that helps!
star mikrot
What kind of salt do you use? Will canning salt work?
Lydia Beiler
Canning salt or regular table salt will both work.
Wendy Wied
This was my first time canning – and this recipe was super easy. Now that they are done I am worried because there is abut an inch of liquid at bottom of jars. Did I do something wrong? Did the jars leak or is this normal?
Lydia Beiler
It’s fairly common for that to happen, Wendy. The liquid is merely the juice from the tomatoes. This especially tends to happen if a juicier variety of tomato is used. I’ve had it happen less often when I used tomatoes grown in a greenhouse (they are firmer) or Roma tomatoes (also firmer). In the future, if you are using very ripe, juicy tomatoes and want to try to avoid the liquid at the bottom, you can drain a bit of the juice off as you are packing the jars. I hope that helps!