# Spaghetti Sauce



## jkhs (Sep 17, 2010)

Does anyone have a really good recipe for spaghetti sauce? Typically I can anywhere between 30 and 50 quarts of spaghetti sauce a year for my family, using Mrs. Wages seasoning packets, which is SO expensive. I'd really like to find a similar tasting sauce that I could make with the seasonings that I have on hand.


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## judylou (Jun 19, 2009)

Please know that what makes the Mrs. Wages mixes safe for canning is the citric acid they contain. So you will need to include that unless you use one of the approved and tested spaghetti sauce recipes available.

Most spaghetti sauce recipes must be pressure canned as they are a mix of low acid vegetables so I'd suggest you begin by checking out the recipes for it provided in the Ball Blue Book and on NCHFP.

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_03/spaghetti_sauce.html


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## jkhs (Sep 17, 2010)

The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving has a couple of recipes for seasoned tomato sauce that are hot water bath recipes. Do you think they'd taste somewhat similar to the Mrs. Wages?


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

I have used Mrs. Wages as a flavor base in addition to all of the normal ingredients. Never make the same combination twice but do pressure can all of them. I gave detailed instructions here one time which started out with calibrating a wooden spoon for 7 quarts or 9 pints using your stock pot. That's still a good tip.

My start-from-scratch recipe is for 9 pints or 7 Classico jars and begins with 30# of tomatoes; pureed, cooked, pressed through chinois sieve, and returned to stock pot. 

In blender, chop 1+ cup onions, 1+ cup green peppers, 4 tablespoons parsley, 2 tablespoons oregano, 2 tablespoons basil, and 6+ garlic cloves.

Add Â½ cup brown sugar, 4 teaspoons canning salt, 2 teaspoons black pepper, and Â¼ teaspoon ground bay leaves.

Bring to boil and reduce to simmer in uncovered pot. Stir frequently to avoid scorching. When it's reduced to your calibrated mark on your spoon, transfer to canning jars and process 25 minutes at 10#.

The onions, peppers, and garlic figures are an approximate minimum and I often add more. I've also used the basic figures and added a packet of Mrs. Wages. Some batches turn out so super that I'll wish that I wrote down the exact quantities of each. But then there would be the eventual monotony of every jar tasting the same. 

Martin


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## Canning Girl (Jan 13, 2010)

Spaghetti Sauce

9 qts pureed tomatoes
6 c onion, chopped
4 c celery, chopped
2 c bell pepper, chopped
6 T salt
1 1/2 T pepper
3 T oregano
2 1/2 T basil
2 1/2 T garlic powder
3 T parsley
1 tsp red pepper powder
2 tsp thyme
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp sage
1 tsp marjoram

Blend vegetables to desired consistency (chunky or smooth). Add spices and simmer and reduce until desired thickness.

I add browned ground beef and pressure can for 90 minutes.


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## Sonshine (Jul 27, 2007)

I don't have a recipe, since I'm more of a taste cooker. I use home canned tomatoes and tomatoe sauce, garlic, oregano, marjoram, basil, onions, salt, pepper, sometimes bell pepper. About the only thing I don't raise that I sometimes add are mushrooms. Because of the acid in the tomatoes I've always just water bath canned them. I don't add meat until I'm ready to cook it for the meal.


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## judylou (Jun 19, 2009)

I can't help you with the "taste like Mrs. Wages" part of your question because I have never used it.

But there are some crucial points to keep in mind. First, for purposes of canning spaghetti sauce and seasoned tomato sauce aren't the same thing. Tomato sauces can often be done in a BWB because they have acid added to them - usually lemon juice, vinegar, or citric acid. That is what makes them safe for a BWB.

Spaghetti sauces have other vegetables added but seldom include any added acid so they must be pressure canned.

So sauces that contain only tomatoes and various dried spices or tomato sauces that contain small amounts of onions and garlic but also have acid added to them in the form of lemon juice or citric acid may be safely canned in a BWB.

But sauces, including spaghetti sauce, that contain large amounts of other low-acid vegetables like onions, mushrooms, garlic, peppers, celery, fresh herbs rather than dry, etc. cannot be safely canned in a BWB. They must be pressure canned. Tomatoes are a low-acid fruit, not an acid one, so they cannot compensate for the low-acidity of the other vegetables.

So the recipe you found in the Ball Complete Book is safe for BWB since it is a basic tomato sauce recipe calling for only a small amount of onions, a bit of garlic and requires lemon juice to be added. But if you start adding lots of other ingredients then it crosses into the pressure canner world.

Canning Girls recipe above is a spaghetti sauce recipe and would be considered safe as it is pressure canned, is not overly thick, and it also contains sugar with binds up some of the loose water in the vegetables. But even without the meat it would still need to be pressure canned, just not as long. Same with Martin's recipe unless he gets too carried away with all the additions. 

Sonshine may choose to BWB the sauce described in his/her post but it would not be considered safe to do so because tomatoes aren't acidic.

I hope this helps.


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## jkhs (Sep 17, 2010)

Thanks for all the advice. I think that I may use this year as a "transitional year" and make some Mrs. Wages-just to keep the kids happy, and make a few jars of the new recipes, too. Hopefully, the family will like the new recipes and I can quit buying the Mrs. Wages for the next season!


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

I am still new to canning and, Cannining Girl, that recipe sounds good. What gauge do you use when pressuring?

Judylou, I always value what you say about cooking. I'm glad you're in here.


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## Canning Girl (Jan 13, 2010)

I am at a high elevation, so I process at 13 pounds. My whole family and all of the friends with whom I've shared love my spaghetti sauce. It's the first thing I make with my tomatoes. Until I have enough spaghetti sauce, I don't do any stewed tomatoes or salsa. It has a little bit of a kick to it because of the red pepper, so if you don't like kick, adjust the red pepper accordingly. When I serve the sauce, I like to add one small can of tomato paste to thicken it up a bit.


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

Thank you CG, David enjoys spaghetti; so I want to put up some sauce for it this year. I will try out your recipe as he likes it hot.


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