Slow Cooker Garden Fresh Tomato Sauce for the Freezer
If your end-of-summer garden tomatoes are ripening faster than you can keep up with, this might be the easiest way to preserve them! Slow Cooker Garden Tomato Sauce lets you toss any amount of whole tomatoes into the crockpot along with onion, garlic, and fresh basil, simmer all day, and blend into sauce! No chopping, no canning, and your homemade tomato sauce can be used for pasta, pizza, or frozen to preserve your tomato harvest!
Servings: 5 pint jars
Calories: 78kcal
Equipment
- slow cooker
Ingredients
- 4 pounds tomatoes
- ½ onion a few chunks
- 4 cloves garlic whole, peeled
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 10 grinds fresh black pepper
- 2 sprigs fresh basil
Instructions
- Wash your tomatoes well and add them to a slow cooker. You can use any combination of fresh garden tomatoes you have including large tomatoes and cherry tomatoes. Remove any stems or bad spots, no need to chop.
- Add a few chunks of onions, whole peeled garlic cloves, salt and pepper, and a few leaves of basil. Tuck the basil down under the tomatoes so it doesn't dry out.
- Cook on LOW for about 5 to 8 hours.
- Use a large spoon to scoop the tomatoes out into a blender, leaving some of the juice behind. Blend on low speed as smooth or as coarse as you like. Transfer to glass jars, filled only ¾'s full and cool completely in the fridge. Refrigerate for 4 days or freeze for 4 months.
Notes
- Tomatoes - You can use whatever garden tomatoes you have and the amount doesn't really matter, as long as it fits in the slow cooker.
- Blending - Use a regular blender, food processor, or immersion blender. For a thicker sauce, ladle the cooked tomatoes out of the crockpot and into the blender while leaving some of the juices behind. Start blending slowly and don't over blend for a rustic sauce with some texture.
- Freezing in Glass Jars - You can use any jars, they don't need to be canning jars. Fill only ¾'s full to allow room for expansion in the freezer. Cool jars completely in the fridge before freezing. Thaw overnight in the fridge before using. Don't run a frozen jar under water to thaw, it will crack! If a jar does crack, throw it away, don't try to save the sauce.
- How to Use this Sauce - Use as a pasta sauce, pizza sauce or use it in place of marinara or crushed tomatoes in any Italian recipe. If you leave out the basil, it is more of a basic tomato sauce and could be used in chili or Mexican dishes.
- Nutrition Information is for 1 pint jar filled ¾'s full.
Nutrition
Calories: 78kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 252mg | Potassium: 915mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 3076IU | Vitamin C: 51mg | Calcium: 54mg | Iron: 1mg