The Vintage Homemaker

Enchilada Sauce for Canning

By Melissa

Okay, so I started getting all the produce put up. We bought 6 more bushels of tomatoes. That’s a lot of tomatoes! Plus the bushel of Pablano Peppers!

All in all our trip to the Farmer’s Market in Asheville, NC gave me… 
7 bushels of tomatoes
14 bushels of apples
1 bushel sweet potatoes
1 peck squash
1 peck eggplant
2 bushels red and green bell peppers
1 bushel pablano peppers
2 bushels cucumbers

That should keep me BUSY for quite a while!

Enchilada Sauce. So far I have made 23 quarts and 12 pints of this incredible Enchilada Sauce. (Plus what we used to make a small pan of enchiladas – probably another quart.) To make that much sauce I have used up about half of the Pablanos (maybe a little more than half) and about 3 bushels of tomatoes. We love enchiladas! They are so easy to make, so many options for fillings and just taste so good. I thought about dishing some up into a mug and sipping it like tomato soup!

Enchilada Sauce for Canning

12 lbs. quartered tomatoes
10 pablano peppers
3 tbsp. cumin
1 tbsp. chili powder
2 tbsp. salt
6 cloves minced garlic

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Quarter tomatoes and place on three baking sheets, lined with foil if preferred, salt and pepper to taste and drizzle with a little olive oil. Place pablano peppers on top. Roast for about an hour, turning peppers as they blacken and blister. Remove peppers when all sides are blistered. This may happen before the hour is up. I had to take peppers out one at a time as they were ready. Allow peppers to cool and then peel.

Add roasted tomatoes and peeled peppers to large stock pot. Add remaining ingredients and use an emulsion blender to puree (or use a regular blender in batches).

Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes. Then fill sterilized jars leaving a 1 inch headspace.

Pressure can at 10 lbs. for 50 minutes for pints and 60 minutes for quarts. This recipe is not for the boiling water bath method. I have to can at 15 lbs. pressure because of our altitude.

Note: You could add more peppers for a spicier flavor. Also, I suggest always boiling pressure canned vegetables/ sauces for at least 15 minutes, stirring frequently before feeding them to your family – just to be on the safe side.

Another Note: You could use this “method” for making smaller batches of the sauce for one time use and not can it. Easy and definitely worth it! I’ve been getting about 8 – 9 quarts from each batch of this recipe.

2 Comments on Enchilada Sauce for Canning

  1. Eileen
    September 9, 2012 at 10:58 am (256 days ago)

    Why can’t you process this in a boiler? I do not own a pressure cooker, and have only learned the boiling water method, which works fine for my tomato sauce, apple sauce and pickles.?

    Reply
    • Melissa
      September 9, 2012 at 12:22 pm (255 days ago)

      Eileen, the Enchilada sauce has ingredients that could be harbor botulism – peppers and oil. So, you need to process in a pressure canner. You can only process fruits/jams/jellies and pickle recipes in a boiling water bath canner.

      I highly recommend a pressure canner! And this Enchilada Sauce recipe is amazing!!!

      Reply

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