CANNING: Homemade Spaghetti Sauce with Meat and Mushrooms
- Meat & Mushroom Tomato Ragu Ingredients
- Kitchen Equipment Needed
- How to Can Homemade Spaghetti Sauce with Meat & Mushrooms
- Storage and Safety Tips
- Spaghetti Sauce with Meat and Mushrooms (pressure-canning large-batch recipe)
This homemade spaghetti sauce canning recipe is flavored with meat and mushrooms, for a traditional Italian ragu that is a perfect pantry staple. It’s a versatile foundation sauce that is great served on pasta or polenta, in lasagna, stuffed shells, ziti or other baked casseroles, and more. It tastes like you’ve been simmering this sauce all day every time you pop open a jar for a quick and delicious homemade meal!
The mushrooms are optional, so if you’re not a fan or have picky eaters in your family, no worries, you can just leave them out! And unlike store-bought sauces, you can control the sweetness and spice level, and use wholesome real food ingredients and not cheap fillers like corn syrup. Your home canned tomato ragu will be so much more delicious than those commercial jarred sauces (and more affordable than the high-end store bought sauces). Best of all, it’s a shortcut to so many easy meals.
This homemade meaty mushroom ragu is adapted from and and based on a tested USDA spaghetti sauce canning recipe. I’ve scaled this up to a double batch that fills my pressure canner (18 pints, and sometimes a bit of leftover sauce to enjoy right away), and added a variation to use canned instead of fresh tomatoes. You can of course make a smaller batch if you prefer (or if you don’t have a giant pot to simmer it in). I like to do big batches of staple sauces like this one as it’s the same amount of work, and then I only have to make it a few times each year.
It will take a few hours of work, but it’s so nice to have all these shelf-stable ready to heat-and-eat meals on your pantry shelves. Canning your own spaghetti sauce saves freezer space and unlike frozen sauce or ingredients, it’s ready to use right away without defrosting (or hours of simmering to make it from scratch every time you want it). Stocking your pantry with a bunch of jars of homemade pasta sauce is such great peace of mind, and batch cooking is a huge time-saver!
Meat & Mushroom Tomato Ragu Ingredients
Tomatoes:
We’re using canned tomatoes instead of the fresh tomatoes in the original recipe, though you can certainly use fresh ones (or frozen) if you have them! This adjustment lets you use affordable bulk ingredients to craft your own homemade pasta sauce at any time of year, whether or not your garden is overflowing. You also get to skip the tedious blanching and peeling step if you’re using canned tomatoes. The large #10 cans of tomatoes are usually available at bulk stores like Costco or Sam’s Club, or from restaurant supply stores, and more frugal and less wasteful than using more smaller cans.
You can also use fresh tomatoes, blanched and peeled, or frozen and partially thawed with the skins slipped off. The original USDA recipe was written for fresh tomatoes, so if you have them feel free to substitute them for the canned tomatoes. You will need to simmer the fresh tomatoes after peeling them for longer than the canned ones, since the canned ones are usually packed in thicker juice than what your fresh tomatoes will have.
You will need a bushel of fresh tomatoes (60 lbs) for a full batch of 18+ pints. That sounds like a lot of tomatoes, but it will cook down! You can also halve that (along with all of the other ingredients) if you need to do a smaller batch. A half batch is the original recipe size, which is better suited to smaller pressure canners and smaller sauce pots. You can also work in batches to can the sauce if you have a smaller pressure canner. You’ll need to keep the sauce hot while you can the first half if you go this route.
The canned tomato equivalent is about four #10 cans of whole tomatoes, or a mix of whole tomatoes and passata, puree, or diced tomatoes (but NOT tomato paste, which will throw off the density from the original tested recipe). You could use an equivalent volume of smaller cans of tomatoes if you don’t have access to the large #10 cans. This sounds like a lot less than the fresh tomato quantity (each large can of tomatoes is just over 6 lbs), but remember that the fresh tomatoes have peels, cores, and are not packed in juice that is often already somewhat reduced.
You should be able to safely increase the amount of tomato in a recipe like this if you want to use additional tomato product, but it’s not a good idea to use less. This is a meat-flavored sauce, but isn’t terribly thick. If you are looking for a thick, very meaty and dense ragu, Bernardin has a tested version that I also like to make. This one is a more versatile and economic sauce though!
Ground Beef, Pork, or Venison:
The original USDA recipe calls for ground beef, bulk sausage, venison, or ground turkey. I usually make my sauce with freshly ground venison with a bit of pork added, though ground beef, ground pork, or a blend are also nice. You’ll need five pounds for the big batch, or 2 1/2 for the original size batch.
Alliums:
You’ll need two cups of Spanish or white onions (peeled and diced) and up to ten cloves of fresh garlic (peeled and chopped) for the big batch (halve both for 9 pints).
Mushrooms:
The mushrooms are optional, but I recommend adding them unless you have an allergy or aversion to mushrooms! They add a lot of umami and richness of flavor to your spaghetti sauce. Use either white button or cremini mushrooms, as wild mushrooms do not have safe canning processing times tested (they vary a lot in density). You can add up to two pounds of mushrooms for the big batch, or half that for the normal one.
I often add a pinch of porcini or wild mushroom powder to my sauce, though it’s not in the original tested recipe, it’s within the bounds of what I’m comfortable with for alterations.
Celery or Bell Pepper:
The original recipe calls for about one cup of either diced celery or bell pepper, though you could also use a blend of the two vegetables. You’ll need two cups for the big batch. Make sure if you use both that you don’t double the total quantity, just use the same total combined amount.
Seasonings:
Dried Herbs: Oregano or marjoram, Italian seasoning blend (or your own blend of basil, thyme, parsley, & rosemary), bay leaves.
Other seasonings: Brown or white sugar, freshly ground black pepper, salt, nutmeg, and optionally, dried chili flakes. I usually add about a teaspoon of dried fennel seeds to my sauce if I’m not using Italian sausage as part of the meat component (since the Italian sausage is seasoned with fennel already).
Kitchen Equipment Needed
Pressure Canner:
You absolutely must use a pressure canner to safely can this spaghetti sauce. If you don’t have a pressure canner, you can freeze your sauce, or use a water-bath safe tested recipe for a vegetarian spaghetti sauce base, and then saute and add the ground meat when you plan to serve it. Do not try to water-bath can low-acid foods like meat or mushroom sauces!
You also can’t safely can this in an Instant Pot- they do not reliably build up enough pressure to safely can foods, especially low-acid foods like meat, mushrooms, and veggies that require consistent pressure and long processing times. Botulism isn’t worth the risk… always pressure can low-acid foods like meats and vegetables in a suitable pressure canner.
I love my big All-American pressure canner, but any pressure canner that is large enough to hold at least four quart jars and that has a pressure weight and/or a tested pressure gauge will work (although you may need to adjust the batch size for your canner, or can the sauce in several batches).
You’ll need a large pressure canner to process this whole batch at once, although you can also can whatever will fit in your pressure canner, and work in batches to can the rest, or use the rest of your spaghetti sauce immediately. You can quickly cool and promptly refrigerate any leftover sauce for 4-5 days, or you can freeze it to use within a few months.
For more information about canning basics and equipment, check out our introductory article:
CANNING: Equipment Guide- What Do I Need to Start Canning at Home?
Large Stockpot or Electric Roaster:
You’ll need a large, heavy bottomed stockpot or rondeu to simmer and reduce your sauce, ideally one that holds at least 5 gallons. If you don’t have a large enough pot for this whole batch, you could also divide all the ingredients between two pots to reduce the sauce until you can combine it into the larger of your pots, or scale down this recipe to a smaller batch size.
I like to use my large brewing pot, which is *much* larger than needed (9.5 gallons) but helps contain the spatter and mess as the tomato sauce bubbles and simmers. Before I had this pot, I’d use a much smaller and thinner pot (about 4.5 gallons), which required much more frequent stirring so it wouldn’t scorch, but was usable with some care and attention.
You could also use a large electric roaster if you have one… the larger surface area will help the sauce reduce or gives plenty of room to brown your meat. This is a really convenient option if you have one of these, or have room to store one. They’re handy for a lot of canning and food processing tasks, not just roasting turkeys or large cuts of meat!
Meat Grinder or Stand Mixer with Meat Grinder Attachment:
If you have pre-ground meat, you can skip this. I like to grind my own meat whenever possible to have control over the quality and size of the grind, and am often working with venison that we processed ourselves. If you don’t have access to a grinder, or your meat is already ground, no worries, the recipe will still be great!
I use a meat grinder attachment for my KitchenAid, though you can use a stand-alone grinder if you have one, a hand grinder, or have your meat processor grind your venison, beef, or pork for you. I usually make this sauce with either ground venison or a blend of ground venison and pork, but ground beef or a beef/pork/veal blend also make fantastic ragu.
You can make serviceable minced meat working in batches with a food processor, but it takes care to get an even grind without making paste. You could also make mince by hand with a sharp chef’s knife, but that would be a LOT of work for a recipe of this volume! I strongly recommend either using pre-ground meat or using an actual meat grinder.
How to Can Homemade Spaghetti Sauce with Meat & Mushrooms
prep the tomatoes:
- For fresh or frozen tomatoes: Blanch fresh tomatoes in boiling water or slip the peels from the thawing frozen tomatoes. Cut a small X in the bottom of the tomatoes with a paring knife before blanching and they will peel easier. Core and quarter the tomatoes or chop them roughly, and bring up to a simmer in a large pot. Simmer for at least 20-30 minutes, then pass through a food mill or metal sieve, or puree with an immersion blender (or in batches with a regular blender or food processor).
- For canned tomatoes: If you are using whole tomatoes, you can squeeze or chop the tomatoes to break them up, or puree them with an immersion blender or food processor. I like to use whole canned tomatoes and puree some of them and squeeze or chop the rest as I like having some small chunks of tomato in my sauce. I just squeeze and break the tomatoes up by hand roughly, removing any stray bits of peel. You could also use canned diced tomatoes to skip this step. You can also use tomato passata for all or part of the tomato component if you want a completely smooth sauce. Do not use tomato paste.
- Wash, peel, and chop the other vegetables (onions, garlic, bell pepper or celery, and optional mushrooms) and set aside in small bowls or on a sheet tray.
brown the meat:
- Preheat your stockpot or large heavy pans. If you’re using fresh tomatoes, you’ll probably be reducing the tomatoes in your large sauce pot, and will want to brown the meat in separate pans or an electric roaster. Heat the pans over high heat so that the meat will sear and brown instead of just steaming.
- If you are using very lean meat like venison or turkey, you’ll want to use a tablespoon or two of olive or vegetable oil, (do not use butter or margerine). Fattier meats like beef and pork usually do not need additional fat to brown.
- Crumble the ground meat into the hot pan (with oil or pan spray if you are using it). Work in batches if necessary to not crowd the pan. You want the meat to brown and develop flavor, not steam and boil, so you may need to add it to the pan gradually unless you are using a wide roasting pan or rondeau.
- If your beef is very fatty, you may want to drain some of the excess fat, especially if you plan to store your canned sauce for a long period of time. Too much fat in your sauce can interfere with the jar seals, or take on “off” flavors in storage.
saute vegetables:
- Add the diced onions and salt to the browned meat and stir. The salt will help the onions release moisture to deglaze the pan, so that it doesn’t scorch.
- Sweat the onions with the meat until the onions are translucent, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan regularly. If the pan is scorching, you can add a bit of tomato juice or a few spoonfuls of water or stock to deglaze the pan.
- Add the diced celery and/or bell peppers and stir again. Saute for several minutes, then add the garlic and mushrooms. Sweat the mushrooms and continue to stir so the bottom of the pan doesn’t scorch.
- Add the dried herbs, chili flakes, and pepper, and stir to combine.
add tomatoes & reduce:
- Add the prepared or canned tomatoes and the brown or white sugar to the browned meat and vegetables.
- Simmer and reduce the spaghetti sauce over medium-low heat for several hours, stirring regularly and adjusting the heat if necessary to keep the pot from scorching. If you are using fresh tomatoes, this may take a long time (less time if you have only paste tomatoes, more if you have a blend of types of tomato).
- Adjust seasoning as needed, adding a bit more salt, sugar, or dried herbs if needed.
Prep Canner and Fill Jars
- Wash and preheat your jars, and get your lids and rings ready. Fill your pressure canner with the recommended amount of water (check your canner manual, but at least several inches for this long processing time) and preheat it.
- Try to pick out the bay leaves as you fill the jars, although if they end up in the jars, it’s ok (just keep an eye out for them when you reheat the sauce before serving it).
- Using a jar funnel, fill your quart or pint jars with your spaghetti sauce. Leave 1″ of headspace below the rim at the top of the jar.
- Wipe the jar rims and top with new canning lids (or properly prepared reusable lids). Tighten the rings finger-tight (or according to manufacturer directions).
Process the Jars
- Place the hot jars in the preheated pressure canner and seal the lid. Heat on medium heat. Vent the canner for 10 minutes once it starts steaming, then add the weight and bring the canner up to pressure over medium low heat.
- Process at 10 lbs of pressure (weighted canner) or 11 lbs (dial gauge). Adjust as needed for your altitude over 1000 sf. Process for a full 60 minutes for pints, or 75 minutes for quarts or mixed batches of pints and quarts.
- Turn off the heat after the processing time is up. Let the canner rest undisturbed until the pressure returns to zero- do not remove the weight early to vent the steam faster.
- As soon as the pressure releases, carefully remove the lid. Wait another couple minutes, then remove the jars with jar tongs or hot pads, and place them on a towel or cooling rack. Cover with a towel if there are cold drafts.
- Leave undisturbed overnight or for at least 8-12 hours when the jars are fully cooled.
Storage and Safety Tips
Remove the rings, check for seals, and wash the jars with warm, soapy water. Refrigerate any jars of spaghetti sauce that did not seal and use those jars promptly. You could reprocess them with new lids within 24 hours of the first processing.
However, since the canning time is so long, the reprocessed jars will lose quality, and the flavor will suffer, I prefer to refrigerate any unsealed jars of sauce and use it within a few days rather than reprocess. You can also transfer to freezer-safe containers and freeze.
Label the jars and store in a cool, dark place. For best quality, enjoy most home-canned goods within 12-18 months, although they will be safe to eat while the seals are intact. Nutritional value and flavor declines slightly with longer storage (or improper storage conditions). Discard the contents of any jars that lose seals in storage, smell off, are bubbling, or hiss when opened, and sterilize the jar before using them again.
Spaghetti Sauce with Meat and Mushrooms (pressure-canning large-batch recipe)
Equipment
- jar tongs & funnel
Ingredients
- 5 lbs ground venison, beef, pork sausage, turkey, or a blend
- 2 tbsp olive or vegetable oil (needed to brown lean meats, omit for fattier beef or pork)
- 4 # 10 cans whole peeled tomatoes with juice, or diced tomatoes in juice, tomato passata, or a blend (substitute one bushel (60 lbs as purchased) of fresh or frozen tomatoes, peeled and cored, see post notes for processing instructions)
- 2 cups yellow or white onions, peeled & diced (12 oz)
- 3 tbsp salt
- 2 cups diced celery or bell pepper (or a combination) (10 oz)
- 2 lbs sliced white button or cremini mushrooms (optional)
- 10 large garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
- 6 tbsp brown or white sugar
- 3 tbsp dried oregano leaves
- 3 tbsp dried Italian seasoning (or a blend of basil, thyme, rosemary, parsley, and marjoram)
- 3-5 large bay leaves
- 2 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp dried chili flakes (optional)
- 2 tsp dried fennel seeds (optional, omit if using bulk Italian sausage)
- ¾ tsp freshly grated nutmeg, allspice, or a blend (optional)
Instructions
Prep the Tomatoes:
- For fresh or frozen tomatoes: blanch fresh tomatoes in boiling water or slip the peels from the thawing frozen tomatoes. Core and quarter the tomatoes or chop them roughly, and bring up to a simmer in a large pot. Simmer for at least 20-30 minutes, then pass through a food mill or metal sieve, or puree with an immersion blender (or in batches with a regular blender or food processor).
- For canned tomatoes: If you are using whole tomatoes, you can squeeze or chop the tomatoes to break them up, or puree them with an immersion blender or food processor. I like to use whole canned tomatoes and puree some of them and squeeze or chop the rest (or use canned diced tomatoes) as I like having some small chunks of tomato in my sauce. You can also use tomato passata for all or part of the tomato component.
- Wash, peel, and chop the other vegetables (onions, garlic, bell pepper or celery, and optional mushrooms) and set aside in small bowls or on a sheet tray.
Brown the Meat:
- Preheat your stockpot or large heavy pans. If you’re using fresh tomatoes, you’ll probably be reducing the tomatoes in your large sauce pot, and will want to brown the meat in separate pans or an electric roaster. Heat the pans over high heat so that the meat will sear and brown instead of just steaming.
- If you are using very lean meat like venison or turkey, you’ll want to use a tablespoon or two of olive or vegetable oil, (do not use butter or margerine). Fattier meats like beef and pork usually do not need additional fat to brown.
- Crumble the ground meat into the hot pan (with oil or pan spray if you are using it). Work in batches if necessary to not crowd the pan. You want the meat to brown and develop flavor, not steam and boil, so you may need to add it to the pan gradually unless you are using a wide roasting pan or rondeau.
- If your beef is very fatty, you may want to drain some of the excess fat, especially if you plan to store your canned sauce for a long period of time. Too much fat in your sauce can interfere with the jar seals, or take on “off” flavors in storage.
Saute Vegetables:
- Add the diced onions and salt to the browned meat and stir. The salt will help the onions release moisture to deglaze the pan, so that it doesn’t scorch.
- Sweat the onions with the meat until the onions are translucent, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan regularly. If the pan is scorching, you can add a bit of tomato juice or a few spoonfuls of water or stock to deglaze the pan.
- Add the diced celery and/or bell peppers and stir again. Saute for several minutes, then add the garlic and mushrooms. Sweat the mushrooms and continue to stir so the bottom of the pan doesn’t scorch.
- Add the dried herbs, chili flakes, and pepper, and stir to combine.
Add Tomatoes & Reduce Sauce:
- Add the prepared or canned tomatoes and the brown or white sugar to the browned meat and vegetables.
- Simmer and reduce the spaghetti sauce over medium-low heat for several hours, stirring regularly and adjusting the heat if necessary to keep the pot from scorching. If you are using fresh tomatoes, this may take a long time (less time if you have only paste tomatoes, more if you have a blend of types of tomato).
- Adjust seasoning as needed, adding a bit more salt, sugar, or dried herbs if needed.
Prep Canner and Fill Jars:
- Wash and preheat your jars, and get your lids and rings ready. Fill your pressure canner with the recommended amount of water (check your canner manual, but at least several inches for this long processing time) and preheat it.
- Using a jar funnel, fill your quart or pint jars with your spaghetti sauce. Leave 1″ of headspace below the rim at the top of the jar. Try to remove the dried bay leaves from the sauce as you fill the jars if you can find them, but you can also remove them after canning.
- Wipe the jar rims and top with new canning lids (or properly prepared reusable lids). Tighten the rings finger-tight (or according to manufacturer directions).
Process the Jars:
- Place the hot jars in the preheated pressure canner and seal the lid. Heat on medium heat. Vent the canner for 10 minutes once it starts steaming, then add the weight and bring the canner up to pressure over medium low heat.
- Process at 10 lbs of pressure (weighted canner) or 11 lbs (dial gauge). Adjust as needed for your altitude over 1000 sf. Process for a full 60 minutes for pints, or 75 minutes for quarts or mixed batches of pints and quarts.
- Turn off the heat after the processing time is up. Let the canner rest undisturbed until the pressure returns to zero- do not remove the weight early to vent the steam faster.
- As soon as the pressure releases, carefully remove the lid. Wait another couple minutes, then remove the jars with jar tongs or hot pads, and place them on a towel or cooling rack. Cover with a towel if there are cold drafts.
- Leave undisturbed overnight or for at least 8-12 hours when the jars are fully cooled.
Check Seals
- After the jars have completely cooled at least overnight, remove the rings, check for seals, and wash the jars with warm, soapy water.
- Refrigerate any jars of spaghetti sauce that did not seal and use those jars promptly. You could also reprocess them with new lids within 24 hours of the first processing.