Best Tomatoes for Canning, Paste-making and Sauce
By Shannie McCabe
If you are a home gardener, homesteader or tomato connoisseur, you know that a perfect tomato sauce starts with choosing the right variety. Heirloom tomatoes are famous for being superior in flavor, but if you plan to make a robust sauce or preserve your tomatoes for later, you will want to choose the correct variety. Looking for qualities such as thick walled flesh, low seed count and relatively lower sugar content are crucial for picking a good ‘saucer.’ Given that there are countless varieties of heirloom tomatoes available, I have compiled a list of the very best heirloom tomato varieties for making sauce and canning.
Amish Paste — Many seed savers believe this is the ultimate paste tomato. Giant, blocky, Roma type tomatoes have delicious red flesh that is perfect for paste and canning.
Bonny Best — This is the famous old canning tomato, one of the most respected canning varieties in America in the first half of the 20th century. Medium-sized fruit is round, red, meaty and loaded with flavor.
San Marzano Lungo No. 2 — A newer selection of the beloved San Marzano, a famous Italian cooking tomato. Long, cylindrical fruit is filled with thick, dry flesh and few seeds. This heavy producing variety is a standard for many Italian farmers and chefs.
Costoluto Genovese — By far the most eye catching sauce tomato, this dramatically ribbed, old Italian favorite that has been around since the early 19th century. A standard in Italy for both fresh eating and preserving, and known for its intensely flavorful, deep red flesh.
Jersey Devil — A true giant in the world of heirloom tomatoes, this pointed, pepper-like fruit variety was at one point a pillar of the New Jersey tomato growing industry. The huge, 5-6-inch, ruby-red, paste-type fruits are very meaty and have few seeds. Most importantly, they have incredible flavor.
Martino’s Roma — An improvement on the classic roma tomato. Fantastic yields of richly flavorful plum tomatoes, 2-3 ounces, dry-fleshed and very meaty with few seeds. With its relative resistance to early blight, this is a more reliable choice for home or market gardens.
Rutgers — Another fine New Jersey heirloom that is good for both canning and fresh eating. Large crimson 8-ounce globes are dripping with flavor. Good yields and flavor, coupled with large vigorous vines make this a top choice.
Red Rosso Sicilian — This is a deeply ribbed, intensely red variety from Sicily. Firm, solid flesh and somewhat hollow seed cavity make this a star for sauce or paste and is richly flavored, just as the Italians like their tomatoes.
Orange Icicle Tomato — Looking for a twist on your traditional sauce? Make it orange! This sweet, rich and flavorful variety has strong citrus overtones. Slender, glowing orange icicle-like fruit makes for an extra long paste tomato. This variety also makes a lovely orange ketchup and a superb salsa. Be aware that orange tomatoes may not possess adequate acidity for safe canning, so keep this as a fresh sauce variety or consider adding a bit of citric acid if canning.
You can use these varieties in your homemade sauces, tomato paste, sun drying and for canning. Hot water bath canning is an excellent way to safely preserve your harvest for and savor your heirloom tomatoes all winter long.
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