Green Tomato Enchilada Sauce

No ratings yet

Green tomato enchilada sauce is a thin, smooth green sauce for the pantry shelf, adapted from a tested Ball recipe with green tomatoes in place of tomatillos. Pour it over enchiladas or use it to braise pork.

Prep Time30

Cook Time25

Canning Time15

Total Time1 10

Course: Sauce

Cuisine: Mexican

Keyword: canning enchilada sauce, green enchilada sauce, Green Tomato Canning Recipes, green tomato enchilada sauce

Servings: servings, makes 4 pints

Equipment

Water Bath Canner
Canning Jars, Lids and Bands

Ingredients

12 cups green tomatoes cored and diced
2 cups onion diced
2 cups green chile peppers seeded and diced
8 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 cup white vinegar 5% acidity
1/2 cup bottled lime juice
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp Mexican oregano
2 tsp canning salt
1 tsp hot pepper flakes
4 tbsp cilantro chopped, optional

Instructions

Prepare a water bath canner, jars, and lids, and keep the jars hot until you fill them.
Core the green tomatoes, dice them, and measure the diced tomatoes into a large stainless pot.
Dice the onions and peppers, chop the garlic fine, and add them to the pot.
Add the vinegar, lime juice, cumin, oregano, salt, hot pepper flakes, and cilantro if you are using it.
Bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring constantly so the mixture does not scorch.
Reduce the heat, cover the pot, and simmer gently for 20 minutes, until the tomatoes have completely fallen apart.
Blend the sauce smooth with an immersion blender, then bring it back to a boil. Do not skip the blending, since green tomatoes do not break down on their own.
Ladle the hot sauce into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles, adjust the headspace, and wipe the rims clean.
Center the lids on the jars and screw the bands down to fingertip tight.
Process half pints and pints in a boiling water bath canner for 15 minutes, adjusting for altitude (see notes).
Turn off the heat, remove the canner lid, and wait 5 minutes before lifting the jars out onto a towel.
Cool 12 to 24 hours, check the seals, take the bands off, and store in a cool, dark place.

Notes

Yield and measuring: Starts with about 5 pounds of green tomatoes as purchased and finishes at 4 pints or 8 half pints, at about 1/2 cup a serving. Dice first and measure by the cup, since green tomatoes vary in weight for a given volume of dice.

Recipe source: Adapted from Tomatillo Salsa on page 213 of the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving, using green tomatoes in place of the tomatillos. The NCHFP allows that swap one for one in its tomatillo green salsa.

Vinegar and lime juice: The vinegar has to be labeled 5 percent acidity, and the lime juice has to be bottled so the acidity is consistent. Both amounts come from the tested recipe and neither can be reduced.

Vegetable changes: Peppers can be any variety and onions any type, as long as the total volume of each stays the same. Do not add vegetables, increase the tomatoes, or swap one vegetable type for another.

Peeling and blending: Green tomatoes are not peeled for canning, the same as tomatillos, and the skins blend away without turning bitter. They also do not collapse the way tomatillos do, so the blender is what makes this a pourable sauce.

Seasonings: Cumin, oregano, salt, pepper flakes, and cilantro are flavor only and can be adjusted.

Canning optional: Refrigerate up to 2 weeks, or freeze up to a year.

Altitude adjustments: Processing time for half pints and pints in a water bath canner.

0 to 1,000 feet: 15 minutes
1,001 to 3,000 feet: 20 minutes
3,001 to 6,000 feet: 25 minutes
Above 6,000 feet: 30 minutes

Storage: Sealed jars keep best within 12 to 18 months in a cool, dark place with the bands off. Refrigerate after opening and use within ten days.

Nutrition