Sweet and Sour Sauce
You can also blend this before canning if you want your sauce smooth!
Ingredients
- 4 cups tomatoes (peeled and chopped)
- 2 cups onions (cut into chunks)
- 1 (20 oz.) cans pineapple chunks (drain, chopped and reserve the juice)
- 2 cups green pepper (chunks)
- 2 cups sugar (or up to 5 cups as to taste)
- 4 tablespoons soy sauce (optional and you can also use lite soy)
- 2 cups vinegar (5% acidity)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup Clear Jel® or Thick Gel
Instructions
Preparation:
- Prepare 5-6 pint jars, lids, and rings. Sterilize the jars and keep them in the hot water till it’s time for processing. Make sure to fill your water bath canner and get the water to a simmer. Prep your tomatoes, onions, pineapple, and green peppers. DONT DISCARD THE PINEAPPLE JUICE FROM THE CAN!
Cooking:
- In a large stainless steel or enameled dutch oven cook the tomatoes, onions, pineapple tidbits, and green pepper chunks to a boil.
- Add 2 cups sugar (or amount to taste), soy sauce, and vinegar; bring to a boil. In a medium bowl combine 1/2 cup sugar with the Clear Jel® and mix thoroughly.
- Add reserved pineapple juice; stir until well blended. Making sure that the tomato mixture is at a boil, stir in the pineapple mixture, stirring until thickened. It will get thick very quickly. Remove from heat.
Filling the jars:
- On a dishtowel place your hot jars and using your funnel in each jar fill leaving 1/2” headspace.
- Taking a clean papertowel wet it with warm water and wipe the rims of the jars removing any food particles that would interfere with a good seal.
- Using your magic wand extract the lids from the hot water and place them on the now cleaned rims. Add your rings to the tops of each of the jars and turn to seal just "finger tight".
Processing:
- Make sure your rack is on the bottom of the canner and place the jars in the water bath making sure that the water covers each of the jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add hot water to the canner if it doesn't measure up.
- Cover the pot and turn up the heat under the canner and wait for the water to start boiling. Once the water has come to a boil start your timer for 30 minutes.
- When complete turn off the heat and remove the cover and let the jars sit for another few minutes.
- Remove the jars and place them back on the dishtowel in a place that they will sit overnight to cool. Do not touch or move them till the next morning.
Sealing:
- Sometime in the next hour your jars will be making a "pinging" or "popping" noise. That is the glass cooling and the reaction of the lids being sucked into the jar for proper sealing. Some recipes may take overnight to seal. Check your lids and reprocess any jars that did not seal.
Labeling:
- Make sure to label your jars after they have cooled with the name of the recipe and the date canned. If you want to use the shrink labels you can order them Here!