Safety classification
Tested
Testing authority: National Center for Home Food Preservation (University of Georgia / USDA-derived guidance)
Safety reviewed: 09/09/2026
Processing details
Altitude adjustment: Boiling-water processing is 85, 90, 95, or 100 minutes across the documented altitude bands. Pressure alternatives must follow one complete NCHFP table.
Source & provenance
Safety classification: Tested recipe from NCHFP.
Safety summary
Do not add water or juice, omit required bottled lemon juice or citric acid, or combine time and pressure values from different options.
Processing details
- Method
- Boiling Water
- Pack style
- Raw
- Jar sizes
- Pint or Quart Jars
- Headspace
- 1/2 inch
- Processing time
- Boiling-water: pints or quarts 85/90/95/100 min by altitude; tested pressure alternatives also available
Tested source
Safety status: Tested authoritative recipe. This recipe follows the National Center for Home Food Preservation source. Follow its quantities and complete process exactly.
Canning timeline
- Prepare jars, canner, and ingredients.
- Wash, peel, and core sound tomatoes; acidify every jar, press in whole or halved tomatoes, and fill spaces with their released juice without adding liquid.
- Fill pints or quarts, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
- Boiling-water pints or quarts: 85/90/95/100 minutes at 0–1,000/1,001–3,000/3,001–6,000/above 6,000 ft. Use the official table for pressure options.
- Cool jars undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours, then check seals.
Equipment
Boiling-water canner or pressure canner, saucepan, jar lifter, bubble remover, and pint or quart jars.
Visual method guide
- Prepare: Use sound produce and exact measured ingredients.
- Pack: Raw pack without added liquid; remove trapped air and maintain 1/2 inch headspace.
- Process: Boiling-water canning or one complete NCHFP pressure-canning option; use the schedule for your altitude and canner type.
- Cool: Leave jars upright and undisturbed before checking seals.
Safety essentials
Tested NCHFP tomato recipe. Required acidification applies to every boiling-water and pressure-canning option.
About this recipe
Whole or Halved Tomatoes Raw Without Added Liquid is a tested NCHFP home-canning recipe using raw pack without added liquid and boiling-water canning or one complete nchfp pressure-canning option.
Before you begin
- Method
- Boiling-water canning or one complete NCHFP pressure-canning option
- Pack
- Raw pack without added liquid
- Jar size
- Pints or quarts
- Headspace
- 1/2 inch
Read the linked authoritative source completely before processing.
Altitude and processing schedule
Boiling-water pints or quarts: 85/90/95/100 minutes at 0–1,000/1,001–3,000/3,001–6,000/above 6,000 ft. Use the official table for pressure options.
Whole or Halved Tomatoes — Raw Without Added Liquid — NCHFP
Ingredients
- 21 lb Ripe tomatoes average for 7 quarts; about 13 lb for 9 pints
- 2 tbsp per quart Bottled lemon juice or 1 tbsp per pint; required. Citric acid alternative: 1/2 tsp per quart or 1/4 tsp per pint.
- 1 tsp per quart Canning or pickling salt optional
Equipment
- 1 Boiling-water canner or pressure canner Use one complete tested NCHFP processing option.
- 7–9 Pint or quart canning jars About 7 quarts or 9 pints per canner load.
- 7–9 Two-piece canning lids Use new flat lids and prepare according to manufacturer directions.
Directions
- Wash tomatoes. Dip in boiling water 30–60 seconds or until skins split, then dip in cold water. Slip off skins, remove cores, and leave whole or halve.
- Add required bottled lemon juice or citric acid to each jar. Add salt if desired.
- Fill jars with raw tomatoes. Press tomatoes into the jars until spaces fill with released tomato juice, leaving 1/2-inch headspace.
- Boiling-water process pints or quarts 85/90/95/100 minutes at 0–1,000/1,001–3,000/3,001–6,000/above 6,000 ft.
- Pressure-canning options are also tested, but acidification is still required. Follow the NCHFP dial- or weighted-gauge table exactly for your selected pressure/time combination and altitude.
Recipe Notes
Private Notes
Questions or results?
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Tried this recipe?
Share your results how it turned out.Serving suggestions
Use where concentrated whole tomato flavor is useful, including sauces, stews, soups, and braises.
Frequently asked questions
Can I change the ingredients or process?
Only make changes expressly permitted by the authoritative source. Do not add water or juice, omit required bottled lemon juice or citric acid, or combine time and pressure values from different options.
What if a jar does not seal?
Refrigerate promptly, or reprocess within 24 hours using a new lid and the complete tested process if the source and current food-safety guidance permit.
How this recipe compares
This raw pack contains no added liquid and therefore uses a much longer boiling-water process than tomatoes packed in water.
Troubleshooting
Pack firmly enough for tomatoes to release juice while maintaining 1/2-inch headspace; do not add liquid to fill gaps.
Discard any jar that is leaking, bulging, spurting, moldy, or otherwise shows signs of spoilage. Never taste food to determine safety.
Source & provenance
National Center for Home Food Preservation: Whole or Halved Tomatoes Raw Without Added Liquid. Adapted from the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning, revised 2015.
Garden planning for this recipe
Plant, space, variety, zone, and timing estimates live on dedicated ingredient pages:
Typical canning season
Season: Summer, Fall
Months: July, August, September, October
How much of the main ingredient should I grow?
40–80 lb of Tomatoes per person per year
This is an annual planning range that includes preserving and typical fresh use. Plant, row-foot, and square-foot estimates are shown only when compatible cited yield or spacing data is available.
Garden yields vary by cultivar, climate, soil, pests, and care. Always measure the exact prepared ingredient amount required by the tested canning recipe.