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Green enchilada sauce can be made with green tomatoes, not tomatillos, and still taste delicious. If you grow and like tomatillos, use those! But for me, green enchilada sauce made with either early season green tomatoes or late season greens when frost is coming works perfectly.

Anyone else get the violent urge to rip every tomato plant mercilessly from the soil toward the end of the season?  Or is it just me?!  I AM SO TIRED and if I see another tomato again until next summer, I might cry.  Just kidding; I’d preserve them with a joyful heart but also…. I’m real tired.  

So, to remedy that and hurry those ‘mater plants right along, I start using the green tomatoes.  Yes, you can make this recipe in early summer while you’re waiting on the tomatoes to turn, but I prefer to leave those to ripen before the major heat strikes and save the green tomato canning for the later summer drought and heat wave when they’re just not wanting to turn anymore.  

Yes, you can totally use tomatillos for the green enchilada sauce, but I’m not doing that.  I never remember tomatillos even exist, and I’ve always just subbed green tomatoes for anything tomatillo and have been pleased with the flavor, especially in this green enchilada sauce.  

I’ve done hacked off the canning police so I don’t need multiple groups after me at once, especially the tomatillo purists.  If this offends you, I’m not sorry, but you can use your weird tomatillos if you want.  I don’t even care!  This enchilada sauce is delicious on… homemade enchiladas…. LOL… and in soups, like white chicken chili, as a dip for tortilla chips,  mixed with sour cream for a taco salad dressing, and even to roast a pork loin in.  It’s super versatile and adds a little zing and a tiny bit of heat that leaves you wanting to know just what the heck that stuff is!

If you have lots of red tomatoes and would prefer to make a red enchilada sauce, I have one of those too. Check that out here!

Rebel Canning

This green enchilada sauce recipe can be considered rebel canning.  This means this exact recipe has not been evaluated nor approved by the USDA or NCHFP.  Does the mean this recipe is unsafe?  Sure doesn’t, as its one I and many others use and consume.  What it does mean is as with any home canning, you should can at your own risk and use common sense.  

Make your own decisions because what I do and say I’m doing in my own home should not affect what you do in yours.  If you are not comfortable with rebel canning, please don’t follow this recipe.   In the end, you will have canned something you are afraid of and you will not eat it or use it and you will have essentially wasted your time and money.

Let’s get started canning this homemade green enchilada sauce recipe!

Equipment You Might Want

• Stock Pot
• Food Mill or Immersion Blender
• Pint Jars
• Jar Funnel
• Lids & Screw Bands
• Water Bath Canner
• Steam Canner
• Jar Lifter

Ingredients

• 25 pounds of green tomatoes
• 5 bell peppers (see notes)
• 10 jalapenos
• 1 large onion
• 8 cloves garlic
• 1 Tablespoon salt
• 2 Tablespoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 4 limes

Step 1:  Prep

Preheat your oven broiler on high.

Start by rinsing green tomatoes, bell peppers, and jalapenos under cool running water.  Drain.

Layer on a baking sheet in a single layer.  If you have really large tomatoes, cut in half and place them cut side down on the pan.

Working in batches, bake each tray under the broiler for about 10-15 minutes, or til everything looks charred and the tomatoes are softened.

Remove from the oven and cool just enough that you can handle the tomatoes, peppers, and jalapenos.

Run through a food mill to remove skins and seeds.  You can also blend them with a high powered immersion blender or blender if you don’t care about removing the skins and seeds.  I’d recommend removing the cores of the tomatoes, and the stems/seeds from the bell peppers and the stems from the jalapenos prior to roasting if you do this.

​Peel and dice the onion finely.  Mince garlic cloves.

Step 2:  Cook

Add the tomato and pepper mixture along with the diced onion and minced garlic to a stock pot and place over medium high heat.  Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to medium and cook until the mixture reduces by about half and appears thickened.  This can take several hours.  You can also add this to a slow cooker and cook on LOW overnight or all day, stirring as you think of it.

While the mixture simmers, add in ground cumin, salt, and black pepper.  Stir.

Once the mixture has finished reducing and is thickened to your liking, halve and squeeze in 4 limes.  Stir.

Be sure and taste the sauce and adjust seasoning to your preference.  I normally add a bit more salt than is called for in this recipe.

Step 3:  Canning

Wash pint jars and lids with soap and hot water.  Rinse well and set aside.

Using a jar funnel, fill clean jars to 1/2 inch headspace with hot sauce.

Remove any air bubbles and add more sauce if needed to maintain headspace.

Wipe rims and place lids on top of jars.  Secure with a screw band.

Place jars in your steam canner or water bath canning pot and bring to a full rolling boil.  Process pint jars (or smaller) for 20 minutes, adjusting time for altitude of needed.

Once processing time is complete, remove jars to a heat proof surface lined with a towel and allow to cool undisturbed for 12-24 hours.

Step 4:  Storage

After cooling, remove bands, test seals, wash jars, label, and store in a cool dark place away from direct sunlight.  Room temperature is fine as long as jars are not exposed to extreme temperatures.

Shelf life is ’til you eat it.  Aim to rotate canned goods out every 2 years if possible for maximum flavor and nutrition, but they’ll last far longer than that if needed.

Any jars that did not seal can be reprocessed, frozen, or placed in the fridge to use soon.

Notes:

*I use red bell peppers in my recipe because I like the flavor they give and they’re not as bitter as green bell peppers.  You can use any type of peppers you like.  If you would like your sauce to truly be a enchilada verde sauce, stick with all green peppers.   Poblanos, anaheim, ancho, green chiles, or a mixture works.  It’s all in the spice and heat level you enjoy, so use all the hot peppers you want, or none at all.

Bottled lime juice works if you don’t have fresh limes on hand.  Add about 1/2 cup.  You can always add extra lime juice, and even zest, to taste if that’s what you enjoy.  If you are allergic to citrus, feel free to sub apple cider vinegar or apple scrap vinegar.

I hope you enjoy this delicious sauce as much as we do!

Simply Delicious Green Enchilada Sauce Canning Recipe

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 3 hours hours

Canning Time: 20 minutes minutes

Servings: 8 pints

Author: Ruby – Red Feather Farm

Equipment

• stock pot
• Food Mill or Immersion Blender
• pint jars
• jar funnel
• Lids & Screw Bands
• Water bath canner
• steam canner
• jar lifter

Ingredients

• 25 pounds of green tomatoes
• 5 bell peppers see notes
• 10 jalapenos
• 1 large onion
• 8 cloves garlic
• 1 Tablespoon salt
• 2 Tablespoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 4 limes see notes

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

• Preheat your oven broiler on high.
• Start by rinsing green tomatoes, bell peppers, and jalapenos under cool running water.  Drain.
• Layer on a baking sheet in a single layer.  If you have really large tomatoes, cut in half and place them cut side down on the pan.  Working in batches, bake each tray under the broiler for about 10-15 minutes, or til everything looks charred and the tomatoes are softened.
• Remove from the oven and cool just enough that you can handle the tomatoes, peppers, and jalapenos.
• Run through a food mill to remove skins and seeds.  You can also blend them with a high powered immersion blender or blender if you don't care about removing the skins and seeds.  I'd recommend removing the cores of the tomatoes, and the stems/seeds from the bell peppers and the stems from the jalapenos prior to roasting if you do this.
• Peel and dice the onion finely.  Mince garlic cloves.
• Add the tomato and pepper mixture along with the diced onion and minced garlic to a stock pot and place over medium high heat.  Bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat to medium and cook until the mixture reduces by about half and appears thickened.  This can take several hours.
• While the mixture simmers, add in ground cumin, salt, and black pepper.  Stir.
• Once the mixture has finished reducing and is thickened to your liking, halve and squeeze in 4 limes.  Stir.
• Be sure and taste the sauce and adjust seasoning to your preference.  I normally add a bit more salt than is called for in this recipe.
• Wash pint jars and lids with soap and hot water.  Rinse well and set aside.
• Using a jar funnel, fill clean jars to 1/2 inch headspace with hot sauce.
• Remove any air bubbles and add more sauce if needed to maintain headspace.
• Wipe rims and add lids.  Secure with a screw band.
• Place jars in your steam canner or water bath canning pot.  Process pint jars (or smaller) for 20 minutes, adjusting time for altitude of needed.
• Once processing time is complete, remove jars to a heat proof surface lined with a towel and allow to cool undisturbed for 18-24 hours.
• After cooling, remove bands, test seals, wash jars, label, and store in a cool dark place away from direct sunlight.  Room temperature is fine as long as jars are not exposed to extreme temperatures.
• Shelf life is 'til you eat it.  Aim to rotate canned goods out every 2 years if possible for maximum flavor and nutrition, but they'll last far longer than that if needed.
• Any jars that did not seal can be reprocessed, frozen, or placed in the fridge to use soon.

Notes

I use red bell peppers in my recipe because I like the flavor they give and they’re not as bitter as green bell peppers.  You can use any type of peppers you like.  If you would like your sauce to truly be a enchilada verde sauce, stick with all green peppers.   Poblanos, anaheim, ancho, green chiles, or a mixture works.  It’s all in the spice and heat level you enjoy, so use all the hot peppers you want, or none at all.

Bottled lime juice works if you don’t have fresh limes on hand.  Add about 1/2 cup.  You can always add extra lime juice, and even zest, to taste if that’s what you enjoy.  If you are allergic to citrus, feel free to sub apple cider vinegar or apple scrap vinegar.