Homemade Copycat Spaghetti Oh’s Easy Canning Recipe
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Ahhhh childhood nostalgia. We ate a lot of spaghetti o’s. And then I tried them again as an adult and almost died. They did NOT taste anything like I remembered. And now, as a semi-crispy mom, I don’t really want to buy them for my kids… because they now contain poison via the trusty ole Campbells company (why do we need high fructose corn syrup in here). So, duh, I’m gonna make them myself. And I’m sure as heck going to can them. Because if the grocery store brands can, I can too… my processes will be just a little bit different because I don’t own a giant retort. A girl can dream though.
I started by searching for pasta rings and thankfully found some! We gotta be super authentic and use the anellini. I did link the exact pasta I found, and use, in the printable recipe card portion under ingredients if you’re looking as well. After I found the pasta, I wanted to figure out a good sauce. My pasta sauce is far too thick for canning pasta in it, so I got to thinking. I did see in a rebel canning group on Facebook that someone used a big can of store bought tomato soup. DING DING DING. I’ll use my tomato soup and doctor it up a bit to have a more Italian flavor profile that I’m looking for. Thus, this recipe was created!
Rebel Canning
Of course, this recipe is rebel canning. Canning pasta is not an approved ingredient for home canning or found in any tested recipe. That certainly doesn’t mean it’s unsafe, but rather that they didn’t take the time to test it or adopt a study that actually did. Pasta really isn’t better canned… it’s good in this recipe, but it will NEVER beat out freshly made. Homemade spaghetti o’s made with freshly cooked pasta is far better than my canned version, but the convenience wins. It’s definitely better than store bought. Except I’ve made it at home with far fewer ingredients and preservatives and flavor enhancers. If you’re not comfortable canning pasta, don’t. Just make some pasta fresh and serve it that way. But don’t be coming in here whining about botulism in my pasta… critical thinking finds that’s an overexaggerated lieeeeeeee.
Tomato Soup
Use whatever tomato soup you have. If yours is super thick, you may want to add water so the pasta has enough liquid to cook in. I use my home canned tomato soup (grab the recipe right below this paragraph or in the recipe card), heat it on the stove and then blend it til smooth with my immersion blender. I do like a chunky and more heart tomato soup, so that’s why I leave it that way, but it’s not that big of a deal to just give it a little blend. If your homemade soup is really thick (or you have store bought condensed soup), thin it out with water or chicken broth at about a 1:1 ratio to give the pasta enough liquid to cook in. That means for every 2 cups of thick soup you have, you’ll add 2 cups of water. So, adjust that accordingly to the recipe.
Equipment You Might Want:
- Stock Pot
- Immersion Blender
- Pint Canning Jars
- Canning Lids & Screw Bands
- Jar Funnel
- Jar Lifter
- Pressure Canner
Ingredients:
PER PINT JAR
- 1 1/2 cups tomato soup
- 1/2 cup anellini pasta
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp oregano
- 1/4 tsp salt
Let’s make the homemade version of a childhood favorite!
Step 1: Prep
​1 quart of tomato soup will do 2 pints of spaghetti oh’s with a bit leftover. Resize accordingly, as this recipe ingredients are sized PER pint jar.
Start by adding your tomato soup to a small stock pot and heat over medium heat. Blend til smooth using an immersion blender, or use a high powered blender prior to pouring into the stock pot. It’s best heating to a boil prior to filling jars so the canner heats quickly and the pasta doesn’t get cooked to death.
Step 2: Fill Jars
While the tomato soup heats, fill each pint jar with the ring pasta, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano and salt.
Ladle the hot soup into jars with the o-shaped pasta and seasonings to 1-inch headspace. Remove any air bubbles and add extra liquid if needed to maintain headspace.
Work quickly so you don’t have jars sitting for a long time; this will give you very mushy pasta. Only fill as many jars that will fit in the pressure canner.
Wipe jar rims and add a lid and a screw band.
Step 3: Canning
Place pint jars in your pressure canner and process them for 10 minutes at your elevations recommended weight for canning low acid foods.
Once processing time is complete, turn off heat and allow pressure canner to completely depressurize before removing jars. Once the canner is depressurized, remove jars to a heat proof surface lined with a towel to cool undisturbed for 18-24 hours.
Step 4: Storage
Once cooled, remove bands, test seals, wash jars, label, and store in a cool dark place away from direct sunlight.
Shelf life is ’til you eat it. Aim to use jars with canned pasta within 1 year if possible for best flavor and texture, but they’ll last longer if needed. I tend to do small batches of these because we don’t eat them a ton, but they do come in clutch when I’m pinched for time and scrambling for a good lunch.
To serve:
Dump a jar into a saucepan and heat thoroughly. Top with some freshly grated parmesan cheese and mix in some heated home canned cooked meatballs for a super decadent and filling meal!
Notes:
Add any italian seasonings or herbs you prefer to each jar for extra flavor suited to your tastes. Just don’t add too much :) Red pepper flakes are super good if you enjoy a spicy kick.
If you don’t have anellini (pasta rigs), small shells, ditalini pasta, or any other small pasta shape works perfectly fine. I just enjoy the fun of a good ring shaped pasta!
I hope you enjoy my homemade mock spaghetti oh’s canning recipe with super simple ingredients!
Equipment
- stock pot
- pint canning jars
- Canning lids & screw bands
- jar lifter
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups tomato soup see notes
- 1/2 cup anellini pasta
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp oregano
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- 1 quart of my tomato soup will do 2 pints of spaghetti oh's with a bit leftover. Resize accordingly, as this recipe ingredients are sized PER pint jar.
- Start by adding your tomato soup to a small stock pot and heat over medium heat. Blend til smooth using an immersion blender, or use a high powered blender prior to pouring into the stock pot. It’s best heating to a boil prior to filling jars so the canner heats quickly and the pasta doesn’t get cooked to death.
- While the tomato soup heats, fill each pint jar with the ring pasta, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano and salt.
- Ladle the hot soup into jars with the o-shaped pasta and seasonings to 1-inch headspace. Remove any air bubbles and add extra liquid if needed to maintain headspace.
- Work quickly so you don’t have jars sitting for a long time; this will give you very mushy pasta. Only fill as many jars that will fit in the pressure canner.
- Wipe jar rims and add a lid and a screw band.
- Place pint jars in your pressure canner and process them for 10 minutes at your elevations recommended weight for canning low acid foods.
- Once processing time is complete, turn off heat and allow pressure canner to completely depressurize before removing jars. Once the canner is depressurized, remove jars to a heat proof surface lined with a towel to cool undisturbed for 18-24 hours.
- Once cooled, remove bands, test seals, wash jars, label, and store in a cool dark place away from direct sunlight.
- Shelf life is ’til you eat it. Aim to use jars with canned pasta within 1 year if possible for best flavor and texture, but they’ll last longer if needed. I tend to do small batches of these because we don’t eat them a ton, but they do come in clutch when I’m pinched for time and scrambling for a good lunch.
To serve:
- Dump a jar into a saucepan and heat thoroughly. Top with some freshly grated parmesan cheese and mix in some heated home canned cooked meatballs for a super decadent and filling meal!
Could I add cooked quartered meatballs to this before canning? If so would it need to be processed longer?
meatballs would extend the time to meat times which would be far more than you would want pasta processed at. I make mini meatballs and can them separate in jelly jars because of two reasons: the canning time AND meatballs get a bit soft and mealy when canned so they taste far better if you fry them up or air fry them prior to eating :)