When it comes to the best tomatoes for canning, several varieties fit the bill well. A lot depends on what kinds of canned products you’re planning to make:
- Paste and plum-type tomatoes usually fill out lists for canning because they are meaty, have little seed, and are less juicy. That means they provide good bulk and flavor while requiring far less time to cook down to the desired consistency.
- Paste and plum tomatoes are most popular for making things like sauces, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, ketchup, and barbecue sauces. If you’re not sure what to grow for canning tomatoes, choose a plum or paste tomato (also called Italian tomatoes).
- Round tomatoes and those that are considered slicing types, as well as dual- and multi-purpose tomatoes, also find their way onto canning tomato lists because they are great for things like making juice, work well in salsa, and make good whole or halved stewed tomatoes. Multi-purpose tomatoes also help make efficient use of growing space.
Some of the other tomatoes on this list were chosen more for their growing or disease-resistance characteristics. These are good compromises for people who have difficulty growing tomatoes.
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16 Best Tomatoes for Canning
In short, many tomatoes make good tomatoes for canning, but you may have your own criteria for selection, so we’ve chosen a range of different types of tomatoes for this list. Look for those that fit your needs and use the best.
1. Amish Paste
| Flavor: | Very good: sweet, meaty, juicy, classic tomato flavor |
| Type: | Multi-purpose paste/canning tomato |
| Color: | Red |
| Size: | 8 to 12 ounces (largest canning type) |
| Uses: | Multi-purpose: canning, paste, sauces, soup, fresh eating, slicing, salads |
| Climate Notes: | Suitable for all regions, developed in the northern U.S.Midwest |
| Disease Resistance: | Good, not well documented, resilient from blight after treatment |
| Growing Conditions: | Full sun, fertile soil, slightly acidic, needs support (stakes or cages, trellising) |
| Days to Harvest: | 75 to 85 days |
| Yield: | High; continuous production through frost |
| Determinate or Indeterminate? | Indeterminate |
Where to Buy Amish Paste Tomato Seeds:
Amish Paste is not only one of the most popular canning tomatoes, but they are also one of the largest. They are plum-shaped but big enough and flavorful enough for slicing and fresh eating, too. For canning, they have meaty, coreless flesh and few seeds. There is practically no waste with these tomatoes. Amish Paste is a proven heirloom with good resiliency and fair disease resistance, but with all the best classic flavor that you get with non-hybrid heirlooms.
2. Roma/Roma VF
| Flavor: | Good; classic Italian tomato flavor |
| Type: | Canner, Roma, Plum |
| Color: | Pink-Red |
| Size: | 2 to 4 ounces |
| Uses: | Most well known for all types of saucing, canning, cooking, and juicing; good for fresh eating |
| Climate Notes: | Suited to growing in all climates; water deeply during dry weather |
| Disease Resistance: | Good: Verticillium wilt, Fusarium wilt |
| Growing Conditions: | Full sun, fertile soil, slightly acidic, needs support (stakes or cages) |
| Days to Harvest: | 76 to 78 days |
| Yield: | High |
| Determinate or Indeterminate? | Determinate |
Where to Buy Roma VF Tomato Seeds:
Roma tomatoes are known as a go-to for canning. Fleshy and flavorful, heirloom Romas brings classic, meaty Italian tomato flavor. The VF variety also offers improved disease resistance, especially to wilt diseases. Romas are good all-around saucers and canners.
3. San Marzano
| Flavor: | Very good; classic Italian flavor |
| Type: | Italian canner |
| Color: | Red |
| Size: | 4 to 5 ounces |
| Uses: | Cooking, saucing, stewing, canning, dehydrating, sun drying, paste, salsa |
| Climate Notes: | Suitable for all climates |
| Disease Resistance: | Good; not specifically bred for resistance, but displays resistant tendencies |
| Growing Conditions: | Full sun, fertile soil, slightly acidic, needs support (stakes or cages, trellises) |
| Days to Harvest: | 80 days |
| Yield: | High |
| Determinate or Indeterminate? | Indeterminate |
Where to Buy San Marzano Tomato Seeds:
San Marzano is largely considered “the” canning, paste, and cooking tomato. It is a favorite of chefs for its versatility and flavor. The fruits are large and meaty and have few seeds, and those seeds are easy to remove. San Marzano tomatoes have a low moisture content, which means they cook down well and hold together well in cooking, stewing, and processing.
4. Pozzano
| Flavor: | Old-world Italian |
| Type: | Italian, canning |
| Color: | Orange-red |
| Size: | 4 to 6 ounces |
| Uses: | Saucing, cooking, paste |
| Climate Notes: | Suited to all climates; does well in greenhouses |
| Disease Resistance: | Very good: Blossom end rot, Tomato mosaic virus, Fusarium wilt |
| Growing Conditions: | Full sun, fertile soil, slightly acidic, needs support (stakes or cages), good greenhouse variety |
| Days to Harvest: | 72 days |
| Yield: | High -- long season |
| Determinate or Indeterminate? | Indeterminate |
Where to Buy Pozzano Tomato Seeds:
One drawback to San Marzano and many other paste tomatoes is that they can be prone to blossom end rot and diseases (many are heirlooms and lack high disease resistance). Pozzano is an Italian type that is selected for disease resistance. It produces early and grows long, one-inch cylindrical tomatoes that are meaty. Their flavor improves when cooked, making them ideal for saucing and canning.
This variety is known as a good greenhouse or hoop house variety (but can be garden-grown, too). It is an early variety.
5. Rutgers
| Flavor: | Sweet, full flavor, meaty |
| Type: | Slicing, canning |
| Color: | Red |
| Size: | 6 to 12 ounces |
| Uses: | Multi-purpose, good for salads and slicing, soups, saucing, canning, freezing |
| Climate Notes: | Suitable for all climates, developed in mid-coast eastern U.S., performs in northern regions |
| Disease Resistance: | Very good: Anthracnose, Fusarium wilt, Gray leaf spot, Verticillium wilt, Crack resistant |
| Growing Conditions: | Full sun, fertile soil, slightly acidic, needs support (stakes or cages) |
| Days to Harvest: | 73 days |
| Yield: | High |
| Determinate or Indeterminate? | Determinate, but some show semi- and indeterminate characteristics |
Where to Buy Rutgers Tomato Seeds:
Rutgers is a dual-purpose tomato that is good for slicing and fresh eating, but it was specifically developed by Campbell’s soup company as a soup/sauce and canning tomato. The flavor was important to its development. It offers very good disease resistance, something that can be hard to come by in good canning tomatoes.
Rutgers is a round, meaty tomato that bears plenty of medium-sized fruit, ideal for stewing, saucing, soup, and more. Plants are primarily determinate, making large canning sessions possible.
6. Celebrity
| Flavor: | Very good: meaty, flavorful |
| Type: | Slicer, multi-purpose |
| Color: | Red |
| Size: | 7 to 8 ounces |
| Uses: | Slicing, sandwiches, salads, juicing, sauces, freezing |
| Climate Notes: | Does well in all climates |
| Disease Resistance: | Excellent: Anthracnose, Fusarium wilt, Verticillium wilt, Root-knot nematodes, Gray leaf spot, Tobacco mosaic virus, Crack resistant |
| Growing Conditions: | Full sun, fertile soil, slightly acidic, yields best with support (stakes or cages) |
| Days to Harvest: | 70 to 72 |
| Yield: | High |
| Determinate or Indeterminate? | Determinate |
Where to Buy Celebrity Tomato Seeds:
Celebrity is popular for fresh eating but also for canning. It is determinate and produces large yields all at once, excellent for lots of canning. It matures fairly early, at around 70 days, and has excellent disease resistance, which is part of what has made it such a popular choice among canners.
7. Better Boy
| Flavor: | Excellent: meaty, juicy, well-balanced sweet and acid |
| Type: | Round slicer, multi-purpose |
| Color: | Red |
| Size: | Large, 10 to 16 ounces |
| Uses: | Slicing, salads, canning, sauces, freezing |
| Climate Notes: | Thrives in all climates |
| Disease Resistance: | Excellent: Verticillium wilt, Fusarium wilt, Anthracnose, Root-knot nematodes, Gray leaf spot, Late blight |
| Growing Conditions: | Full sun, fertile soil, slightly acidic, needs support (stakes or cages) |
| Days to Harvest: | 72 to 75 |
| Yield: | Very high |
| Determinate or Indeterminate? | Indeterminate |
Where to Buy Better Boy Tomato Seed:
Better Boy makes the list of top canning tomatoes because it is one of the highest-yielding tomatoes, and when you want to put up a lot of sauce or multiple tomato products, high yield is essential. Along with the high yield, this tomato is delicious, with a well-balanced flavor profile. It is indeterminate and produces large, consistent flushes of tomatoes all season, from early on straight through to frost.
8. Heatmaster
| Flavor: | Very good, classic tomato |
| Type: | Slicer and multi-purpose |
| Color: | Red |
| Size: | 7 ounces |
| Uses: | Slicer, but multi-purpose: salads, sandwiches, slicing, canning, saucing, freezing, good storage |
| Climate Notes: | Specifically bred for hot climates |
| Disease Resistance: | Excellent: Anthracnose, Verticillium wilt, Fusarium wilt, Root-knot nematode, Gray leaf spot, Tomato mosaic virus, Alternaria stem canker |
| Growing Conditions: | Full sun, fertile soil, slightly acidic, benefits from support (stakes or cages) |
| Days to Harvest: | 65 to 75 days |
| Yield: | High |
| Determinate or Indeterminate? | Determinate |
Where to Buy Heatmaster Tomato Seed:
Heatmaster is a multi-purpose tomato that makes a good canner. It earns a place on the “canner” list because it is bred for heat resistance and can continue to produce even in hot areas and through heat waves. This is essential for people in hot locations. It is resistant to disease, too, and these traits make it one of the highest-yielding tomatoes that will keep your canning projects going.
9. Plum Regal
| Flavor: | Very good, well balanced, not bitter or overly sweet |
| Type: | Plum, canner |
| Color: | Red |
| Size: | 4 ounces |
| Uses: | Saucing, canning |
| Climate Notes: | Suited to all climates; not for short-season growers |
| Disease Resistance: | Excellent: Late blight resistant, moderate Early blight resistance, Fusarium wilt, Verticillium wilt, Tomato Spotted wilt virus |
| Growing Conditions: | Full sun, fertile soil, slightly acidic, needs support (stakes or cages) |
| Days to Harvest: | 75 days |
| Yield: | High |
| Determinate or Indeterminate? | Determinate |
Where to Buy Plum Regal Tomato Seeds:
Hybrids are not always the first choice for taste or for canning tomatoes, but the best among them have a solid place on the list of best canning tomatoes because they have the disease resistance and traits to see them through to harvest.
Plum Regal is a hybrid plum canner with flavor that rivals many heirlooms. It is one of the best-tasting hybrid plum tomatoes. Fedco Seed Company tested more than 20 canning tomatoes, and this variety was a clear winner.
It offers excellent disease resistance against many common tomato diseases and blight. It can be slow to ripen in some locations and may be difficult for short-season growers, but it is said to mature in 75 days after transplanting. Unripe tomatoes ripen well off the vine, though they may take some time to do so. They’re noted for storing well, too.
10. SuperSauce
| Flavor: | Excellent (fresh and cooked) |
| Type: | Giant plum |
| Color: | Red |
| Size: | Large, 1 ½ to 3 pounds each |
| Uses: | Fresh and cooked salsa, sauce, canning, fresh eating |
| Climate Notes: | Suited to all climates |
| Disease Resistance: | Excellent: Blight resistant (and early maturing, often beats blight), Fusarium wilt, Verticillium wilt |
| Growing Conditions: | Full sun, fertile soil, slightly acidic, needs support (stakes or cages) |
| Days to Harvest: | 70 days |
| Yield: | Very high |
| Determinate or Indeterminate? | Indeterminate |
Where to Buy SuperSauce Tomato Seeds:
Burpee Seed developed SuperSauce as a large, high-yielding canning tomato. As the name implies, it is an excellent saucing tomato and does well in many canned tomato products, including salsa. It peels easily and has excellent disease resistance, too. SuperSauce has enough flavor to stand in as a fresh-eating tomato.
11. Costoluto Genovese
| Flavor: | Excellent: Old-world Italian |
| Type: | Round, Slicer, Canner, Multi-purpose |
| Color: | Red |
| Size: | 8 ounces |
| Uses: | Fresh eating, preserving, cooking, canning, saucing, juicing |
| Climate Notes: | Excellent in hot climates but also does very well in cool weather |
| Disease Resistance: | Very good: Botrytis, Bacterial Leaf Spot |
| Growing Conditions: | Full sun, fertile soil, slightly acidic, needs support (stakes or cages) |
| Days to Harvest: | 70 to 80 days |
| Yield: | Very high |
| Determinate or Indeterminate? | Indeterminate |
Where to Buy Costoluto Genovese Tomato Seeds:
Costoluto Genovese is often said to be “your Italian grandfather’s” tomato. It is an odd-looking, meaty, knobby round tomato, but it is one of the most classic Italian canning tomatoes. They work well in hearty sauces, crushed tomatoes, juices, and more. Due to their fluted nature, they can be difficult for whole or stewed tomatoes, but anything being crushed or diced will shine with these flavorful tomatoes.
This tomato produces early on indeterminate vines that you'll be picking for a long time. They are also known for good production in hot areas and through periods of high heat.
12. Bonny Best
| Flavor: | Excellent, heirloom tomato flavor |
| Type: | Round, canner, slicer |
| Color: | Red |
| Size: | 6 to 8 ounces |
| Uses: | Canning, sauce, salsa, fresh eating |
| Climate Notes: | Particularly well suited to cool growing and northern climates |
| Disease Resistance: | Very good: Fusarium wilt, Root-knot nematodes, Verticillium wilt; crack-resistant |
| Growing Conditions: | Full sun, fertile soil, slightly acidic, needs support (stakes or cages) |
| Days to Harvest: | 72 days |
| Yield: | High |
| Determinate or Indeterminate? | Indeterminate |
Where to Buy Bonny Best Tomato Seeds:
Bonny Best has been a reliable canning variety for well over 100 years. Sadly, it has been pushed aside by the introduction of hybrids, but it is still available and well worth your time to grow.
Bonny Best is a flattened round tomato with smooth skin so in addition to saucing and other canning, they work well for peeling for stewing, diced tomatoes, and more. And... They’re good for fresh eating!
One thing this tomato variety is especially noted for is its performance in cool seasons and adaptability for growing in cool locations. It has good disease resistance and does well in greenhouses, hoop houses, raised beds, and garden plots.
13. Yellow Pear
| Flavor: | Very good: mild, sweet |
| Type: | Small pear |
| Color: | Yellow |
| Size: | 2 to 4 ounces (1 ½”) |
| Uses: | Canning, tomato preserves, salsa, fresh eating |
| Climate Notes: | Suited to all climates |
| Disease Resistance: | Very good: Late blight, Fusarium wilt, Verticillium wilt, Anthracnose |
| Growing Conditions: | Full sun, fertile soil, slightly acidic, needs support (stakes or cages) |
| Days to Harvest: | 75 to 80 days |
| Yield: | Very high |
| Determinate or Indeterminate? | Indeterminate |
Where to Buy Yellow Pear Tomato Seeds:
Not all canning is sauce or stewing. Canned tomato jams and preserves are delicious products, too, and one thing this tomato is known for is its performance in tomato preserves. Yellow Pear is a sweet, small, plum-shaped tomato with a somewhat milder flavor. The yellow color adds interest, too.
These are small tomatoes, but the plants produce abundant yields, and they are resistant to disease.
14. Homestead Heirloom
| Flavor: | Very good: sweet, meaty, juicy |
| Type: | Round, slicer, multi-purpose |
| Color: | Red |
| Size: | 8 to 9 ounces |
| Uses: | Fresh eating, slicing, salads, sandwiches, canning |
| Climate Notes: | Heat tolerant, ideal for hot, humid locations |
| Disease Resistance: | Good: Anthracnose, Fusarium wilt |
| Growing Conditions: | Full sun, fertile soil, slightly acidic, needs support (stakes or cages) |
| Days to Harvest: | 80 days |
| Yield: | Very good; 50 pounds per plant in ideal conditions |
| Determinate or Indeterminate? | Determinate, semi-determinate |
Where to Buy Homestead Heirloom Tomato Seeds:
Homestead Heirloom is a multi-purpose tomato that makes a good canner. It finds its way onto the list of top canners because it is an excellent variety for those who have problems growing tomatoes in hot climates. This variety was developed by the University of Florida in the 1950s, specifically selected for production in hot weather and because the foliage protects fruits from sun scald.
This is an open-pollinated variety, and the seed can be saved. It is mostly determinate, sometimes semi-determinate, so you may see an extended large flush of fruit around the same period of time. Due to its bushy, determinate nature, pruning is not recommended (also to maintain sun protection of the foliage).
15. Italian Gold
| Flavor: | Very good, sweet, mild |
| Type: | Plum |
| Color: | Orange |
| Size: | 3 to 5 ounces |
| Uses: | Sauces, preserves, canning |
| Climate Notes: | Suited to all climates; northern growers/cool seasons may experience slower maturing |
| Disease Resistance: | Good: Fusarium wilt, Verticillium wilt |
| Growing Conditions: | Full sun, fertile soil, slightly acidic, needs some support (stakes or cages) |
| Days to Harvest: | 75 to 85 days |
| Yield: | High |
| Determinate or Indeterminate? | Determinate |
Where to Buy Italian Gold Tomato Seeds:
Italian Gold is an orange plum tomato. It makes nice, light sauces and works well in preserves and canning. It has a higher pectin content that helps preserves to set up and the tomatoes hold up well in canning and freezing because of it. If you want a lighter-colored, milder sauce, try this tomato.
Bushes grow compactly and are determinate, with good disease resistance.
16. Saucey
| Flavor: | Very good; rich |
| Type: | Plum |
| Color: | Red |
| Size: | 3 ounces |
| Uses: | Sauces, salsa, canning |
| Climate Notes: | Suited to all climates |
| Disease Resistance: | Good: Blossom End Rot |
| Growing Conditions: | Full sun, fertile soil, slightly acidic, needs support (stakes or cages) |
| Days to Harvest: | 85 Days |
| Yield: | High |
| Determinate or Indeterminate? | Determinate |
Where to Buy Saucey Tomato Seeds:
Saucey is a plum tomato that is rich in flavor. It is a meaty canner that grows in easy-to-pick clusters. Tomatoes peel easily, too. These tomatoes have few seeds, making for a high-yielding canning and sauce tomato. They have good resistance to blossom end rot.
A World of Tomato Canning Possibilities
Tomatoes are one of the most popular garden vegetables (though they’re technically fruit). One reason for that is that they are highly versatile, and there are many types of canned tomato products that you can make, like sauces, paste, soups, ketchup, preserves, stewed tomatoes, juice, and much more; the same variety of tomato can be used for any of them.
It should be noted that when canning tomatoes, it is recommended to add lemon juice or another acid to ensure safety.
If you are looking for a more specific type of canning or preserving tomato, check out some of our other lists, like the Best Tomatoes for Making Salsa or the Best Tomato Varieties for Saucing.
