Canning Homemade Rotel

I buy and use cans of Rotel by the dozen... so when blog reader, Kerry, shared a recipe for canning homemade Rotel, I had to do it... This delicious mixture of tomatoes, onions and peppers is so versatile, it'll be great to have on hand for adding to soups, mixing with cheese for dip, casseroles, tacos, and more...

Here's what I did...

I cored, peeled and chopped...

One gallon of tomatoes...

2 large bell peppers (I had some orange and yellow in my freezer, any color will work)

1 onion, diced

8 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped (if you desire a hotter mixture, leave the seeds and ribs in the jalapenos, or you can use a hotter pepper, if you want it milder, add fewer, or leave them out entirely)

I mixed all the chopped veggies in a large stainless steel saucepan and added...

3/4 cup vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar... white vinegar would work too)

1/4 cup sugar

And 1-1/2 Tablespoons canning salt

I brought the colorful mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduced the heat and simmered it for 45 minutes.

(Meanwhile, I washed, sterilized, and heated my pint canning jars and put my lids on to simmer)

To each hot pint jar, I added a teaspoon of lemon juice.

And filled the jars with the mixture, leaving a half-inch headspace.

I wiped the jar rims with a damp cloth and tightened the hot lids on to fingertip tightness.

Then I processed the pint jars in a boiling water bath (ensuring the jars were completely covered with water and bringing the water to a boil) for 15 minutes.

After processing, I removed the jars from the canner using my jar lifter, and set them on a folded dish towel on the counter to cool...

And to listen for the musical sound of the PING of each successfully sealed jar!

This recipe makes 8-10 pints of Rotel.

For a printable copy of the recipe, click here.