Mel's Chili Sauce

Name: Mel's Chili Sauce
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 2 h
Total time: 2 h 30 min
Yield: 12-16 pint jars
Ingredients: 24 large tomatoes, diced; 4 green bell peppers, diced; 2 red bell peppers, diced; 5 large yellow onions, diced; 3 tablespoons salt (heaping); 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon; 1 teaspoon allspice; 1 teaspoon ground cloves; 1 teaspoon dry mustard; 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg; 3 1/2 cups vinegar; 2 1/2 cups brown sugar; 1 cup celery, grated

Submitted by Andy Wold

"This is my mom's recipe. It is a wonderful homemade chili sauce that makes FANTASTIC sloppy joes (see Mel's Sloppy Joes , recipe #69795), or can be used for eggs rancheros(?)."

Download

Ready In:: 2hrs 30mins
Ingredients:: 13
Yields:: 12-16 pint jars

ingredients

24 large tomatoes, diced
4 green bell peppers, diced
2 red bell peppers, diced
5 large yellow onions, diced
3 tablespoons salt (heaping)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 ¹⁄₂ cups vinegar
2 ¹⁄₂ cups brown sugar
1 cup celery, grated

directions

Combine all ingredients in non-aluminum pot (recipe is acidic).
Simmer ingredients over medium heat, stirring occasionally and slightly mashing vegetables as they cook.
Cook until thickened (about an hour).
Place in 1-pint (1/2-liter) canning jars.
Let stand, cool, and seal using hot-water canning method.
NOTE: Can place in 1/2-pint (1/4-liter) jars for smaller sloppy joe recipe using 1-lb ground beef.

Questions & Replies

Got a question? Share it with the community!

Reviews

Very Good! I agree with other posters about letting it simmer longer. My sauce turned out a little thin but I still had the best sloppy joes ever. At first I couldn't put my finger on what made this sauce so good and unique. Then I figured it out. It was the ground cloves. That's was actually made the sauce for me.

Weeza7
Just getting finished canning this recipe and the smell is great and intial tastes say its a winner. I used a 5 gallon pail of cherry tomatoes and just kind of tweeked the recipe. Doubled the spice list. Used 6 cups of white vinegar, 5 cups of brown sugar. Added 4 small cans of tomato paste and 20 cloves of minced fresh garlic. As others simmered 5 hours and finished it in the crockpot overnight on "keep warm" to get the thicker sauce. Made 1/2 hot with jalapeno peppers. I got 24 pints from it. I can tell, its going to be GOOD!

Sally
I was very happy to find a recipe for sloppy joe mix. This is good! There is a lot of chopping, but if you have an electric chopper or food processor, it speeds things up. I agree that the cooking time took a lot longer than an hour - at least 3 hours, longer if you want a thicker sauce. I cooked mine for quite awhile, and finally put it in the slow cooker overnight. By morning, it was the right consistency and ready for canning. I also processed mine in a blender to get a "smooth" sauce. My four kids wouldn't appreciate red or green bits of anything, unless we're talking M&M's. After putting it in the blender, the texture and thickness were just right! I processed mine in a hot bath for 30 mins. and my yield was seven pints.

wrenny
I haven't actually used this yet, but I made the sauce yesterday. It took quite a bit longer for mine to simmer - about 3 hours until it was reduced and thickened. I still thought it looked a little thin, but we'll see how it works. Next time I make it I may add some tomato paste as a thickener. I got 10 pints out of the recipe and it tasted very yummy when I tested it. I processed my pints in a boiling water bath for 15 minutse per a Ball Blue Book chili sauce recipe. I can't wait to try this out for sloppy joes!

Jenny Rowan