I love making homemade tacos, and what’s a good taco without taco sauce? However, it’s just me in the house, and I never seem to use all the store-bought taco sauce before it goes bad in the jar. Then I found a taco sauce recipe in Ball’s Complete Book of Home Preserving, and I just had to try it. The recipe said it made six 8-ounce jars of sauce, and I decided to put most of it in 4-ounce jars. That way I’m hoping not to waste much. The recipe was quick and easy to make, and the taste was definitely better than the typical store-bought brands I’ve tried. I’ll definitely make this recipe again.

For the tomato paste, you need approximately two 12-ounce cans of tomato paste.

Taco Sauce

5 cups water

3 cups tomato paste

1 cup cider vinegar

1/2 cup corn syrup

2 tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

Prepare canner, jars, and lids.

In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine water, tomato paste, vinegar, corn syrup, chili powder, salt, cayenne and hot pepper sauce. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring frequently, until mixture is thickened to the consistency of a thin commercial barbecue sauce, about 30 minutes.

Ladle hot sauce into hot jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until just fingertip tight.

Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 30 minutes. Remove canner lid and wait an additional 5 minutes before removing jars. Cool and store.

Yield: About six 8-ounce jars

Visit Canning and Cooking Iowa Style’s profile on Pinterest.