When tomatoes are coming in hot and heavy from the garden and I can't keep up with eating them fresh, I turn them into delicious roasted tomato sauce.
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Canning (or preserving) homemade tomato sauce can sound daunting. Sterilizing jars, special equipment and bad bacteria can scare even the most seasoned cook. Guess what? This easy roasted tomato sauce recipe is not meant to be canned. It can be eaten straight away, stored in the fridge for up to a week or frozen for up to a year. It is versatile, adaptable and straightforward to prepare.
Ingredients
This recipe is very adaptable and comes together with a few fresh and simple ingredients.
- Fresh Tomatoes
- Garlic
- Herbs
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Salt and Pepper
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Tomatoes: You can use any type of tomato here, but I recommend using plum, paste or Roma tomatoes which have much more flesh and less water content and fewer seeds. If you only have cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes on hand, check out my Roasted Cherry Tomato Recipe instead.
- Garlic: A key component to this delicious sauce, it gives it its balance and earthiness. Use as much or as little as you like.
- Fresh Herbs: I’m a supporter of using what you have on hand. This recipe is written with thyme in mind, but you can certainly use other woody herbs like sage, rosemary, oregano or marjoram. Want to add fresh basil flavor to the sauce? Blitz in a handful of basil at the end.
- Olive Oil: Since this recipe has very few ingredients, it’s key to use the best quality products you can get your hands on. A good quality extra virgin olive oil will make all the difference here.
Other additions: You can add red or white onions, chili peppers or red pepper flakes to your roasting dish. You can also use garlic powder or Italian seasoning.
How to Prepare Roasted Tomatoes
- Preheat your oven to 350F/175C and line baking sheets or roasting pans with parchment paper. Arrange tomatoes in an even layer. Large tomatoes can be cut up into rounds or chunks. Add peeled garlic cloves to roasting pans. No need to chop them up. Place sprigs of thyme over the tomatoes evenly. No need to strip the thyme leaves. Drizzle with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in preheated oven for 45 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool. Discard thyme sprigs. They did their job.
- Transfer tomatoes, garlic and all the juices to a blender and blend on Med-high until smooth.
- Optional - Sieve the mixture to remove seeds and skins
- Optional – If your sauce is too thin, transfer it to a pot and cook down to the desired consistency.
- Adjust seasoning and transfer to storage containers.
Make Ahead and Storage
This recipe can be made up to a week before you want to use it. Store it in an airtight container in the fridge. I like to freeze this sauce in reusable plastic deli containers and in wide-
mouth mason jars. A note about freezing a mason jar. Wide-mouth jars are a must as they prevent breakage. You also need to include head space to allow for expansion. I usually leave 1 inch of head space when freezing mason jars. Freeze the sauce for up to one year.
You can also freeze this sauce in freezer bags. The great thing about using freezer bags is that they will freeze flat allowing to you really save space. They also defrost very quickly.
How to Use This Roasted Tomato Sauce
Although pairing this sauce with your favorite pasta is probably the first thing that comes to mind, there's a plethora of ways you can use this roasted tomato sauce:
- Pizza (flavorful base for your cheese and toppings)
- Chili (why use canned tomatoes when you can use a roast-y tasty sauce instead)
- Curries (many curry recipes call for crushed or pureed tomatoes… use this instead!)
- Tomato Soup (dilute the sauce with broth or water)
- Ratatouille
- Eggplant Parmesan
- And much more!
Expert Tips
- Use fresh ripe tomatoes. The riper the tomato, the better the sauce. If your tomatoes are not quite ripe, leave them on the counter to ripen for a few days before making this recipe.
- No blender? No problem. Use a food processor or food mill. You can also use an immersion blender. A potato masher works too for a rustic homemade marinara sauce.
- Not all tomatoes are the same! There are hundreds of types of tomatoes. This recipe can be made with any variety, but I prefer using large or plum tomatoes.
- To sieve or note to sieve! Honestly, the choice is yours here. You can sieve your sauce to remove any tomato skin pieces or just leave the sauce rustic.
- Glass jars! Tomatoes have acid so the safest container to use to store the sauce will be one made of glass. Avoid metal and plastic containers.
FAQ
This recipe is not tested for water bath canning. I recommend you freeze the finished product if you would like to extend its life.
If you make this Roasted Tomato Sauce or any other recipes on Urban Farm and Kitchen, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. For more Urban Farm and Kitchen, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, visit the Urban Farm Shop, or subscribe for new posts via email.
Recipe
Roasted Tomato Sauce
Equipment
- Baking sheets
- Blender
Ingredients
- 3-4 lbs Fresh tomatoes - can be any variety, shape or color but paste/plum tomatoes perform best
- 5 Cloves of garlic - Peeled
- 2-4 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Fresh Thyme Sprigs - As many or as little as you like/have on hand. You can also use sage, rosemary or other woody herb of your choice.
- Kosher salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F/175C and line baking sheets or roasting pans with parchment paper. Arrange tomatoes in an even layer. Large tomatoes can be cut up into rounds or chunks. Add peeled garlic cloves to roasting pans. No need to chop them up. Place sprigs of thyme over the tomatoes evenly. No need to strip the thyme leaves. Drizzle with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in preheated oven for 45 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool. Discard thyme sprigs. They did their job.
- Transfer tomatoes, garlic and all the juices to a blender and blend on Med-high until smooth.
- Optional - Sieve the mixture to remove seeds and skins
- Optional – If your sauce is too thin, transfer to a pot and cook down to desired consistency.
- Adjust seasoning and transfer to storage containers.
Jan Bradshaw
Can you can this as well? Or, would it be too much cooking?
Luay Ghafari
This recipe has not been tested for water bath canning.
Suzanne
This recipe is fantastic! There is such a complexity to the flavor with the roasting and the puréeing. And I cannot thank you enough for saving me from my overly ambitious tomato plant which seems to have put out at least 10,000 cherry tomatoes this season. 🙂
Luay Ghafari
So glad you liked this recipe!
Jo Shaw
Fantastic way to use up a tomato glut & so tasty - make it every year now
Luay Ghafari
Thank you for the feedback!
Andee Althoff
Roasting the tomatoes was a revelation! That gave the sauce a dreamy added depth of flavor I hadn’t imagined possible. This is the best pasta sauce I have ever eaten — and it was do easy. I didn’t need to use a sieve or blender. Thank you!!
Luay Ghafari
Great! Glad you enjoyed it!
Phyllis
I followed your recipe and placed them in our smoker and roasted them in our smoker. Love it!!!
Luay Ghafari
Great idea! I will be trying it too!
Ian
Thank you for sharing this recipe, it really is absolutely delicious and so easy to do! We had masses of spare home grown tomatoes, and this recipe was perfect to make good use of them. We will definitely be making this again! :))
Luay Ghafari
Thanks so much for the feedback!
Ruth Boonzaaier
Can I use frozen cherry tomatoes as I have a lot which I froze to preserve?
Luay
You can. I recommend pureeing the finished sauce and passing it through a sieve. The cherry tomato skins can be a little tough.
Denise Stevenson
Just made. Easy to do. Modify to what I had in the cupboard. Use garlic powder and mixed herbs. Did not sieve as don't mind seeds etc. Made enough for 5 meals for husband and me. Will just add extra with the meal. Will definitely make again.
Luay
Thanks for your feedback!
Christine
Could you add onions and peppers? Do you roast them with the tomatoes, and if so, is blending then a problem? How best to do that?
Luay
You can do that if you wanted to. Roast at the same time with the tomatoes and proceed as directed.
Barbara
Sterilizing glass containers is actually not that hard. I´d like to share my method which I´ve been using for years to store my jam and not a single jar ever caught mould:
1) make sure your containers are perfect (no scratches, dents etc.)
2) boil the glass and the lids in water (drinking quality) for 10 mins in a big pot
3) take them out of the water, place them on a baking tray and put them in the oven for 10 mins at 160°C
Can´t wait to try your recipe with this year´s harvest.
Kimbal
Wowy. Very easy to make. Delicious.
Luay
thank you!
Nancy
Perfectly simple. Made a big batch and had some with linguine and froze the rest of it. Yumm.