How to Make Homemade Tomato Sauce: A Simple & Flavorful Recipe

Tomato sauce is the cornerstone of many beloved dishes, from pasta to pizza. By making your own homemade tomato sauce, you can elevate your meals with fresh ingredients and control the flavor profile. This easy-to-make tomato sauce recipe uses simple ingredients like ripe tomatoes, olive oil, fresh garlic, and basil, resulting in a rich, flavorful sauce that’s perfect for a variety of dishes.

Why Make Homemade Tomato Sauce?

Homemade tomato sauce is a healthier and more flavorful alternative to store-bought versions, which often contain preservatives and added sugars. By preparing your own sauce, you can use fresh, ripe tomatoes and adjust the seasoning to your personal taste. Plus, this recipe is perfect for batch cooking—make a large batch when tomatoes are in season, then freeze individual portions to use later.

Ingredients for Homemade Tomato Sauce

• 4 pounds ripe Roma tomatoes
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large sweet onion, peeled and diced
• 2 tablespoons fresh minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons fresh chopped basil

How to Make Homemade Tomato Sauce: Step-by-Step

1. Freeze and Peel the Tomatoes

Start by preparing the tomatoes. Cut a ¼-inch deep X on one end of each tomato. Place them in a large freezer-safe bag and freeze overnight. Freezing the tomatoes helps the skin come off easily during the peeling process.

2. Defrost and Drain

The next day, transfer the tomatoes to a colander and let them defrost. As the tomatoes thaw, excess water will drain away. Once defrosted, peel off the skins, which should slide off effortlessly. Core the tomatoes and remove any seeds before chopping them into smaller pieces.

3. Sauté the Onion and Garlic

Dice the onion and mince the garlic. In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat and sauté the onion and garlic for 2-3 minutes, or until they become fragrant and translucent.

4. Add Tomatoes and Simmer

Add the prepared tomatoes, salt, and sugar to the pot. Stir the ingredients, then reduce the heat to low and let the mixture simmer for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally. The sauce will thicken as it cooks, and you can use a spoon to mash the tomatoes to your preferred consistency.

5. Blend the Sauce

Once the sauce has reached your desired thickness, taste it and add additional seasoning if needed. Transfer the sauce to a blender and blend until smooth. You can adjust the texture by blending longer for a smoother sauce or leaving it chunkier.

6. Add Fresh Basil

Once blended, stir in the fresh chopped basil before serving. The basil adds a fresh, herbaceous flavor that complements the richness of the tomato sauce.

Recipe Notes and Variations

Freezing Tips

This tomato sauce is perfect for batch cooking. After preparing it, divide the sauce into Souper Cubes or airtight containers and store it in the freezer for future use. Simply thaw when you’re ready to use it in your favorite dishes.

Alternative Method (No Freezing Required)

If you’re short on time, skip the freezing step. Instead, blanch the tomatoes by placing them in boiling water for 1 minute. Once cooled, peel off the skins and core the tomatoes. You’ll need to simmer the sauce longer to cook off the excess water.

Crockpot Tomato Sauce

For a hands-off approach, use a slow cooker! Follow the instructions up to step 4 and add the ingredients (except basil) to the slow cooker. Set it to high and let it cook for a few hours until the excess water evaporates. Blend and stir in the basil before serving.

Tomato Paste Powder

Don’t waste the skins! After peeling the tomatoes, you can dehydrate the skins for about 8 hours at 149°F until they’re crispy. Grind the skins into a fine powder, which can be rehydrated with water in a 1:1 ratio to make tomato paste. Store it in an airtight container for future use.

How to Use Homemade Tomato Sauce

This versatile homemade tomato sauce can be used in so many ways:

• Spaghetti Sauce: Add some cooked ground meat or vegetables for a delicious pasta sauce.
• Pizza Sauce: Use it as a base for your homemade pizza.
• Soup Base: Add it to soups for a rich, comforting flavor.
• Dipping Sauce: Serve it as a dipping sauce for breadsticks or mozzarella sticks.

Your Turn

Making homemade tomato sauce is easier than you might think, and the results are far superior to store-bought versions. By using fresh, simple ingredients, you can create a flavor-packed sauce that’s perfect for pasta, pizza, and more. Whether you’re cooking for a family dinner or prepping for the week, this easy tomato sauce recipe is one you’ll want to keep in your recipe box. Happy cooking!

You Can Can It!

In this video, I follow the Ball Recipe to ensure this is shelf stable.

This Recipe is in my Cookbook, From Scratch!

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Check Out The Pantry Labels

In 2024, I released a set of Pantry Labels with recipes that are dishwasher-safe and fit the lids of mason jars perfectly.

Each labels has the recipe to refill the dry mix jar, as well as the recipe to make the item if applicable.

Pantry Labels

Tomato Sauce

Maria Watkins, LivingPlanetFriendly

This is a basic tomato sauce that is really easy to make with a little prep work. I use this as a base for spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, and more.

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Ingredients

  

• 4 pounds ripe roma tomatoes
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large sweet onion peeled and diced
• 2 tablespoons fresh minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons fresh chopped basil

Instructions

 

• Using a sharp knife, cut a ¼-inch deep X on one end of each tomato. Place the tomatoes in a large, freezer-safe bag, and freeze overnight.
• The next day, move the tomatoes from the freezer bag to a colander, and let tomatoes defrost and drain excess water.
• Remove tomato peels, which should slide off easily. Core the tomatoes, removing any excess seeds. Chop tomatoes into smaller pieces.
• Dice the large sweet onion and mince fresh garlic. Add to a large pot with the olive oil in the bottom, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
• Add the tomatoes, salt, and sugar to the pot. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally and mashing tomatoes until the sauce is no longer watery.
• Taste and add additional seasoning if necessary.
• Transfer sauce to a blender, and blend until the sauce reaches your desired consistency.
• Stir in basil before serving.

Notes

I like to double or even triple this recipe when tomatoes are on sale or when I have a lot of tomatoes from my summer gardens. I portion the sauce into one cup Souper Cubes and store in the freezer. 

If you don’t have time to pre-freeze the tomatoes, add the tomatoes with an X cut to a pot of boiling water for one minute, remove and let the tomatoes cool until you can handle them. Peel off the skins and core the tomatoes, then add to the pot. There will be excess water in your sauce, so you need to bring the sauce to a boil, and then simmer to remove excess water. 

Crockpot: Sauce can also be made in a slow cooker! Follow the instructions up to step 4, and add all the ingredients except basil to the slow cooker. Set the cooker to high and check on the sauce once an hour. It is ready to be blended when there is no excess water on the surface. Add basil before serving. 

Save your tomato skin and make tomato paste powder! Dehydrate the skins for 8 hours at 149°F until crispy. Grind into a fine powder and store in an airtight container. Add water in a 1:1 ratio to reconstitute and mix until smooth.