Homemade Roasted Tomato Sauce Recipe

It’s tomato season! For those in the north, summer is peak time for tomatoes—for those of you in warmer locales, it may be the tail end of the season, but wait a few months, and they’ll be back. Best way to used excess tomatoes from your garden or bulk tomatoes on sale for the season? Roast ’em up and make an easy, basic tomato sauce to use now or freeze for another time.

I wanted to keep this pretty straightforward: just tomatoes, olive oil, salt, and pepper. You can add roasted garlic and fresh basil if you want, but I prefer to add those fresh later on for a semi-homemade feel. I also like to use this base for tomato soup on chilly nights when fresh tomatoes are in short or not-as-tasty supply or add it chili or sauté it with chickpeas and vegetables. Basic seasoning keeps your options open.

In an effort to reduce my waste, I use glass pans to keep the tomatoes from sticking too much. You can also use compostable parchment paper or foil—which you can clean off, reuse, or recycle.

Once the sauce is pureed, pour it into freezer-safe jars. Make sure to leave about one to two inches of space at the top to account for any remaining water expanding in the freezer. You can also store the sauce in your fridge for a few days if you plan on using it soon.

Easy Quick Roast Tomato Sauce Blender

I recommend roasting and freezing as much sauce as you can—even if that means buying in bulk from the store when price is amenable. The cost of pasta sauce even at a seemingly low $3 a jar can add up, not to mention the multitude of glass jars. While having a few large, empty jars around can be useful for various projects, they can quickly reach critical mass in your cabinets.