An easy chef-tested recipe for Roasted Tomato Sauce made with fresh summer tomatoes, garlic, and herbs. This is the same technique I relied on for years as a restaurant owner and caterer to make the most of summer's harvest. It can be made ahead and frozen or canned to enjoy all year! Video.
Back in our restaurant and catering days, we would end up with lots of extra tomatoes from our farm delivery-so many, in fact, that we had to get very creative with them! We learned quickly that roasting brought out the deepest, richest flavor, and soon we were filling our ovens with sheet pans of summer tomatoes. The result was heavenly, and this is how our roasted tomato sauce came to be.
As a chef and recipe developer, I've made this sauce countless times over the years, both for clients and at home, and it never disappoints. Oven-roasting concentrates the natural sweetness of tomatoes, intensifies their flavor, and makes a sauce that's far superior to anything store-bought. Tip: If you're looking for a faster, stovetop version, take a look at this Fast and Easy Marinara Sauce!
Why You’ll Love this Roasted Tomato Sauce Recipe
Back in our restaurant and catering days, we would end up with lots of extra tomatoes from our farm delivery-so many, in fact, that we had to get very creative with them! We would load up our ovens with sheet pans full of summer tomatoes, and the result was heavenly! This is how our roasted tomato sauce came to be.
Oven-roasted tomato sauce completely transforms summer tomatoes, concentrating their sweetness and intensifying their flavor even more! Tip: If you are looking for a faster, stove-top version, take a look at this Fast and Easy Marinara Sauce!
Roasted Tomato Sauce Ingredients
- Tomatoes: This recipe is perfect for summer’s bounty of vine-ripe fresh tomatoes. Use your favorite types of tomatoes: cherry tomatoes, heirlooms, Romas, grape tomatoes, or plum tomatoes.
- Shallots and garlic: Enhance the sauce with savory goodness.
- Fresh herbs: Fresh oregano and basil are the go-to, but feel free to add or substitute with marjoram, rosemary, or whatever you love.
- Olive oil: Use a light, good-quality one!
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
How to Make Roasted Tomato Sauce
You can make this recipe one of two ways: blend the sauce or mash the sauce. The method depends on the size of your tomatoes.
1. Prep the pan. Preheat the oven to 400F. Drizzle a large roasting pan with olive oil and sprinkle with the garlic and shallot. Place the sliced tomatoes cut-side down.
2. Roast the tomatoes. Roast the tomatoes for 30 minutes. Add the oregano and basil, then roast for 10 more minutes, or until the skins have lifted off the tomatoes. Let cool.
3. Blend or mash the sauce. Pull off the skins, then pour all of the tomatoes and their roasting juices into a bowl to mash (for a chunkier sauce) or into a blender (for a smooth sauce). Alternatively, you can use a food processor for a sauce that is mostly smooth but with some remaining texture. Pulse until desired consistency. To mash, use a fork or potato masher. Once the sauce is either mashed or blended, season with kosher salt and pepper. Taste and adjust, adding a little sugar if needed to bring the flavor around-some tomatoes have enough natural sweetness and won’t need sugar. Start with 1/2 a teaspoon, then taste and adjust.
4. Reheat or store. To use right away, reheat the sauce in a saucepan or pot. Or store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. This sauce can be frozen, too.
Chef’s Tips
- Mash, blend, or use a food processor. For a chunkier sauce, use a fork or potato masher to mash the sauce in a bowl. For a smooth sauce, use a blender. Or for a smooth sauce with some remaining texture, use the food processor.
- If using small tomatoes: They take quite a bit longer to peel off the skins. You can always toss them in the blender with their skins on to save time.
- Tomato seeds: I leave the seeds in the sauce, but some people like to remove the seeds before mashing or blending. Up to you!
- Make it spicy! Add red pepper flakes to the sauce if you prefer more heat.
- Add more veggies: To pack in a little extra nutrition, add veggies like carrots, onions, or red bell peppers to the pan.
How to Store Roasted Garlic Tomato Sauce
- Refrigerator: This recipe makes about 4 cups, enough for one or two meals, and keeps in the fridge for 5-6 days.
- Freezer: You may also freeze the sauce or can the sauce (see recipe notes) for a little burst of sunshine in the winter months, which I try to do every year. The sauce will keep in the freezer for 3-4 months.
- Reheat: Reheat the homemade marinara sauce in a saucepan on the stovetop. Avoid the microwave unless you want a mess!
What to do with Roasted Tomato Sauce
Serve the roasted cherry tomato sauce over your favorite pasta, polenta, sautéed zucchini noodles, roasted spaghetti squash, or with meatballs, like our Italian meatballs or turkey meatballs, roasted vegetables, or in lasagna. Or use as pizza sauce on our sourdough pizza crust! The possibilities are endless!
Homemade Roasted Tomato Sauce FAQs
Yes, when using fresh tomatoes, the tomato skins are often tender and full of vitamins and nutrients! You can also slip the flesh off after roasting the tomatoes.
The seeds don’t impact the flavor, but if you want a smooth sauce, you can remove them.
If the tomatoes are not fully ripe, such as near the end of the season, a pinch of sugar can cut the acidity and balance the sauce. Taste first! Your tomatoes may be sweet enough!
The tomato sauce must be acidified (with bottled lemon juice or citric acid) and processed in a boiling water bath or pressure canner. This recipe is not tested for canning, so for long-term storage, we recommend freezing instead. Follow a trusted, tested source if you'd like to can it.
Hope you love this Roasted Tomato Pasta Sauce recipe, highlighting juicy ripe summer tomatoes! A fun, simple way to extend summer’s harvest!
You may also want to check out our Simple Pan Sauce for an easy sauce recipe to elevate any dish! And don’t miss our easy pesto pasta!
Love this recipe? Please let us know in the comments and leave a 5-star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below the recipe card.
More Tomato Recipes You Might Like
- Grilled Tomatoes
- Fast & Easy Marinara Sauce
- Roasted Enchilada Sauce
- Simple Homemade Tomato Soup
- Summer Tomato Risotto with Saffron
WATCH: How to Make Roasted Tomato Sauce
Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 40
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 4– 4 1/2 cups 1x
- Category: Sauce, preserving, canning,
- Method: Roasting, canning, freezing
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Vegan
Description
An easy recipe for Roasted Tomato Sauce made with fresh summer tomatoes, garlic and herbs. Extend summer’s harvest into winter- can be made ahead and frozen or canned. Watch the video!
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 4– 6 cloves garlic, rough chopped
- 1 shallot, diced
- 3 lbs ripe (med-large) tomatoes, cored and cut in half ( for small tomatoes, see notes)
- —-
- 1 tablespoons fresh oregano ( or 1 teaspoon dried, or use Italian seasoning)
- 1–2 tablespoon fresh basil, torn or chopped
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt ( or salt to taste)
- pepper to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar ( optional)
Instructions
- Pre-heat ove to 400 F
- Drizzle a large, rimmed baking sheet with olive oil. Sprinkle with garlic and shallot.
- Place the sliced tomatoes cut-side down on the sheet pan and roast 30 minutes. Add the oregano and basil and roast 10 more minutes, or until skins have lifted off the tomatoes.
- Let cool, pull off the skins, then pour all the tomatoes and their roasting juices into a bowl. Mash with a fork or potato masher. Season with salt and pepper. Sometimes, to bring the flavor around I’ll add a little sugar. This depends on your palate and the tomatoes you are using ( some are sweeter than others). Start with ½ a teaspoon. Taste, adjust.
- To use right away, reheat in a pan or pot. Or refrigerate for up to 5 days, or freeze (see notes).
Notes
If roasting small tomatoes, feel free roast whole and blend the sauce with the skins on. They may not need as long in the oven, check after 20 minutes.
If canning the tomato sauce, follow these instructions:
- Prepare boiling water canner. Heat a quart-jar in gently simmering water until ready to use, do not boil. Wash lid in warm soapy water and set aside with bands.
- Add 2 tablespoons lemon juice to the hot, 4-cup, quart jar, (or 1 tablespoon to a pint jar) ladle hot tomato sauce into a hot jar leaving a ½ inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Wipe the jar rim clean and seal lid to fingertip tight.
- Place jar in boiling water canner and process for 40 minutes. Turn off heat, let jars sit 5 minutes in the water. Remove jars and cool 12-24 hours. Check lids for seal, they should not flex when center is pressed.
- This Canning Link is helpful!
If freezing in a mason jar, make sure jar and lid are clean and sterile. Let sauce come to room temperature. Fill jars leaving 2 inches headroom at the top of the jar, to prevent jar from breaking- because sauce will expand as it freezes. Thaw in the fridge for 24-48 hours.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 63
- Sugar: 3.7 g
- Sodium: 389.7 mg
- Fat: 4.6 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 6 g
- Fiber: 2.9 g
- Protein: 1.3 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
So easy and simply the most delicious tomato sauce recipe I’ve ever made. Thank you.
Just made this with a bunch of leftover tomatoes from the garden and added purple basil, rosemary and oregano. Wow! The flavor is amazing. Added it to some italian sausage I got from a local butcher and am making some spaghetti tonight. Thank you!
The taste is delicious. How could I thicken it, though? I could leave out the roasting juices, but they are very flavorful! Thanks, Sylvia!
You could cook it down on the stove letting the juices condense and concentrate.
A neighbor gave me several pounds of Roma tomatoes so I decided to try this recipe. It was my first time making homemade sauce and it came out better than I expected. I didn’t use all of the juices from the pan and I left the sauce on the chunky side. It was perfect over ravioli.
I love this recipe and will now make my 3rd large batch today from my garden tomatoes. However, I used a lot more onion and premixed it in a bowl with the salt, pepper, sugar and oregano and garlic. I roasted it longer (40-45 min) because I had 3 large trays and lots of tomatoes. I put the tomatoes with seeds and skins right into my food processor along with everything on the baking sheet and the fresh basil. I also added a can of tomato paste and 3 cubes of Dorat’s frozen pureed onion plus garlic powder and more salt, pepper, sugar, oregano, etc. It is hands down the best tomato sauce I’ve ever made. I’ve given some away, eaten some plain with parmesan and have divided the rest in ziploc freezer bags. THANK YOU!!!!!
Great to hear Shirley- glad it worked for you!
Thank you so much for this recipe! The great thing about this is you can use your ugly tomatoes. I have finished my garden tomatoes and now buy from the farmers market. My family loves this sauce on spaghetti. I am now making my 5th batch. I do add more herbs from the garden and sometimes roast red pepper with them. I prefer to pulse in the blender. I do not use sugar
Haha! Love it! Thanks for sharing.
Delicious. I did remove some of the juice before adding any spices, and cooked it a bit longer (45 minutes) which made a wonderfully thick sauce. My first try at oven vs. stovetop and I’m hooked!
Could you freeze this??
Totally!
This is so easy and so delicious. I will definitely make it again with the tomatoes from my garden. I used the food processor to whirl it up but still leave a little texture.
I made this recipe for the first time and it is amazing tasting and smells but I have a very runny sauce. Any recommendations for thickening it? I did try cooking it on the stove on low for a few hours but it is still more of a soup consistency.
This is a looser sauce. 🙂
Please be clear about what size jars you use for 2 T lemon juice.
2 tablespoon per 4-cup, quart-jar. I adusted recipe and please see the new link in recipe notes for canning- it is helpful.
Loved the look of this recipe so I went ahead and made it…..outstanding flavor ! I followed it exactly and did multiple batches. Tried the potato masher unsuccessfully once It was roasted, so needed a few twists of my immersion blender for a beautiful consistency.
Perfect, thanks Debbie!
Hello: Is there a way to blend the sauce so it’s smooth without being frothy? Thank you so much!
Frothy as in air bubbles? The froth should settle down if you let it sit a bit or tap the blender so bubbles rise to the top and pop.
what size jars ? and is this an approved recipe of the NCHFP ?
Quart jars.
I’m always trying to find the easier, best recipes. I have been fortunate to find a few. This is definitely one of them. So easy, so quick…I can’t stop dipping some great rustic bread and butter in to this stuff! House smells great. Hope there’s enough left for dinner!
Haha! Love it Mike- thanks!
Thank you for the great recipe! We love this sauce, and have made four batches with our garden tomatoes. Such an easy one to make with such wonderful flavor.
Absolutely love this sauce! I’m on my third batch…..freezing some and eating some each time. I wasn’t sure what to do with all the great tomatoes I grew ( shared with my coworkers before working at home/covid) and you provided an easy delicious solution. Thank you!
Glad you are enjoying this Chris!
We’ve made this recipe for tomato sauce three times now. It is excellent, and so very flavorful. We used very ripe heirloom tomatoes and the sweetness and depth of flavor was incredible. I think I can safely say, best tomato sauce ever. Thank you, Sylvia.
The tomatoes are in the oven now, the smell is divine! 🙂
Can you tell me the ratio of lemon juice for canning, please. Is it 2 tablespoons per pint, half pint, Quart? Would Citric acid and less of an effect on taste?
Thanks
I’m not a canning expert… so I would be totally guessing here. Sorry. 😐
1 tablespoon bottled lemon juice per pint, or 1/4 tsp citric acid.
Simple and spectacular! I had a flat of tomatos from the farm stand that were not quite up to what I was hoping for in slicing and salads, and did not want them to go to waste. If this sauce is this good with average tomatoes, I can only imagine how much better it will be if i get some good ones!! Thanks so much, my belly is happy.
Tomatoes this summer have been so wonderful but tiring of them sliced fresh with just about everything . Tried this recipe and added a few red/green chili peppers. Discarded Them after roasting but created a subtle amount of heat I Really enjoyed. Spooned the mashed sauce over angel hair and topped with fresh parmigiana cheese…devine😊
Yay Mila! Glad this worked for you! 🙌
Made your recipe 3 days ago and by far the best sauce I have ever had, we added some homemade sausage and mushrooms to if for our spaghetti dinner. This will be my go to sauce for all my heirloom tomatoes. I am now going to make another batch of sauce to freeze. Thank you for such a great recipe.
Glad this worked for you! 🙌
Awesome!
Can you use frozen tomatoes?
Hey Cathy sorry for the delay. I’m not sure about this. Do you mean roast the frozen tomatoes? are they whole?
Sylvia,
I froze fresh whole tomatoes last season. I am wondering if I could use those tomatoes to make this recipe. Looking to use them up before the new ones ripen. Thanks.
Hey Cathy, I don’t see why not, but haven’t personally tried this. Give it a go!