Homemade Tomato Sauce Using Fresh Tomatoes

This frugal, easy homemade tomato sauce recipe uses fresh tomatoes WITH skins. The meatless Italian flavors are great for spaghetti, pasta, pizza, or soup! If you’re a meat lover, try my homemade 15-minute Italian meatballs and my tasty French bread.

Despite the fact that my hearty spaghetti sauce is really, really good, my sister-in-law is known in our family for making the best spaghetti sauce.

Her secret weapon? Fresh garden tomatoes!

We now have a garden that’s producing way more tomatoes we could ever use to make our basic pizza sauce, so I took a cue from my sister-in-law and made my own homemade tomato sauce using fresh tomatoes.

It was absolutely DELICIOUS, and I want to share the recipe with you!.

Reasons To Make Tomato Sauce From Scratch

• It’s SO easy. Really truly. It takes time, but zero kitchen skill is required.
• It’s WAY better than anything store-bought. I’m not exaggerating here. Just wait and see!
• You can 100% control the ingredients. Apart from the tomatoes, this recipe has only three veggies and zero sweeteners.
• A basic tomato sauce can become virtually anything later. It can be tomato basil soup or pizza sauce or even spaghetti sauce.
• It’s hands-off. Get the sauce going – on the stove or in a slow cooker – and set the kitchen timer and get busy doing something else!
• This recipe makes a lot! I use 10 pounds of tomatoes, but the recipe can be easily halved if you prefer.
• No need to peel the tomatoes! One less step makes this SUPER easy!

Homemade Tomato Sauce Ingredients

• Olive oil. Just enough olive oil to caramelize the onions.
• Onion. Any onion will do, I used a sweet yellow onion.
• Garlic. I want this to be a BASIC tomato sauce so that it can become other things later. I went easy on the garlic in this recipe. You can always add more garlic later if you want to.
• Tomatoes. We’re using FRESH tomatoes (a lot of them). So clear out the garden, hit up your farmers market, or watch for those sales!

• Salt & Pepper. The usual suspects.
• Dried Basil. Since basil is naturally sweet, it complements the tomatoes well.
• Carrots are optional, but they’re naturally sweet and go well with tomatoes.
• Bell Peppers are also optional, but they balance out all the flavors. Plus it’s an easy way to sneak in more veggies!

Psst! If you’re going to add salt, I highly recommend Ava Jane’s Kitchen. You may think all salt is created equal, but unfortunately, 90% of the salt produced around the world contains microplastics (gross, right?). Ava Jane’s Kitchen is an exception. Their salt is 100% microplastic-free, and it’s SO GOOD! Plus, you can get a bag for just 1¢!! (Get your penny bag of salt on this page.)

How to Make Sauce at Home

Step 1. Caramelize the onions in a really large pot (bigger than you think you need).

Step 2. Add everything else and gently squish about half of the tomatoes.

Step 3. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has evaporated.

Step 4. Puree the tomatoes using an immersion blender (this is the one I have) and if it seems watery, simmer a little bit longer until it’s the consistency you prefer.

Step 5. Season with basil, salt, and pepper! Serve immediately, or let it cool slightly to can, or cool completely before storing in the freezer.

FAQs

How to Can Homemade Tomato Sauce

Tomatoes can be canned using the water bath method.

You can follow the tutorial that I used for making canned diced tomatoes or for canning applesauce.

More Recipes for Fresh Tomatoes

• Instant Pot Vegetarian Chili
• Homemade Ketchup
• Instant Pot Spanish Rice
• Slow Cooker Beef Ragu

Dinner on a Dime

Subscribe to my newsletter and get instant access to “Dinner on a Dime”: 15+ family-friendly and kid-approved recipes that are quick, cheap and healthy!

Your email address First Name

Homemade Tomato Sauce Using Fresh Tomatoes

Print Recipe

This frugal, easy homemade tomato sauce recipe uses fresh tomatoes WITH skins. The meatless Italian flavors are great for spaghetti, pasta, pizza, or soup! If you’re a meat lover, try my homemade 15-minute Italian meatballs and my tasty French bread.

• Author: Tiffany
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 3 hours
• Total Time: 3 hours 10 minutes
• Yield: 2–3 quarts 1x
• Category: Sauces/Condiments
• Method: Stove top
• Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 cup chopped onion (about 1 large)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, quartered
• 10 lbs fresh tomatoes, quartered
• 2 cups carrots, chopped
• 1 cup bell peppers, chopped (about 2 small)
• 1 tbsp dried basil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper

Instructions

1. Measure the olive oil and onions in a very large stockpot. Cook the onions over medium-low heat until they are caramelized and medium golden brown, about 30 minutes.
2. Add as many tomatoes as you can. Using the back of a wooden spoon, gently squish about half of the tomatoes in the pot.
3. Bring the tomatoes to a simmer, cover, and cook for 30 minutes.
4. Uncover the pot and add any remaining tomatoes, carrots, and bell peppers. Bring the sauce to a low boil and cook until the sauce is reduced by one quarter, about 2-4 hours.
5. Use an immersion blender to puree the sauce until it’s smooth. If the sauce seems too thin, continue to cook until it’s the desired consistency.
6. Season with salt, pepper, and dried basil.
7. Serve immediately. or let it cool slightly to can, or cool completely before storing in the freezer.

Notes

• For Canning: Let it cool slightly after being cooked.
• Store in Freeer: Let it cool completely before storing in the freezer.

Nutrition

• Calories: 104

Keywords: homemade tomato sauce, home made tomato sauce, basil tomato sauce

Share with someone who may like this...