Roasted Tomato Sauce

Not sure what to do with a bounty of fresh tomatoes? Make Roasted Tomato Sauce! This recipe is easy to make and results in a richly flavored sauce that stores well in the freezer.

I am so, so dreadfully behind in sharing this recipe with you.

Let’s review:

I have been making this Roasted Tomato Sauce every summer for years. YEARS!

I shared the method in my Instagram stories months ago, and even asked if anyone wanted the full, detailed recipe in a blog post. The answer was a resounding “YES!”

I took the photos for this post probably 2 months ago.

It is the end of September and I am just now getting around to actually finishing this post.

Punchline: I’m a terrible blogger.

Upside: You can always save this recipe to make next year when you are invariably drowning in fresh tomatoes and need to use them up before they go bad.

I also know that there are still a handful of tomatoes ripening on my own tomato plants, so I figure there must be a few of you out there who are still putting away some of your summer bounty to enjoy during the winter. This one’s for you.

The beauty of roasted tomato sauce

This is pretty much the only tomato sauce we make anymore. It is so easy and, while it does require turning on the oven, it doesn’t require any simmering and is super hands-off.

Honestly, it doesn’t require much chopping either. It’s a lazy cook’s dream.

It’s pretty forgiving, too. I like adding onions, garlic, and fresh herbs. But you can really use any type of onion you have lying around and any herbs you like, such as rosemary, thyme, marjoram, etc.

You could even use dried herbs instead of fresh. Consider what’s listed in the recipe card to be more of a guideline, not hard and fast rules.

If you’ve never considered making homemade tomato sauce before, this roasted tomato sauce is a great place to start.

What type of tomatoes should you use?

Here’s something extra wonderful about making roasted tomato sauce: You don’t need to be precious about the type of tomatoes you use.

I use whatever I have on hand or whatever is particularly prolific in my garden that week. This could be heirloom tomatoes, beefsteak tomatoes, roma or plum tomatoes, or sauce (San Marzano variety) tomatoes.

The only tomatoes that I don’t often use for sauce are cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes, but that is because I usually eat them all before they can become sauce. If you choose to add some to your sauce, just keep an eye on them when they are roasting, as they will roast faster due to the small size.

How to make roasted tomato sauce

Ok, so we’ve covered the fact that roasted tomato sauce is easy to make. But now it’s time for me to prove it to you!

Ingredients you’ll need

To make about 2 quarts of sauce, you will need: 

• 5 pounds fresh tomatoes 
• 1 medium to large onion
• 4-5 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves
• fine sea salt or kosher salt
• 3-4 tablespoonsolive oil
• freshly ground black pepper
• ¼ cup basil leaves

As I mentioned above, I typically use whatever tomatoes I have on hand. It’s even worth asking at the farmer’s market if they have any boxes of slightly beat up tomatoes for a discounted price.

Since the tomatoes are going to be roasted and broken down into a puree anyway, it doesn’t matter if they are pretty and in perfect condition. Some bumps and bruises are totally ok!

I most often grab a white or yellow onion for this sauce, but feel free to use a red onion if that’s what you have and what you like best. 

Making this recipe

Grab a couple of large rimmed baking sheets and line them with parchment paper.

You can also line them with foil and grease the foil with cooking spray, although some people feel that this gives the roasted tomatoes a bit of a metallic taste. 

One of the most important things about roasting tomatoes for this sauce is making sure you cut the tomatoes into fairly equal-sized chunks. Depending on the size of your tomatoes, this may mean cutting them into anywhere from 4 to 8 pieces each.

Divide the tomatoes evenly between the prepared sheet pans, making sure they aren’t too crowded.

Peel the tomatoes and cut them into pieces roughly the same size as your tomato pieces. Scatter them with the tomatoes.

Peel the garlic cloves (I like to smash them with my knife first) and add them to the pans along with the oregano leaves.

Now sprinkle both pans liberally with salt and drizzle evenly with your olive oil. 

Place both pans in a 375℉ oven for about 45-60 minutes. If you need to place the pans on separate racks, swap them halfway through the roasting time.

The vegetables are done when the tomatoes and onions are soft, charred in some spots, and the juices from the tomatoes are caramelized.

I think our instinct is to panic a bit when we start to see edges turn black. But this isn’t baking cookies – it’s roasting tomatoes! The charred and caramelized edges and bottoms of the tomatoes and onions  add a great depth of flavor to the final sauce that you just don’t get with stovetop tomato sauce.

Let the pans cool for a bit before carefully transferring all of the roasted vegetables to a blender or food processor along with the fresh basil. 

Carefully blend on high until smooth. If the vegetables are still quite hot, you will need to be extremely careful when blending. 

Once the sauce is smooth, give it a taste and season with fresh ground pepper and additional salt as needed.

Storage tips

Every summer, I make batches and batches of this sauce to put away for the winter.

You can store this roasted tomato sauce in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to a week or in the freeze for several months.

According to my friend Megan, don’t fall prey to the temptation to can this sauce. Any canned tomato product requires additional citric acid to be safely preserved. 

So instead, stick to keeping it in your freezer in jars or zip-top freezer bags and letting it thaw in your refrigerator overnight before using.

Uses and serving suggestions

We use our roasted tomato sauce throughout the winter primarily as pasta sauce, especially for spaghetti and classic Italian meatballs. 

We’ve even used this sauce in Homemade Hamburger Helper and let me tell ya…it’s divine.

You could even use it as a pizza sauce or a dipping sauce for pizza sliders or toasted gnocchi or ravioli.

Whether you make Roasted Tomato Sauce with homegrown tomatoes or farmers’ market beauties, I hope you make this recipe year after year to enjoy each winter.

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