Easy homemade tomato sauce using fresh tomatoes

Looking for an easy way to use that bumper crop of tomatoes?  This easy homemade tomato sauce is the perfect solution!

Easy homemade tomato sauce - AMerryMom.com

My parents and my lovely neighbors are very generous sharing their home-grown tomatoes with me.  Recently I found myself with 21 beautiful tomatoes in my kitchen.  It was a perfect time for an easy homemade tomato sauce to use all of them.

When I first looked for a tomato sauce recipe on the Internet, I was surprised by the wide variety I found.  There were recipes for sauces that were ready in 15 minutes, and others that said to simmer the sauce for hours.  Some recipes just called for tomatoes and olive oil, and others used lots of herbs and spices.

With that much variation in recipes, it appeared that I couldn’t go too wrong making a tomato sauce.  I combined the advice I read online to determine my preferred method.  I was happy to learn I could make an easy homemade tomato sauce that really tasted good!  And if I can do it, anyone can!

Easy homemade tomato sauce recipe

With this general framework for tomato sauce, you can use as many tomatoes as you like and add ingredients to taste.  You just need:

  • Fresh, washed tomatoes.
  • Olive oil (extra virgin olive oil is best for sauces).
  • Salt.
  • Your preferred herbs and spices – fresh or dried.  For simplicity, I use the Pampered Chef Italian seasoning mix, but you can find other packaged mix varieties or easily make your own blend.
  • Optional: honey.  I like to add a small dollop of organic honey for a bit of sweetness.
  1. Heat a pot of water to boiling on the stove.  This will be used to blanch the tomatoes prepare the tomatoes for peeling.  The pot can be big enough for all of your tomatoes in one batch, or you can do more than one batch in a smaller pot.
  2. Prepare a bowl of ice water to cool the tomatoes.
  3. Cut an “X” mark into the bottom of each tomato.Tomatoes for homemade tomato sauce - AMerryMom.com
  4. Place the tomatoes into the boiling water for about a minute, then use a slotted spoon to remove them and put them into the ice water to stop the cooking process and cool them.
  5. Cover the bottom of a saute pan or skillet with a light layer of olive oil.  (A wide pan helps the sauce to cook faster, but you can also use a large saucepan.)
  6. Peel the tomatoes.  After their dunk in the boiling water, the skins should pull off easily.
  7. Remove the core, seeds, and juice, cutting the tomatoes into chunks.  (It’s OK to have some seeds remaining.)Tomatoes prepped for homemade tomato sauce - AMerryMom.com
  8. Place the prepared tomatoes into the saucepan.
  9. Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
  10. Heat tomatoes to a boil, stirring.
  11. Reduce heat and simmer tomatoes, uncovered.  Stir occasionally, and mash up larger chunks of tomato as needed.Homemade tomato sauce - AMerryMom.com
  12. Add seasonings as desired near the end of the simmering time.
  13. The sauce is done when it reaches the right consistency.  Simmering time can vary, based on the water content in the tomatoes.  Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until your sauce reduces the juices to the right consistency.  This can be as little as 20 minutes, or as much as several hours.  I’ve found about 2.5 to 3 hours is typical, but it has to do with the type of tomatoes used.
  14. Test it out and add salt, herbs, or spices to the sauce as desired.

I’ve seen some recipes that use canned tomato puree to help thicken the sauce, but I like to stick with just the fresh tomatoes.  Using tomatoes straight from the garden, this easy homemade tomato sauce has a wonderful, light, fresh flavor!

Easy homemade tomato sauce - AMerryMom.com

Homemade tomato sauce can be kept in the refrigerator a few days or frozen in a freezer-safe container (leaving some space for expansion).  This sauce just can’t be canned with a boiling water bath process for long-term storage.

Need more information?  I liked this article on Serious Eats about homemade tomato sauce.  It gives some really in-depth thought to the subject of the perfect tomato sauce.

This recipe is linked to some of these link parties.

6 thoughts on “Easy homemade tomato sauce using fresh tomatoes

  1. AvatarKim~madeinaday

    Thanks so much for linking your tomato sauce up to the P3 party! I am featuring it tomorrow on Made in a Day! I did want to let you know that I could not tag you in the post to Facebook for tomorrow I got a warning that your account is I guess compromised here’s what it said when i tried to tag you in the post.
    ~A Link in Your Post Might Be Unsafe
    It looks like your post contains a link that might be unsafe:
    Mentioned page ‘A Merry Mom’
    Please remove this link from your post or enter the security code below if you’re sure you want to include it.
    I will be posting it at 4pm I just can not tag you in it. I would change the password for that account and it should fix it. If you do let me know and I can edit the post for tomorrow.
    Otherwise Thanks for pinning!
    Kim

    Reply
    1. LisaLisa Post author

      Kim, Thanks so much for featuring my tomato sauce! I also appreciate the heads up about the security warning. I’ve changed passwords and a couple of settings; hopefully everything is OK now. Have a great day!

      Reply
  2. AvatarPure Grace Farms

    Your recipe looks delicious. I would be honored if you would stop by and share at Foodie Fridays this evening (Thurs 9pm EST). Hope to see you there.
    Blessings,
    Shari
    http://puregracefarms.com/

    Reply
  3. AvatarStephanie

    I’ve been looking for a good homemade tomato sauce recipe and this one looks perfect! Thank you so much for linking up at Tasty Tuesday! Your recipe has been pinned to the Tasty Tuesday Pinterest board! Please join us again this week!

    Reply

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