Homemade Tomato Sauce

There's nothing like homemade tomato sauce to put garden-fresh tomatoes to good use. This tomato sauce recipe slowly simmers on the stove for hours, creating layers of flavor that are impossible to resist.

Homemade Tomato Sauce Ingredients

Here's what you'll need to make this top-rated tomato sauce at home:

• Tomatoes: You'll need 10 ripe (or very ripe) tomatoes.
• Butter and olive oil: Saut? the vegetables in a mixture of olive oil and butter for the best flavor and texture.
• Vegetables: An onion, bell pepper, and carrots are cooked until very tender. Celery stalks are cooked with the tomato sauce to add extra fresh flavor.
• Wine: Burgundy wine lends complexity and depth of flavor.
• Seasonings and herbs: This homemade tomato sauce is flavored with fresh garlic, fresh basil, Italian seasoning, and a bay leaf.
• Tomato paste: Two tablespoons of tomato paste adds yet another layer of rich flavor.

How to Make Tomato Sauce

Ready to learn how to make homemade tomato sauce? It's actually quite simple. You'll find the full, step-by-step recipe below — but here's a brief overview of what you can expect:

1. Boil the tomatoes until the skin starts to peel, then transfer them to an ice bath.
2. Slip off the skins and squeeze out the seeds.
3. Chop eight tomatoes, then puree them in a blender. Chop the remaining tomatoes and set aside.
4. Saut? the veggies and garlic until very tender. Add the pureed and chopped tomatoes.
5. Stir in the wine, basil, and seasoning. Add the celery stalks and bay leaf.
6. Simmer for two hours, stir in the tomato paste, then continue simmering for two more hours.
7. Remove the bay leaf and celery before serving.

Nicole’s Top Tips and Tricks

Culinary producer Nicole McLaughlin (a.k.a. NicoleMcMom) has a strong background in Italian cuisine — and she knows a thing or two about how to make homemade tomato sauce. Here are her best tips:

• One trick to get your skins to release a little easier: Make an X with a sharp knife on the bottom of the tomato before you plunge it into the boiling water. After it has cooled, it should easily slip off.
• For texture, reserve a few tomatoes before you blend — that way you can chop them up and throw them in the blended sauce for pleasant chunkiness.
• When you saut? the veggies, make sure you get them extra soft. You want them to almost melt-in-your-mouth. Nicole likes to add about 5 minutes to the cooking time for extra tenderness.
• Since this recipe is often used as a base for other recipes and you'll likely season it later, it doesn't call for salt and pepper. Nicole likes to taste it before serving and add what seasonings to taste.

How to Store Tomato Sauce

Allow the tomato sauce to cool completely before storage. Store it in a shallow, airtight container for four to five days. Reheat on the stove.

If you want to keep the tomato sauce for longer, consider canning or freezing it.

Learn more: How to Can: A Beginner’s Guide to Canning and Preserving

Can You Freeze Tomato Sauce?

Yes! You can freeze your leftover fresh tomato sauce in zip-top storage bags, laid flat in the freezer with the excess air squeezed out. To make it easier to reheat individual servings, you can freeze the sauce in ice cube trays. Freeze for up to six months.

Cookdap Community Tips and Praise

“I would give this 10 stars if I could,” raves Trish-the-Dish. “This was the best sauce we’ve ever had. It was so goooood! So light, so fresh and pure, and so healthy!”

“I made two batches of this sauce on two different occasions,” says Kato. “Both turned out excellent — with rave reviews from the family. I won’t go back to store-bought sauce. In the second batch, I added some hot peppers from the garden and it added some ‘zing’ to the sauce.”

“I followed the recipe almost exactly, substituted beef broth for wine, omitted carrots, and added mushroom,” says MaryAnne Flynn-Poeschl. “I am so happy, it turned out terrific.”