ROASTED Cherry Tomato Sauce is sweet, creamy and SO EASY to make! This is the best recipe for growing garden tomatoes! You can serve immediately on pasta, can it or freeze it! Find out why thousands of people love this sauce!
My life has officially been taken over by tomatoes. Is there anything else to talk about except tomatoes right now? Tomato this, tomato that, do the tomato dance.
The Best Cherry Tomato Sauce
This is my absolute favorite cherry tomato sauce. I’m a bit biased, but it’s been made by thousands of people, so trust those people and make it too! Pretty much once you make it, you’ll come back to it time and time again!
This homemade sauce doesn’t require you to simmer over the stove for 2 hours. I really love this creamy sauce over pasta, with lasagna and stuffed shells. It’s also pretty fantastic to add to pizza as a creamy sauce.
The key to this recipe is first we oven roast the tomatoes – oh yeah, baby. Then after that we throw them in a food processor with some fresh basil and season them. Then it’s made! It’s that easy.
Update: This recipe is now available as a slow cooker tomato sauce recipe too!
Recipe Video
I made this video to show you how to make this recipe. 🙂
Tomato Sauce Ingredients
- cherry tomatoes
- onion powder
- basil
- garlic powder
- salt and pepper
How to Make Cherry Tomato Sauce
Gather your tomatoes, make sure to take the stems off.
Put them in a pan, single layer. I was making a few batches so I had multiple pans.
Drizzle your olive oil over the tomatoes. Take a picture and completely miss the olive oil coming out of the bottle. Oops.
Sprinkle your onion powder over the tomatoes. Take a picture and completely miss the onion powder being sprinkled. Oops.
Bake for 35 minutes until your tomatoes are all wrinkly and bursting.
Let them cool for a few minutes, then put them in the food processor with your other ingredients. Give it a few pulses until creamy, it doesn’t take more than that!
And you are left with some creamy, amazing smelling cherry tomato sauce!
This makes 3 cups of sauce. Feel free to use immediately after, put in the fridge for tomorrow, or freeze (in a freezer bag) for a few months later.
How to Freeze Tomato Sauce
Once the sauce cools down, add the sauce into freezer bags. I like to separate each bag into 2-3 cups of sauce, knowing that’s how much I’ll need fora recipe.
Whenever I freeze sauce, puree, diced/stewed tomatoes, I always put in a freezer bag and lay flat while pressing it out, so it’s as thin as possible. Then once it’s frozen, I stand it up. This saves space and lets you have a better organized freezer.
To deforst, place in the refrigator the night before. Alternatively you could defrost it in the microwave in a few minutes.
I hope you enjoy this Roasted Creamy Cherry Tomato Sauce – it’s one of my favorite Summer recipes! If you’re looking to add a kick, check out my Spicy Tomato Sauce with added in jalapeño peppers.
Need more Tomato Recipes?
Stewed Tomatoes
Diced Tomatoes
Tomato Pie
Freezing Tomatoes For Year-Round Use
Slow Cooker Cherry Tomatoes
Sun-dried Tomatoes
100 Cherry Tomato Recipes
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Roasted Cherry Tomato Sauce
PrintIngredients
- 4 cups cherry tomatoes stems removed
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/3 cup fresh basil
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- salt + pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Spread tomatoes single layer in a pan. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with your onion powder.
- Bake for 35 minutes, your tomatoes should be wrinkly.
- Let cool for a few minutes, then put tomatoes in food processor. Add fresh basil, garlic powder and salt + pepper to taste in food processor.
- Blend to smooth and creamy. Enjoy!
jo says
I’ve scrolled through a lot of the comments but I haven’t found this question answered: how do you can this recipe?
Jamie says
Making this now and realized I don’t have any fresh basil. Anyone use something else? If you used dried herbs, how much did you use?
Pamela says
Absolutely, I do this quite often. Add 1-2 tablespoons dried basil – enjoy the sauce! 🙂
Nancy says
I made the recipe today – and it is already in my freezer. My kitchen smells amazing! I used my overabundant cherry tomatoes. I simplified the recipe even further – used onion and garlic powder during the roasting process with oil spritzed on the cherry tomatoes. I will be using the frozen tomato sauce for future tomato based soups (so I did not add the basil) – can’t wait for the Fall
Pamela says
Hey Nancy, your sauce sounds absolutely delicious! Thank you so much for commenting, enjoy the sauce for months to come! 🙂
Linda says
Can you use the orange cherry tomatoes or a grape tomato? what if you don’t have fresh basil? can you use dried?
Pamela says
Hey Linda, absolutely you can use orange cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes and dried basil! Enjoy! 🙂
Sara B says
The flavor is amazing!! But I don’t really love the amount of seeds. I might have to try to strain some out… but I’m afraid I’ll lose some basil along the way. Any suggestions?
Nicole says
This was so good! So easy! Saved FOREVER! Really a lifesaver when being drown in baby tomatoes in the summer!
Pamela says
Keep on enjoying those delicious tomatoes Nicole! 🙂 Thanks for commenting!
Jan Fortado says
Of all the recipes online this one appealed to me most so I have made a batch. My question: Do you just heat this up as you would any spaghetti sauce before serving it over pasta?
Pamela says
Yup, just treat it as normal spaghetti sauce. Enjoy Jan! 🙂
Rasa Chambers says
I love this recipe. I grow 3 tomato plants in containers on the roof of my townhouse. Freeze in 1 cup amounts to add to recipes….sooooo good!
Pamela says
I’m so happy to hear you like this cherry tomato sauce! Thanks for commenting Rasa!
Wendy King says
Can I use this with frozen cherry tomatoes, adjusting the length of time roasted?
Pamela says
Hey Wendy, I would defrost the tomatoes first, either in the microwave or in the fridge overnight. Hope this helps!
Renee says
How do you can this recipe?
Anastasia says
I have loads of Sungold cherry tomatoes and I already know it’s a five star recipe! I may add several more peppers cos we like the heat. I’ll toss in some roasted garlic, toss it into the Vitamix, then off to the races!
Pamela says
Sounds like you have a delicious day ahead of you! Enjoy the tomato sauce, it’s my favorite! 🙂
Anastasia says
It took every bit of strength not to eat every single tomato on the roasting pan. Canned three pints! Thank you.
Pamela says
Hahahaha, I love it! They’re addictive aren’t they? 🙂
Gina says
Can I make this sauce by roasting regular tomatoes chopped up and seeded?
Pamela says
Hey Gina, you sure can. This is my favorite tomato sauce recipe for all tomatoes – enjoy!
Becky says
I want to make this recipe But can I can it if so do I use water bath or pressure cooker?
Thank you
Nicole says
This was absolutely incredible!
Helen Taylor says
I made the sauce today with cherry tomatoes from my garden and it is delicious. Also used basil leaves from my garden. It’s in the freezer for future use. Thank you for sharing.
Pamela says
Hey Helen, I’m so happy you liked this tomato sauce! Thanks for commenting, hope you keep on making it. 🙂
Janet says
While roasting your cherry tomatoes do you use parchment paper on your pan?
Pamela says
Hey Janet, no I don’t. The tomatoes get pretty juicy, so you don’t have to worry about them roasting and sticking to the pan. It’s pretty easy cleanup in my opinion.
Janet says
Thank you so much for replying so quickly…
DonnaT says
Could I can the sauce? If so, how long? Hot or cold canner? I love how simple this is! Thank you!