Roma Tomato Sauce recipe that requires no peeling or blanching! This is a easy creamy sauce that’s perfect for growing garden tomatoes! Serve on pasta, or use later by canning or freezing.
It’s August so you know what that means, right? Our tomato plants are giving us pounds of tomatoes to pick every day! Usually I collect the week’s tomatoes and spend hours in the kitchen on the weekend making sauces (sweet and spicy and slow cooker), diced tomatoes, and stewed tomatoes. And of course Fresh Tomato Salsa – what would be a August be without salsa?
My go to favorite homemade tomato sauce is Cherry Tomato Sauce, but this year we only grew Roma tomatoes so I wanted to create a recipe that was 1) easy 2) delicious 3) let the roma tomato taste shine! Let me introduce you to Homemade Roma Tomato Sauce!
How to Make Tomato Sauce Video
Fresh Tomato Sauce
Let’s talk about easy this homemade sauce is. I have amazing news for you. Are you ready?
First, you use fresh tomatoes.
Second… are you really ready for this?
You don’t need to blanch or peel your tomatoes for this tomato sauce! Seriously! High 5!
I really wanted to make a easy sauce. During the Summer, I want to limit my time spent stirring sauces over the hot stove and instead chase my little one around with water balloons. This sauce is simple and doesn’t require any fancy blanching or peeling techniques. We’re just going to use the tomatoes whole. Trust me on this one.
What type of tomatoes should I use for tomato sauce?
Quick answer to a commonly asked question. Do I need to use roma tomatoes? No, you can use any type of tomato you want. You might need to boil them for longer depending on their water content, but any type of tomato will work!
How to Make Tomato Sauce for Pasta
Cut up your tomatoes into about 1-2 inch pieces and add to a large pot. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Depending on how many tomatoes I have, I will double or triple the batch to make it all at once.
Bring your tomatoes to a boil and watch how they will break down. You can see your tomatoes are already starting to turn into a sauce!
You can see how the peels of the tomatoes started coming off the tomatoes naturally due to the hot temperature. By the way, the tomatoes taste amazing already!
Now mince some garlic.
And measure out your olive oil. By the way, can I just say how good of a deal it is to buy olive oil in a bulk container if you use it often? Olive oil is a must have for our Summer vegetables! We save so much money buying it this way!
Add your olive oil to the pot and grab your immersion blender. It’s another must have item for Summer because it also makes the best tomato soup (recipe coming soon!)! If you don’t have a immersion blender you can transfer to a blender or food processor, but be careful because it’s very hot!
Now give it a few seconds of the immersion blender, and blend until your desired sauce thickness.
I like a sauce that’s slightly chunky but yet still smooth. Does that make sense? I don’t think so, but here’s what my sauce looks like!
PERFECT, right?
You can serve the sauce immediately (on some good pasta!) or store in the refrigerator for a few days. I always make at least one jar to store in the refrigerator to serve for dinner soon.
This sauce is so delicious! I love how the taste of the Roma Tomatoes really shines through!
Alternatively you can also freeze the sauce for later usage (like in a few months!). I always have bags (and bags) of tomato sauce in my freezer so I make quite a number of these. Is there anything better than fresh garden tomato sauce when it’s snowing in January?
This is now my official favorite tomato sauce to make with roma tomatoes!
Now time to go pick some tomatoes and get making sauce! Enjoy this Roma Tomato Sauce everyone!
PS. Have too many? Here’s how to freeze tomatoes.
Tomato Sauce Pinterest Recipe:
Roma Tomato Sauce
PrintIngredients
- 5 pounds tomatoes cut into 1-2 inch pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1/4 cup olive oil
Instructions
- Add tomatoes to a large pot. Add salt and pepper and stir. Bring tomatoes to a boil over medium high heat. Boil for 20 minutes. The tomatoes will start to break down and more liquid will form.
- Add garlic and olive oil to the pot and stir. Use immersion blender on low and blend until desired sauce thickness.
- Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator to use in a few days.
- Alternatively you can freeze in freezer bags to use for later months.
Sally says
I made this today and it looks and tastes very good. I’m thinking I would like to take the seeds out. Is that possible to do ?
Fern says
Most delicious! I did add some fresh rosemary and parsley along with dried basil and oregano. I added some Italian meatballs to 1/2 of it and made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. The other half I froze for another time. I think I might add some veggies to that batch. This is a keeper!
Pamela says
Yum! Now I’m craving spaghetti and meatballs! đŸ˜› Glad you liked this tomtao sauce, thanks for commenting!
holli Byrne says
Amazing! Thank you! I am going to try different variations.
Pamela says
I’m so happy to hear you liked this recipe Holli, thanks for commenting! đŸ™‚
holli Byrne says
Can I thicken this up? If so, how?
Thank you!
Pamela says
You can simmer the sauce at a low heat to thicken it. Alternatively you can add cornstarch or tomato paste.
BRENDA LANDIS says
I shared this post yesterday on a canning site and was immediately told you cannot can this type of sauce. If the peelings are still in the sauce it will cause botulism. Do you know if this is true?
Pamela says
Brenda, I can this tomato sauce all the time, as have many past readers. I add some lemon juice to each jar to raise the acidity for safe canning. When blending the sauce, you can blend until desired sauce thickness including blending up the peelings almost completely so it’s super smooth. Hope this helps.
Celeste says
Just made this for dinner.
So fresh!
Will be making this again and again.
Pamela says
I’m so happy you liked this sauce, thanks so much for commenting Celeste!
Kim Wilson says
This turned out lovely and was the perfect way to use the Roma’s from my garden. I added some parsley and sweet peppers from my garden, some onion, and just a bit of honey to cut any acidity. Thank you so much for this recipe! It will make some yummy chicken parmesan next week!
Pamela says
Hey Kim, I’m so happy to hear you liked the sauce, thank you for commenting! I love the addition of parsley and sweet peppers – yum! Enjoy it for dinner! đŸ™‚
Michael says
Hello. I have never made sauce before but I do know I sort of like it smooth. After doing it your way, is it alright to strain out the larger chunks with a colander or are the chunks broken down enough with the hand held blender”
Pamela says
Hey Michael, you can blend it until it’s really smooth – just the way you like it. Enjoy the sauce, it’s one of my favorites!
Jeanie says
How do you can your Roma Tomato sauce? Looks so good but there is only two of us and I would like to can some for later.
Pamela says
Hey Jeanie, I can this sauce using pressure canning. It cans great! Alternatively, you can freeze it in freezer bags! Enjoy the sauce! đŸ™‚
Mel says
Curious, you mention the peels falling off the tomatoes during cooking. Do you leave them in and blend them with the immersion blender?
Pamela says
Yup, I sure do! Enjoy the sauce Mel!
Gevenia says
I just made this recipe and it was awesome I used my home grown Roma tomatoes and just added some basil, oregano, parsley
From my garden And it was delicious thanks for the recipe
Pamela says
Hey Genevia, I’m so happy to hear you liked this recipe! Enjoy your fresh tomato sauce, straight from your garden! đŸ™‚
Natalie says
I was looking for an easy quick sauce to do tonight since I had a large amount of Roma tomatoes and tried your recipe. The result is delicious đŸ˜‹. Thank you for sharing!
Pamela says
Hey Natalie, thank you for commenting. I’m glad you enjoyed the sauce!
Lori says
Can I use something other then oil? I do not consume oil and I’m looking for a healthy sauce
Pamela says
Hey Lori, the olive oil helps make the sauce creamy. If you don’t want to use olive oil, try adding a can of tomato paste to help thicken up the sauce.
Jackie says
I’m trying this today, about half the recipe. How much water with Roma’s, enough just to cover? I was wondering if you needed to remove the seed but it doesn’t look like it. Thanks
Pamela says
Hey Jackie, what water do you mean? The recipe doesn’t call for any water, the liquid you’re seeing in the pot is actually from the tomatoes breaking down. đŸ™‚
Jackie says
Thanks, just assumedđŸ˜œ My bad, thanks for quick response
Sam says
Wow,you just made my life easier.
I only planted Roma tomatoes this year for sauce. Can’t wait.
Pamela says
Hey Sam, glad you found this recipe! I love using this recipe for our romas. It freezes great for making a big batch at once too! Enjoy!
Wendy Munn says
My favorite pizza joint down the road uses a roma tomato sauce on my favorite Upside Down Pie and now I know how to make the sauce!! I’m super excited about trying this recipe!! Thank you, so much, for sharing!! Wendy
Pamela says
Hey Wendy, enjoy the sauce! We love it on pizza too, especially during the Summer months – it tastes so fresh!
Susan says
I just made it of course with my favorite herbs and it does taste wonderful….but I just can’t get past the texture of the skins. Even using a vitimix it doesn’t puree them up. So I am pulling out what I see. I will go back to peeling first. Definitely tasty though.
Michele says
Would you hot water bath the sauce to preserve it for longer? If so how long would you can it for?
Pamela says
It depends on your size jar, but usually you will boil for 35-40 minutes.
Darla says
If you were to add fresh herbs (like oregano or basil) would you put them in whole and remove or chop them up and let them blend in the final product?
Pamela says
Hey Darla, I would probably chop them up, to let them cook with the sauce – I think that will bring out the flavor more. Enjoy!
robin says
love the simplicity of this recipe and using the skins….yummy!
thank you for sharing
Tony Bennett says
I was apprehensive about blanching/skinning my 5 lbs bag of romas. Actually lazy would be a better word. I made this recipe this morning and wow perfectly delicious and convenient. Will be made to cover my stuffed peppers for tonight’s dinner. Next time I may add a hot pepper and onion. Thanks Pam đŸ™‚
Pamela says
I’m so happy to hear you liked the tomato sauce Tony! And I totally hear you on the lazy front, it was motivation for me to create this recipe! đŸ˜‰
DMFitz says
Just made this – delicious! Thank you!
Pamela says
I’m so happy to hear you liked this sauce! Thanks for commenting!
Donna House says
Making it now,put it all in my blend tec…garlic salt and pepper .So easy,thanks,looks more pinkish than red,using Roma’s ,my favourite ones
Colleen says
Love that you don’t peel tomato skins and waste all those nutrients. Simple, but I might all some oregano,rosemary, and anchovy paste to enhance flavors even more. Thank you.
Pamela says
Hey Colleen – that sounds delicious! You can def add some spices, I sometimes add dried basil or oregano to it! Enjoy the sauce!
Sylvia Tully says
Love finding this page. I have been looking for a chow chow, haven’t been able to find one. It seems to me that Grandma and Mother used green bell peppers .gound up and thats all I can recall. But the taste wAS SOOOO DELICIOUS. i ATE IT WITH BREAKFAST ,LUNCH, AND DINNER. Sorry about the CAPS. Do you know any recipes for this ? Maybe your readers could help me. Thank you.
Pamela says
Hey Sylvia, are you referring to the relish called chow chow? Let me know and I will try to help!
Joan says
Can’t wait to try this recipe
Pamela says
Hope you enjoy the tomato sauce Joan! I can’t get enough of it!