Tomato Sauce from Canned Tomatoes – Quick and Easy
Need a quick and easy tomato sauce using canned tomatoes? You’ve come to the right place. This is my go to tomato sauce when I can’t get fresh garden tomatoes.
Also Read: How to Roast Tomatoes for Sauce, Homemade Spaghetti & Meat Sauce, Make Ahead Pasta Bake
This tasty tomato sauce or marinara sauce comes together quickly with affordable, readily available ingredients. It’s perfect for any pasta dish when garden fresh tomatoes are out of season.
It takes about 5 minutes to prep and 30 minutes to cook down into a delicious sauce for a quick pasta dinner.
Chunky or Smooth?
How do you like your tomato sauce?
Personally, I like texture in my sauce, but my kids do not. So, we compromise. I use an immersion blender to puree away any big chunks of tomatoes. Here are some tips to get your tomato sauce just the way you like it:
- Pick diced, stewed or whole tomatoes, the smaller the tomatoes, the smaller your tomato pieces will be. My go to is diced tomatoes.
- After simmering for 10-15 minutes use an immersion or stick blender to puree your sauce to your desired consistency. Go easy – you don’t want to turn your sauce into pure liquid, so just a few pulses will do. Keep simmering your sauce to thicken it.
- For more chunks, add carrots, celery and more onions at the beginning of the cooking process.
- You can use a stand up blender – but only fill half way when pureeing hot food and just do a few quick pulses to avoid liquifying your sauce.
How To Freeze this Tomato Sauce
This sauce freezes beautifully. In fact, make a double batch and plan to put some in the freezer so you have a convenient freezer meal ready to go.
To freeze:
- Cool sauce completely. This prevents condensation and ice crystal build up. It also prevents warming up the freezer.
- Label a freezer bag or container. You don’t want to have guess what it is later on.
- If using a rigid container leave 5-10 cm (1-2 inches) of headspace to allow for expansion.
- If using a bag, squeeze out most of the air from the bag and lay flat on a cookie sheet or serving tray. Place in freezer to freeze flat.
- Use within 6 – 12 months.
How To Use This Tomato Sauce
Just in case you’re not sure how, when or where you might use this sauce, here are some ideas.
- use as is on top of spaghetti or your favourite pasta
- sprinkle with fresh basil just before serving over pasta, zucchini noodles or gnocchi
- add meatballs for spaghetti with meatballs
- use as a base for meat sauce (bolognese) or chili
- use in any recipe calling for a jar of canned pasta or marinara sauce eg. lasagna, stuffed manicotti, Spinach Pasta Bake, Chicken Stuffed Spaghetti Squash
- use instead of canned tomatoes in braises or stews eg. shakshuka, chicken parmigiana, oven braised beef, etc.
- use in soups, either in small amounts for added flavor to a broth based soup or as the base for a thick tomato rich soup
Tomato Sauce from Canned Tomatoes
Tomato Sauce with Canned Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp canola oil
- 1/2 medium onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 can diced tomatoes 796 ml/28 oz*
- 1 can tomato paste 156 ml/5.5oz
- 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1/8 tsp hot pepper flakes
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp pepper
Instructions
- In large saucepan, heat oil over medium high heat.
- Add onions and cook until translucent, about 2 minutes.
- Add garlic and cook for another minute.
- Add Italian seasoning and tomato paste and cook for a minute before adding tomatoes and hot pepper flakes. Bring to boil then reduce heat to low and let simmer, without lid, for 15 minutes. Keeping it uncovered lets liquid evaporate more quickly. Stir occasionally.
- Taste and add salt and pepper accordingly. Taste and adjust further as needed – more hot pepper flakes, Italian seasoning or other seasoning as desired.
- If desired, use immersion blender to puree chunks a little – be careful not to overprocess. If time permits, simmer on low for another 5-10 minutes, taste and adjust seasoning and serve.
Video
Notes
- add 1/2 tsp sugar
- add 1/2 tsp baking soda
- add 1/2 cup of pasta water and simmer for 5 minutes to allow starch to mix with sauce
- simmer longer to evaporate more liquid, the longer it cooks, the thicker and more flavourful it will become
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
How will you use your sauce? Keep me posted. When you make this recipe, write me a note or post a photo on Instagram with #getgettys so I can see it and like it!
Sign up to get articles by Getty delivered to your inbox. You’ll get recipes, practical tips and great food information like this. Getty is a Professional Home Economist, speaker and writer putting good food on tables and agendas. She is the author of Manitoba’s best-selling Prairie Fruit Cookbook, Founder of Fruit Share, a mom and veggie gardener.
I want a canning recipe for the tomatoes I have would this work
This recipe isn’t tested for canning. Here’s some info on safely canning tomatoes. I would use a recipe from the National Center for Home Food Preservation as I mention in the article. https://www.gettystewart.com/canning-tomatoes-safely-whats-the-issue/
Step 4
“ Add Italian seasoning and tomato paste and cook for a minute before adding tomatoes, Italian seasoning and hot pepper flakes.”
When do I add Italian seasoning?
Yikes! Sorry, River and thanks for the heads up. I’ve fixed the recipe.
If I use a can of Italian Chopped Tomatoes or Seasoned Diced Tomatoes, would I still season as you suggest? Thanks.
1 TbspItalian seasoning
1/8 tsp hot pepper flakes
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
Hi Gus,
I would do a taste test and judge based on that. Add as much or as little additional seasoning as you feel necessary. I’d probably add a little bit, but it all depends on the variety and how strong the seasoning in the canned tomatoes is. Good luck.
ps. I’m using this sauce for stuffed peppers. Yum.
Oh that sounds good!
Pizza sauce!
Hi Heather,
Yes, you certainly could use this for pizza sauce. You may want to reduce some of the liquid even more by simmering for longer.
Here’s our favorite pizza sauce, this one is slightly thicker and spicier http://www.gettystewart.com/easy-pizza-sauce-in-an-instant/.
Enjoy!
I am a personal chef. I was out of tomato sauce. I found this recipe and it is a great tomato sauce. Easy and delicious. Much better than the premade canned sauce. I love being able to adjust the spices to my liking. Thanks. Ron
Glad you’re enjoying it, Ron! I agree adjusting spices to your own preferences is the best.