Like many things in life, cooking can quickly become over complicated, which can make it intimidating, which can easily lead us to opt for take-out instead.
Our relationship with food has been evolving over the last 50 years, including our tolerance to work with it on a daily basis.
Now, there are a number of factors contributing to this (i.e. fast, cheap, always-available, lean cuisine-esque food) but above all else, I think people over complicate cooking and therefore stray away from it.
Take tomato sauce for example. To me, homemade tomato sauce conjures up visions of Sundays at Nona's house, spending hours on end picking tomatoes and meticulously skinning and de-seeding and squishing and seasoning and... you get the idea.
Sounds exhausting, right? Well, I discovered it doesn't have to be and I'm going to share with you the secret to incredibly delicious homemade tomato sauce that you can make in under 40 minutes.
The secret you ask? Tomatoes -- good ones. This is the time of year to stock up on tomatoes, so if you're inspired, now's the time to get some.
Halve them and place on a baking sheet.
Bake for 30-40min.
Blend until smooth (including the skin and seeds).
And that's it – you're done! Fresh, homemade tomato sauce. Simple and delicious.
I almost feel like I'm cheating you by calling this a recipe, but here it is - be kind in the comments :)
Mains & Sides
Simple Homemade Tomato Sauce
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Ingredients
- Organic Tomatoes (roma or field tomatoes)*
Instructions
- Halve tomatoes and place on baking sheet.
- Bake for 30-40min at 350 or until skins are easily removed.
- Place tomatoes (including skins and seeds) into the blender and blend until smooth.
Notes
After you have the base prepared, simply season to your liking. One of my favourites is to saute garlic, add the sauce, top with fresh basil and voila!
You may wish to reduce the finished sauce for a more dense consistency, but I didn't find the need to do so.
*You may use 2 dozen tomatoes but you can't really go wrong. The more you roast, the more sauce you have!
After you have the base prepared, simply season to your liking. One of my favourite ways of making this is to saute garlic, add the sauce, top with fresh basil and EVOO and voila! Yes, it's simple, but isn't that the whole point?
This would also make a great sauce for homemade pizza!
The moral of the story?
- Good food doesn't have to be complicated.
- Get in the kitchen and start cooking
- As long as you're using great ingredients, it's really hard to screw things up :)
What's your favourite deceivingly-simple recipe? Share in the comments!
What no garlic or salt and pepper??? WOW!!!
ReplyHey Sandy, There are a few additional directions in the Notes below about adding S P, garlic etc, but it's entirely up to you! The tomatoes will speak for themselves if they're super fresh and in season! Rachel - Joyous Health Team
I love this recipe! It inspires me to try something new (and nutritious) because it's so easy!!!
ReplyHey Cassie, Absolutely! Healthy food doesn't have to be complicated by any means! Let us know what you think when you give it a whirl :) Rachel - Joyous Health Team
I make mine the same. I roasted whole garlic head. Once the tomatoes are roasted,I blend it and put a few garlic cloves and blend into smooth . What a delicious pasta sauce.
ReplyHey Marlene, That sounds delicious! You really can't go wrong either way :) Rachel - Joyous Health Team
Yum! What is the shelf life of the sauce?
ReplyI would keep it for max. 5 days in the fridge, but you could always jar and freeze it if you wanted to make larger quantities.
Trying it your way today . Sounds easy and yummy 😋 I'll let you know what I think once I try it . This is so easy , I have always got rid of skins 😁
ReplySounds good Colleen! Can't wait to hear what you think :)
Ok well , I love it , I made 9 jars so far . Thanks
ReplyAmazing!
Good job Walker 😊I will try this recipe for sure .. thanks for sharing and love your photos as usual
ReplyMy pleasure! Let me know how it works out :)
What are the best variety of tomatoes to use for a sauce? Looks delicious! :) Thanks!
ReplyThe Italians will tell you, San Marzano, but I say whatever's in season. The tomatoes in this sauce were a mix of what looked good at the market.
How many tomatoes do you think I'll need for 4 servings? :)
ReplyGood question :) I would do 2 dozen to be safe. Joy is clearly the professional here...I just throw stuff in a pot!
Do the seeds and skins completely break down when you blend it? I know its a bit of a weird question but I have a real tomato seed aversion.
ReplyHey Julie, Yes they do! It ends up being super smooth, you don't even notice the seeds or skins (totally understand that aversion by the way!) Let us know if you end up trying it :) Rachel - Joyous Health Team
Love it Walkman!! Can't wait to add this to my meal prep on Sunday!!
ReplyHey Sarah, Hope you enjoy it :) Let us know what you think when you get around to trying it! Rachel - Joyous Health Team
I roasted garlic and onion and threw it all in the blender together, added some s
That sounds amazing Sarah! Simplicity really can be delish :) Rachel - Joyous Health Team
I just made this and it is so easy and so delicious!! Thanks for the recipe. It's a keeper!
ReplyHey Lisa, AMAZING! So glad you enjoyed it! Crazy how simple it is, hey? Rachel - Joyous Health Team
Thx you. We love uncomplicated cooking. It's fast and full of flavour!! Sue and Tom
ReplyHey Sue, Yes, us too! Totally agree! Simple cooking is very underrated :) Rachel - Joyous Health Team
Thanks for sharing "Tomato sauce" recipe with us. It really looks amazing :)
ReplyHey Ava, Hope you enjoy it! Let us know what you think when you get around to making it :) Rachel - Joyous Health Team
Making this today! Can't wait 😎
ReplyHey Dominica, Woohoo! Let us know how you like it :) Rachel - Joyous Health Team
Hi!! What can I use when making this “off season”?? Just any tomatoes??
ReplyHey Kaneez, Yes, you can use canned whole organic tomatoes in the off-season :) Rachel - Joyous Health Team
I have 100-150 tomatoes that need to be processed in the next week- ripening at different times. This looks great. I want to jar it, but I don't want to fill up my freezer. I think I need to put salt in it for a preservative Any idea how much? I am thinking a tsp for every baking tray of tomatoes?
ReplyIf you're freezing it you don't need to add any salt. But if you do plan on canning some of them then you'll have to follow a proper canning recipe by sterilizing the bottles etc. I actually don't do this only because I don't have a large enough pantry. However, if you google "canning tomatoes" you'll find a gazillion recipes. Good luck!
I thought skin and seeds are bad for you as they contain lectins. Traditional Italian tomatoes sauces remove the skins and seeds. Do you have any concerns health wise adding these in?
ReplyI think it really depends which Nonna you ask ;) I don't have any concerns with consuming seeds and skins. The largest source of lycopene which is strongly associated in research for cancer prevention is found in the seeds and skins. The research on "food" lectins and health is seriously lacking when you compare it to the research on the heaht benefits of foods that contain lectins. My take is if you find avoiding lectins makes a difference in your health, then keep doing that -- peel and de-seed. If you don't, then skip that step and enjoy the tomato sauce! Hope that helps Jen!
That is soooo easy!! I didn’t think it would be..... lol. Can you freeze it? Thanks for sharing!
ReplyOh yes definitely! You could also can it and keep it for months!
How do you store it, or do you make enough for 1 meal
ReplyI typically freeze it then I've got extra to enjoy throughout the winter.
BRAVO - simple is best!
ReplyAgreed! Enjoy Nancy!
I LOVE this!
ReplyGlad to hear it!
Oh my I just made this sauce. I blended a roasted head of garlic and it smells delicious
ReplyMmm, yummy! Glad you enjoyed it!
Can you do canning for this recipe and how long can it hold for?
ReplyYes you definitely could but I don't have the instructions for that so you'd need to look it up. You just need to sterilize the jars. I would suggest googling it. Let me know how it turns out!
Garlic 🧄😍! Also love some oregano, or rosemary with some good garlic infused olive oil 😋.
Reply