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You are here: Home / Sauces and Condiments / Fresh Tomato Sauce Recipe

Fresh Tomato Sauce Recipe

September 4, 2020 by Tristin 2 Comments

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Fresh Tomato Sauce is full of ripe tomatoes and herby flavor. This fresh tomato sauce recipe is simple to make and is ready in less than an hour. It is an easy tomato sauce recipe your family will surely love.

This fresh tomato sauce recipe is made in a blender or food processor. This means that it is a thinner sauce and it doesn’t have any big chunks of vegetables in it. Check out the recipe tips if you want to make it a thicker sauce.

Overfilled jar of fresh tomato sauce topped with fresh basil
OUsing Fresh Tomatoes and Herbs will Result in the Best Tasting Fresh Tomato Sauce Recipe

While some sauce recipes use canned or jarred tomatoes, this sauce recipe uses fresh tomatoes. It’s a great way to use up that abundance of tomatoes from your garden. It’s best made when tomatoes are in-season, but decent tomatoes can be found at your local grocery store year round, if you can buy them on the .

High quality ingredients are going to make a great sauce. Taste your tomatoes, if they are sweet and delicious, your sauce will be too. All of the ingredients in this sauce are fresh, even the herbs. I use the basil that’s grown in my herb garden but get the parsley at the farmer’s market.

Sun-dried tomatoes and fresh basil
Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Basil, and Raisins Give This Pasta Sauce a Tangy, Sweet Flavor

Is This Tomato Sauce Healthy?

I love this fresh tomato sauce recipe especially because tomatoes are heart healthy and full of good for you vitamins and minerals like lycopene, beta carotene, vitamin C, and folate. Also because it’s meatless (vegetarian and vegan), gluten free, and free of refined sugars!!

There is no peeling off tomato skin in this recipe, we use the whole dang thing. Why would we peel the tomatoes anyway? Did you know that there is a flavonoid in tomato skin called naringenin? It is known to decrease inflammation and even protect against some diseases. There is no point in throwing away these nutrients. Plus it saves you time!

Overfilled jar of fresh tomato sauce
This is the Best Tomato Sauce to Serve with Spaghetti Squash or Pasta

Tomato sauce is so versatile. I like to use my tomato sauce on Spaghetti Squash. You can also mix it in with any type of pasta or use it in place of a jarred spaghetti sauce in your favorite recipe.

Tomato Sauce Ingredients

  • Bell Pepper: Red or orange peppers are best here.
  • Onion: Sweet or yellow onion, finely chopped.
  • Olive Oil: Extra-virgin, of course.
  • Tomatoes: I used 5 large fresh tomatoes (around 5 lbs), but you could substitute 32-35 oz of canned or jarred tomatoes. Just remember to reduce the salt unless you are using the “no salt added” canned tomatoes.
  • Sun-Dried Tomatoes: I used dried sun-dried tomatoes but you can also use the ones in oil, just drain them.
  • Raisins: For a little natural sweetness. Can also use dried cranberries or one chopped, pitted date.
  • Parsley: Italian parsley, a tablespoon that’s been chopped. This is the flat leaf parsley and not the curly leaf parsley.
  • Basil: 4 to 5 fresh basil leaves.
  • Salt: I like using Kosher salt or sea salt.
  • Pepper: Freshly ground pepper.
Various ingredients for tomato sauce some of which are fresh tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, basil, and red bell pepper
Try Making this Pasta Sauce in lieu of Using a Jar of Store Bought Sauce

How to Make Fresh Tomato Sauce

  1. Sauté the onions in extra-virgin olive oil in a large skillet. Add in the bell peppers and continue cooking until tender.
  2. In a blender or food processor, combine the cooked onions and bell peppers, sun-dried tomatoes and tomatoes. Scrape down sides if needed. Add in raisins, parsley, salt, and pepper. Continue to blend.
  3. Transfer this mixture back to the large skillet and cover. Cook over medium high heat until it comes to a boil.
  4. Lower the heat and allow the sauce to simmer for around 30 minutes.
  5. Turn off the heat. Tear up the basil and stir in. Season with more salt and pepper as needed.
All of the steps to make tomato sauce
This Fresh Tomato Sauce Recipe Comes Together in No Time

Fresh Tomato Sauce Recipe Tips

  • If 1 teaspoon (or more) of salt seems like a lot, keep in mind that we are using fresh tomatoes instead of canned or jarred. The flavor of the tomatoes will come alive with the salt. Remember to reduce the salt if using canned or jarred that contain salt.
  • You can substitute dried herbs if you like. Use 1 teaspoon of dried basil and 1 teaspoon of dried parsley. Flavors will not be the same as using fresh herbs.
  • Because this pasta sauce is made in the blender or food processor, it is a thinner sauce. If you want a thicker, chunkier sauce simply combine all of the ingredients in the food processor except half the fresh tomatoes. Add that mixture and the other half of the tomatoes to the skillet and continue with the rest of the recipe.
  • The longer you simmer the sauce the thicker it will get.

Storage Instructions for Fresh Tomato Sauce Recipe

  • How to Refrigerate Tomato Sauce: Let the sauce cool and put in a glass container or BPA-free airtight plastic container or zipper bag. The sauce should last about 4-5 days in the fridge.
  • How to Freeze Tomato Sauce: Let the sauce cool off completely before pouring into an airtight glass, BPA-free freezer-safe bag or freezer-safe plastic container. Make sure to label the sauce with the recipe name and date. The sauce should last about 3 months in the freezer.
  • How to Thaw Frozen Tomato Sauce: Thaw the frozen tomato sauce on a plate in the refrigerator for about 4 hours. You can also immerse the container or bag in a bowl of water for about 1 1/2 hours. The sauce doesn’t have to be completely thawed out to heat it.
  • How to Re-Heat Tomato Sauce: Empty contents into a pot. Heat over low, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes. Or put in a microwave safe container and microwave for about 4-7 minutes. Finish or toss any spaghetti sauce that you have re-heated and do not re-store anything that is leftover.
I love that this Fresh Tomato Sauce Recipe is Vegan, Vegetarian, and Gluten Free.

Try these other recipes!

  • Spaghetti Squash
  • Pretzel Bites
  • Beer Cheese Dip

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Overfilled jar of fresh tomato sauce topped with fresh basil
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5 from 1 vote

Fresh Tomato Sauce Recipe

Fresh Tomato Sauce is full of ripe tomatoes and herby flavor. This fresh tomato sauce recipe is simple to make and is ready in less than an hour. It is an easy tomato sauce recipe your family will surely love.
Prep Time10 minutes mins
Cook Time30 minutes mins
Total Time40 minutes mins
Course: Sauces and Condiments
Cuisine: Italian
Servings: 8 people
Calories: 59kcal
Author: Tristin @ Home Cooked Harvest

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup sweet onion finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 orange or red bell pepper large, diced
  • 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes dried or in oil, drained
  • 5 tomatoes large, 5 lbs
  • 1 tablespoon raisins optional
  • 1 tablespoon Italian parsley finely chopped
  • 4-5 fresh basil leaves
  • 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper freshly ground

Instructions

  • Saute the onions in extra-virgin olive oil in a large skillet for a minute or two. Add in bell peppers and continue cooking until they are tender and the onions are transluscent.
  • In a blender or food processor, add in the cooked onions and bell peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, raisins, parsley, salt, and pepper. Scrape down the sides as needed.
  • Transfer this mixture back to the large skillet and cover. Cook over medium high heat until it comes to a boil.
  • Lower the heat and allow the sauce to simmer for around 30 minutes.
  • Turn off the heat. Tear the basil into small pieces and stir into the sauce. Season with more salt and pepper as needed.

Notes

  • Salt is needed to bring out to flavor of the tomatoes.  Reduce the amount of salt if using canned tomatoes.
  • For a thicker sauce, only use half the amount of tomatoes in the food processor.  After transferring that mixture to a skillet, add in the rest of the tomatoes.
  • Store leftover sauce in a glass container or BPA-free airtight plastic container or zipper bag. The sauce should last about 4-5 days in the fridge.
 
* Please note that all nutrition information are just estimates. Values will vary among brands, so we encourage you to calculate these on your own for most accurate results.

Nutrition

Calories: 59kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 313mg | Potassium: 471mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 1219IU | Vitamin C: 33mg | Calcium: 15mg | Iron: 1mg

Did you make this recipe?

Please let me know how it turned out!

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Filed Under: Sauces and Condiments

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Comments

  1. Susan Harris

    April 30, 2021 at 4:41 pm

    5 stars
    This tomato sauce came out tasting so fresh. Loved the addition of the sun-dried tomatoes! Delicious!!

  2. Tristin

    April 30, 2021 at 4:41 pm

    Great, Susan! So glad it turned out great for you!!

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Hey there! Welcome, I am so glad you are here. I’m Tristin, the food-lover, recipe-maker, and photo-taker behind Home Cooked Harvest, which features easy recipes made with tasty ingredients. Read More…

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