Easy Roasted Tomato Sauce Recipe

Name: Roasted Tomato Sauce
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 70 min
Ingredients: 5 pounds fresh tomatoes; 1 medium to large yellow or white onion; 4 to 5 cloves garlic; 2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves; Fine sea salt or kosher salt (to taste); 3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil; Black pepper (to taste); ¼ cup basil leaves

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Not sure what to do with a bounty of fresh tomatoes? Make roasted tomato sauce! This easy recipe uses a mix of fresh tomatoes, aromatics, and herbs, requires only 10 minutes of hands-on time, and results in a richly flavored sauce that stores well in the freezer.

Close up of a jar filled with roasted tomato sauce, with fresh tomatoes and herbs in the background.

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I have been making this roasted tomato sauce every summer for years. It’s our favorite way to make homemade tomato sauce with rich, complex flavors—without hours spent stirring it on the stove.

We’ll make several batches of this sauce throughout the peak of tomato season, store it in the freezer, and enjoy it all fall and winter long.

If you’ve got an excess of tomatoes on your hands, give this sauce recipe a try. All you need are a few simple ingredients, 10 minutes of hands-on time, and 1 hour of roasting time. Trust me, it’s so easy!

White bowl filled with pasta tossed in roasted tomato sauce.

Why roast the tomatoes for your tomato sauce?

So why bother with roasting tomatoes for tomato sauce instead of making the sauce on the stovetop?

Aside from removing most of the hands-on time typically required for making homemade tomato sauce, the biggest benefit is in the flavor of the sauce.

Roasting brings out the natural sugars in the tomatoes, deepening the flavor. The caramelization of the sugars adds complexity to the sauce and helps balance the acidity.

If you’ve ever made tomato sauce on the stove, you know that it’s not uncommon for recipes to call for a bit of sugar. This is added to mellow the acidity of the tomatoes. But when you roast the tomatoes first, you don’t need that added sugar; the roasting process takes care of that work for us.

Jar filled with roasted tomato sauce surrounded by fresh tomatoes and herbs.

Stephie’s testing notes and tips

This is a very forgiving recipe. You can use any kind of onion you may have on hand as well as any fresh herbs you like best. I most often use oregano and basil, but rosemary, thyme, and even marjoram are all great options. You could even add a couple of carrots into the mix if you want to sneak in some extra veggies.
Consider this the perfect way to use past-their-prime tomatoes. I’ve made this recipe with perfectly ripe sauce tomatoes, over-ripe heirloom tomatoes, and everything in between. It turns out great every time.
Don’t overcrowd the roasting pans. Make sure you have enough room to spread all of the vegetables into an even layer. If they’re too crowded, all they’ll do is steam and you won’t get the beautiful caramelization that we want.

Meatballs tossed with roasted tomato sauce and garnished with fresh basil in a white baking dish.

What type of tomatoes should you use?

Remember how this is a very forgiving recipe? That goes for the star of the show, too. You don’t need to be precious about the type of tomatoes you use.

I use whatever I have on hand or whatever is particularly prolific at the farmer’s market that week. This could be heirloom tomatoes, beefsteak tomatoes, roma or plum tomatoes, or sauce (San Marzano variety) tomatoes.

The only tomatoes that I don’t often use for sauce are cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes, but that is because I usually eat them all before they can become sauce. If you choose to add some to your sauce, just keep an eye on them when they are roasting, as they will roast faster due to the small size. You could also turn them into cherry tomato confit, which is also incredible.

Ingredients for roasted tomato sauce arranged on a wooden table.

Ingredient notes

For full measurements and step-by-step instructions, scroll down to the printable recipe card.

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Fresh tomatoes: As I noted above, use whatever you have on hand. Some stands at our farmer’s market will offer boxes of tomatoes that are past their prime at a discount. Those tomatoes are perfect for turning into sauce, so it’s worth asking about!
Onion: I typically use a yellow or white onion. If you have a red onion or even some shallots on hand, those work well too.
Garlic: I do recommend using fresh, whole garlic gloves. If you don’t have any on hand, you can add some garlic powder along with the salt.
Olive oil
Fresh herbs: I usually add oregano and basil, but use what you have on hand. If using dried herbs, use about 1/3 the amount as dried herbs have a stronger flavor than fresh.
Salt and pepper

How to make roasted tomato sauce

You’ll want to use large, rimmed baking sheets for this recipe. You can also use a couple of roasting pans. Just make sure there is a lip to keep the juices from spilling all over the oven and you have plenty of room for all of the vegetables.

Line the baking sheets with parchment. You can also line them with foil and grease the foil with cooking spray, although some people feel that this gives the roasted tomatoes a bit of a metallic taste.

One of the most important things about roasting tomatoes for this sauce is making sure you cut the tomatoes into fairly equal-sized chunks. Depending on the size of your tomatoes, this may mean cutting them into anywhere from 4 to 8 pieces each.

Divide the tomatoes evenly between the prepared sheet pans, making sure they aren’t too crowded.

Peel the onion and cut it into pieces roughly the same size as your tomato pieces. Scatter them with the tomatoes. Peel the garlic cloves (I like to smash them with my knife first) and add them to the pans along with the oregano leaves.

I like to wait until later to add the fresh basil, as the flavor is brighter when it has not been roasted with the other veggies.

Now sprinkle both pans liberally with salt and drizzle evenly with the olive oil.

Place both pans in a 375℉ oven for about 45-60 minutes. If you need to place the pans on separate racks, swap them halfway through so they both roast evenly.

Olive oil being drizzled over cut tomatoes, onions, and herbs on a sheet pan.

Roasted tomatoes, onions, and herbs on a sheet pan.

The vegetables are done when the tomatoes and onions are soft, charred in some spots, and the juices from the tomatoes are caramelized. Let the pans cool for a bit before carefully transferring all of the roasted vegetables to a blender or food processor along with the fresh basil.

Carefully blend on high until smooth. If the vegetables are still quite hot, you will need to be extremely careful when blending.

Roasted tomatoes and onions and fresh basil added to a blender jar.

Blended roasted tomato sauce in the jar of a blender.

Once the sauce is smooth, give it a taste and season with fresh ground pepper and additional salt as needed. You can even add a few pinches of red pepper flakes if you want to add a bit of heat.

Storage tips

Every summer, I make batches and batches of this sauce to put away for the winter.

You can store this roasted tomato sauce in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to a week or in the freezer for several months.

If you don’t have as much space in your freezer, store the sauce in zip-top bags instead of jars. You can lay the bags flat so they take up less space once frozen. Either way, make sure you leave from 1/2 inch to 1-1/2 inches headroom when freezing so your containers don’t burst.

If you want to can this sauce, you will need to make some adjustments since it is a tomato-based recipe. I recommend checking out my friend Megan’s homemade pizza sauce recipe and reviewing her directions for canning that recipe.

Close up of rigatoni tossed with roasted tomato sauce and garnished with basil in a white bowl.

Uses and serving suggestions

We use our roasted tomato sauce throughout the winter primarily as pasta sauce, especially for spaghetti with classic Italian meatballs or easy baked rigatoni.

We’ve even used this sauce in Homemade Hamburger Helper and slow cooker lasagna soup and let me tell ya…it’s divine.

You could even use it as a pizza sauce or a dipping sauce for pizza sliders or toasted gnocchi or ravioli.

Overhead view of roasted tomato sauce in a glass jar.

FAQs

Yes! I recommend transferring the roasted vegetables and all of the juices to a large bowl, pot, or other high-sided container to make blending easier.

Absolutely. Remember that dried herbs are much more potent than fresh, so use 1 teaspoon of dried herbs for every 1 tablespoon of fresh.

I like this roasted tomato sauce to be on the thicker side. But you want to thin it out, feel free to add a few splashes of vegetable broth or stock until it reaches your desired consistency.

Roasted Tomato Sauce

Roasting tomatoes before turning them into sauce creates a tomato sauce with rich, complex flavors that stores well in the freezer for later use.

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Prep Time 10

Cook Time 1

Total Time 1 10

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