Roasted tomato sauce will wow your taste buds without leaving you standing in the kitchen for long! Whether you use the best seasonal heirlooms or off-season tomatoes, this roasted tomato pasta sauce delivers deep and delicious flavors.
Love tomatoes? Try this blistered tomato and arugula salad as well!
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Why you will LOVE oven roasted tomato sauce
- Huge flavor with minimal effort - toss the ingredients in a roasting pan with aromatics and some oil and vinegar, roast the heck out of it, cool and blend! That's it. But it tastes like you worked on it for hours.
- Freezes well - save some summer flavor for later.
- Great way to use sumptuous summer tomatoes from the farmers' market or your own garden's bumper crop. But this recipe also makes out-of-season tomatoes taste shine as well!
- Slather your pasta with this oven roasted sauce but it's versatile -- turn it into a soup or use it for lasagne or chicken parmigiana and so much more!
- Your family and friends will be happy when they eat it - sometimes we literally lick the bottom of our bowls!
Ingredients and substitutions
- Tomatoes: All tomatoes work - in-season at the height of flavor is obviously a plus but even off season tomatoes will yield a luscious sauce once roasted.
- Shallots: No shallots? No problem - just use whatever onion you have instead.
- Garlic: More or less as it fits your love of garlic.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Use your everyday oil, not your best finishing oil.
- Balsamic Vinegar: Like the oil, use your "every day" vinegar, not a syrupy finishing bottle.
- Fresh Herbs: No fresh oregano? Use dried oregano instead. But I really love the fresh basil added at the end so try not to skip that!
- Seasonings: Salt, pepper, and hot peppers - to your taste. We love the mellow heat of the red peppers, but if you want it spicier, add more. No spice? Leave them out.
Let's make roasted tomato sauce step-by-step!
(Printable recipe card is at the end of the post with ingredients, measurements and step-by-step instructions. This section includes more and larger pictures and high level explanations of the process.)
Roast the tomatoes
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. If your oven runs cool, try 425 degrees.
2. Place tomatoes in a roasting pan, toss in the shallots and garlic, sprinkle the herbs and then saturate with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Top with salt and pepper and optional red pepper flakes.
3. Roast the tomatoes and herbs for 35 - 45 minutes, or until the tomatoes begin to singe. Remove from oven and let cool.
Blend the sauce
4. Once cool, pour the contents of the roasting pan into a blender. Add the remaining ½ cup basil into a blender and blend on high for about a minute or until smooth.
To serve, reheat the sauce and pour over pasta or roasted vegetables and enjoy! (or just eat it by the spoonful). Or package it up in freezer-safe containers and freeze for a rainy fall or winter day!
Beth's expert tips and shortcut suggestions
- If you don’t have shallots, use some white, yellow, or red onion - just use a little less because shallots are milder.
- No fresh herbs around? Use dried, in whatever assortment you’d like.
- Do you have roasted red peppers around? - put some of them in when you put it all in the blender. Or roast some with the tomatoes in the same pan.
- Like it a little spicy? Add some crushed red pepper flakes in the roasting stage or blending stage.
- Want to make it a meat sauce? - sauté your favorite spaghetti sauce meat and add the blended sauce to it before you put it over pasta.
FAQs about roasted tomato pasta sauce
As with any cooking, it’s all about the ingredients. If your tomatoes are not the tastiest ones in the market, make up for it with the balsamic and olive oil or the herbs that you use. This sauce may taste a little different each time you prepare it. That’s part of the fun. But to be honest, you can’t really go wrong with this technique. And it will please kids and adults. I promise.
Absolutely. Package it up in your freezer-safe container of choice. Be sure to label the date you made/froze it so you remember to use it up, preferably within 3 months or so. (Sometimes I forget and keep my frozen items longer - often they still taste pretty good but flavor does degrade over time).
No! I just core them and use skin-on. This truly is quick to put together. I promise!
What to serve with this sauce
The first time I made this, I created a delicious meatless meal by serving this sauce over pasta with some tasty roasted vegetables and my vegetarian cousin was so happy. She doesn’t even like to cook but she went home to Florida and really did prepare the sauce all by herself. Here are some other ideas:
- Try my lemon garlic chicken but finish it with this sauce instead
- Baked eggplant
- Gluten free chicken parmesan
- Something unexpected - polenta fries
- Are you a pizza maker? This sauce would be delicious
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Roasted Tomato Sauce
Beth LeeEquipment
- 1 blender
Ingredients
- 3 - 4 pounds ripe tomatoes cored
- 3 shallots roughly chopped (about ¾ cup)
- 1 ½ cups fresh basil leaves divided, reserve ½ cup for blending
- ¼ cup fresh oregano leaves or use 2 - 3 teaspoons dried
- 6 large garlic cloves peeled
- ¾ cup olive oil extra virgin but no need for your best EVOO
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Core the tomatoes, coarsely chop the shallots, peel the garlic cloves (leave whole), and tear 1 cup of the basil and all the oregano from their stems.
- Combine all ingredients in a roasting pan and saturate with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, top with salt and pepper, optional red pepper flakes, and mix well.
- Roast the tomatoes and herbs for 35 - 45 minutes, or until the tomatoes begin to singe. Remove from oven and let cool.
- Once cool, pour the contents of the roasting pan into a blender and add the remaining ½ cup basil as well.
- Blend on high for about a minute or until smooth.
- To serve, pour over pasta or roasted vegetables and enjoy! (or just eat it by the spoonful)
Video
Notes
-
- If you don’t have shallots, use some white, yellow, or red onion - just use a little less because shallots are milder.
-
- No fresh herbs around? Use dried, in whatever assortment you’d like.
-
- Do you have roasted red peppers around? - put some of them in when you put it all in the blender. Or roast some with the tomatoes in the same pan.
-
- Like it a little spicy? Add some crushed red pepper flakes in the roasting stage or blending stage.
-
- Want to make it a meat sauce? - sauté your favorite spaghetti sauce meat and add the blended sauce to it before you put it over pasta.
Nutrition
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Nicole
I saw Beth’s recipe for Roasted Tomato Sauce and it was so fun and easy to make and extra delicious. I wasn’t going to pull my precious frozen shallots out of the freezer so I subbed a Walla Walla onion. The only other way I changed the recipe was to put the blended mixture through a strainer to remove the seeds that weren’t fully pulverized. This is a delicious versatile sauce and I can’t wait to pour it on everything!! One batch made approximately 2.25 quarts. Thanks for this excellent recipe, Beth. It’s going in the family recipe vault to be treasured for generations to come.
Beth Lee
You made my day and week Nicole. You are such an accomplished cook and flavor maker - your praise for this recipe makes me so happy (and proud). When I asked my daughter for her top 5 recipes - this was indeed on it! So into our vault it goes too!
Jenni
I love how hands-off this recipe is, Beth. Roast, blend, done! I will be making this following your technique when I get in a few late-season tomatoes.
Beth Lee
I think you'll love it and maybe with one of your amazing pizza crust recipes!
Kay Cohen
Looks delicious! Can the sauce be frozen?
Beth Lee
Absolutely. In fact I'm going to be posting a reel on Instagram tomorrow about just this! And I have a container going in the freezer momentarily! I have one reader who packs them flat in ziplocs and stacks them in her freezer! Let me know when you make it!
Christine Lemieux
Last year I used the full amount of balsamic. I have a very robust balsamic, so this time I used 1 tbsp. and it is delicious. Some will go on pasta with roasted veg, as you suggested and as I have a lot of tomatoes to process and lots of basil and oregano, so I will be making more for the freezer. Thank you!
Beth Lee
Yay! What a treat it will be to find in your freezer in the winter! Good adjustment on the balsamic if yours is robust. I need to make a note of that!
Christine Lemieux
It won't be until August or September for my tomatoes to be plentiful. I am adding this to my list of must make tomato recipes!
Beth Lee
Yes! We love this so much! I promise you’ll be licking the bottom of the bowl!