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Delicious and Easy Roasted Tomato Sauce (Freezer Friendly)

This easy roasted tomato sauce recipe makes a big batch of sauce that you can freeze for later, with no canning required. It’s perfect to make any time of the year, but it’s especially good to make at the end of the summer when ripe tomatoes are abundant. Make this delicious and versatile sauce now and have it ready to go in your freezer whenever you need it. And of course, roasted tomato sauce makes an excellent spaghetti sauce but it’s also good for meatball sandwiches, to add to a pot roast, or even as pizza sauce. {And if you enjoy homemade pizzas like I do, check out my recipe for Quick and Easy Pizza Sauce.}

Delicious and Easy Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce

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This easy oven-roasted tomato sauce is so incredibly delicious. Slow-roasting tomatoes, onions, and garlic together make this sauce extra sweet and flavorful. The roasting process results in soft, sweet tomatoes, caramelized onions, and gooey roasted garlic that is magically transformed when you puree them all together.

My family thinks this roasted tomato sauce is even better than those pricey, store-bought tomato sauces. Those sauces taste great and are good in a pinch, but I think this homemade sauce is even better. With a few simple, wholesome ingredients and minimal effort, you can prepare 5 quarts of delicious, high-quality sauce to stash in your freezer. And because this is not a canning recipe, you can feel free to adjust the ingredients to suit your taste without worrying about safety.

Easy Roasted Tomato Sauce for the Freezer

Layer the tomato, onions, and garlic in a large roasting pan.

And there is no need to use homegrown tomatoes to make this roasted tomato sauce. If you do grow tomatoes, that’s perfect, but store-bought tomatoes are totally fine, too. I can usually find Roma tomatoes for under $1 a pound where I live, so this recipe is very budget-friendly. 

And by the way, you can cut this recipe in half if you just want a few quarts for pasta night. You don’t need to freeze the sauce. You can use it immediately or refrigerate it for 3-4 days.

Ingredients for Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce

Let’s talk about the ingredients for this Easy Roasted Tomato Sauce:

(Full Ingredients and Instructions are in the printable recipe card below)

Vegetables:

Tomatoes – I like to use Romas or other paste tomatoes. It’s OK to have a few slicing tomatoes thrown in the mix, but you want most tomatoes to be paste tomatoes. A few juicy ripe slicing tomatoes, especially if they are homegrown or heirloom tomatoes will give good flavor to your sauce, but too many slicers will make the sauce watery. 

Onions – You can use any onions you have. I like to use sweet onions, like Vidalia, but yellow or red onions will work, too. You can even mix onions for a more complex flavor profile. 

Garlic – I use a head of garlic that I don’t even bother to peel. I let it roast with the tomatoes and then squeeze out the soft roasted garlic right before I puree the sauce. But you can use pre-minced jarred garlic, or whole peeled cloves if that’s what you have.

Seasonings and Other Ingredients:

Olive Oil – A good quality extra virgin olive oil is what I prefer. It adds a lovely flavor and texture to the sauce. 

Salt – I use regular fine sea salt here. Table salt or kosher salt will work, too. You don’t need anything fancy unless that is your preference. Feel free to adjust the amount of salt to suit your taste. 

Dried Oregano, Basil, and Thyme – I use dried seasonings because I always have them on hand and I think they flavor the sauce nicely. But if you prefer fresh herbs or just happen to have them on hand, you can substitute a few sprigs in place of the dried seasonings. You can also use a dried Italian seasoning blend. 

Bay Leaf – I like to add a bay leaf or two to my sauce to add a subtle depth of flavor, but it’s not an essential ingredient. If you choose to use bay leaves (I like this brand), don’t forget to fish them out of the roasted tomato mixture before pureeing. 

Brown Sugar – This is an optional ingredient. I don’t always add sugar to my sauce, but it does give the sauce a little sweetness. The choice is yours.

Tomato Paste – This is an optional ingredient but I do recommend adding it. While not strictly necessary, it does make the sauce richer and thicker. If you don’t want to use tomato paste, you can add a few more pounds of tomatoes and reduce the sauce longer in the oven to thicken it up. 

Easy Roasted Tomato Sauce

Tips for making this recipe:

Pluck out the skins. One of the best things about this roasted tomato sauce is the ease with which you can make it. There is no need to peel the tomatoes ahead of time because the skins will easily slip off after roasting. To do this, allow everything to cool to a safe temperature, then use your fingers, a fork, or tongs to pluck out the skins. It’s ok to leave some skins because it will be pureed, but I find that leaving in too many skins can cause the sauce to be a little bit bitter. 

Use a generously sized roasting pan, preferably with a lid. I don’t like to pile up the tomatoes until the pan is overflowing. Doing this makes it hard to toss them, which I like to do once or twice while roasting. And you can use foil if you don’t have a lid, but I think the lid is more convenient. I use a graniteware pan like this one. An electric roaster will work, too. I don’t recommend using a slow cooker, because the liquid from the tomatoes won’t reduce properly, and you also won’t get the caramelized flavor you get from roasting. 

Allow the sauce to cool before blending. You probably already know this, but I’m going to remind you that it’s not safe to blend hot stuff in an electric blender. The pressure builds inside from the steam and can cause the hot liquid to explode everywhere. So be sure to let the sauce cool before blending. Even if you use an immersion blender, allow it to cool first so that you don’t get splattered with hot sauce. 

Squeeze the garlic. When it’s cool enough to handle, remove the garlic bulb and squeeze that yummy roasted garlic right into the sauce before blending. If you’ve used already peeled garlic cloves, or minced garlic, you will skip this step. 

Freeze your sauce for later. If you aren’t using your sauce immediately, store it in the refrigerator for 3-4 days, or in the freezer for later use. I find the quality is best for up to six months in the freezer. I use BPA-free plastic containers or reusable silicone bags for freezer storage. I know many people use glass jars for freezing, but that’s not my preference (of course, the choice is yours). And for best results, allow the tomato sauce to cool fully before freezing. 

Heat your sauce whenever you need it. I find it easiest to allow the sauce to thaw in the fridge overnight. But if you need to use some frozen sauce at the last minute, run the container under hot water to loosen it up. Then, dump the sauce into a pot and heat it on the stove. 

Homemade Roasted Tomato Sauce


I hope you try this recipe for Delicious and Easy Roasted Tomato Sauce and see how easy it is to make your own homemade tomato sauce. If you try it, I hope you love it. Please let me know in the comments below. And follow me on FacebookPinterest, and Instagram so you don’t miss a post.

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Delicious and Easy Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce

Delicious and Easy Roasted Tomato Sauce (Freezer Friendly)


  • Author: Melissa Lynn
  • Total Time: 2 hours
  • Yield: about 5 quarts 1x

Description

This easy roasted tomato sauce recipe makes a big batch of delicious and versatile sauce that you can freeze for later, with no canning required.


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 12 pounds of tomatoes (use mostly Roma or other paste tomatoes, a few slicer tomatoes are fine)
  • 2 onions, sliced
  • 2 heads of garlic, no need to peel
  • 2/3 cup olive oil
  • 4 teaspoons salt (adjust to your preference)
  • 4 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 4 teaspoons dried basil
  • 2 teaspoons dried thyme
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 (6-ounce) can of tomato paste
  • 12 tablespoons brown sugar (optional)

Instructions

  1. Prep your tomatoes. I like to cut the smaller tomatoes in half and cut the larger tomatoes into quarters. *See notes below.
  2. In a large roasting pan, toss the prepped tomatoes with the onions, garlic, olive oil, salt, and herbs.
  3. Cover the pan with the lid and roast in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour.
  4. After an hour, remove the pan and use tongs or a wooden spoon to stir the tomato mixture. Turn the oven temperature up to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
  5. Leave off the lid, then return the pan to the oven. Roast uncovered at 400 degrees for another 30 minutes. The liquid from the tomatoes will reduce and thicken, and the vegetables will become caramelized. It’s perfectly OK to have a few charred bits.
  6. Remove from the oven. Stir in tomato paste and sugar, if using. I like to give it a taste at this time and decide if I want to add the sugar.
  7. Allow the tomato mixture to cool for at least 20 minutes, or until it’s cool enough to handle. Use your fingers, a fork, or tongs to remove the majority of the tomato skins (they should slip right off). It’s ok to leave some of the skins on. Also, remove the bay leaves.
  8. When the garlic head is cool enough, squeeze out the roasted garlic into the sauce mixture.
  9. Use a countertop blender to puree the sauce in batches (or you can use an immersion blender in the pan). Be sure the sauce is sufficiently cooled when you do this because it is dangerous to blend hot liquids. Add the pureed batches to a large bowl and stir to combine.
  10. Now you can use the sauce immediately in a recipe. If you’re not using the sauce right away, pack the sauce into containers and store it in the refrigerator or freezer.
  11. Store sauce in the fridge for 3-4 days. For longer storage, freeze for up to 6 months.

Notes

*To prep the tomatoes, I cut the Roma tomatoes in half and use a paring knife to remove the stem area and any hard parts of the core. For slicing tomatoes, I cut them in quarters, and remove the stem area and the hard parts of the core.

  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

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