One summer, my garden exploded with tomatoes. They ripened faster than I could pick them, and soon my kitchen counters were overflowing. I canned as many as I could, filling jar after jar with bright, tangy tomato goodness. But even with all that effort, there were still too many. So, I turned to my freezer. I packed bags full of whole tomatoes and threw them in the freezer, knowing they would come in handy later. When spring arrived, and I had used up my canned tomatoes, I pulled them out, cooked them down, and transformed them into a rich, smooth tomato sauce.

Learn the easiest way to turn frozen whole garden tomatoes into a smooth, flavorful sauce—no food mill or food processor needed! This go-to recipe is a great way to preserve your harvest and make a homemade sauce that’s perfect for pasta sauces, pizza sauce, or marinara sauce. If you have a lot of tomatoes from your home garden or found a great deal at the farmers’ market, this method ensures you can enjoy fresh tomato sauce any time of the year.

Why Freeze Tomatoes?

Fresh tomatoes are abundant during harvest season, but processing them immediately isn’t always possible. Freezing is a great way to store large tomatoes, paste tomatoes, or even cherry tomatoes until you have time for the cooking process. Many people assume that fresh tomato sauce must be made right after the tomatoes are harvested. However, this method allows you to freeze tomatoes when they’re perfectly ripe, then turn them into sauce when it’s convenient. This method works well with Amish paste tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, San Marzano, and really all other varieties.

Making your own tomato sauce at home, whether frozen or fresh, allows you to control the amount of sugar and sodium in your meals, which is especially important for those managing medical conditions that require less sugar or sodium. Many store-bought sauces contain high levels of sodium and added sugars, often exceeding what is reasonable for traditional pasta sauce. By making homemade sauce, you can adjust the seasoning to suit your taste while ensuring you stay within a healthy percent daily value of sodium and sugar intake. Plus, when cooking from scratch, you have full transparency of the nutrition information of your meals.

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Ingredients:

• Frozen whole tomatoes (for this recipe, I used one gallon bag of frozen tomatoes, which weighed three pounds and yielded about 4 cups of sauce.)

Equipment Needed:

• Large stockpot or Dutch oven
• Immersion blender
• Large mesh strainer
• Wooden spoon
• Spatula
• Large mixing bowl
• Freezer bags or containers (if freezing finished sauce)
• Canning equipment and citric acid (if canning finished sauce)

Cooking Process:

Step 1: Defrost the Tomatoes

Place your frozen tomatoes in a large Dutch oven or stockpot. If you have yellow or green tomatoes, keep in mind that your fresh tomato sauce may not be as red, but it will still be a flavorful sauce. Heat the pot over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon every five minutes to prevent sticking. As the tomatoes thaw, remove any stems.

You may notice that as the tomatoes heat up, their skins start to split and separate. Also, if your tomatoes stick to the pot a bit and get some caramelization, don’t worry -it just adds depth of flavor. Some varieties have a lot of water in them, and some do not. Both can be made into sauce.

Step 2: Puree Into a Smooth Sauce

Once the tomatoes have fully thawed and turned into a soupy mixture, use an immersion blender to puree them into a smooth sauce. If you prefer, you can use a food processor or blender. Be cautious when blending hot liquid to avoid burns.

At this stage, your sauce will still contain small bits of tomato peels and seeds. Some people don’t mind these textures in their sauce, but if you prefer a smoother sauce, you’ll want to remove them.

Step 3: Remove Peels and Seeds

For a smoother sauce, pour the pureed tomatoes into a large mesh strainer set over a large bowl. Tap the strainer against the bowl to encourage the sauce to pass through. Use a spatula to press the mixture, pushing the liquid through while leaving the peels and seeds behind. Compost the peels and seeds or feed them to your chickens!

Step 4: Thicken the Sauce to Your Desired Consistency

Pour the strained sauce back into your stockpot or Dutch oven. At this point, the sauce may contain a lot of water. Simmer the sauce uncovered over medium-low heat, stirring every 20 minutes to thicken the sauce and allow the water to evaporate. As the sauce thickens, stir more frequently to prevent burning. Simmering sauce for about two hours will yield a thicker sauce, but you can adjust cooking time based on your preferred consistency, and how watery your tomatoes are.

If you want a paste-like texture similar to store-bought tomato paste, you can simmer for even longer. The longer you cook, the more the excess water evaporates, concentrating the flavors into a rich, robust homemade sauce or paste.

Storing Your Homemade Tomato Sauce

How to Freeze Tomato Sauce:

Allow the sauce to cool somewhat, then ladle the sauce into freezer bags or BPA-free containers, filling only 2/3 full to allow for expansion. Label with the contents and date. If using freezer bags, lay them flat on a tray while freezing to maximize freezer space and speed up thawing when needed.

Freezing is a great way to preserve tomato sauce without needing special canning equipment. It’s also ideal if you don’t have time to can the sauce immediately. Simply store the frozen sauce in the freezer and use it whenever you need a quick meal base.

How to Can Tomato Sauce:

If you want to store your own sauce long-term, follow a tested recipe from the latest Ball Canning Book or another trusted source. Be sure to add citric acid or bottled lemon juice to ensure safe acidity levels before water bath canning.

Water bath canning requires clean jars, lids, and proper sealing techniques. Once canned, your homemade sauce will be shelf-stable for up to a year, making it easy to grab a jar whenever you need a flavorful sauce for dinner.

Ways to Use Your Homemade Sauce

Now that you have a delicious, homemade sauce, you can use it as the base for many pasta sauces! Turn it into marinara sauce, spaghetti sauce, or pizza sauce by adding garlic, onions, herbs, and seasonings. You can even reduce it further to make ketchup or use it as a base for curry.

Need meal ideas? Here are some of the best ways to use your homemade sauce:

• Classic Spaghetti Sauce: Simmer with garlic, onions, red pepper flakes, and Italian herbs for a traditional, comforting pasta dish.
• Pizza Sauce: Spread it over homemade pizza dough, top with cheese and your favorite toppings, and bake.
• Lasagna: Layer it between sheets of pasta, ricotta, and mozzarella for a hearty meal.
• Soup Base: Use your sauce as a base for tomato soup or vegetable stews.
• Shakshuka: Simmer eggs in a spiced tomato sauce for a flavorful Mediterranean breakfast.
• Homemade Ketchup: Reduce the sauce further and add vinegar and sweetener for a DIY ketchup recipe.

Final Thoughts

Growing tomatoes is one of the most rewarding parts of having a home garden. There’s nothing quite like the taste of fresh, sun-ripened tomatoes straight from our home gardens. But when you find yourself with a ton of tomatoes—more than you can eat fresh or even keep up with canning—just pop them in the freezer! Freezing tomatoes is a simple and effective way to preserve their peak flavor, and save them for when you have more time to process them.

This method of making homemade sauce from frozen tomatoes ensures you can enjoy them long after the growing season ends. It’s one of the best ways to turn your harvest into a delicious meal. You could make curry, pizza sauce, or a rich marinara sauce. Having homemade sauce ready to go means you’ll always have a flavorful base for your favorite meals.

If you’re dreaming of growing your own tomatoes, go for it! Even a few plants can yield an abundance of fruit, and with this easy preservation method, you’ll never have to worry about waste, even if your summer is super busy. Imagine pulling a bag of frozen homegrown tomatoes from your freezer months after harvest, blending them into a smooth, rich sauce, and enjoying a taste of summer in every bite. With a little planning, you can fill your pantry or freezer with the best tomato sauce—made from the tomatoes you grew yourself.