Homemade Tomato Sauce
This Homemade Tomato Sauce is so rich and flavorful. Made with fresh tomatoes, caramelized onions, fragrant garlic, fresh basil, and red pepper flakes for a bit of a kick. It is an absolute summer staple!
Ingredients
- 5-6 lbs tomatoes
- 1 yellow onion
- 1 whole garlic bulb
- 2 tsp pink sea salt
- 2 tsp crushed red peppers
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 1/4 cup fresh basil
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
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Fill up a large pot with water and place on stovetop. Turn heat to high and bring water to a boil. Generously salt water and give it a stir to mix it in.
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As water comes to a a boil, take a small knife and gently make an x on the bottom of each tomato. Just enough to cut through the skin. This will make it easier to peel the tomatoes after. Once water is boiling and you have stir salt in, add your tomatoes. Boil tomatoes for a few minutes until they start blistering.
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While tomatoes are boiling, fill a large mixing bowl with some ice. Then fill it up with water. Turn heat off and start removing tomatoes from the boiling water transferring them into the iced water. Leave tomatoes in the ice bath for a few couple of minutes so they can cool-down. Discard boiling water from pot and dry it. Place pot back on stovetop.
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Using your hands, start removing the skin from each tomato. Transfer each peeled tomato to another large mixing bowl. Once all tomatoes have been peels, use your hands to squeeze tomatoes crushing them. Set crushed tomatoes aside.
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Thinly dice onion, mince garlic, and thinly slice basil. Add oil to pot and bring to a heat on medium-high. Toss in diced onion and sauté for 1-2 minutes until it starts to translucent. Toss in garlic and continue to sauté for another minute.
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As onion and garlic are sautéing, sprinkle in salt, oregano and crushed red peppers. Stir to combine spices with aromatics. Add in crushed tomatoes and once again stir to combine making sure all ingredients are mixed together.
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Bring tomatoes to a light simmer. Once they start simmering, reduce heat to low. Cover your pot and allow tomatoes to simmer for at least 30 minutes.
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Once tomatoes have been simmering for a while, it's time to blend them. If you have an immersion blender, blend the tomatoes until smooth in the same pot. If you don't have one, transfer the tomatoes to a regular blender. Blend until sauce reaches a smooth consistency, then transfer back to the pot.
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Continue to simmer sauce for another 10 minutes of so. As sauce is continuing to simmer, stir in your basil.
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Serve sauce immediately over some pasta or in any way you are using your sauce. If you are storing your sauce or freezing for later, allow sauce to completely cool-off. Transfer to mason jars and tightly seal the lid. Keep your homemade tomato sauce refrigerated for up to 7-10 days or frozen up to 4-6 months.
Recipe Notes
Tips and Substitutions:
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- Make a small x on the skin of each tomato- Make a small cut on the bottom of each tomato that looks like an x. Just enough to cut through the skin. This will make it easier to peel the skin off after the tomatoes are boiled.
- Add boiled tomatoes to an ice bath- This will immediately stop the cooking process of the tomatoes preventing them from becoming too mushy. You want your tomatoes to boil enough to blister. However, you don't want them overcooking as this will make them harder to peel. It will also end up in a thinner more watery sauce.
- If you don’t have an immersion blender- transfer sauce to a regular blender. Blend until smooth and transfer back to sauce pan.
- Use any kind of tomatoes- Roma tomatoes are great since they are meaty and have little seeds. However, I also like using heirloom tomatoes when making this sauce in the summer. They are in abundance during this time of year.
- No need to add sugar to your sauce- Simmering the tomatoes for an extended time helps bring out their natural sweetness. This will balance out their acidity without having to add any sugar to your sauce.
- Blend your sauce until desire consistency is reached- I like a smooth sauce so I blend it until it is pretty smooth. If you like a chunkier sauce, blend it for less time or don't blend at all.