Why You Should Make Tomato Sauce at Home

Tomato sauce is an essential condiment for many dishes. Instead of buying it pre-made, you can easily make it at home. Store-bought tomato sauces often contain additives such as coloring, flavor enhancers, and preservatives. They also tend to have high amounts of salt and sugar. When you make your own tomato sauce, you can control the ingredients and seasonings used.

The cost of homemade tomato sauce, especially when tomatoes are in season, is quite affordable.

Making tomato sauce at home allows you to tailor it to your taste and ensure it’s safe for your family’s health.

---

Tips for Making Homemade Tomato Sauce

1. How to Choose Fresh Tomatoes

When buying tomatoes, select ones that are uniform in size, round, and firm with shiny skin and no bruises or cracks — these are usually fleshy and juicy.

Avoid tomatoes that are misshapen, soft, bruised, or scratched.

Always choose ripe tomatoes with a reddish color (sometimes with a hint of yellow or green). Do not use green tomatoes, as they contain toxins harmful to health.

Naturally ripened tomatoes also have a pleasant aroma — you can smell each one to check. Avoid tomatoes with an odd or unpleasant odor.

---

2. The Simplest Way to Make Tomato Sauce

Step 1: Wash the tomatoes thoroughly and soak them in salt water for a few minutes to remove dirt and bacteria. Then peel the skin off.

Cut a small “X” at the bottom of each tomato, blanch them in boiling water for about 1 minute, and then peel easily.

Step 2: Cut the tomatoes into small pieces and blend them with a bit of water until smooth. If you don’t have a blender, mince the tomatoes finely, then knead them by hand (wearing gloves) to create a smooth paste.

Step 3: Pour the blended tomatoes into a clean, dry pot (free of oil or water). Add a bit of sugar, turn on high heat, and bring to a boil.

When the mixture boils, lower the heat and stir gently to let the water evaporate. Continue simmering until the sauce thickens to about one-third of its original volume. Add a pinch of salt, juice from half a lemon, and a splash of white wine. Adjust seasoning to taste. Simmer for another minute, then turn off the heat.

Let the sauce cool completely, pour it into glass jars, seal tightly, and store in the refrigerator. Always use clean, dry utensils when scooping the sauce to avoid contamination.

Suggested ratio:
1 kg tomatoes, 150 g sugar, 2 g salt, juice from ½ lemon, a small amount of white wine.
You can adjust the lemon juice depending on how tart your tomatoes are. Lemon juice also helps extend the shelf life of the sauce.

Homemade tomato sauce not only tastes delicious but also suits the preferences of your family members.

---

3. Making Tomato Sauce with Herbs

To enhance the flavor of your tomato sauce, you can add herbs in addition to salt.

Ingredients: Fresh tomatoes, onion, minced garlic, dried oregano, basil, olive oil.

Instructions:

• Wash, peel, and chop the tomatoes. Dice the onion.

• Heat olive oil in a pan. Once hot, reduce heat, add the onion, and sauté until golden brown. Add garlic and stir until fragrant.

• Add chopped tomatoes, salt, oregano, and chopped basil. Stir well and increase heat until the mixture boils.

• Once boiling, lower the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens to your desired consistency.

• Adjust seasoning to taste, turn off the heat, and use a hand blender to puree the mixture. Optionally, bring it to a boil once more, then let it cool.

• Transfer to glass jars, seal, and refrigerate.
  

Suggested ratio:
3 kg fresh tomatoes, 1 onion, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon minced garlic, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 8 basil leaves, 2 teaspoons salt. Add sugar if you prefer a sweeter sauce.

For a smoother texture, strain the sauce through a sieve to remove seeds after blending. Boil again before cooling and storing to preserve freshness longer.