Homemade Tomato Paste | Precious Core With Only 1 Ingredient!
The flavor profile of this Homemade Tomato Paste is far superior to that of store-bought tomato paste. And you only need 1 ingredient here!
My garden is overflowing with tomatoes this year! I have gone from failing woefully at gardening to producing more tomatoes than I can imagine!
After using pounds and pounds of tomatoes for stews and vegetable dishes, and still having lots of tomatoes leftover, I knew I had to find another way to preserve it. Enter homemade tomato paste!
With lots of tomatoes available in stores, farmers market or maybe even from your garden, you too can make tomato paste.
You’ll love this recipe because the flavor of homemade tomato paste is to die for! Also, it is insanely easy to make and store! Okay get your tomatoes and let’s make some homemade magic.
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The 1 Ingredient You Need
You only need one ingredient for this homemade tomato paste recipe: tomatoes! Any tomatoes you have on hand would work but if you are to choose, pick tomatoes with more pulp like Roma or San Marzano tomatoes.
Some people add other ingredients like olive oil, citric acid (could come from lemon juice) and salt to their homemade tomato paste. I prefer to keep it simple and most importantly salt-free.
It is better to add salt to the dishes you make with tomato paste as needed rather than have the tomato paste already salted.
4 Simple Steps For Making Tomato Paste
You can make homemade tomato paste in 4 simple steps.
1. First cut some tomatoes into quarters.
2. Blend the tomatoes into a puree.
3. Strain the tomatoes to remove the seeds.
4. Place into a pot and cook down until most of the liquid evaporates.
Hint: Removing the seeds from the tomato paste leads to smoother looking tomato paste similar to that you will find in cans. Some people allege that making tomato paste with seeds will make it bitter but I have made tomato paste with seeds before and I didn’t notice a difference in flavor.
Flavor Variations
Have fun while making homemade tomato paste and try these variations.
- Roasted Tomato Paste – Place the tomatoes on a baking sheet and let it roast in the oven until slightly charred for a smoky roasted tomato paste. After roasting, blend the tomatoes and proceed to make the tomato paste
- Spicy Tomato Paste – Add once scotch bonnet or habanero pepper while blending the tomatoes to make spicy tomato paste.
- Herby/Garlicky Tomato Paste – Blend the tomatoes with some fresh garlic, basil and thyme to make a flavor infused tomato paste.
You can literally add any flavors of choice to your homemade tomato paste.
No Special Equipment For Tomato Paste
You could make homemade tomato paste with just a blender for blending the tomatoes and a fine mesh sieve for straining the tomatoes.
Some people use a food mill to process the tomatoes but you could totally just use a blender and strainer.
How To Store It
Ice Cube Method: Put homemade tomato paste into an ice cube tray and freeze overnight. Once it freezes, remove the tomato paste cubes and put into freezer safe bags and store in the freezer for 2-3 months. Add frozen portions to recipes as called for.
Olive Oil Method: Put homemade tomato paste in mason jars up to three quarters full. Then pour olive oil to completely cover the tomato paste. Screw on the lid and store in the fridge for up to a week.
Canning Method: You could also can homemade tomato paste to make it last longer. To learn how to can tomato paste at home follow this guide.
Top Tip
For every 10 pounds of fresh tomatoes used, you get about 2 pounds of homemade tomato paste.
Homemade Tomato Paste
In 4 simple steps, you can make tomato paste at home! The taste is far superior to anything you can get in a can. Add to stews, sauces, soups, and more meals for a rich tomato-ey flavor!
Course:
Recipes
Cuisine:
Western
Keyword:
Homemade Tomato Paste
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 136 kcal
Instructions
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Cut Tomatoes. Rinse tomatoes thoroughly then cut them into quarters.
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Blend Tomatoes. Place the tomatoes in a blender and blend then into a puree. You’ll have to do this in several batches.
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Sieve. Pass the blended tomatoes through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds and some of the skin.
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Cook Down To a Paste. Place the sieved tomato puree into a large pot and let it cook down until it reduces and looks like tomato paste. When it reduces significantly, turn the heat down to medium to prevent it from burning. Do not stir as it cooks. This whole process takes about 2-3 hours depending on the intensity of the heat and how watery the tomatoes are.
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Store. Store tomato paste by freezing in ice cubes, refrigerating in mason jars or canning. See Note 2
Recipe Notes
1. Any tomatoes you have on hand would work but if you are to choose, pick tomatoes with more pulp like Roma or San Marzano tomatoes.
2. Follow one of the following methods for storing homemade tomato paste:
Ice Cube Method: Put homemade tomato paste into an ice cube tray and freeze overnight. Once it freezes, remove the tomato paste cubes and put into freezer safe bags and store in the freezer for 2-3 months. Add frozen portions to recipes as called for.
Olive Oil Method: Put homemade tomato paste in mason jars up to three quarters full. Then pour olive oil to completely cover the tomato paste. Screw on the lid and store in the fridge for up to a week.
Canning Method: You could also can homemade tomato paste to make it last longer. To learn how to can tomato paste at home follow this guide.
3. The 10 pounds of tomatoes used in this recipe cook down to about 2 pounds of tomato paste.
