Roasted Tomato Sauce
Forget the hours of simmering sauce on the stovetop—this easy Roasted Tomato Sauce is even more flavorful and it takes a fraction of the time to make. Get ready to meet your new favorite pasta sauce!
Roasted tomato sauce is here to change your sauce making game. Who knew making pasta sauce from scratch could be this quick and easy?!
Even if you didn’t have an Italian Nonna who made tomato sauce from scratch on the stovetop every Sunday, you probably get that image in your head when you think about making your own tomato sauce. That long and slow cooking concentrates the flavor in the tomatoes and makes for a spectacular sauce. But you know what else concentrates the flavor in tomatoes? Roasting! And it doesn’t take nearly as long.
Roasted cherry tomatoes are the star of this sauce—I like using them because they’re so sweet to start out with and their small size means they roast fast. The tomatoes alone would be delicious, but to really elevate this sauce, I add garlic, onions, herbs, and a little bit of dairy for richness—butter and cream.
My favorite way to use this roasted tomato sauce is on pasta, but don’t limit yourself! The possibilities are endless and honestly, I could make a meal out of this sauce and some crusty garlic bread or Garlic Rosemary Focaccia to sop it up.
You’ll never use sauce from a jar again!
Ingredients for Roasted Tomato Sauce
Here’s an overview of what you’ll need to make roasted tomato pasta sauce; you’ll find the full measurements and quantities in the recipe card below.
- Cherry Tomatoes – Grape tomatoes work too! They’ll just take a little less time to roast.
- Garlic Cloves – There’s a lot of garlic in this recipe, but roasting mellows its flavor, so it’s not overpowering.
- Olive Oil – No need for your fanciest oil here—any decent olive oil is fine.
- Seasonings – Kosher salt, ground pepper, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning.
- Butter – Butter in tomato sauce? Butter in tomato sauce! This is that one little trick that will really take your pasta sauce to the next level. It is so good!
- Onion – Just your everyday yellow onion is perfect.
- Tomato Paste – To double-down on the tomato flavor, adding depth.
- Honey – This balances the acidity of the sauce.
- Cream – For a little bit of richness without overdoing it.
- Pasta – Or whatever you plan on serving with this sauce! (I share some more ideas below.)
How to Make Roasted Tomato Sauce
Scroll down to the recipe card for the full instructions.
- Roast the tomatoes. Toss the tomatoes and garlic with the olive oil and seasonings on a baking sheet and roast at 400˚F until the tomatoes are soft and starting to caramelize.
- Cook the onions. Melt the butter in a Dutch oven set over medium-high heat and cook the onions until softened.
- Add the tomato paste. Stir it in with the tomatoes and cook until it darkens.
- Simmer. Add the roasted tomatoes and garlic and mash a bit. Stir in the honey and bring to a simmer.
- Finish. Use an immersion blender to puree the sauce, then stir in the cream and serve.
Tips for Making Roasted Tomato Sauce
- Make sure the tomatoes are dry. If they’re still wet after you washed them, they’ll steam instead of roast. You don’t want that!
- Give the tomatoes some space. This also keeps them from steaming and helps them get nicely caramelized.
- Line the sheet pan. This makes cleanup much easier and prevents the tomatoes from sticking to the pan.
- No immersion blender? No problem! You can use a food processor or regular blender. Just let the sauce cool a bit first.
- Store leftovers properly. If you have any leftover sauce, store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can also freeze it for up to 3 months and enjoy a little taste of summer in the fall!
More Ways to Use This Roasted Tomato Sauce
- Layer it into lasagna. Swap out jarred sauce for this roasted tomato sauce in your favorite lasagna recipe. Lasagna Roll Ups would be excellent too!
- Use it on pizza. Use this sauce as a base for homemade pizza. It would be fantastic with Air Fryer Margherita Pizza or Cast Iron Skillet Pizza.
- Serve it as a dipping sauce. Warm up the sauce and serve it alongside Homemade Mozzarella Sticks or Fried Ravioli for dipping.
- Spoon it onto polenta. Top store-bought polenta with this roasted tomato sauce to jazz it up.
- Add it to chicken. Finish Oven Baked Chicken Breast by spooning this sauce over the top before serving.
More Reader Favorite Sauce Recipes
- Marinara Sauce
- Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
- The Best Basil Pesto
- Homemade Vodka Sauce
- The Very Best Bolognese Sauce
- Homemade Alfredo Sauce
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Get the Recipe: Roasted Tomato Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cups cherry tomatoes
- 8-10 garlic cloves
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- ½ tablespoon fresh ground pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 3 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup diced onion
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon cream
- Pasta, for serving
Equipment
- 1 saucepan or dutch oven
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400˚F.
- Spread the tomatoes and garlic on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Drizzle with the olive oil then sprinkle with the salt, pepper, garlic powder and seasoning.
- Toss to coat.
- Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and roast for 15-20 minutes until the tomatoes are soft and starting to caramelize.
- Remove the baking sheet and set aside.
- In a dutch oven, melt the butter over medium high heat. Add the onions and cook until softened.
- Stir in the tomato paste and cook until deeply caramelized.
- Add the roasted tomatoes and garlic. Using a potato masher or fork, mash some of the tomatoes to release the juices.
- Stir in the honey and bring to a simmer.
- Using an immersion blender, puree the sauce until smooth. Stir in the cream.
- Toss with cooked pasta or use for other recipes calling for tomato sauce.
5 Comments on “Roasted Tomato Sauce”
I love this homemade tomato paste! I love knowing all that is going into it , and it is so much yummier than the canned ones!
Thank you!
This simple tomato sauce is all my kids want! They love this red sauce and ask for it weekly. It is so delicious!
It’s so easy, too! Thank you!
This sauce is so comforting, rich, & full of flavor!! We will be using it for so many recipes!