When it comes to making really good homemade tomato sauce, I always turn to this incredible recipe because it’s so simple, so good and uses only three simple ingredient (fresh tomatoes, onions and butter!).
Fresh tomatoes are just so versatile, and there are endless incredible homemade foods you can make with them, like this easy homemade tomato juice, these oven sun dried tomatoes, and the best homemade ketchup.
How to Make Fresh Tomato Sauce
- Prep Fresh Tomatoes and Cook. Chop onions and tomatoes. Sauté onions in butter, then add tomatoes and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Puree. Run the cooked tomato mixture through a food mill fitted with the largest holes.
- Season and Serve. Season the sauce with salt to taste and serve immediately.
(View more: Pasta Recipes)
How Long Does Homemade Tomato Sauce Last?
When you make this particular homemade tomato sauce recipe, you can reasonably expect the sauce to stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to one week. You’re going to want to transfer any unused sauce to a mason jar or something similar that’s airtight. A mason jar would be perfect for this.
Keep an eye on your leftover sauce; once you begin to notice the edges turning green, it’s time to toss it out.
Pro tip: Add a bit of freshly squeezed lemon juice into your tomato sauce to increase the acidity, which may help you to extend the shelf life of this sauce by an extra day or two.
(Related: Tomato Basil Pasta)
What Are Some Other Dishes That You Can Make with Homemade Tomato Sauce?
I wasn’t kidding when I mentioned how many different recipes make use of homemade tomato sauce as a base. Here are a few examples of some other dishes that you can make with this recipe.
- Pasta sauce (it’s amazing with spaghetti)
- Pizza sauce
- Marinara dips
- Chili sauce
- Meatloaf sauce
Can You Freeze Homemade Tomato Sauce?
While you might not be able to keep homemade tomato sauce in the refrigerator for very long, you can definitely still freeze it in order to extend the shelf life.
Once the sauce has completely cooled, you can then transfer it to either a freezer-safe, airtight container or bag. Frozen homemade tomato sauce can stay good for 3 to 4 months.
When you’re ready to reuse the leftover tomato sauce, I would recommend thawing it out overnight in the refrigerator first. To reheat it, simply warm it up over medium heat in a saucepan and add a splash of water if needed.
P.S. If you want to make a really easy (but satisfying) pasta dinner that doesn’t use tomatoes and doesn’t require you to make sauce ahead of time, try this lemon basil pasta: https://nurturedhomes.com/lemon-basil-pasta
3-Ingredient Fresh Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
- 5 tbsp butter
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 pounds ripe tomatoes, chopped
- salt to taste
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.
- Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes.
- Simmer for 30 minutes.
- Set a food mill fitted with the disk with the largest holes over a pot.
- Transfer the tomato sauce with any of juices to the mill and puree.
- Season to taste with salt.
- Serve immediately.
Other Must Try Tomato-Based Sauces
- Creamy Sun Dried Tomato Alfredo Pasta – If you’re anything like me and you enjoy rich and creamy pasta sauce, this recipe is for you. It’s a delightful take on the classic alfredo recipe made with only the freshest ingredients.
- Sun Dried Tomato Pesto – This rendition of pesto sauce made with ‘sun dried’ tomatoes (they’re actually oven dried!) has such an amazing blend of flavors. Try it and you’ll know what I mean!
