Note: This is not a canning recipe. It’s great to stock up on and store in the freezer, but if you want a recipe that has been tested for home canning, you’ll find my favorite, here.
Ingredient Notes
Tomatoes – Gather up any variety of fresh tomatoes. I prefer larger plum tomatoes or romas. You can make this with smaller varieties like cherry tomatoes, but it tends to produce a rather seedy sauce so I generally like to avoid these types. Carrots – Carrots add a natural sweetness and depth of flavor to the recipe. They’re pureed and unrecognizable in the finished product but add a lot to the overall sauce. Onions – Sweet yellow onions are my favorite in this recipe, but any variety of onion will work just fine Fresh Garlic – A whole head of garlic gets roasted along with the vegetables. Fresh Herbs– The herbs are very flexible. I grow basil, rosemary, and oregano, so that’s what I use. Beef Broth – This might sound like a strange ingredient for tomato sauce, but beef broth brings out great flavor (and doesn’t taste beefy in the finished product). You are welcome to use vegetable broth instead. Sugar (optional) – Sometimes tomato sauces need a little sweetener for a well rounded flavor. I go by taste and add a small amount of sugar if needed. A sweet balsamic can also do the trick. Salt and Pepper Olive Oil Balsamic Vinegar
How to Make Garden Tomato Sauce
For a traditional pasta sauce, add your thick sauce and then add pasta water to desired consistency. Leave it thick for pizza sauce or spreading on a hot sandwich. Add broth to thin down for an incredible roasted tomato soup. Use it as a base for soups and stews
I spoon the thick sauce into foodsaver bags and flatten out before sealing the bags. I love how nice and thin they are to store. These also defrost very quickly. Of all the storage methods, this vacuum sealing will stay the freshest, longest! I like using my Souper Cubes silicone freezer trays to make measured portioned. I transfer the frozen cubes into freezer bags. You can also just flatten it into a freezer safe zip top bag. You can freeze in glass mason jars.
