Sauces & dressings
Homemade tomato sauce with onion and garlic
Fresh tomato sauce with onion, garlic and olive oil. Seven stages, eight servings and estimated nutrition, with no added sugar.
- Total time
- 45 min
- Servings
- 8
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Cuisine
- Home cooking
Ingredients
Vegetables
Sautéing and seasoning
Method
Wash, weigh and chop the vegetables
Wash tomatoes under running water, remove stalks and damaged parts and weigh 1000 g edible tomatoes. Keep skin, seeds and juices. Peel and weigh 150 g onion and 10 g garlic. Dice the tomatoes, finely chop onion and garlic and keep them separate. Use a clean board and washed hands.
Soften the onion
Put 30 g olive oil in a wide, stable saucepan. Add 150 g onion and cook over medium-low heat for about 7 minutes, stirring, until translucent and soft without burning. Lower the heat if it colours too quickly; do not add water or extra oil without recording the change. All the oil is included in estimated nutrition.
Add the garlic without burning it
Add 10 g garlic to the softened onion and stir for 1 minute over low heat. It should smell aromatic without turning dark; burnt garlic tastes bitter. Have the tomatoes ready to add immediately. This minute is part of the total cooking time.
Add tomatoes and salt
Add 1000 g tomatoes with their juices and 4 g salt. Stir the base and briefly raise the heat to return to a gentle simmer, avoiding vigorous splashing. Returning to simmer is included in the following 25 minutes. Add no sugar or accompaniments absent from the ingredient list.
Reduce gently
Simmer uncovered for about 25 minutes, counted from adding the tomatoes, stirring the base frequently. Firm pieces should soften into a thick sauce that can still be stirred. Adjust heat to prevent sticking; watery tomatoes may need longer.
Blend without straining
Remove the pan from the heat. Use an immersion blender suitable for hot liquids for about 2 minutes until uniform, keeping its head submerged and preventing splashes. Do not use an unsuitable sealed jug blender with hot sauce. Do not strain: skin and seeds are included in the calculation. If another appliance requires cooling first, record that additional time, which is excluded.
Portion and keep chilled
Divide the finished sauce into 8 equal servings. Serve with a clean utensil; nutrition covers sauce alone. For storage, use shallow containers and refrigerate at 4°C or below within 2 hours, or 1 hour above 32°C. Use within 3 days, or freeze portions for up to 1 month as an indicative quality period. Thaw chilled and reheat to 74°C. Do not store this formula at room temperature as canned food: acidity and processing have not been validated.
The step photos are illustrative.
Notes
Nutrition facts
An eighth of the finished sauce; eight servings
- Protein
- 1.4 g
- Carbohydrates
- 7 g
- Fat
- 4 g
- Saturated fat
- 0.6 g
- Fiber
- 1.8 g
- Sugars
- 4.1 g
- Sodium
- 201 mg
Nutrition information estimated from the ingredients (USDA FoodData Central). Brands may vary.
Reference source: USDA FoodData Central — SR Legacy (2018)
For general information only; it does not replace advice from a qualified health or nutrition professional.
About this recipe
An original homemade sauce of fresh tomatoes, onion and garlic, blended without straining. Eight servings and 45 minutes.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to add sugar?
Not in this formula. Use ripe tomatoes and avoid burning garlic. Acidity varies with the tomatoes; adding sugar is a variation needing another calculation, not an omitted ingredient.
Can I use canned tomatoes or strain the sauce?
Both are possible variations but change ingredients, sodium, fibre or yield. This estimate uses fresh tomatoes with skin and seeds, without straining. Check the product label and recalculate substitutions.
Can I keep a jar outside the refrigerator?
No. This recipe contains onion, garlic and oil, with no validated acidity or canning process. It is intended for refrigeration or freezing in portions, not shelf-stable storage.
