A handy jar of Tomato Purée is super helpful when making any tomato-based dish. Here, I show you how to blanch tomatoes and then purée them to help preserve your summer harvest. All you need is 2 ingredients and about 15 minutes of active time to make this pantry staple.
About Tomato Puree Recipe
Tomato Puree is simply blanched or cooked tomatoes that are blended to a fine consistency and later strained with or without the addition of salt.
If you have an excess of tomatoes and don’t know what to do, my easy suggestion is to purée them and freeze them in ice cube trays.
Add the frozen tomato purée cubes to any dish where tomatoes are an essential ingredient, including pasta, sauces, curries and so much more!
It is very easy to make homemade tomato purée. All you need are some fresh tomatoes and a pot of boiling salt water to make it. Feel free to use any type of tomatoes so long as they are ripe.
Depending on the type of tomatoes, the consistency of the puree will be thin or thick. I use ripe, red, and meaty tomatoes like Romas which yield a thick purée.
This tomato purée is made without any preservatives, so the shelf life is about 12 to 15 days in the refrigerator and 3 to 4 months in the freezer.
Step-by-Step Guide
How To Make Tomato Puree
Prep Tomatoes
1. First, rinse the tomatoes very well. I have used 1 kilogram of tomatoes, but you can easily scale the recipe up or down depending on your needs.
Using a paring knife or a small knife, make a ½ inch criss-cross cut on the base of the tomatoes (not on the stalk side).
2. Now take a large pan and heat water in it. The water should be enough for the tomatoes to be immersed.
I used 2 litres of water for 1 kilogram of tomatoes. Make sure the tomatoes have space to move and are not overcrowded in the pan.
3. Add salt. I have added 2 teaspoons of salt. You can easily halve or double the salt depending on the amount of tomatoes you are using.
4. Let the water come to a rolling boil on a high heat.
Blanch & Purée Tomatoes
5. Gently place the tomatoes in the hot water. Feel free to use a slotted spoon to help you. Cook the tomatoes in the boiling water for 2 minutes.
6. Turn off the heat and leave the tomatoes immersed in the hot water for 10 to 15 minutes. Cover the pan with lid.
Alternately, boil the tomatoes for 2 minutes in hot boiling water and then place them in cold water for 2 minutes.
7. Strain the tomatoes using a colander or strainer. Let them cool to room temperature.
8. Once the tomatoes are at room temperature, peel the skins and discard them.
9. Remove the stalk end of the tomato and discard.
10. Using a clean chopping board and clean knife and with clean hands, chop the tomatoes roughly.
If you have a powerful high speed blender you can just throw in whole tomatoes in it. No need to chop them.
11. Add the chopped tomatoes in a blender jar or grinder jar.
12. Purée till smooth.
13. Place a bowl or pan beneath a juice strainer. Add the tomato pulp in the strainer.
14. While straining, stir with a spoon and press the pulp while stirring so that all the purée and pulp is strained leaving only the seeds in the strainer.
15. You will see a lovely red tomato purée collected in the bowl.
Storage Suggestions
16. Pour homemade tomato purée into a sterilized glass jar. To sterilize the jar, boil the jar and lid in hot boiling water for 5 minutes.
You can refrigerate the puree for up to a week without any further processing.
17. You can also pour the purée in ice cubes trays for freezing, then cover the tray loosely with parchment paper or foil before freezing.
Once they are frozen, remove them and keep in an air-tight box or a sealed zip-lock bag in the freezer. Just pop the cubes in any dish.
18. For canned tomato purée, pour the tomato puree in sterilized canning jars. Seal the jars and boil them in hot water for 15 to 20 minutes.
Remove and let them cool. Later refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.
Recipes Using Tomato Purée
Brighten up your recipes by adding this homemade tomato purée to them. I am sharing some recipes from the blog where tomato is one of the main ingredients. Add this homemade tomato purée in any dish where tomatoes are mandatory or where you want to bring some tangy flavor to the food.
Handy Tip: You can easily replace the chopped tomatoes with tomato purée. Replace 1 medium-sized tomato with ¼ cup of tomato puree.
Tomato Pasta Dishes
Sauces & Pizza
Indian Recipes Using Tomatoes
Soups With Tomatoes
FAQs
Tomato sauce is typically cooked to concentrate the tomato flavors, and often has sugar added to it. Tomato purée is simply made from blanched and peeled tomatoes.
Unless you have a very high-powered blender like a Vitamix, I don’t suggest it. Tomato skin gets sort of papery when cooked and can add strange texture to your dishes. That said, it is quite easy to peel tomatoes using the blanching method described above.
Absolutely! Simply simmer the purée in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over low heat until it reduces to your desired consistency.
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Tomato Puree Recipe (Homemade & Without Preservatives)
Thick, pulpy homemade Tomato Puree made from scratch. I show you how to blanch tomatoes and then purée them to help preserve your summer harvest. All you need is 2 ingredients and about 15 minutes of active time to make this pantry staple.
Prep Time 5 mins
Cook Time 5 mins
Blanching Time 15 mins
Total Time 25 mins
Prevent your screen from going dark while making the recipe
Prepping Tomatoes
Rinse the tomatoes a few times very well in clean fresh water in a colander or strainer. Give a ½ inch criss cross slit on the base of the tomatoes (not on the stalk side)
Bring water and salt to a rolling boil on high heat.
Blanching Tomatoes
Add the tomatoes one by one in the hot water.
Continue to cook on the same high heat for 2 minutes.
- After 2 minutes turn off the heat and let the tomatoes be immersed in the water for 10 to 15 minutes. When resting the tomatoes in the hot water, cover the pan with a lid.
Later using a colander strain the tomatoes of all the water.
Let them cool at room temperature.
Remove the peels and discard them. Slice the eye part on the stalk and discard.
Chop the tomatoes roughly.
Pureeing Tomatoes
Add the chopped tomatoes in a blender or grinder and puree them till smooth. Do not add any water while blending.
Strain the tomato puree through a juice strainer.
Stir and press the pulp with a spoon so that all the purée and pulp is strained leaving only the seeds.
Storing Tomato Puree
Pour in a sterilized glass jar and refrigerate.
You can even pour in ice cubes trays. Cover the tray loosely with a parchment paper or foil.
Freeze and use later. Just pop in the cubes in any dish that need tomato puree or tomatoes.
This homemade tomato puree stays good for 12 to 15 days in the refrigerator and 2 to 3 months in the freezer.
- Type of tomatoes: You can use any variety of tomatoes to make the puree. The consistency of the homemade puree will be thin or thick depending on the type of tomatoes added. But make sure that the tomatoes are ripe.
- Tangy & Sour Tomatoes: If the tomatoes are too tangy, then add 1 to 2 teaspoons of sugar while blending.
- Freezing: For a long term storage, freeze the puree in ice cubes tray. When they are frozen, remove them and place in a steel container or box or ziplock bags. Seal the container or box tightly.
- Cleanliness: Do make sure that the chopping board, knife, juice strainer, bowl and your hands are clean.
- Sterilizing Jar: To sterilize the jar, you can boil the jar and lid in hot boiling water for 5 minutes or rinse the jar and lid with hot water.
- Canning: Add the tomato puree in a sterilized canning jars. Seal the jars and boil them in hot water for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove and let them cool. Later refrigerate.
- Substituting Tomatoes with Tomato Puree: Replace 1 medium sized tomato with ¼ cup tomato puree.
Nutrition Facts
Tomato Puree Recipe (Homemade & Without Preservatives)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 180 Calories from Fat 18
% Daily Value*
Fat 2g3%
Saturated Fat 1g6%
Sodium 4701mg204%
Potassium 2370mg68%
Carbohydrates 39g13%
Fiber 12g50%
Sugar 26g29%
Protein 9g18%
Vitamin A 8330IU167%
Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) 1mg67%
Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) 1mg59%
Vitamin B3 (Niacin) 6mg30%
Vitamin B6 1mg50%
Vitamin C 137mg166%
Vitamin E 5mg33%
Vitamin K 79µg75%
Calcium 100mg10%
Vitamin B9 (Folate) 150µg38%
Iron 3mg17%
Magnesium 110mg28%
Phosphorus 240mg24%
Zinc 2mg13%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This homemade Tomato Puree recipe from the blog archives first published in April 2020 has been updated and republished on February 2023.
Dassana Amit
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