Quick Roasted Cherry Tomato Sauce
Quick and simple, homemade roasted cherry tomato sauce – packed with flavor from fresh cherry tomatoes that caramelize and become wonderfully jammy after a quick stint in the oven. This even more delicious take on traditional tomato sauce is made with simple ingredients like garlic, olive oil, basil, and thyme, and you’ll want to make batches all Summer long!
We inherited several tomato plants upon moving into our new house. The sprawling, sagging beauties, top-heavy under the weight of their fruit, have happily delivered a generous yield over the last few weeks, and I’ve been harvesting the delicious house-warming presents with abandon.
The collection of mystery varieties includes about half cherry tomatoes, and I’ve taken to calling the entire lot of them simply Parker tomatoes (after the previous owners). As the plants are still dotted with dozens of yellow flowers – i.e. future tomato babies – and given that it’s already September (!), I harvested the remaining ripe cherries to make a roasted tomato sauce, thus preserving some homegrown tomato goodness for the coming months.
Why you’ll love this roasted cherry tomato sauce
Despite the natural sweetness of perfectly ripe summer tomatoes, a quick roasting still enhances and intensifies their flavor, and – along with some onion, garlic and fresh herbs – transforms the raw tomatoes into a fantastically rich and flavorful sauce. It’s the sort of sauce you’ll be happy to have on hand to brighten up a chilly day in the next couple of months, and totally worth the (minimal) hands-on effort now.
A couple of quick notes: I threw in some yellow and orange cherry tomatoes from the farmers market in addition to our red garden cherries – thus the lighter, orange-y color – but you can use any kind of cherry/grape/small tomato you’ve got. The sweeter the better.
Also, I prepared this roasted cherry tomato sauce to be stored in the fridge or freezer, but if you’re feeling ambitious, and want to tackle shelf-stable canning, Annalise has a great tutorial (and marinara sauce recipe), here. Happy cooking!!
Looking for more easy summer favorites? Try these next:
- Easy slow roasted cherry tomatoes
- Summer pasta with burst cherry tomatoes
- Summer squash grain salad with feta
- Easy pork chops with peaches
- A simple peach galette
If you make this roasted cherry tomato sauce be sure to tag me on Instagram with the hashtag #forkknifeswoon and leave a comment and rating below letting me know how you liked it! ★★★★★ Star ratings are especially helpful because they help others find my recipes too. xo, Laura
PrintQuick Roasted Cherry Tomato Sauce
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour 15 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 mins
- Yield: About 4 pints/2 quarts 1x
- Category: Sauce, Dinner
- Method: Roasted, Blended
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Quick and simple, homemade roasted cherry tomato sauce – packed with flavor from fresh cherry tomatoes that caramelize and become wonderfully jammy after a quick stint in the oven. This even more delicious take on traditional tomato sauce is made with simple ingredients like garlic, olive oil, basil, and thyme, and you’ll want to make batches all Summer long!
Ingredients
- 2–3 lbs cherry tomatoes, stems removed
- 1/4 cup good-quality olive oil, plus more for roasting
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 1 Tbsp fresh garlic, minced
- small handful of fresh basil leaves
- 3–4 sprigs, fresh thyme, stems removed
- kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400℉.
- Toss the tomatoes with just enough olive oil to lightly coat, then spread out in an even layer onto a rimmed sheet pan or large baking dish. Roast for 25-30 minutes, until the tomatoes have burst and are just beginning to shrivel. Remove from the oven, tent loosely with aluminum foil, and set aside.
- Meanwhile, add the 1/4 cup of olive oil to a heavy-bottomed sauce pot. Heat over medium-heat until the oil begins to shimmer. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to sweat and soften, about 4-5 minutes.
- Add the garlic, stir to combine, and continue cooking for another few minutes until the garlic is golden.
- Add the roasted tomatoes (including all of the cooking liquid in the pan), and the herbs, and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Turn the heat down to low, partially cover the pot with the lid (leaving about a 1-inch gap), and let simmer for at least 25 minutes – and up to an hour – stirring infrequently as the sauce cooks.
- Remove the pot from the heat, and let cool for 10-15 minutes. (Carefully!) Transfer the sauce to a blender (or use an immersion blender), and blend until the sauce reaches your desired consistency.
- Pour the sauce into pint-size canning jars or other air-tight containers.
- Will keep for up to a week in the refrigerator, or 3 months in the freezer. Enjoy!!
Keywords: roasted tomatoes, cherry tomato sauce, roasted cherry tomatoes, summer sauce, freezer tomato sauce, easy tomato sauce, herb tomato,
I’m trying to gauge what this sauce will be like. Is it more of a pasta sauce to be eaten by itself or more like a tomato sauce you’d get in the can to add to soups or other recipes?
Could I do a mix of cherry and larger tomatoes?
Hi, Klo! So we use it most often as a pasta sauce, but it’s also great for pizza, or you can easily turn it into soup if you thin it with some stock or cream. It has a lot more flavor than canned tomato sauce, but it’s really versatile. If you have more than a few of the larger tomatoes I would probably recommend roasting each size on two separate sheet pans because the regular ones have more liquid and may take slightly longer to caramelize. Happy cooking!!
Ok! Thank you! I’ll try it. 🙂
Forgot my 5 stars!
★★★★★
Made this tonight. Had too many tomatoes from our tomato plants. Followed majority of the instructions. Added a pinch of sugar. Used some black truffle salt since I had it on hand. Delicious!
Thank you so much, Julie!!
I’ve made two batches this weekend. So delicious. Thank you.
★★★★★
Thanks so much, Linda!!
I’ve tried making my own sauce several times. It’s one of the few things I just cannot get right. The only time I’ve come close is when I used canned tomatoes. Maybe I’m just used to the stuff in the jar.
★★★
Hi, Chris! Did you try this recipe? It’s a pretty simple method, but I’m happy to answer any questions along the way. Enjoy!
This was an amazingly, simply delicious way to preserve the sunshine and taste of summer. I added a pinch of sugar and cinnamon when the sauce was simmering in addition to the spices listed and had to use some dried herbs (penzy’s frozen pizza spice) since I didn’t have any fresh thyme and basil, but let me tell you it did not disappoint. Thank you for the recipe and I will definitely be putting this one in the vault.
★★★★★
Thank you, Desean! I’m so intrigued by the cinnamon! And so happy you enjoyed the sauce 🙂
Delicious! I had fresh rosemary and oregano that I added to the other herbs. I normally add the herbs when I pan roast tomatoes but I actually preferred the flavor adding the herbs as the recipe suggests. Thank you for the recipe.
★★★★★
Thank you so much, Rebecca!!
Great recipe, so glad I found it! I added a couple dashes of hot pepper seeds as we like our sauce a little spicy. Didn’t have fresh thyme, so simply omitted it. Going to freeze for future use.
★★★★★
Yum! Thank you, Lissa!!
can you can it
Hi, Karen! This sauce freezes wonderfully, but you’ll need to add some citric acid if you’d like it to be shelf-stable. Enjoy!!
This stuff is amazing! I followed the recipe exactly and got 2 pints. I totally know what to do now with too many cherry tomatoes! I can’t wait to try it on pasta.
Thank you so much, Karen!!
This is delicious 😋 and a great use for the zillions of cherry tomatoes!
★★★★★
Thanks so much, Louise!!
Fantastic! I was sold 5 cherry tomato plants when I was told they were Roma’s! Needless to say I now have about 7lbs of cherries I had to process. 3lbs made 1.5 quarts. I followed the recipe as written and it’s very, very delicious! Highly recommend!
★★★★★
Thanks so much, Teri!!
It’s so easy and very delicious.
★★★★★
Thank you so much, Cherub!!
Like many others, I have an over abundance of Cherry tomatoes. This recipe showed up in my search. I figured it seemed simple enough; I also have fresh basil & thyme in my garden. Perfect! I was not expecting the flavor. It was so tasty. I honestly feel the best way to describe this is like a creamy tomato basil soup. I feel I can add a Touch of milk and serve with grilled cheese or pour this over a fresh fettuccine. It’s almost like a vodka sauce as well. Add some pancetta! This is so tasty and versatile. Thanks for sharing the recipe. Plus it was super easy.
★★★★★
Thank you so much, Amanda!! So happy to hear you loved the sauce 🙂
Superb recipe for a heavy crop of cherry tomatoes. I used my crop of Sweet Aperitive cherry tomatoes and the result was terrific. Great flavour and a drizzle of good quality balsamic vinegar lifted the flavour. Saved some part-blended to spread on toast for breakfast. Mmmmm! The rest was potted and is in the freezer for future dishes.
Thanks so much, Eddie!! Love adding some balsamic to tomato sauce, too 🙂
I have many tomatoes ripening at different times in my garden. Can I freeze them whole as they’re ready and then once I’ve collected enough simply take them all out of freezer to then roast / prepare recipe? Thank you!
Hi Debra! I’m not sure the texture would end up quite the same or get the same level of caramelization if you roast previously frozen tomatoes. I think you might get a better result by roasting just the tomatoes you have, freezing them with all the juices, and then combining a couple batches of roasted tomatoes with the rest of the sauce once you have enough. Hope that helps, and please update us on your results! Happy cooking!
Hi there! I am going to try this recipe today! Any idea if I can add in regular sized tomatoes along with the cherries? I have both from the garden and would like to use them! Is it the same process? Thanks in advance 🙂
Hi, Lauren! That shouldn’t be a problem. If you have more than a couple of the larger tomatoes, I might roast the two sizes on separate pans because the regular ones have more liquid and may take slightly longer to caramelize. Happy cooking!!
What a great recipe for capturing sweet, summer perfection!
★★★★★
Thank you so much, Louise!!
The sauce was very good. I added two tablespoons of tomato paste and allowed it to partially carmelize before sauteeing the onions and garlic with it. A bit of pasta cooking thinned the sauce to our liking. On a side note, I was surprised to see a picture of the roasted tomatoes with the stems still on them!
★★★★
Thanks, Ed! And yes, stems are only there because it was prettier for the photo 😉
Great way to use up your cherry tomatoes.
But for canning( which you mention) don’t you need to add vinegar or lemon juice to raise the acidity level?
Taste is ok, I find it a bit bland. I will add to it when I am ready to use.
This is what I did based on what I had on hand and my experience. Roasted the tomatoes with S&P as stated. I had a mix of homegrown Heirloom cherries. Then I used the Vitamix to “cook” the onion in some of the tomatoes, along with 2 bulbs of roasted garlic (had on hand), 1/2 stick of butter instead of EVOO (we all know butter is great in a tomato sauce) and 2 big cloves of fresh garlic, letting Vitamix run a while to cook the onion. Then I added rest of tomatoes and some dried thyme along with a large pinch of hot pepper flakes. Whiz. Lastly added a big handful of fresh basil and a bit more salt. The Vitamix is crucial to getting that smooth consistency. One of my most revered appliances that I could not live without, especially for making sauces and soups.
★★★★★
Thanks so much, Kate!!
Just made this from our bounty of garden cherry tomatoes. The flavor is great, but it seems really seedy. Did we not blend it long enough (we used the immersion blender)? There are no skins, but definitely a lot of seeds, so the texture seems odd.
We have a food mill, but I am thinking the sauce might be too thick to put through the mill. Any thoughts greatly appreciated.
★★★★
Hi, Heather! The amount of seeds can definitely vary by variety, but they should all get blended into the final sauce (you can see what the texture looks like in the recipe video). You can’t really overblend the sauce, but if your blender doesn’t seem to be catching them, I know some readers have also strained out the seeds. I haven’t tried using a food mill but I think that could work as well. Hope that helps!