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    Home » Recipes » Condiments, jams and preserves

    Tomato Sauce Recipe

    Published: Feb 10, 2020 · Modified: Mar 29, 2023 by Libby Hakim · 169 Comments

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    This Tomato Sauce recipe will take you back to a time when the internet, Uber and Insta didn't exist – but tomato sauce tasted a whole lot better.

    Remember what tomato sauce used to taste like?

    You will once you cook up a batch of this!

    Enjoy your homemade tomato sauce slathered on a meat pie, serve it with hot chips or store it away for your next sausage sizzle.

    tomato sauce recipe

    An old-fashioned Tomato Sauce recipe

    I'm a long-time tomato sauce fanatic.

    As a child, I had it with EVERYTHING. I refused to eat many things without it.

    I remember Mum having to go to our neighbour's house one night to borrow a bottle of sauce because we'd run out and I had a meltdown.

    I've never quite got tired of tomato sauce and still enjoy it, especially with hot chips or on a sausage sandwich.

    One of my kids has inherited my tomato-sauce-loving gene, too.

    And I always make sure we have a spare bottle of tomato sauce in the pantry.

    So I was quite keen to test out this homemade tomato sauce recipe recorded by my great grandmother at least 80 years ago.

    With a haul of lovely locally-grown tomatoes from my local farmer's markets, it seemed the perfect time to cook up a batch of Nana Ling's tomato sauce.

    UPDATE - I've made this sauce many times since, and it's one of the most popular recipes on the blog!

    Ingredients for homemade Tomato Sauce

    To make this sauce, you'll need:

    • tomatoes
    • white wine vinegar
    • salt
    • caster sugar (superfine sugar)
    • garlic
    • ginger
    • cloves
    • allspice
    • peppercorns
    • cayenne pepper.

    Some people also like to add an onion to this recipe.

    I like to make it exactly as Nana Ling recorded it, without the onion – but each to their own!

    tomato sauce ingredients

    Cooking up this Australian Tomato Sauce Recipe

    Making this tomato sauce is quite simple once you've sourced some lovely, ripe tomatoes and checked to make sure you have all the spices and other ingredients on hand.

    The other ingredients, vinegar and sugar, you probably already keep in your pantry.

    How to make Tomato Sauce

    Chop the tomatoes roughly and place into a large saucepan. Then add the rest of the ingredients and bring to the boil.

    The sauce takes around 2–3 hours of simmering to reduce. Keep a check on it and watch the how-to video to see the consistency of the mixture you're aiming for.

    Given the variability of the tomatoes, it's difficult to give a precise cooking time. 

    Once cooked, there are two options to process the sauce.

    Option 1 – Sieving the sauce

    Then you just need to run the mixture through a sieve, pressing down with a spoon, to extract the beautifully rich and tasty tomato sauce.

    Bottle it straight away in a sterilised bottle or jar and store in the pantry or fridge. 

    This is how the sauce is made according to Nana Ling's instructions and this is how I like to make it.

    Option 2 – Blending the sauce

    Many readers have commented that they simply blend the sauce in a food processor or chopper once it's cooked.

    Many prefer this method, since it's much easier.

    If you do opt to blend the sauce, just keep in mind that it may have a spicier kick to it given all of the spices are blended into the sauce.

    The Tomato Sauce time machine

    I hadn't realised how much tomato sauce had changed over the years until I sampled Nana Ling's tomato sauce recipe. A recipe she'd jotted down in her beautiful handwriting back in 1941.

    One tiny taste and I was immediately transported back to my family's dinner table in the 1980s.

    I could see our old dinner table covered with a seersucker tablecloth. I could also see Mum's hanging pot plant stand in the corner of the dining room (which fell down on the dinner table one night and saved me from eating a meal I wasn't particularly enjoying). And on the table was a glass bottle filled with deep red tomato sauce.

    These days, tomato sauce seems brighter and thinner.

    And it may be in a super convenient squeeze pack now, but the taste just isn't quite the same. It doesn't pack a tomato punch the way the good old-fashioned tomato sauce did.

    If you want tomato sauce that's thick, full of tomato flavour and can even take you back in time, keep scrolling for Nana Ling's Tomato Sauce Recipe.

    You can also find other wonderful condiments and conserves from the Cooking with Nana Ling collection here (and if you still have heaps of tomatoes, check out my Tomato Recipes collection).

    tomato sauce pin for pinterest.

    Recipe FAQs

    What are the best tomatoes for Tomato Sauce?

    You really can use any type of tomato here, however roma tomatoes and other "paste" tomatoes that have fewer seeds are perfect for making sauce.

    I also like to use heirloom tomatoes and have made this recipe up with cherry tomatoes when i had an abundance of those.

    How to store Tomato Sauce

    "Where do you store tomato sauce?"

    It's a controversial question, indeed!

    I store my sauce in the fridge once it's opened. Others store it in the cupboard. Which way is the right way?

    Well, even the experts at Australia's Choice can't agree. 

    They say that tomato sauce is high enough in sugar and salt to be shelf stable, even after opening. However, bacteria is more of a risk in a warmer environment.

    Some are willing to take the risk, saying cold sauce is a crime and impacts the flavour.

    So, there seems to be no right and wrong.

    If you're risk-averse and don't mind cold sauce, continue to store it in the fridge.

    If you're a tomato sauce aficionado who insists on enjoying it at it's room-temperature best, go ahead.

    Just keep in mind that if you are making homemade tomato sauce and are not familiar with how to properly can/preserve sauces, store in the fridge to be safe.

    What do you store your sauce in?

    Go for an airtight glass container to maximise it's shelf life.

    Once you've opened it, you can pour it from there or transfer it to a squeeze bottle – yes, the ones we had in the 80s are still around today if you look hard enough.

    Nana Ling's Tomato Sauce recipe

    Keep scrolling for the tested and tweaked version.

    tomato sauce recipe by Nana Ling
    tomato sauce and handwritten recipe for tomato sauce.

    Tomato Sauce Recipe

    Libby Hakim
    A homemade tomato sauce that tastes like the sauce you remember from childhood.
    4.79 from 165 votes
    Prevent your screen from going dark
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    Prep Time 30 minutes mins
    Cook Time 3 hours hrs
    Course Condiment
    Cuisine Australian
    Servings 20 portions
    Calories 23 kcal

    Ingredients
      

    • 1 ½ kilos tomatoes roughly chopped
    • ⅔ cup white wine vinegar
    • 3 teaspoons salt
    • ½ cup caster sugar
    • 1 clove garlic sliced thinly
    • 1 teaspoon fresh ginger grated (or ¼ teaspoon ground dried ginger)
    • ½ teaspoon whole cloves (or ¼ teaspoon ground cloves)
    • ½ teaspoon allspice (ground)
    • 3 teaspoons black peppercorns
    • ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
    • 1 onion (optional, I personally don't add it in and it wasn't in the original recipe but some readers prefer this recipe with onion)

    Instructions
     

    • Place all ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring.
    • Simmer for 2-3 hours, partly covered and stirring from time to time.
    • Watch the video above in the post to see the consistency of the tomato sauce once cooked. If the sauce hasn't achieved the desired consistency, continue to simmer uncovered until it reaches the preferred consistency.
    • Strain half of the mixture through a coarse sieve into a bowl, and then the other half. Use a spoon to push sauce through the sieve and extract as much liquid as possible. Discard solids.
    • Alternatively, blend the cooked sauce in a food processor or chopper (but keep in mind the sauce will have a spicier kick).
    • Pour hot mixture into a medium-sized sterilised bottle and seal.
    • Store in fridge or a cool and dark place (depending on the process you used to can the sauce). If you are not familiar with how to properly preserve sauces, store in the fridge to be safe.
    • Once opened, store in the fridge.

    Video

    Notes

    Makes 400–500 ml. Double, triple or increase quantities in recipe to make a larger batch of sauce.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 23kcalCarbohydrates: 6gProtein: 1gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 350mgPotassium: 12mgFiber: 1gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 9IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 3mgIron: 1mg
    Tried this recipe?If you love it, let me know!

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Kerrie LST

      March 30, 2025 at 7:51 am

      I’m excited to try this soon, I want to give up store tomato sauce but was wondering how long it keeps in the fridge once opened

      Reply
    2. Carolyn

      March 24, 2025 at 9:51 am

      5 stars
      Hi Libby
      Could you use a stick blender in place of food processor

      Reply
      • Libby Hakim

        March 24, 2025 at 2:24 pm

        Absolutely!

        Reply
    3. Dianne Austin

      March 17, 2025 at 10:23 pm

      Hi, Your recipe sounds fantastic but I'm wondering if you could convert it for a pressure cooker???? I have three which are now making their way to my cook top. I believe the flavor is better in a pressure cooker, the nutrition is locked in and the cooking time is brought down to 45 minutes!!! Sadly my three stainless steel pressure cookers are not modern though they are super safe to use with great locking devices, but they have no gauges. I've made several stews and curries recently and the meat is so tender it could be cut with eye lashes. So if you can convert I'd love to try your recipe. Thanks for reading this, Dianne in Australia.

      Reply
      • Libby Hakim

        March 18, 2025 at 9:31 am

        Hi Dianne. I do have an Instant Pot pressure cooker but haven't tried to cook it in that. Perhaps jump on to a pressure cooker recipe website as I'm not likely to add a pressure cooker version any time soon. Happy cooking!

        Reply
    4. Jacki

      March 17, 2025 at 1:20 pm

      5 stars
      This is my 3rd year making this ridiculously good sauce, with the addition of Chilly to make it Chilly Tomato sauce. I'm a chilly addict so this was an essential addition for me. The first time I did the traditional method through the strainer but the last few times I have blended so only use 1 clove and 2 teaspoons of peppercorns. My goodness you cannot beat this sauce. It's absolutely delicious!!! Thank you for sharing your recipes

      Reply
      • Libby Hakim

        March 17, 2025 at 3:11 pm

        Love this review - "ridiculously good sauce" lol!! Thanks for the rating and review - and the variation idea, too. Happy cooking, Jacki!

        Reply
    5. Rachel

      March 13, 2025 at 1:49 pm

      my husband is not (and I mean not) a fan of homemade preserves and sauces. I made a batch and twisted his arm to try it. his review was "not bad, if you put that in a sauce bottle people would think it was real sauce" 🤣 it's freakin awesome I'd say. ⭐

      Reply
      • Libby Hakim

        March 13, 2025 at 3:52 pm

        haha - "real sauce"!! Perhaps some choko pickles for him next? Thanks for the lovely (and funny) review, Rachel 🙂

        Reply
    6. Mike

      March 12, 2025 at 11:38 am

      Made using your recipe as written, accidentally forgot the garlic (which I love !) and no onions, blended it because I'm lazy, and it's so delicious I've sent the link to my kids. Yum!

      Reply
      • Libby Hakim

        March 12, 2025 at 8:58 pm

        Yay! It's a great and much loved recipe. Enjoy the sauce. Perhaps one of the kids can make it with the garlic so you can compare!

        Reply
    7. Chris

      March 09, 2025 at 9:30 pm

      5 stars
      Fantastic recipe, sauce is better the bought, I need to make more 😊

      Reply
      • Libby Hakim

        March 09, 2025 at 10:11 pm

        Glad you loved it! It is hard to go back to store-bought though once you've made this. Happy cooking, Chris!

        Reply
    8. Carol Bourke

      March 06, 2025 at 8:43 pm

      Hi Libby I followed the recipe and after 5 hours it was still runny 😢 what should I have done so I can try again!!

      Reply
      • Libby Hakim

        March 08, 2025 at 11:36 am

        Hi Carol. I'm not exactly sure what's happened - but did you try turning up the heat a little and simmering completely uncovered (to allow it to reduce)? Hope you have more luck next time. It does depend on type of tomatoes you use, but that cooking time seems excessive!

        Reply
    9. Carol Hayes

      March 01, 2025 at 2:40 pm

      5 stars
      Fabulous tomato sauce so much better than store bought. Am now making my second batch with 3 x amount of tomatoes because it was that nice and I love the spicey kick it has.

      Reply
      • Libby Hakim

        March 05, 2025 at 7:19 am

        Isn't it the best!? Enjoy and thanks for leaving a rating and review, Carol x

        Reply
    10. Vonda

      February 26, 2025 at 8:47 am

      This is the best tomato sauce recipe. I have been looking for a good all fashioned tomato sauce recipe and this is it. I could eat it by the spoonful! Just but on my second batch of 4.5kgs of home grown tomatoes. It is so good, love the flavour.

      Reply
      • Libby Hakim

        March 05, 2025 at 7:50 am

        Thanks for the great feedback, Vonda. This is one of my favourites, too!

        Reply
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    Hi, I'm Libby, a recipe collector and writer. I love everything about home cooking and share modern classics and recipes that have been passed down for generations – I hope you find a few that bring back treasured memories.

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