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.
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!
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).
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
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.
Julie Cummings says
Oh my gaaawd Libby this sauce is soooo delicious, I doubled the recipe with the intent to give some away to relo’s etc. but when I tasted it I realised that nobody was going to get any! my Grandson poured some on plain spaghetti & came back for seconds, I don’t know if I will ever be able to go back to store bought sauce ever again,
I used grosse lisse tomatoes (like what you get in the supermarkets) & it took over 4 hrs assumably because they have a lot of juice, lucky I started it in the morning, will definitely make this again & again and will also be checking out the rest of your recipe’s
Libby Hakim says
Love love love this review - thank you, Julie. Really made me smile 🙂 So glad you and your family love the sauce. Enjoy browsing the rest of the recipes x
Katinka says
Hi Libby, I was wondering if coconut sugar would be a suitable replacement? I have a bad reaction to castor sugar/cane sugar in general but realise that the sugar is needed as a preservative. Thanks in advance.
Libby Hakim says
Hi Katinka. I haven't tried it myself, but I've read that you can use coconut sugar when preserving with jams etc so I'm sure it would also be suitable for this sauce. Happy cooking and hope you love the sauce 🙂
Katinka says
@Libby Hakim,
It's the absolute bomb and I will never buy tomato sauce again. I love that it's from your great grandmother. I grew up in Maitland (now in the northern rivers) so I have an extra little affection for this. I subbed cherry tomatoes, and didn't have allspice so used a cinnamon stick and fennel seeds instead. It is SOOO delicious. Thank you Nana Ling!
Libby Hakim says
So lovely to hear that, Katinka. And what a coincidence! Happy cooking 🙂
Tony says
Wow. Just made this sauce. It's so tasty. I simmered a little longer to thicken and the results were a perfect sauce.
More tasty than the sauce I remember my mum making when I was a kid.
Libby Hakim says
Awesome - thanks so much for the 5-star rating and review. Much appreciated. Enjoy your sauce!
Anja says
Hi this is the second year of making this sauce! Just love it! However have heap more cherry tommies this year, still I’m at the present moment giving it ago, hope it’s works!
Will let you know, I did a batch a couple months ago with bigger toms, just delicious! This will be my third lot!
Libby Hakim says
Hi Anja - Awesome, thanks for the feedback! It is a popular recipe for sure and I'd love to hear how it goes with the cherry tomatoes. Happy cooking! Libby x
Susan says
How long does it last in the fridge if not canned? In just a sauce bottle?
Libby Hakim says
Mine always lasts at least 6 weeks. Hope that helps!
Cindy says
Hi Libby,
I have never left a recipe review before, but I had to tell you that your sauce is a huge hit here in the Midwest/USA! My husband and 20+ year old daughters (who are wives and good cooks themselves) wouldn't stay out of the pot as I was cooking it down. The whole house smelled absolutely amazing as it simmered. I had a loaf of fresh bread and they kept ladling bowl after bowl and would dip it...we have affectionately named it Libby's Soppin' Sauce on my recipe card. I may have enough to can a few jars for pasta etc. if I can keep them out of it long enough! 😉 This one is going in my "Family Favorites-Never Fail" recipe box. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe!
Libby Hakim says
Hi Cindy. You're so welcome. This may be my favourite review ever! Thank you so much for cooking it up all the way over there in the USA. Your review really did make me smile and I'm so glad you enjoyed it enough to share it with your family, rename the recipe and include it in your recipe box. Every time I cook it myself now I'll hear "Libby's Soppin' Sauce" in an Amercian accent! Sending lots of best wishes from Australia 🇦🇺 🇺🇸 ❤️ Libby x
Josh L says
Found this recipe to compare Australian tomato sauce to American ketchup ( I’m American) and it sure looks like all the same ingredients from the last few times I made homemade ketchup, which of course is way better than store bought anyways. I’m gonna make some up today and try it out. Looks delicious.
Libby says
Hi Josh from the US of A! Thanks for giving my Aussie tomato sauce recipe a try. Our supermarkets have tomato sauce and ketchup and I can never tell the difference even though they are supposed to be slightly different. I hope you love the recipe. Happy cooking! Best wishes, Libby
Ral Avery says
Loved this recipe, making my second batch as we speak!!
Can you substitute ground pepper instead of peppercorns if so how much group pepper would you recommend.
Have now saved this recipe thanks for sharing!!!
Libby says
Hi Ral. So glad you love the recipe. Thanks for leaving a 5 star rating 🤩. Yes, you simply replace the 3 teaspoons of peppercorns with 3 teaspoons of ground pepper. Happy cooking! Libby 🙂
Debra says
loved this recipe. How long does it last in the cupboard (assuming it doesn't get used first)
Libby says
Hi Debra! It really depends on the bottling process. If you follow a proper canning process with sterilised bottles and a water bath, it can last for up to 12 months. I generally use sterilised bottles and store in the fridge and it lasts at least 6 months. Happy cooking and so happy to hear you loved the recipe 🙂
Melanie says
Oh your Nana - her 20 lbs of tomatoes! that's 9kg and no doubt a hot kitchen - I'm making this super recipe for 2nd time, 4kg toms only. I used a slow cooker 6 hours and gas hob 2 hours and they are a muchness. Love the flavours, as does Aussie husband, sure don't need an onion. Interesting, I thought at first both methods wanted water, took so long cos I was then evaporating it.
Libby says
Hi Melanie. Thanks for the great rating and your lovely comments. So pleased you're both enjoying it! Yes, they cooked up big quantities back then! Libby x
Jasmine says
Hi there ! Love this recipe I’m making it now. However I can’t seem to find the video to show consistency’s etc etc ?? Could you possibly link to me please
Libby says
Hi Jasmine. Sure, here's the link to the video on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/1625900620824875/videos/3053987361306825 I'll have to look into why it may not be appearing. Thanks for asking! Happy cooking 🙂 Libby x
nikkchorse says
Would I be able to make this is the slow cooker?
Libby says
Hi. I'm not sure as I haven't tested it in the slow cooker and don't have a slow cooker myself. Sorry about that! Let me know if you try it 🙂
Greg says
I'm on my fourth batch of this recipe now. We've had a glut of Roma tomatoes. We love it! So does the extended family. I added some extra cloves of home grown garlic for more flavour.
Libby says
That's fantastic, Greg! So pleased to hear this. I've also made several batches, it's one of the recipes I keep going back to also. Enjoy! (And that homegrown garlic sounds amazing!) Libby 🙂