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.
Lisa says
My man enjoyed this so much, he's in the kitchen making another batch, triple quantity. I've never been a tomato sauce person, but I have to agree that this is quite delicious. We used home-grown organic tomatoes, absolutely fantastic use for our bumper crop Thanks so much for this recipe !
Libby Hakim says
Awesome - thanks for the rating and review, Lisa. This sauce has been extremely popular and I'm so happy to hear from another fan of it. Happy cooking!
Hannah says
Can I blitz the sauce instead of passing thru a sieve? Will the texture be the same?
Libby Hakim says
Hi Hannah. Yes, a few people have commented that they've done this with great results. I haven't tried it myself yet but will once tomatoes are in season again here. Thanks. Libby
john says
just wanted to thank you for this. my family loved it! only thing i did just looking off the comments was cook the last 45 mins with the lid off and i blended everything instead of the sieve. it even thicken up more when it cooled which was perfect. what an aroma while it cooked as well!
Libby Hakim says
Wonderful - you're welcome! I might add those ideas to the main post as well given there have been so many comments on this. Thanks for the feedback and rating, John 🙂
Keith Roser says
Absolutely the best sauce. Easy to make with cupboard ingredients and fresh, ripe tomatoes. I thought it was a bit watery so used a light cornflour slurry to thicken. Didn't affect the flavour and didn't waste any of the sauce through evaporation.
I will do this again next season.
Libby Hakim says
Wonderful - thanks for taking the time to review Nana Ling's tomato sauce recipe, Keith! Happy cooking 🙂
Kimberley says
Love this recipe, made a batch today and making another tomorrow. Only change I made was to not strain it, I just blitzed it all together and made a thicker sauce! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Libby Hakim says
Thanks for the lovely feedback and review, Kimberley. Enjoy your homemade tomato sauce!
Kelly Brooks says
Hi there. I’ve always been a big relish fan but thought I’d put some homegrown tomatoes to use as tomatoe sauce for a change. Tried your recipe and loved it. It does as others say have a bit of kick, what ingredient gives the kick? I thought it might be the cayenne but such a small amount surely wouldn’t do it. If I could decrease the kick just a little it will be perfect
Libby Hakim says
Hi Kelly. Thanks for taking the time to leave a rating and review 🙂 I reckon decrease the quantities of both the ginger and peppercorns a little to soften that kick. Happy cooking!
Shannon says
The written version of your Nana Ling's tomato sauce - including her quantities - is almost exactly the same as my Nana's tomato sauce recipe. Only differences are my Nana's recipe also has apple (2-3 apples per 10lbs of tomato) - doesn't have peppercorn - and the quantity she gave for the cayenne was 'a little' My Nana was based in Central Victoria. I wonder whether the original source for both recipes was the same. In her method you bring the tomato and apple to the boil, then add all the other ingredients.
Libby Hakim says
Interesting. I notice that many of the recipes were shared a lot back then in newspapers and sometimes with a few adjustments where one person has altered it slightly to suit their preferences. This recipe has been so popular!
Dianne says
Hello Libby,
I have been making Tomato sauce for years and years, followed in my Aunties footsteps. She used Ezy Sauce and I have been using that also. I grew lots of Beefsteak tomatoes this year, so after making a huge batch using 9kgs of fruit earlier in the year, hot kitchen !!, I just wanted to make smaller batches of sauce. Decided to give your Nana's a try. Well! absolutely terrific.😁 It cooked down to perfection and I ended with just under 1litre of rich thick sauce. The spices ratio is just spot on and no onions !, could not taste them anyway. I never have sieved mine at all, I always use a stick blender, no waste and it makes the sauce thicker also. All ready bottled and corked, next, wax time.
Thank you so much Libby 😀😀
Libby Hakim says
Hi Dianne - lucky you with all those beefsteak tomatoes! So pleased you love the recipe. I think I'll add your option of just blending it all to the recipe, too. So thanks for that feedback. In case you've still got plenty of tomatoes, I've also just added a tomato relish recipe which is getting great feedback: https://www.cookingwithnanaling.com/tomato-relish/. Thanks again for taking the time to leave a great rating and review. Libby x
Susan says
I think I had my simmer turn down too low, because after the 3 hours it was still very watery. Took the lid off and did another hour with a bit more heat, which worked a treat. It made a single 500g jar and really it tastes lovely and has a nice little kick to it. Has been printed off and added to my book of favourite recipes. I have an old, hand written cookbook of my Great Grandmothers also, you can come across some magnificent finds in them!!
Libby Hakim says
Awesome! Thanks so much for the rating and review, Susan. So glad you enjoyed the sauce. And how lucky to have your own handwritten recipe book from your great grandmother x
Jennifer W says
Great recipe. I needed to thicken sauce with a little cornflour. I simmered sauce for over 3 hours with lid on . Sauce has a lovely flavour and I will make again.
Libby Hakim says
Thanks for taking the time to leave a rating and review, Jennifer. I might add some further direction around cook time as it seems to vary a little depending on the tomatoes used. Glad you came up with a solution. Enjoy! x
Annyce says
I used Black Russian tomatoes. They mushed down very quick so possibly need to increase tomato quantity or as I did cooked longer then blitzed all ingredients which has given a very peppery flavour. Loved.
Libby Hakim says
Hi Annyce. Thanks for your feedback. Yes, the type of tomatoes can affect the result and blitzing instead of running through a sieve may have made it more peppery too. Glad you loved it! Happy cooking 🙂
Cindylea Imlach says
Love Love Love
I live in a country town and gave a few people a bottle of this tasty tasty sauce.. I now have so many people asking me to make them some.. Thankyou for sharing your recipe.. Definitely a WINNER here 😀
Libby Hakim says
Wonderful - one of my faves too! Thanks so much for the rating and review, Cindylea. Enjoy!