Tomato paste substitutes

Canned tomato sauce is roughly a third the concentration of paste, which is where the 3-to-1 figure comes from — the work is boiling off the difference.

Amount

3 tbsp canned tomato sauce for 1 tbsp tomato paste (16 g)

Then

Either simmer it in the pan over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until it has darkened and stopped looking watery, or add it as-is and take 2 tbsp of liquid out of the recipe.

Best for

when the recipe uses 1-2 tbsp and you can spare 5 minutes at the stove, soups, braises and anything cooked with the lid off, chili, bolognese and stews, when tomato sauce is what is in the cupboard

Taste

slightly brighter and less concentrated unless you really reduce it; the meaty depth is a step down from paste

Texture

the same, provided you cooked the water off — thinner and looser if you did not

Look

a lighter, more orange-red than the deep brick colour paste gives, unless you fry it until it darkens

Prep

Fry 3 tbsp tomato sauce in the pan for about 5 minutes until it darkens and thickens.

Pantry

Likely in your cupboard

Suits

vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free

1. 01Reduce it in the pan, not in a separate pot: put it in with the onions and garlic and let it fry until it starts to stick and turn brick-coloured. That sticking is the browning the paste would have given you.
2. 02Scale it as arithmetic: ¼ cup paste becomes ¾ cup tomato sauce, reduced by about 20 minutes in a wide pan.
3. 03Canned tomato sauce is usually salted. Hold back ¼ tsp of the recipe's salt per ½ cup you use and taste at the end.

The 3-to-1 conversion runs both ways: 1 tbsp of tomato paste plus 2 tbsp of water gives you 3 tbsp of tomato sauce, which is useful when you have the paste and the recipe wants sauce.

Sieved, unseasoned tomatoes with nothing added. Thicker than tomato sauce and completely unseasoned, which makes it the cleanest swap of the three canned options.

Amount

2-3 tbsp tomato puree or passata for 1 tbsp tomato paste (16 g)

Then

Fry it in the pan for 3-5 minutes until it thickens and darkens; puree starts thicker than tomato sauce, so it takes slightly less time.

Best for

when you want no added salt, sugar or herbs, Italian sauces where the seasoning should come from you, curries and dishes where onion and garlic powder would taste wrong, when you are also short on paste and want a neutral base

Taste

clean and fresh-tasting; less savoury depth than paste but no competing seasoning either

Texture

close to paste after a few minutes of frying

Look

a bright, slightly orange red that deepens if you keep frying it

Prep

Fry 2-3 tbsp puree or passata for 3-5 minutes until thick and darkened.

Pantry

Likely in your cupboard

Suits

vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free

1. 01Use 2 tbsp if your puree is a thick European-style passata, and 3 tbsp if it pours like a thin juice — thickness varies a lot by brand.
2. 02Because it is unsalted, do not reduce the recipe's salt as you would with canned tomato sauce.
3. 03British recipes calling for 'tomato purée' mean concentrated paste, not this. If your recipe is British, you already have what it wanted.

The naming confusion is real and worth knowing: in the US, tomato puree sits between sauce and paste in thickness; in the UK, 'tomato purée' on a tube is exactly what an American recipe calls tomato paste.

The least concentrated of the canned options and the most common thing in a cupboard, so it needs the most reduction — but it gets there.

Amount

¼ cup canned crushed, diced or whole tomatoes for 1 tbsp tomato paste (16 g)

Then

Blend or crush them smooth first if they are diced or whole, then fry in the pan for 8-10 minutes until the liquid has gone and what is left is thick, darkened and starting to stick.

Best for

when a can of chopped tomatoes is all you have, recipes already built on canned tomatoes, where you can just reduce them harder, long-cooked braises and ragus, when you want the freshest tomato flavour of any option here

Taste

freshest and brightest of all the swaps; the least savoury depth, because tomatoes reduced for 10 minutes are not tomatoes reduced for hours

Texture

good once properly reduced, sometimes slightly grainy or pulpy where paste is smooth

Look

a lively red rather than deep brick, with visible pulp unless you blended it

Prep

Blend ¼ cup canned tomatoes, then fry 8-10 minutes until thick and sticking.

Pantry

Likely in your cupboard

Suits

vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free

1. 01Crush or blend them before frying. Whole chunks will not reduce to a paste-like consistency in the time you have.
2. 02Use a wide pan rather than a saucepan. Surface area is what evaporates water — the same amount in a narrow pot takes twice as long.
3. 03If the recipe already uses canned tomatoes, do not add more: just take the lid off and let the whole thing reduce 10 minutes longer.

This is the swap that makes the point of the whole page: tomato paste is just tomatoes with the water taken out, so any tomato product can become it if you are willing to stand at the stove.

Dehydrated tomato solids — the same thing as paste with all the water removed, so rehydrating it gives you paste back.

Amount

1 tbsp tomato powder + 1 tbsp warm water for 1 tbsp tomato paste (16 g)

Then

Stir them into a paste and let it stand 2 minutes to hydrate fully before it goes in the pan.

Best for

when you want a shelf-stable option that never goes to waste, adding depth to spice rubs and dry mixes with no liquid at all, camping and small kitchens with no fridge space, when you only ever need a spoonful at a time

Texture

the same once hydrated

Look

the same deep red-orange

Prep

Stir 1 tbsp tomato powder with 1 tbsp warm water and rest 2 minutes.

Pantry

Special trip

Suits

vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free

1. 01Add the water. Stirred in dry it will draw liquid out of the dish unevenly and can taste dusty.
2. 02Brands vary in concentration, so taste after the first tablespoon and add more in half-spoon steps.
3. 03In a rub or a dry mix, use it as-is at 2 tsp per tablespoon of paste — this is the one job it does better than paste.

The reason it sits below the canned options here is only availability. If you have it, it is the most accurate swap on the page and by some distance the least wasteful.

Concentrated tomato with sugar, vinegar, salt and spices already in it. Excellent where the recipe wanted those things anyway, and obvious where it did not.

Amount

2 tbsp ketchup for 1 tbsp tomato paste (16 g)

Then

Cut 1 tsp of sugar and about half the vinegar from the recipe, since ketchup is roughly a quarter sugar and is already sharpened with vinegar.

Best for

barbecue sauces, glazes and marinades that already contain sugar and vinegar, meatloaf, sloppy joes and burger sauces, when you need 1-2 tbsp and have nothing else tomato in the house, sauces you are not going to cook for long

Taste

sweeter and sharper, and slightly spiced from the clove and allspice most brands use; in an Indian or Italian dish that reads as wrong rather than merely different

Texture

close to paste, a shade looser

Look

a brighter, glossier red, and it will not darken to brick in the pan the way paste does

Prep

Use 2 tbsp ketchup and cut 1 tsp sugar and half the vinegar from the recipe.

Pantry

Likely in your cupboard

Suits

vegan, dairy-free, nut-free

1. 01Remove 1 tsp sugar per 2 tbsp ketchup from the recipe, and taste before adding any vinegar or lemon the recipe calls for.
2. 02Hold back ¼ tsp of the recipe's salt per 2 tbsp used.
3. 03Do not fry it hard the way you would paste. Its sugar scorches and turns bitter — stir it in later, over lower heat.

Worth being clear about where this fails: in a slow-cooked curry or ragu the sugar and vinegar build up over an hour into a sweet-and-sour note you cannot take back out. Keep it for short-cooked, already-sweet sauces.

Already seasoned with garlic, onion, herbs and often sugar, so you are adding a finished sauce rather than a raw ingredient.

Amount

¼ cup jarred marinara or pasta sauce for 1 tbsp tomato paste (16 g)

Then

Simmer it in the pan for 5-8 minutes until it thickens, watching it — the garlic and herbs in it will catch and burn sooner than plain tomato would.

Best for

Italian dishes where garlic and basil are wanted anyway, when a jar is open in the fridge, quick pan sauces you are not going to season heavily, pizza and pasta bakes

Taste

herby and garlicky, sweeter than plain tomato; you can taste the jar, especially in a dish that is not Italian

Texture

good once reduced, occasionally slightly grainy from the onion in it

Look

flecked with green herbs and a duller red, so it never gives the clean deep-brick colour of fried paste

Prep

Simmer ¼ cup jarred sauce 5-8 minutes over medium heat until thickened.

Pantry

Likely in your cupboard

Suits

vegan, nut-free

1. 01Cut back the recipe's garlic, onion powder and dried herbs — a quarter cup of jarred sauce already contains a fair amount of each.
2. 02Hold back ¼ tsp salt per ¼ cup, and taste before adding more.
3. 03Reduce it over medium rather than high heat. The herbs and garlic in it burn before the water is gone at high heat.

The seasoning is the whole trade-off. In a bolognese nobody will notice; in a Thai curry or a Moroccan tagine the dried oregano will be the first thing you taste.

This is how tomato paste is made, only faster and in smaller quantity. It takes half an hour and it works.

Amount

½ lb (225 g) ripe tomatoes for 2 tbsp tomato paste (32 g)

Then

Blend them skins and all, then cook in a wide pan over medium heat for 25-35 minutes, stirring now and then, until it has gone from a thin puree to a thick spoonable paste that leaves a clean trail when you drag a spoon through it. It reduces by roughly three-quarters.

Best for

high summer, when tomatoes are cheap and better than anything in a can, when there is no tinned tomato in the house at all, making a batch to freeze in tablespoon portions, when you want no salt, sugar or citric acid at all

Taste

brighter and fresher, and less deeply savoury than commercial paste, which is reduced far longer than half an hour

Texture

good and thick, slightly less smooth unless you sieve it

Look

a clear bright red rather than the dark brick of canned paste

Prep

Blend ½ lb ripe tomatoes and cook down in a wide pan 25-35 minutes until thick and spoonable.

Pantry

Likely in your cupboard

Suits

vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free

1. 01Use the ripest tomatoes you have, and plum or Roma types if you can choose — they are meatier and reduce faster than watery salad tomatoes.
2. 02Do not salt it while it reduces; salt draws water out and slows the whole thing down. Season the dish instead.
3. 03Keep the heat at medium. Too high and the sugars catch on the bottom of the pan and the whole batch tastes burnt.

Half a pound of tomatoes gives you roughly 2 tbsp of paste, which tells you plainly how concentrated the tinned stuff is.

The most concentrated tomato flavour of anything here, and the most distinctive — it tastes of dried tomato rather than of cooked tomato.

Amount

3 sun-dried tomato halves (dry-packed) + 2 tbsp hot water for 1 tbsp tomato paste (16 g)

Then

Soak the dry halves in the hot water for 20 minutes until soft, then blend them with the soaking water into a paste. If yours are packed in oil, drain them and blend with 1 tbsp water; skip the soaking.

Best for

when you want a big hit of savoury depth in a small amount, pasta sauces, tapenades and dressings, roasted vegetable dishes and sandwich spreads, when the dried-tomato flavour is a feature

Taste

intense, sweet-savoury and slightly leathery — recognisably sun-dried tomato, not tomato paste

Texture

thick and slightly fibrous unless you blend it a long time

Look

a darker, browner red than paste, and it does not brighten a sauce the way paste does

Prep

Soak 3 dry halves in 2 tbsp hot water 20 minutes, then blend smooth with the soaking liquid.

Suits

vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free

1. 01Soak dry-packed halves for the full 20 minutes or the paste will be gritty and chewy rather than smooth.
2. 02Use the soaking water in the paste rather than throwing it away; most of the flavour has gone into it.
3. 03Dry-packed sun-dried tomatoes are usually salted heavily. Cut ¼ tsp of the recipe's salt per tablespoon of paste you make.

Reach for this when you want depth in a dish you can taste it in. It is the wrong choice for a curry or a Mexican stew, where the dried-tomato note sits oddly against the spices.