Simple Roasted Yellow Tomato Sauce
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This simple roasted yellow tomato sauce comes together in no time and tastes sweet and bright, truly like summer in a sauce. Use it in all of your favorite recipes calling for tomato sauce, or freeze it for a future day.
Last October, at the tail end of tomato season, when the sungolds were still arriving in droves at our little co-op, I made this sauce on repeat. It calls for minimal prep, a handful of ingredients, and a quick roast at high heat, but produces a sauce that tastes like so much more: sweet and bright and fresh all at once. Truly, summer in a sauce.
If you’ve made these roasted broccoli steaks, you know this sauce. In that recipe it’s referred to as “tomato butter,” and it calls for cherry tomatoes. I love this sauce so much for its low-effort and high-reward, I included it in Pizza Night, and when I am pressed for time, it’s the one I make most often.
Here, I’ve doubled the amount of tomatoes and, as noted, used yellow tomatoes, which produce a beautifully golden-hued sauce. At the height of sungold season, this sauce is exceptional, but it tastes nearly as delicious with off-peak tomatoes, too, so don’t be afraid to use what you can find.
I love tossing this sauce with pasta (see below) and shaving lots of parmesan over the top, and I love it as a pizza sauce, too. But use it, of course, in any of your favorite recipes calling for tomato sauce.
Homemade Yellow Tomato Sauce, Step by Step
First, find some small yellow or orange tomatoes. As noted, I love using sungolds.
You’ll also need 1 onion, olive oil, salt, butter, and water.
Place the tomatoes and onions in a 9×13-inch pan and drizzle with olive oil and salt.
Toss to combine, then transfer to the oven and roast…
… until the tomatoes begin to collapse and blister slightly, about 30 minutes.
Transfer the tomatoes and onions to a food processor or blender along with some water:
Purée until smooth:
Add some butter:
Then purée again. Taste and adjust with salt to taste. Thin with more water if necessary.
Transfer to a storage jar or use immediately…
… on pasta (with some of the reserved pasta-cooking water):
… and pizza, of course:
Store the sauce in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Simple Roasted Yellow Tomato Sauce
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 1 quart
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Adapted from the tomato “butter” recipe in this roasted broccoli steak recipe.
Notes:
- Tomatoes: You can use red cherry tomatoes in this recipe, and the sauce will taste delicious, but it won’t be yellow 🙂
- Salt: I always use Diamond Crystal kosher salt. Use half as much if you are using Morton or fine sea salt
- Butter: I always use salted, but unsalted is fine
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds sun gold or other small yellow or orange tomato, see notes above
- 1 yellow or white onion, peeled and chopped to yield about 2 heaping cups (12 ounces)
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1.5 teaspoons kosher salt, see notes above
- 1/2 cup water
- 3 tablespoons butter, see notes above
- flaky sea salt to taste
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 475ºF.
- In a 9×13-inch pan, toss the tomatoes and onion with the olive oil and salt.
- Transfer the pan to the oven and roast for 25-30 minutes. The tomatoes should be beginning to collapse and starting to lightly blister in spots.
- Remove the pan from the oven and transfer the roasted tomatoes and onions along with the water to a food processor or high-speed blender. (If using a blender be sure to let the mixture cool briefly before puréeing, or be sure to start puréeing on low, with the small opening at the top removed and covered lightly with a tea towel to allow the hot air to escape.) Purée until smooth.
- Add the butter and purée again until smooth. Taste. Adjust with salt to taste. Add water by the tablespoon to thin. The sauce should be pourable.
- Store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or freeze for up to 3 months.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Sauce
- Method: oven
- Cuisine: American, Italian
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
63 Comments on “Simple Roasted Yellow Tomato Sauce”
Alex, I am assuming the pureeing is enough to smooth this sauce with the skins still on or do you pick out the skins? I have done this with sugar bombs and grape and cherry tomatoes and some of these have tough skins. Do you find that eventually the sauce spins smooth?
I put mine through a wire strainer and push it through with the bottom of a soup ladle. This gets out any remaining particulate skin and seeds. Doesn’t take much time.
It does! There is a little texture in the sauce but not so much that it’s unpleasant or really even noticeable. My Vitamix might make a slightly smoother sauce than my food processor.
I have made a variation of this sauce lots of times.Sometimes adding chopped garlic at the end to also roast with it, but it’s the “skin” questions and the removal that I want to address. A very large part of the nutritional value of tomatoes is found in the skin. If you have a high speed blender like a Vitamix there should be no problem with the skins. I have also made this style of sauce with a quik blistering and charring the tomatoes under the broiler for 15 mins and then just tossed them with cooked pasta, feta ,ripped kalamata olives and fresh italian parsley and basil…..yum….I have had this is rural Greece…. as for the skins??? Viva the fiber, long live the biome!!!! Love your cooking life Allie…. Good cheers to you and happy summer… especially with kids!!!! take good care!!!!
Feta + olives + herbs sounds SO yummy!! Thanks so much for writing and sharing all of your notes and thank you for your kind words, too 🙂
I was waiting for our local Farmer’s Market to open this morning and saw this recipe—you had me at the beautiful color! I just made it with a mix of yellow and orange grape/cherry tomatoes. 4 TBSP of butter, because – why not? This is fantastic! Going to toss it with fresh papadelle and roasted summer vegetables.
Yay and yum to papardelle + roasted veggies… so good! Thanks for writing Mikki 🙂
Remember that garlic confit from a couple of weeks ago? After the butter, I put some of that in the food processor for a great addition! Super sauce. Thanks, Ali!
YUM!!!! Love this idea. Will try … I still have confit on hand.
Hi. I’m growing sungold tomatoes and can’t wait to try this recipe. I accidentally deleted your email for esquites pizza. Is it in your pizza book under a different name?
Kind regards
Karen
Yes! It’s called Roasted Hatch Chile Pizza with Corn and Oaxaca Cheese… page 62.
Thank you! I found it and will try it this weekend!
Great 🙂
Just made the Sungold Sauce. Yum!!
I’ve looked all through the book and I don’t see a recipe for the pizza using this sauce? Maybe I missed it? 🤦♀️
I *think* it’s the sauce, a little mozzarella, some pesto, and basil??
Thanks Ali!!
Yay! Great to hear, Kathleen 🙂
There is no recipe in the book for it… sadly 🙁 I include the roasted tomato butter recipe in the sauce chapter, and I use that sauce with the roasted broccoli pizza with olives in the fall chapter as well as the broccoli rabe salad in the fall chapter, and you can use the roasted tomato butter recipe really in any of the recipes calling for tomato sauce.
I included a clip of the pizza you are referring to (I think) in my latest IG Reel, and to make it simply spread the sungold tomato sauce over the dough (Neapolitanish), top with 3 ounces of low-moisture whole milk mozzarella, drizzle of olive oil, pinch of flaky sea salt. Bake it. Out of the oven, drizzle with basil pesto and sprinkle with fresh basil.
I’ve made so many of your recipes and ALL of them are winners. But last night, after my BF and I finished a day of painting my apartment, it was 8:30 & we were tired & hungry. I had seen this recipe earlier in the day & upon realizing I had some yellow & orange tomatoes, immediately cut up an onion, roasted it with the tomatoes & about 40 minutes later we sat down to the freshest & most delicious pasta.
Just had to give you a shout: this was delicious & I’ll never buy jarred tomato sauce again!
Oh hooray! This makes me so happy. Those sorts of meals — the ones after days of painting or of moving into a new apartment/house — can be the most memorable/satisfying. Thanks so much for writing 🙂
So perfect, easy, and delicious!
Great to hear, Cynthia! Thanks for writing 🙂
Fantastic! This recipe arrived in my inbox just in time – had just picked 2 buckets full of Sun Gold and Sweet 100s. Roasted 3 batches and now have 1.5 quarts in freezer. Thanks for this easy, delicious solution to my gardens abundance!
YES! So nice to hear. I love Sweet 100s too. Thanks for writing 🙂
Just made this – it’s amazing!
Great to hear, Romy! Thanks for writing 🙂
ali I always love everything you do. I cant wait to try this Thank youBarrie Kaufman
Thank you, Barrie 🙂
This was absolutely fantastic and so easy to make, we couldn’t believe the incredible flavor. we ate it on polenta with corn & roasted vegetables and then again warmed up as a “dip” for toasted bread.
So nice to hear, Rose! Your meal sounds divine 🙂
I recently made this recipe and it was so delish that I made it again, making enough to waterbath can (7 pints) – I did alter the recipe by adding sliced fresh garlic from the garden and I used shallots since I did not have any onions. I will really enjoy this dish over the winter when the cherry tomato plants have all died back.
Great to hear! Thanks so much for writing and sharing this 🙂
This is so so so good! I used pasta water to thin it a bit, and added fresh basil and parsley to the Vitamix because my garden runneth over. We will eat this again and again. ❤️
YUM! Great to hear, Meg. Thanks for writing 🙂
This sauce is amazing. Used Golden Gem tomatoes from my garden, had just enough. Served it overt penne along side some grilled summer vegetables. Sometimes the simplest things can just be so delicious. Thank you.
That sounds like a perfect summer meal! Thanks for writing and sharing 🙂
Ali, another winning recipe. I added 4 cloves of garlic to the roasting process. Glad you mentioned adding water. It was really thick. Time to start freezing for winter. XO. Mrs B
Yum! Great to hear Mrs. B! Hope all is well. xoxo
This was delicious! I didn’t need to add any pasta water – great use of my prolific tomato plants!
So nice to hear, Sally! Thanks so much for writing. Jealous of your tomato plants 🙂
This is a wonderful recipe! Very simple and easy. Love it! Every year I grown four sun gold tomato plant every year. I have such an abundance of tomatoes I usually dehydrate them and use them through out the year. This is such a nice change. Thank you!
So nice to hear this, Nanette! Thanks for writing and sharing 🙂
Made this yellow tomato sauce but had to use some red cherry tomatoes as hard to find the yellow ones. Followed the recipe exactly otherwise and it came out perfect. Made some pasta and used the sauce and it was wonderful. Will be making a pizza today and use the sauce. Thanks for the recipe.
Great to hear, Don! Thanks so much for writing and sharing this 🙂 🙂 🙂
So simple but so good. Thanks for sharing this! Will definitely be making more of it.
Great to hear, Alison! Thanks so much for writing 🙂
This roasted yellow tomato sauce looks absolutely delicious! Thanks for sharing! 🌟
I saw this just in time! Got a ton of these tomatoes in my CSA box. The sauce is so good and so easy. It’s going on some pizza this Friday!
Woohoo!! Makes me happy 🙂
This recipe is divine, and showcases my gorgeous homegrown sunburst tomatoes! The picture in the post shows short pasta. Before I ruin this beautiful and delicious sauce, do you recommend short cavernous pasta or long thin pasta?
Hi! So nice to hear 🙂 My family loves short pasta, so that is how I have served it, but I think it would be delicious with anything you like. I love bucatini, and think it would be divine with it.
10/10. I will say stick to 3T butter, I figured 4T was close enough and didn’t love that. Fortunately, I had some more cherry tomatoes and I roasted those and added them and re-blended. Also, even though I used 24 oz. the first time around, there seemed to be more stems than I would have expected and I think my ratios were a bit off from the beginning. Anywho, I absolutely love this as a pasta sauce and can not wait until I make it again. I’m trying to decide if I will wait until next summer for the Sungolds or if I will make it again with plain Jane red cherry tomatoes. Very nice!
Great to hear! Thanks so much for writing and sharing these notes. It’s great with plain Jane red cherry tomatoes!
Oops! forgot to add that I did add a small handful of basil leaves before I blended.
I don’t know what happened to my original comment, but I just wanted to say that this is absolutely fabulous and I cannot wait to make it again next year.
Some of the comments have been mysteriously disappearing… not sure why, but I found it in the “trash” bin and I’ve restored it… thank you!
Thank you! Your site is wonderful. Dependable. You are responsible in part for my sourdough success. Knocking furiously I have never had a bad loaf and I credit you for that. I know if I make something from here it will turn out.
Yum!
So good!!! I served with some meatballs and kale. Love that I have more in the fridge to do some other things with. I was multitasking with a toddler, and I didn’t want any extra parts to clean. I threw this in my nutribullet skins and all and it worked out just fine. It’s not as smooth as the picture but taste was still amazing.
Great to hear, Natalja! Enjoy your little one 🙂
Another out of this world delicious recipe!
I have a fairly large jar of sauce left over, do you think this could be made into a tomato soup? Any thoughts on how other than adding water to thin down?
Great to hear, Susan! And yes, definitely: I think you could just thin it with, as you said, water or vegetable or chicken stock. You could add a little cream for some richness.
I’ve made this four times in the last few weeks as my golden cherry tomatoes are going off. The sauce will be so nice to remind us of summer in the colder months. Thank you!
I have been so amazed by how the sun golds keep on coming! My co-op just stopped carrying them, but I was buying them through the end of last week. Such a treat!
I cannot be without a batch of this sauce in the freezer, we love it that much. I made a double batch today, froze half and then used the other half to sauce sautéed zucchini, leeks and tiny chicken meatballs. Put it over einkorn penne pasta and we all swooned. Thank you so much for this and all the great recipes you develop year after year.
It’s my pleasure Meg … thank you for your kind words. I feel similarly about the sauce and so do my kids. It’s just so simple and so good. It was the sauce I made most often this summer for its ease and reward.