Don’t have tomato paste, or realized you’re all out while you’re cooking? Here’s the best tomato paste substitute to use in recipes.
Making a recipe that calls for tomato paste and don’t have it? Don’t worry, there are few options that are perfectly suited as a substitution. Tomato paste is a paste made from tomatoes that are cooked for hours until they reduce into a thick, rich and lightly sweet paste. It’s used for enhancing tomato sauces and stews. It comes in a very small, thin can: or you can also find it in a squeezable tube (our favorite).
Don’t have time to shop for it? Or cooking and just realized you don’t have it? (It happens often, over here!) Here are some substitute ideas.
Best tomato paste substitute
1. Tomato puree or sauce
The best substitute for tomato paste? Canned tomato sauce or tomato puree. These sauces are not nearly as thick as tomato paste, and they don’t have the lightly sweet flavor either. To make up for both, use this substitution ratio:
- For 1 tablespoon tomato paste, use 2 tablespoons tomato puree or sauce mixed with ¼ teaspoon sugar, and remove 1 tablespoon of other liquids in the recipe.
2. Ketchup
Don’t have tomato sauce or puree? No problem. The next best tomato paste substitute is ketchup! Ketchup has a consistency similar to tomato paste, but it has a saltier, tangier, and sweeter flavor. Most recipes use tomato paste in small quantities, so using a 1:1 substitution should not affect the integrity of the recipe too much. If the recipe calls for large quantities of tomato paste or if the vibe doesn’t lend itself to ketchup flavor, you should not use this substitution idea.
Related recipes
Here are some recipes where you could use this tomato paste substitution:
- Pasta e Ceci (Italian Chickpea Soup)
- Homemade Enchilada Sauce
- Minestrone Soup
- Best Jackfruit Tacos
- Vegetarian Tortellini Soup
- Shrimp Cocktail
Quick Tomato Paste Substitute
- Prep Time: 1 minute
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 1 minute
- Yield: 1 tablespoon 1x
Description
Don’t have tomato paste, or realized you’re all out while you’re cooking? Here’s the best tomato paste substitute to use in recipes.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons tomato puree or sauce
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
Instructions
- Mix the tomato puree or sauce with ¼ teaspoon sugar. When you’re cooking, remove 1 tablespoon of other liquids in the recipe.
- Alternate method: you can also use ketchup as a 1:1 substitute for tomato paste.
- Category: Essentials
- Method: Stirred
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Keywords: Tomato paste substitute
Thanks
★★★★