Last year our old blender gave out. After much consideration, we decided to get a Vitamix blender as a replacement. We had been reluctant to get one before because of the cost. For the price of one Vitamix, we could get almost get five or six ‘regular’ blenders! But as it turns out, that is one purchase we should have made a long time ago. The Vitamix easily handles tasks our old blender could barely perform, like blending fruit for leathers or apples for applesauce. And it was probably doing heavy duty tasks that caused the old one to burn out anyway.
Vitamix Freezer Tomato Sauce
Since we got it a little over a year ago, the Vitamix has seen a lot of use here for a variety of tasks, from making Green Smoothies and my new favorite Chocolate Zucchini Smoothie to making things like Tomato Leather. Lately I’ve been putting it to use making tomato sauces and ketchup, and it has changed the way I make these summertime preservation recipes.
Juliet tomatoes ready for the Vitamix
Last year I began experimenting with using the whole tomato, skins and all, to make unseasoned tomato sauce. Now, I know some purists would scoff at using a whole tomato, including seeds and skins, to make sauce. But to be honest, I couldn’t detect any difference in the finished product. And it sure speeds up the whole process if you don’t have to skin the tomatoes first. Plus, the skins add fiber and help thicken the sauce. To start the process, I wash and drain the tomatoes. Then it’s off to the Vitamix for blending. These Juliet plum tomatoes from the above photo went in the blender whole.
Vitamix full of tomatoes
I process the tomatoes on high speed until they are well blended and any signs of the skins and flesh disappear. At this point, you have some lovely tomato juice.
tomatoes after blending
Cherry, grape and plum tomatoes can all be used whole to make sauces. For paste type tomatoes, I remove the stem end and cut the tomatoes in halves or quarters, depending on size.
paste tomatoes for sauce
paste tomato with stem end removed
I core any larger tomatoes, and cut out any bad spots. Any and all tomatoes can be used for sauces. I often use a mix of paste and slicing tomatoes. The paste tomatoes (Roma types) have a lower water content and a higher percentage of solids, while the slicing tomatoes usually have a better flavor. Having the Vitamix has enabled me to use whatever homegrown tomatoes I have at the moment.
box of tomatoes for sauce
Once I get all the tomatoes blended up, the juice goes into a large pan or stock pot to cook down. I like to reduce the volume by about half, which usually takes about 1 to 1-1/2 hours and results in a nice thick sauce. This unseasoned sauce can be used in a variety of dishes, from chili to marinara sauce to soups. And there’s no added salt or sugar – just lots of tomato-y goodness! This recipe can be scaled down, or up, as needed.
cooking down the tomato sauce
Unseasoned Tomato Sauce 
Print This Recipe
A Happy Acres original
16 cups tomatoes (about 10 pounds)*
1. Wash tomatoes and drain. Core if necessary. Use firm, sound tomatoes of any size, shape or color.
2. Puree tomatoes in Vitamix blender or other powerful high speed blender until well blended. Pour tomatoes into large sauce pan or stock pan. Repeat until all tomatoes are blended.
3. Cook tomatoes over medium heat until volume is reduced by half, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to low as mixture thickens.
4. Fill freezer containers; seal, label and freeze.
5. Makes about 4 pints/8 cups.
Servings: 8
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving): 102 calories, 10 calories from fat, 1.1g total fat, 0mg cholesterol, 28.4mg sodium, 1343.8mg potassium, 22.2g carbohydrates, 6.8g fiber, 14.9g sugar, 5g protein, 56.7mg calcium, <1g saturated fat.
* Adjust up or down as necessary
For more recipes using tomatoes:
Great recipe! I have a Ninja blender that I LOVE and this looks like a great recipe to use up lots of tomatoes. I bet this would taste great in Chili.
It makes awesome chili! Thanks for stopping by Lisa.
I’ve been thinking about that purchase for a while, and am going to take the plunge soon! So glad to see you are using it for more than just a quick smoothie. I usually put up 100 lb of tomatoes every fall, but skipped it last year. We really missed the homemade sauce. The only thing I would add is fresh whole basil leaves when you cook down the tomatoes – it adds great flavor (I also can vs. freeze and add more basil right before covering the jars). Enjoy!
Basil would be nice! I make another sauce with tomatoes that is seasoned a bit more with onions, celery, basil & oregano. The Vitamix does a great job with all these. With apple season coming on it will soon be put to use for applesauce and apple leather too.
Great looking tomato sauce. I am going to make some for the first time this year! Unfortunately with the weather being cooler than usual this august I am still waiting for my tomatoes to ripen. Soon though, soon.
I have a Vitamix, but mostly green tomatoes and I’ve never heard of green tomato sauce, but might have to try it. I did see a recipe for roasted green tomato sauce and today I’ll try baked un-fried green tomatoes. Do you have any good green tomato recipes?
I’ve got two that come to mind: Green Tomato Bread and Green Tomato Salsa Verde. The salsa freezes well for later use.
Thank you!
I LOVE my Vitamix. It is expensive, but I burned out or cursed my way through at least 5 other blenders before my husband got tired of my rants about my crappy blenders ( the last of the bunch I nicknamed “slosh and spew” as that was all it was capable of doing). My honey bought the Vitamix for me and we are both happier. 🙂
What a great idea to process the whole tomatoes in the Vitamix first and then cook them down. I’ve always cooked the whole tomatoes and then run them through a foodmill, easy, but I think your method is easier. And like you said, why toss the skins and seeds, I don’t peel and seed when cooking with fresh tomatoes, why do so for freezer sauce!
I don’t season my sauces either, so it’s more versatile when I want to use it. I hate peeling tomatoes though, it just takes too much time. This looks like a great solution! I just don’t use a blender very often, and can’t really justify a Vitamix at the moment. For now, I’ve just been splitting my tomatoes in half, roasting them, and then running them through a food mill. It takes care of any thicker, chewy skins. The seeds pass through, but that doesn’t bother me at all 🙂
Love your blog, first time poster. This is exactly how I make tomato sauce, skins and all. I just use my regular blender and can it. Whatever is left that won’t fill a full jar I put in the fridge for quick use or freeze. I also freeze cherry tomatoes whole and throw them in a pot to boil for sauce when the mood strikes. It’s an easy, quick alternative to handle the bumper crop when I don’t feel like canning or am pressed for time.
That is such a good idea to blend it first. If I’m making passata I usually put it through a mouli but this seems much quicker. When I was growing up my parents had a Vitamix – I had no idea they were still producing blenders.
I’m with you. I leave the skins and seeds in when I make sauce. Extra roughage and no lose of any vitamins and minerals that way.
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I have always blended my tomatoes–so easy! I take the cold sauce and let it sit in the refrig overnight. By the next day the water has separated out! I cook up the onions, garlic, seasonings, etc in a fry pan, add the sauce, cook a bit more, and freeze from there.
That’s a great tip Diane! I’ll bet that cuts some of the cooking time for sure.
Does anyone Jar/can the sauce? If so please share your process. Thanks!
Toni, I have never tried canning the sauce, and I have no idea how long it would need to be processed.
I just made up some tomato sauce yesterday that I canned with a pressure canner. I filled my sterilized jars and lids and then processed at 11 lbs of pressure for 15 minutes.
I was wondering what type of freezer containers people are using, if freezing?? I’ve been canning all mine but curious about freezing vs canning so would like to try. Thank you!
Shirley
Shirley, I have used round and square plastic containers made for freezing, as well as glass canning jars.
I used to use glass jars, but had some break and foood is lost. I have found that the ZipLoc jars are great for freezing. Since I live alone, I cook up large batches of soups, beans, etc, then freeze individual meals.
Dave,
Did you ever try making applesauce with your Vitamix? If so, I am curious as to how it worked. I am SO glad I have found your website!!! Not only have you answered my question about making tomato paste and tomato sauce with my Vitamix, you’ve ALSO answered my questions about when to plant stuff in my garden!!
I have not used the Vitamix to make applesauce. I usually use am immersion blender, as I like my applesauce chunky. My wife does use the Vitamix to blend up apples to make apple leather, which is essentially the same as applesauce. And it works fine to blend up the slightly cooked apples, skin and all!
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I have a ninja blender and can’t wait to try this.
This is still my favorite way to process our tomatoes into sauce. I hope yours turns out great too!
I dithered around for years over buying a Vitamix. Costco had the best price for one of their mid-range models and finally won my heart with a “$100 off regular price” offer. It still felt like a splurge but what a great piece of equipment it’s turned out to be.