Wondering what to do with extra cherry or grape tomatoes? Try making a Roasted Cherry Tomato Sauce! Tomatoes are a fantastically versatile vegetable.  Ranging from marble-sized to softball-sized or larger, they can be eaten raw or cooked in a number of ways.  There’s nothing like popping into your mouth a fresh-from-the-garden cherry tomato, or a thick slice of a garden-fresh heirloom tomato.  They can be used fresh as is, stuffed, or added to salads or sandwiches.

collage picture of roasted cherry tomato sauce

Cooking them just expands their usefulness.  Baked, broiled, grilled, fried, sautéed, or roasted – there are many methods to explore with this wonderful summertime fruit. And when the crop is abundant it’s time to think of how to preserve it.  One of my favorite ways to preserve tomatoes for use in the winter is to take my excess cherry and grape tomatoes and roast them with some garlic and basil to make a roasted cherry tomato sauce. It’s easy to make and freezes well for later use.  The result is delicious.

roasted cherry tomato sauce in clear glass bowl

In my last batch, most of the tomatoes I used were cherry or grape, but I did add a few Roma and slicers to thin it out a bit as it can get pretty thick otherwise.  This is a healthy recipe for Roasted Cherry Tomato Sauce that’s easy, fairly quick, and good tasting.  Enjoy!

How to make Roasted Cherry Tomato Sauce

  • Preheat your oven to 400° F.  Prep your tomatoes by washing, cutting in half, and placing on a foil-lined jelly roll pan drizzled with oil. A good tomato knife or serrated knife helps make this part easy and quick.Bowl of red and yellow grape tomatoes
  • Place garlic and basil on top of the tomatoes. I like to tear larger leaves of basil in half before placing on the pan. Sprinkle with kosher salt and drizzle on the balsamic vinegar and olive oil.Two pans of grape tomatoes in an oven
  • Roast in a 400 degree oven for 20-30 minutes until tomatoes are tender. They should look a little wrinkled. And some of the edges may be a little brown. That’s ok! The natural sugars from the tomatoes are caramelizing a little bit and will add a slight sweetness to the sauce. pan of roasted cherry tomatoes
  • Remove from oven and blend together in a food processor till desired consistency. I tend to process mine into a smooth sauce, but you can leave chunks of tomato or garlic if you prefer. Either way it’s delicious!Roasted grape tomatoes in food processor
  • After you puree the roasted tomatoes and garlic, freeze it in freezer bags or plastic freezer containers. Or go ahead and use it in a recipe right away!Roasted cherry tomato sauce in freezer boxes
roasted cherry tomato sauce in clear glass bowl
Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Roasted Cherry Tomato Sauce

Roasted Cherry Tomato Sauce – Turn extra cherry or grape tomatoes into a delicious sauce. Easy to make. Use now or freeze for later.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time1 hour
Course: sauce, vegetables
Cuisine: American, Italian
Keyword: food preservation, freezer, Roasted, tomato
Servings: 24
Calories: 25kcal
Author: Marie

Ingredients

  • 8 c. Cherry or grape tomatoes sliced in half
  • 4 – 5 Garlic cloves more if desired
  • 8 – 10 Basil leaves large
  • 1 Tbsp. Balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tsp. Kosher salt
  • 4 – 5 medium tomatoes cut into wedges
  • 1 – 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

  • Remove stems and wash tomatoes. Cut cherry tomatoes in half, and larger tomatoes in wedges.
  • Line 2 jelly roll pans with foil and drizzle olive oil on the foil.
  • Spread out the oil and put cherry tomatoes on the foil, cut side up. Place wedges on the foil, cut side up.
  • Peel garlic and place on the pan among the tomatoes.
  • Wash basil and add to the tomatoes, gently tearing the larger leaves.
  • Sprinkle the pan of tomatoes, garlic, and basil with balsamic vinegar and kosher salt. Drizzle a little more olive oil on top.
  • Roast in a 400 degree oven for 20-30 minutes until tomatoes are tender.
  • Remove from oven and blend together in a food processor to desired consistency.
  • Sauce will be thick. Freeze in bags or plastic freezer containers.

Notes

Makes about 3 pints. Calories are based on 1/4 c. serving.

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collage picture of roasted cherry tomato sauce
Roasted Cherry Tomato Sauce - Turn extra cherry or grape tomatoes into a delicious sauce. Easy to make. Use now or freeze for later.

Proverbs 16:24 “Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.”

Thank you for sharing!

34 Comments

  1. I love this idea! I’ve got two ice cream pails of cherries and grapes just looking for a dish to crawl into! Definitely going to try this.

  2. This looks incredible! I love that you only use a handful of different ingredients. This will be a perfect solution for preserving summer tomatoes and basil for the fall. I am definitely going to make a batch asap!

  3. I made this and it is awesome! So yummy!
    I did add a 1/2 tsp sugar sprinkled over top before baking, dry basil instead of fresh and minced garlic from a jar. It still turned out great.

    1. You can reheat it on the stove top on medium, stirring occasionally; or you can heat/thaw it in the microwave. You could probably leave it overnight in the fridge as well, but I haven’t tried that yet. Thanks for stopping!

  4. OMG i just literally pulsed this all together and WOW….amazing! Even my daughter [who is 5] said it was delish! Thanks beacuse I was about to throw my tomatoes out.

    1. Hi Alexis – This recipe is solely for freezing or immediate use. I have not canned it and therefore do not recommend it. Canning usually entails adding a little more acid to ensure adequate acidity for the safety of the food. There are many good and tested recipes out there for canning tomatoes or tomato sauce. One of the best sources is the National Center for Home Food Preservation. I hope that helps and answers your question!

    2. Hi Joan – For the highest quality, use the frozen sauce within about 4 to 5 months. That being said, I’ve kept it much longer than that (you know, that container that seems to get lost in the back of the freezer?) and it was fine. Safety-wise, it should keep a long, long time. Not much grows in that cold of an environment. But the quality can start to decline after a few months if it becomes freezer burnt. Personally, I haven’t had that problem as we use it up pretty quickly, and the occasional container that lasts longer than that is just fine. When you freeze, be sure to remove as much air as possible from the container. That will help in delaying freezer burn as well. Hope that helps!

  5. I have made this sauce four times in the last few weeks! I had so many cherry tomatoes I didn’t know what to do with them, so when I saw this recipe I decided to try. I am so glad I did! It is so simple & delicious. The last several batches, I made pizza sauce by sprinkling pizza sauce seasoning directly on the tomatoes before roasting.Then I use my Kitchen Aid hand blender & blend everything right up & toss in the freezer. The consistency is perfect & it is absolutely yummy! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂

  6. Just made a batch, exactly as your recipe showed and it is amazing!! I was wondering what to do with all those cherry tomatoes — this was a perfect solution. Thanks for sharing!

    1. Oh, I’m so glad to hear back from you about the recipe, Terry! Love getting feedback like that. It’s one of my favorites too. Have a great day!

  7. I’m in the process of roasting all now. My eight cups of cherry/grape tomatoes took up more than just the one jelly roll pan! Not complaining! I can’t wait to eat this!

  8. Had a huge amount of cherry tomatoes to use up and this recipe worked a treat. Even though the tomatoes were sweet, I found I needed to add a little extra brown sugar to balance the acidity. Kept half the batch as per your instructions and sieved the other half to create a smooth sauce. Took a while to work it through and keep the sauce thick but definitely worth it to cut out all the seeds and rolls of skin. Added in a little extra fresh basil at the end too which seemed to add a nice fresh aroma. Thank you for the inspiration!

    1. I’m so glad you liked it and put your own spin on it. That’s really my goal, to give people ideas and let them create. By the way, I love the addition of basil to the sauce. Thanks for the feedback!

  9. I made it last night! It was very rich with flavor. Pureed it and it went straight on some thin spaghetti. Got rave reviews. This batch probably won’t make it into the freezer. I also used refrigerated minced garlic and dried basil.

  10. 5 stars
    This was super easy and super delicious! Might save and freeze for pizza sauce, if I figure out what other spices to add. Otherwise, it may not make it to the freezer, Its That Good!!!

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