Can you use marinara instead of tomato puree?

Try marinara sauce or pizza sauce. It's important to note that these sauces are flavored, often with garlic or herbs, while tomato puree has no flavor. These sauces will add a distinctly Italian flavor to your recipe, so make sure you're okay with that before moving on. Since both sauces are made with tomatoes as a base, it is possible to replace the marinara with tomato sauce.

Using marinara instead of ketchup can make a recipe vegetarian friendly and is a great way to save time preparing weekday dinners. That said, marinara isn't as heavy or tasty as ketchup, so the flavor and texture of the finished dish will be very different. You can use the marinade to replace tomato puree on a plate in the same way you would with pizza sauce. For every 1 tablespoon of tomato paste needed, use 3 tablespoons of tomato puree or ketchup.

Add the puree or sauce instead of the tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, until the puree or sauce is reduced and thickened. You'll have a similar intense and savory flavor. Of all of them, ketchup and tomato puree may sound the same, but Rachael says there's a key difference between the two. Try this old tomato sauce recipe or take your ketchup to the next level and make Sunday sauce.

Because ketchup is thinner and has more water than tomato paste, you may need to leave the dish on the stove longer than usual to make it the right thickness. For some dishes (like these adorable breakfast pizzas with cauliflower batter), crushed tomatoes and tomato paste combine to create a sauce. There is no right way to prepare tomato paste. Some recipes suggest whipping tomatoes in a blender before simmering them, and others require simmering them on the stove until they are reduced by half, then spreading the mixture on a baking sheet and putting it in the oven to reduce even more.

Just remember that the recipe won't be as thick as it would be if you had used tomato paste and you may need a little more time to put it on the stove. If you are going to buy it ready to use, it is better to use natural tomato paste instead of one that is flavored with other condiments, such as basil, simply use the pasta and add fresh or dried basil to the dish yourself, as it will be more fragrant and tastier. But if you find yourself struggling without tomato paste, don't skip it, but you'll lose all that important tomato umami flavor. You don't have to run to the store if you don't have tomato paste; both ketchup and tomato puree are a great substitute.

But if you're looking for tomato flavor without thickening it, add 3 tablespoons of ketchup for every tablespoon of tomato paste. There are many variations of tomatoes to cook with whole tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, ketchup, tomato paste, tomato puree, tomato passata. Marinara is a simple sauce made with garlic, chopped red pepper and basil, and is prepared in about an hour. Let's say you're cooking a dish that requires tomato paste for a touch of flavor, but tomato isn't a crucial flavor that should be included.

Jeannette Klingenberger
Jeannette Klingenberger

Proud beer fanatic. Freelance web specialist. Subtly charming tv nerd. Wannabe coffee fan. Subtly charming tv ninja.