FOOD NEWS
Tomato Sauce Vs Paste: What's The Difference?
BY VANESSA NIX ANTHONY
Tomato sauce and paste may perform similar culinary tasks, but the two are quite different in everything from consistency and ingredients to taste and use.
Tomato sauce is made of tomato purée or fresh tomatoes which are skinned, deseeded, cooked, strained, and mixed with citric acid, salt, water, and seasonings.
Tomato sauce often incorporates additional ingredients like onion and garlic powders, corn syrup, sugar, olive oil, carrot fiber, and even dehydrated bell pepper.
On the other hand, tomato paste is made simply of deseeded, skinned, and blended tomatoes which are then dehydrated to create a thick, rich paste.
You can use tomato paste as a substitute for tomato sauce by adding water in a one-to-one ratio and mixing in any seasonings to give it a more nuanced flavor.
In addition, tomato paste is great for adding a rich, tomatoey, umami flavor to any dish from soups and stews to meatloaf, chili, or curry.