Thick and delicious, this easy roasted cherry tomato sauce uses abundant grape & cherry tomatoes to make an amazing sauce that you can eat now and freeze to enjoy all winter!
Some links in this article are affiliate links and if you click on them I will receive a small commission at no cost to you.
Oh my goodness, have you made tomato sauce with cherry tomatoes yet?
It's SO good - and roasting the tomatoes makes the sauce even better!
My family can't get enough of this balsamic roasted tomato sauce - which makes it a good thing that it freezes well - I'm making a lot now to freeze and eat this summery goodness all winter long.
What to do with LOTS of cherry tomatoes?
If you grow cherry tomatoes you know two things:
- They are delicious.
- AND they are plentiful.
As in, "what am I going to do with all these tomatoes?" plentiful. There's only so many salads and fresh eating you can do when they're pouring in by the bucketful.
Besides just regular salads, cherry tomatoes work great in recipes like these, too:
- A great main dish steak salad
- Pasta salad with Greek flavors (a favorite)
- Use in authentic Greek salad
- Slice to top a chicken-spinach frittata (or any frittata really)
- Greek style orzo and shrimp (one of my favorite easy dinners)
So obviously it's not hard to use cherry tomatoes in recipes, it's just that when you grow them - even just a single bush - there's usually a couple months where you just can't seem to keep up with them.
Do cherry tomatoes make a good sauce?
For the longest time, I didn't think you were 'supposed' to make sauce with cherry tomatoes.
It is true that the sauce won't be as smooth as with regular tomatoes because of the amount of seeds and skin-to-flesh ration. But if that bothers you, strain them out with a sieve, food mill, or Victorio food strainer.
We don't care, so I skip that step.
Balsamic Roasted Cherry Tomato Sauce
Like my regular roasted tomato & vegetable sauce, making this cherry tomato sauce this is the easiest thing ever!
Wash the tomatoes well, cut them in half and throw them in a large roasting pan with the remaining ingredients.
Roast until it's all browning wonderfully. Not only is roasting vegetables easy, it just brings out an amazing flavor!
Transfer the mixture to a saucepan and use a hand-held immersion blender to whir it into a thick, smooth, completely yummy sauce. It's at this point that you can strain it if you want.
Alternatively, you can transfer to a blender to whir up, but be careful with the hot ingredients - I have had it spurt out the top in the past before I discovered hand-held blenders!
I always serve some of the sauce for dinner the night I make it over pasta or chicken and the rest I pour into freezer jars and freeze.
Can you just imagine how wonderful this will be in January?
Balsamic Roasted Cherry Tomato Sauce (Freezer Friendly)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 to 5 pounds cherry tomatoes washed well, large ones cut in half
- 2 onions coarsely chopped
- 6 cloves garlic peeled
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning or a blend of your favorite Italian seasonings
- 2 teaspoons salt or to taste
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes optional
Instructions
- Heat oven to 450 degrees. Drizzle olive oil into a large roasting pan.
- Toss all ingredients into roasting pan and mix well.
- Roast about an hour, stirring once, until some of the tomatoes are starting to brown and they've broken down.
- Transfer to a saucepan and whir until smooth with an immersion blender (alternately, you can blend a bit at a time in a blender, being careful of hot splatters). If desired, pass through a sieve or food mill to remove seeds.
- Serve immediately or let cool, divide into freezer-safe containers, label and freeze to store.
Notes
Nutrition
More Cherry Tomato Recipes to try
Easy Main Dish Steak Salad with Creamy Garlic-Pepper Dressing
Greek Style Pasta Salad with Green Beans and Tomatoes
