The Difference Between Tomato Sauce and Tomato Paste (2024)

It's easy to get overwhelmed by the many seemingly similar tomato-based products in the pasta section of your grocery store. Tomato sauce, tomato paste, and marinara sauce are often displayed next to each other—and there are many brands of each.

But there are actually a few key differences that make each one unique. Here, we explain the difference between tomato paste and tomato sauce—and, with the help of two experts on Italian cuisine, we also share how marinara sauce fits into the tomato product equation.

What Is Tomato Paste?

As the name suggests, tomato paste is a highly concentrated paste of tomatoes. It is made by cooking down tomatoes and removing their seeds and juices until all that is left is a thick product with a concentrated flavor.

How to Use Tomato Paste

Because the flavor of tomato paste is so intense, you generally need only a couple of tablespoons per recipe—say for making a classic beef stew or cooking your homemade pasta sauce. It's a flavor booster rather than the main ingredient in a dish.

Buying Tomato Paste

Tomato paste is sold in small cans or metal tubes. We recommend choosing a tube if you have the option, as it will protect the paste from spoiling once it's exposed to oxygen. Whether you purchase cans or tubes, tomato paste is generally sold in small amounts (4 to 6 ounces).

Storing Tomato Paste

Once opened, tubes of tomato paste should be refrigerated. Similarly, if you buy tomato paste in cans, remove any leftover tomato paste from the can and transfer it to a small airtight container if you plan on using it all within a few days. Otherwise, portion tablespoons of tomato paste onto a baking sheet and freeze. Transfer to a freezer bag once frozen and use the frozen tomato paste within four months.

Making Tomato Paste

You can also make tomato paste. Our recipe requires 5 pounds of chopped tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, and salt. The three ingredients are combined in a saucepan and cooked slowly until the mixture thickens to a paste. Then the mixture is transferred to an airtight container and stored in the refrigerator for up to three months.

What Is Tomato Sauce?

Tomato sauce can be many different things. At its most basic, it is a sauce based on fresh or canned tomatoes (usually plum tomatoes) cooked with olive oil, chopped onions, and basil. It may include other vegetables and aromatics; it may be cooked briefly to preserve the tomato flavor or long and slow with other ingredients.

Food writer Domenica Marchetti, who specializes in Italian cuisine and has written seven books on the subject, says some Italian-American cooks define tomato sauce as a quickly cooked sauce seasoned only with garlic, basil, and fresh or dried oregano.

Storing Tomato Sauce

Tomato sauce does not oxidize like tomato paste, but homemade tomato sauce should be refrigerated once it has cooled completely. Store-bought tomato sauce should be refrigerated once opened and used within five to seven days.

Making Tomato Sauce

A tomato sauce is simple to make from scratch; use fresh plum tomatoes in the late summer or fall and canned tomatoes the rest of the year. Try our Simple Tomato Sauce, which takes 20 minutes, and is flavored with garlic and fresh oregano, or our Basic Italian Tomato Sauce, which starts with pureeing canned whole plum tomatoes for a smoother result.

When to Use Tomato Sauce vs. Tomato Paste

When you are choosing between tomato sauce and tomato paste in the grocery store, select the product called for in the recipe you will be making. Remember that tomato paste is very concentrated and needs to be cooked with other ingredients to be palatable. Tomato sauce, on the other hand, has a thinner consistency and can be heated through and served as a sauce for pasta or used as an ingredient in other dishes.

What Is Marinara Sauce?

Historically, marinara sauce, another tomato-based sauce, has included a seafood component. "In Naples, spaghetti alla marinara is a tomato sauce made with anchovies or tuna," Marchetti says. Throughout Italy, you may find marinara sauce made with anchovies, capers, and olives, which is what many people—especially in the United States—call a puttanesca sauce. "These things that have similar names can be very different depending on where you are in Italy and who is doing the cooking," she says."If you get 10 Italian cooks together, each one will give you a different version of what marinara sauce is."

Tomato Sauce vs. Marinara Sauce: What's the Difference?

The difference between tomato paste and tomato sauce is clear; the difference between tomato sauce and marinara sauce is less distinct, since the terms are frequently used interchangeably. Both are tomato-based sauces that are used for pasta; they have many other applications, too, and appear in dishes like homemade pizza or in a lasagna. Ultimately, there isn't a clear answer: Ideas on how marinara differs from tomato sauce vary based on regionality and tradition.

But according to Lidia Bastianich, a renowned chef, restauranteur, and the author of more than a dozen cookbooks (including Lidia's Italian Table), there are a few differentiating characteristics. Marinara sauce is a quicker, less complex product than tomato sauce and can be left chunky or smooth; it is also commonly made with crushed tomatoes, whereas tomato sauce traditionally begins with puréed tomatoes, she says.

Choosing Between Marinara Sauce and Tomato Sauce in the Grocery Store

In the United States, you'll find jars of sauce in the grocery store labeled as "tomato sauce" or "marinara sauce." These sauces vary by brand—and some brands' tomato sauces may be similar to another brand's marinara.

Typically, these basic store-bought sauces do not contain traditional ingredients such as anchovies, capers, and olives. A particular sauce maybe chunky or smooth and labeled as such—or it might call out certain herbs like basil as being prominent in its flavor. Always read the label to make sure that the ingredients in the sauce will be palatable to you and your family's needs and tastes. Ultimately, that's more important than what the sauce is called.