9 Substitutes for Tomato Paste + 3 Tips

Diana Barkley (Senior Editor)

Tomato paste is invaluable in many, if not most, cuisines across the world. It’s a versatile ingredient that can add flavor, a thicker texture, and a bright red color to your cooking. But what if you’ve run out of tomato paste and need to substitute it?

In this article we’ll explore just how you may substitute tomato paste with other ingredients to achieve similar flavors, texture, and color.

We’ll also cover some interesting facts about the humble tomato and its history, where tomato paste originated, whether it’s good for you, and what you might usually use it for in your cooking.

Facts about Tomato Paste

Facts about Tomato Paste

In the late 1700s, Europeans falsely believed that some of their people were dying after eating tomatoes. Really, they passed away after getting sick from eating tomatoes off of pewter plates, which were full of toxic lead.

Tomatoes are also known to be members of the nightshade family of plants, which includes eggplant, peppers, and potatoes. Nightshade plants are known to contain alkaloids, which are poisonous, though the fruits of many of these plants are perfectly edible.

Tomato paste is, unsurprisingly, an Italian invention. It was first made in Italian home kitchens, and soon became popular across the Mediterranean and beyond. It’s believed that tomato paste was first developed to preserve the summer harvest of tomatoes for use throughout the rest of the year.

While there are recipes for making your own tomato paste at home, most people now buy it in shops. Tomato paste is generally available in small cans or tubes, which stay good in your pantry for a long, long time.

If you were to make tomato paste at home after all, you’d need to cook tomatoes for several hours. This reduces their water content, leaving you with a flavorful, concentrated paste that’s rich in tomato flavor.

As mentioned above, tomato paste is a staple in cuisines around the world. It’s particularly popular in Italian, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Mexican, Indian, North African, Caribbean, American, Chinese, Eastern European, and French cuisine, just to name a few. So really, you’ll find tomato paste almost everywhere.

What Tomato Paste Is

Tomato paste is essentially made of tomatoes which have been cooked for many hours until their water content has been significantly reduced.

Seeds and tomato skins are then strained out, and what remains is cooked again until a thick, richly tomato-y paste remains. Most tomato pastes only contain tomatoes, and nothing else.

What Tomato Paste Is Good For in Cooking

Tomato paste adds flavor and intensifies umami, sweet, and savory tastes to your cooking. It’s important for making tomato-based sauces, stews, and soups. Tomato paste adds vibrancy and a delicious complexity to your dishes. It’s no surprise that tomatoes are so popular in your cooking.

If you don’t like tomatoes, don’t despair. You can easily substitute tomatoes and tomato paste in your cooking, and you needn’t just do so because you’ve run out. While tomatoes add plenty of different umami, savory, and sweet flavors, there are other ingredients that will achieve the same.

Is Tomato Paste Healthy?

Yes, tomato paste is very healthy. This versatile ingredient is rich in vitamins A and C and also contains minerals, including potassium and iron. Tomatoes are also especially high in lycopene, which is a powerful antioxidant that may even reduce your risk of heart disease and certain cancers.

Interestingly, tomato paste contains higher levels of lycopene than fresh tomatoes, though you should still always strive to add fresh fruits and vegetables to your diet wherever possible. This is because some nutrients are still lost when foods are processed – lycopene being an apparent exception.

Best Substitutes for Tomato Paste

Best Substitutes for Tomato Paste

Just run out of tomato paste in the middle of cooking up your favorite recipe? We’ve got you covered. Below are 5 of our top tomato paste substitutes, which you can use to achieve some of the same or similar flavors.

Tomato Sauce, Canned Tomatoes or Tomato Puree

The easiest substitute for tomato paste is, obviously, another tomato-based ingredient from your pantry. Plain tomato sauce, canned tomatoes, or tomato puree are ideal. Flavored tomato sauce, such as with basil or garlic, may or may not work as a substitute, depending on what’s needed in your recipe.

Fresh Tomatoes

You can use fresh tomatoes instead of tomato paste, though they’ll contain a lot more water and be less flavorful. Adjust according to the consistency you require. If you need to, make sure you boil down your fresh tomatoes until less watery before adding them to your dish.

Ketchup

Ketchup makes for an excellent tomato paste substitute. It does contain added ingredients, including quite a bit of sugar, but the consistency is fairly similar. Ketchup is also slightly tangier, so you may need less of it than you would tomato paste.

Make sure you adjust your recipe accordingly to account for the extra sugar and added acidity.

Tomato Soup

Tomato soup is made in a similar way to tomato paste. Tomatoes are cooked down until some of the water has evaporated. This makes tomato soup cans a decent substitute for tomato paste. With that said, tomato soup always contains additional ingredients, so make sure the added flavors work with your recipe.

Onion Soup

This may sound like a strange substitute, but it can work, particularly if you don’t like tomatoes. Onion soup has similar sweet and tangy flavors that can make for a good replacement for tomatoes when added to sauces and stews. However it won’t add the same vibrant red coloring.

Healthiest Substitutes for Tomato Paste

Healthiest Substitutes for Tomato Paste

Ffresh ingredients will always be healthier than anything canned, particularly when it comes to soups and sauces. This is because condiments like ketchup contain added sugar and other ingredients like salt and preservatives. Here are our two favorite healthy substitutes for tomato paste.

Roasted Red Peppers

Roasted red peppers are a great tomato paste substitute. Simply blitz in a blender, and use as you would tomato paste. Roasted red peppers will add a little more sweetness and less acidity, but plenty of healthy vitamin C, beta carotene, vitamin E, and fiber.

Roasted red peppers also add lots of vibrant coloring to your dishes, and you can easily prepare them at home: just cut, remove the seeds and stalks, and roast in the oven until the skins of your peppers are darkening and slightly blistered in appearance.

Roasted Tomatoes

Roasted tomatoes are an excellent healthy alternative to tomato paste. All you need to do is halve fresh tomatoes and pop them on a baking sheet in the oven. Roast until slightly shriveled and dehydrated. They’ll look similar to the roasted red peppers above once done.

Puree and add to your recipes as required, for a lovely toasty, savory, slightly sweet flavor.

Gluten-Free Substitutes for Tomato Paste

Gluten-Free Substitutes for Tomato Paste

All fruits and vegetables are naturally gluten free, meaning you can readily enjoy tomato paste in your recipes without having to fear any side effects. With that said, there are some particularly nice tomato paste substitutes you might wish to try.

Roasted Beetroot

Roasted beetroot is a wonderful alternative to tomato paste. Pureed, it offers a similar texture, vibrant deep red coloring, and nice balance of sweet to savory. Beetroot do tend to taste sweeter than tomatoes, so make sure you experiment with how much you need. You may wish to add a little vinegar to balance the sweetness.

Beetroot contain antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. They’re particularly high in vitamin C, fiber, folate, potassium, manganese, and iron. Beetroots are said to help improve blood flow, increase your performance during exercise, and lower blood pressure.

Figs

Figs are an interesting tomato paste substitute. Pureed, they do have a similar texture, though they’re much sweeter. Figs are, however, very healthy and contain plenty of helpful nutrients including magnesium, calcium, and phosphorus.

Figs are said to help promote heart health, increase the health and wellbeing of your digestive system, and possibly help in the management of blood sugar levels.

Top tip: figs also make a great replacement for actual tomatoes when making an Italian caprese (tomato and mozzarella) salad. They work well with olive oil and added basil, and make for a creative, healthy appetizer.

How to Substitute Tomato Paste For Tomato Sauce

How to Substitute Tomato Paste For Tomato Sauce

Tomato paste is a lot more condensed than tomato sauce. Simply use 3 tablespoons of tomato sauce or puree for every one tablespoon of tomato space your recipe requires.

Don’t forget to adjust how much water you’re adding as well, as tomato sauce is thinner and more watery than tomato paste.

Tips for Substituting Tomato Paste

Tips for Substituting Tomato Paste

As you can see, there are plenty of excellent alternatives available when you’re looking to substitute tomato paste. Here are a few extra tips so you can choose the best substitute for your recipe.

Just remember that the most important thing is taste. If you can, you should always opt for a substitute you actually want to use and enjoy.

Compare the Nutritional Profiles of the Substitutes

If health benefits or diet friendliness are your top priority, you may wish to check the nutritional profiles on any substitutes. Tomato ketchup, for instance, isn’t particularly healthy or diet friendly as it contains lots of added sugar.

Fresh ingredients you’ve prepared at home, such as roasted red peppers or roasted tomatoes are always a more nutritious option. When in doubt, always read any labels on canned goods and condiments first.

Check What Works for Your Recipe

Are you making a stew or preparing a delicious soup? Consistency matters when choosing the best tomato paste substitute. If you need something thicker, opt for a more condensed alternative such as ketchup, roasted red peppers, or pureed figs.

If it’s just the flavor you’re after, tomato sauce or puree work well, as do roasted and blitzed tomatoes.

Experiment with Flavors You Like

This is always a point we like to reiterate: just because something makes for a good substitute doesn’t mean you should use it. If you don’t like the taste of tomatoes, for instance, don’t substitute tomato paste with another tomato-based ingredient.

If you like more sweetness in your cooking, go for the sweeter ingredients such as figs. Make sure you taste as you’re cooking to see what works and how your dish is developing. And always feel free to experiment a little and see what tastes best for you and your family.

Reasons for Substituting Tomato Paste

Reasons for Substituting Tomato Paste

Tomato paste is relatively easy to substitute with other ingredients. But why would you want or need to? Here are some of the top reasons why you might use something other than tomato paste in your cooking.

Availability

Let’s face it, tomato paste is available in nearly every grocery store. However, you might have run out at home at the last minute, or your local shop could have sold all of the remaining tomato paste on their shelves.

In this instance, you’ll want to opt for one of the other tomato-based substitutes we’ve listed above.

Dietary Restrictions or an Allergy to Tomatoes

It’s not a very common allergy, but you can be allergic or intolerant to tomatoes. Some of the symptoms of such a reaction might be stomach pain, a rash, swelling of your mouth or throat, and itching.

Cutting tomatoes can cause skin itching and hives in some people, though this usually isn’t related to an actual food allergy. If this is you, you should still be able to eat tomatoes and tomato paste.

Flavor Preferences

Tomatoes contain glutamate, which gives them a more acidic, almost meaty flavor that other vegetables don’t have to the same extent. T

here is a theory that some people dislike the taste of tomatoes for this reason. If this is you, simply substitute the tomato paste in your cooking with some of our non-tomato based alternatives.