A Trio of Tomato-Based Sauces
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When I cook I like to chain recipes, where the result of one cooking session becomes an ingredient in another. That way later recipes are often improved by the use of a freshly prepared ingredient rather than a store-bought alternative. And you often end up with several prepared dishes for the same amount of effort it would take to make the last dish in the chain from scratch.
I’ve been separately planning to make a barbeque sauce and a taco sauce. Putting the chaining principle to work, I realised that they both have (or at least can have) a common base – tomato sauce (aka ketchup). So rather than make each from scratch, I figured I’d make a tomato sauce first, then add to it as necessary to make the barbeque and taco sauces. In doing so, I was able to make the three sauces (tomato, bbq and taco), with less effort than it would have been to make just two sauces (bbq and taco) separately.
The flip side of this is that you need to ensure the base is good, otherwise you could end up spoiling both sauces. A ketchup-style sauce is made by reducing a large quantity of tomato then flavouring with various spices, a bit of vinegar and some sugar. There is a lot of latitude in this for varying the added flavourings to a taste you like. But I’ve found the recipe below produces both a very enjoyable tomato ketchup, and makes a great base other tomato-based sauces, like the Kansas City barbeque sauce and the taco sauce below.
Tomato Sauce (Ketchup)
A rich, flavoursome tomato sauce. Feel free to use whatever tomatoes you have at hand (canned, vine ripened, cherry, etc.). A mix of half canned and half fresh gives a good balance between a fresh taste and a ketchupy consistency.
- 1.5kg tomatoes (roughly chopped)
- 1/8th cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 brown onion (chopped)
- 1 clove of garlic (minced)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 200ml white-wine vinegar
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp cloves
- 1 tsp allspice
- 1 tsp cracked black pepper
- 1 tsp salt
Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until starting to brown, 4-5 mins. Add the tomatoes. Cover, bring to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the tomatoes are very tender (approx 1hr). Cool slightly, transfer into a blender and process until smooth. Return to a clean pan and stir in the vinegar and sugar. Add in the spices and seasoning. Then continue to simmer until it has reduced down to the consistency of a standard ketchup (1-2hrs). Pass through a sieve to remove any remaining pulp. Decant into sterilized bottles and store in the fridge. Makes 3 cups of sauce.
Kansas City Barbeque Sauce
An intense, fiery sauce that’s not for the faint-hearted.
- 1 cup tomato sauce (recipe above)
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup vinegar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp chilli
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
Taco Sauce
A spicy accompaniment to any Mexican dish.
- 1 cup tomato sauce (recipe above)
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 tsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tbsp onion (chopped)
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- 1/2 clove garlic (minced)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp chilli flakes
Blend ingredients together until smooth. Transfer to a pan and simmer for 15 mins. Cool and store in a sterilized bottle.
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