Ketchup Substitute

Tomato paste is usually made by cooking tomatoes to lower their moisture and produce a rich, sweet concentrate. It is used in a number of recipes as a sweetener, binder, or thickener.

As with any other ingredient, you may be missing tomato paste. So what do you do? Do you stop preparing a meal just because it’s not available? Of course not!

Reasons such as intolerance or allergic reactions to tomato products may inform the need for a substitute. In such situations, a variety of other vegetables can be used to make the pasta.

Before we look at some of the tomato paste substitutes, let me first show you how to make tomato paste with tomato sauce.

How to make pasta with sauce

Here are the steps:

1. Pour one can (about 8 - 15 ounces) of tomato sauce into your saucepan.
2. Bring it to a boil over low heat at medium heat.
3. It is simmered while stirring constantly for about 7 minutes or until that time, it has reduced by about two-thirds.
4. Use a splash screen to keep it from bubbling as your mixture thickens.

Final Product - After following the steps above, you should be able to have 3 - 4 ounces of tomato paste from an eight ounce can or approximately 6 - 7 ounces from a fifteen ounce can.

How to make canned tomato paste

Here are the steps:

• Blend a 14.5 can tomato in a food processor or blender until smooth
• Pour the tomato mixture into a saucepan.
• Bring them to a boil over medium heat.
• Continue cooking, stirring continuously for about 8-10 minutes, until thickened and reduced by about two-thirds.

Final Product - By the time you are done with the above steps, you should have about 6 ounces or 2/3 cup of tomato paste from your 14.5 ounce can of tomatoes.

Important note: To make a perfect tomato sauce from canned tomatoes, you must mix until smooth. Next, cook over medium heat while stirring continuously for about 3-4 minutes to thicken slightly.

Recipes that use tomato paste

1. Spaghetti sauce recipe

Spaghetti sauce is usually made with tomatoes, ketchup, tomato paste along with Italian sausage and chopped vegetables.

2. Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes

Mouthwatering Sloppy Joes are a great everyday family meal. The filling for these sandwiches is typically made with seasonings, chili sauce, tomato paste, lean ground beef, onions, peppers.

3. Skillet Chicken with a Tomato Cream Sauce

Two tablespoons of tomato paste, cream, and wine make up this flavorful tomato cream sauce. You can serve this amazing sauce with pasta, linguini, or spaghetti.

4. Peppers stuffed with ground beef

These make up the seasonings, rice, ground meat, tomatoes, and tomato paste.

5. Pizza sauce recipe

The basic pizza sauce is typically made from seasonings, sauce, and tomato paste.

If you’re intolerant, allergic, or just want to try something new, here are some of the tomato paste substitutes you can settle for:

Tomato paste substitute

#1: Ketchup

Tomato sauce is a practical alternative to tomato paste. Unlike tomato paste, tomato sauce tends to be thinner. If you choose to use it as a substitute, you must eliminate or reduce other liquids from your recipe.

Some recipes call for water and tomato paste. Perfect examples are marinara sauce and spaghetti sauce recipes. In such situations, you can opt for tomato sauce and avoid using water.

It is important to note that it is impossible to add tomato sauce instead of pasta. You have to allow another 30 minutes to turn it into something that can act as an ideal substitute for pasta in any recipe.

things you will need

• Wooden spoon
• White sugar
• Sauceboat

Step by Step:

• • Step 1: Preheat the saucepan over medium heat on the stove.
  • Step 2: Pour one cup of tomato sauce for every ½ cup of tomato paste into the preheated saucepan.
  • Step 3: Stir the tomato sauce with your wooden spoon until it reaches a uniform boil. Simmering prevents the rice from burning on the bottom of the pan.
  • Step 4: Add a tablespoon of white sugar for every cup of tomato sauce you used. Stir for approximately 60 seconds to dissolve all the sugar.

• Step 5 – Give the tomato sauce time to simmer for around 30 minutes while stirring occasionally. Within 30 minutes, the sauce will reduce to half its initial volume and begin to thicken.
• Step 6: Remove your saucepan from the stove. Let your thick tomato sauce come to room temperature. It may take about an hour.
• Step 7: Stir the sauce to even out its consistency.

Now you can use the thick sauce just like you would tomato paste in a recipe.

Note: You should always simmer the sauce so that some of its water evaporates. If you don’t, your recipe will be too watery due to the higher liquid content.

#2: Ketchup

In some recipes, you can use ketchup instead of tomato paste. Similar to tomato sauce, ketchup also has a much thinner consistency. Normally, you can’t use it to thicken your sauce.

However, cooking ketchup and tomato sauce makes them relatively thicker. To mix them, you can put them inside a small saucepan and then let them simmer until thickened enough.

#3: Stewed Tomatoes

Before using this amazing substitute, you must drain it completely before using it. Other cooks prefer to simmer them to evaporate more of the liquid. Cooked tomatoes tend to be much thicker compared to tomato paste.

They are great for adding texture to a dish as opposed to thickening. You can be sure that they will give your dish just enough flavor that you want.

#4: Chopped Fresh Tomatoes

When you lack tomato paste, you can use fresh chopped tomatoes. If you want, you can remove the tomato seeds before dicing or dicing. All you need to do is cut the tomatoes in half. Next, use the tip of a spoon to scrape up the seeds. Afterwards, you can puree or cut them.

#5: Red Bell Peppers

Red pepper is an excellent option to use as a tomato paste. To use them, you have to seed them and cut them into small pieces. After doing that, puree them in a blender and cook them so that some of the liquid evaporates. While the use of red bell pepper won’t add much of your much-desired tomato flavor, it will definitely thicken and add color to your sauce.

Conclution

Beginning cooks often claim that they rarely try new recipes as they lack the ingredients or apparatus. You may hear reasons like “I don’t have the right size pan.” Fortunately, in most recipes, a substitute can always be found for something that is missing.

Replacement is just a matter of customizing your kitchen to meet your needs. The good thing is that most, if not all, of the substitutions give noticeable results similar to the real thing. Other substitutions are meant to stimulate creativity. The above are just some of the more common tomato paste substitutes.