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Tomato Sauce substitutes

Out of tomato sauce? Here are the best substitutes — what to reach for, why it works, and how much to use. Tomato paste + water is the top pick.

  1. 01
    Tomato paste + waterbest pick

    Paste is just reduced tomato — loosening it rebuilds sauce exactly.

    1 cup sauce = 1/2 cup paste + 1/2 cup water

  2. 02
    Crushed tomatoes

    Nearly there already; simmer briefly to thicken and season.

    1:1

  3. 03
    Diced tomatoes, blended

    Blend smooth and reduce a few minutes for the same consistency.

    1:1

  4. 04
    Marinara sauce

    Tomato sauce that's already seasoned — pull back on added herbs and garlic.

    1:1

  5. 05
    Ketchup

    A last resort: far sweeter and more vinegary, so cut sugar and acid elsewhere.

    use ~3/4

Cooking with tomato sauce?

Paste your recipe into Mise — we'll find every ingredient as a real product you can buy, and swap the ones you can't, like tomato sauce, for the closest match in stock.

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How we choose these

These are tested kitchen substitutes, chosen for matching flavor, texture, and role — with ratios so the swap actually works. Taste as you go; substitutes shift intensity, not just flavor.

Flavor data: Epicure (Radzikowski & Chen, 2026), arXiv:2605.22391, CC-BY-4.0.
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