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Make homemade tomato sauce in your VitaClay by freezing and thawing ripe tomatoes, cooking them until soft, then blending and seasoning. This simple skin-on method makes a rustic sauce for pasta, pizza and freezer meals.
Inspired by a recipe shared by Janel Tisinger-Ledkins, it brings homemade cooking into an everyday routine—with unglazed clay and pressure-free cooking.
Recipe inspiration: nellers10
Watch her original Instagram post. Cooking directions below are adapted for VitaClay.
Freezing and thawing helps tomatoes release liquid before cooking. Drain into a bowl so you can reserve that tomato juice for the cooker and save any extra for soups, stews or rice.
For this fresh or freezer sauce, you can leave the skins on and blend them into the finished sauce.
Ripe tomatoes, enough to meet your cooker’s minimum fill requirement
Reserved tomato juice or water, as needed for cooking
Dried basil, to taste
Dried oregano, to taste
Salt, to taste
Onion powder, to taste
Garlic powder, to taste
A little sugar, optional
Prepare the tomatoes. Wash, remove cores and trim bruised areas. Discard moldy or spoiled tomatoes.
Freeze for 1–2 days. Place the tomatoes in freezer-safe bags.
Thaw and reserve the juice. Thaw completely in the refrigerator. Drain into a bowl, keeping the released liquid.
Fill the clay pot. Place the thawed tomatoes in the room-temperature pot with sufficient reserved juice or water to meet your model’s liquid requirements. Follow its minimum fill and maximum capacity limits.
Cook until soft. Cover and select Soup/Stew, starting with 30 minutes. Check carefully for softness and sufficient liquid. Continue in short increments if needed, adding liquid as necessary.
Blend. Turn off the cooker. Let the tomatoes cool enough to handle safely, then transfer to a blender. Follow the blender’s hot-food instructions. Blend with the skins for a rustic sauce, or strain for a smoother texture.
Season. Stir in basil, oregano, salt, onion powder and garlic powder. Add a small pinch of sugar if desired.
Serve or save. Enjoy immediately, or cool promptly in shallow containers before refrigerating or freezing.
The 30-minute starting point is adapted from VitaClay’s published tomato recipe. This freeze-and-thaw version has not been kitchen-tested; cooking time varies by model, batch size and tomatoes.
No. For fresh use or freezing, blend the skins into the sauce if you enjoy their texture. A food mill can remove skins and seeds for a smoother finish.
Reserve the liquid and return enough to meet your VitaClay model’s cooking requirements. Drained tomatoes or thick purée may not provide sufficient free liquid on their own.
After cooking and blending, reduce the sauce separately in a saucepan, stirring frequently. Avoid cooking the clay pot dry.
Yes. Cool promptly and portion into freezer-safe containers, leaving room for expansion.
This skin-on, drained-tomato adaptation has not been validated for shelf-stable canning. For pantry storage, follow a tested canning recipe from preparation through processing.
Explore VitaClay’s tomato sauce recipe and browse our recipe collection for more ways to cook from scratch.
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