Table · field guide
How to Make Tomato Sauce Without a Food Mill
Almost every tomato sauce recipe tells you to run the tomatoes through a food mill, and most people do not own one. You do not need it. The mill only does two jobs, remove the skins and seeds, and you can do both with tools already in your kitchen. Here are three ways to make smooth sauce with what you have, plus the one safety rule if you plan to can it.
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What the food mill actually does
A food mill separates the smooth pulp from the skins and seeds in one crank. That is the whole job. The skins are what make an unstrained sauce taste bitter and turn stringy, and the seeds add a faint sharpness.
So to skip the mill, you just need another way to get the skins and seeds out. There are three easy ones, and which you pick depends on how smooth you want the sauce and how much you are making.
Method 1: peel first, then blend (smoothest)
This is the best method and the one most Italian cooks use. Remove the skins before you cook, so you never have to strain.
Cut a small X in the bottom of each tomato, drop them into boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds, then lift them into cold water. The skins slip right off. Squeeze out the seed pockets with your thumb, then simmer the peeled tomatoes down. An immersion blender or a regular blender gives you a smooth sauce with no straining at all.
- Score, boil 30 to 60 seconds, plunge in cold water, peel.
- Squeeze out the seeds, then simmer the peeled flesh down.
- Immersion blender at the end for a smooth, skin-free sauce.
Method 2: cook, then push through a sieve
If you would rather not peel, cook the whole tomatoes down first, then strain. Quarter the tomatoes, simmer until soft and broken down, about 20 minutes, then push the sauce through a fine mesh sieve or a colander lined with the back of a ladle.
The pulp goes through and the skins and seeds stay behind in the sieve. It is a little slower than a mill and your arm gets a workout, but it uses a strainer you already own and gives a very smooth result.
- Simmer quartered tomatoes about 20 minutes until soft.
- Press through a fine sieve or colander with a ladle.
- Skins and seeds stay behind, smooth pulp goes through.
Method 3: blender plus a quick strain (fastest)
In a hurry and not fussy about a few specks of skin? Core the tomatoes, blend them raw, then simmer the puree down. The skins get chopped so fine they mostly disappear. For a smoother sauce, pour the blended puree through a sieve once before cooking to catch the seeds and skin bits.
This is the quickest route for a big batch, though a blended sauce can foam and take a bit longer to cook thick. A splash of oil and a low simmer settle it down.
If you are canning it, add acid
Fresh sauce for tonight needs no special steps. But if you are water-bath canning tomato sauce for the shelf, you must add acid, because modern tomatoes are not acidic enough to can safely on their own.
Add bottled lemon juice to every jar: 1 tablespoon per pint, or 2 tablespoons per quart. Use bottled, not fresh, because its acidity is consistent. Follow a tested recipe for headspace and processing time. Our full canning walkthrough covers the safe steps start to finish.
When a food mill is worth it after all
None of this means a mill is useless. If you make sauce by the bushel every year, a food mill or a steam juicer saves real time and your arm, because it strains pounds of tomatoes in minutes. For a batch or two a season, the methods above do the same job with what you own.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 10 lb ripe paste tomatoes (such as Roma)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- Optional: garlic, basil, or onion to taste
- For canning: bottled lemon juice, 1 tablespoon per pint or 2 tablespoons per quart
Method
- Score an X in the bottom of each tomato. Boil 30 to 60 seconds, then plunge into cold water and slip off the skins.
- Cut the peeled tomatoes in half and squeeze out the seed pockets.
- Simmer the tomato flesh with the oil and salt over medium-low heat, stirring often, until it reduces and thickens, about 60 to 90 minutes.
- Blend smooth with an immersion blender if you want a finer texture.
- Use fresh within 5 days, or freeze. To can: add bottled lemon juice to each jar, leave 1/2 inch headspace, and process in a water-bath canner per a tested recipe for your jar size and altitude.
Keep going
Questions, answered straight
Peel the tomatoes first, then blend. Score and boil them 30 to 60 seconds, slip off the skins, squeeze out the seeds, then simmer and use an immersion blender. No straining needed. You can also cook the tomatoes down and push them through a fine sieve.
Yes. Blend cored tomatoes, then simmer the puree down. The skins chop fine and mostly disappear. For a smoother sauce, strain the blended puree through a sieve once to catch seeds and skin before cooking.
For a smooth, non-bitter sauce, yes, or you strain the skins out after cooking. The skins are what turn a sauce bitter and stringy. Peeling first with the boiling-water method is the easiest way to avoid straining later.
The mill has nothing to do with safety. What matters is acid: add bottled lemon juice to every jar, 1 tablespoon per pint or 2 per quart, and follow a tested water-bath recipe for time and headspace. The straining method does not change that rule.