16 Ways to Use Tomato Paste, From Tomato Bisque to Shakshuka

A little tomato paste goes a long way. This concentrated product, made by roasting and cooking down pureed tomatoes into a thick paste, gives incomparable depth to tomato sauce, tomato soup, and main courses.

Tomato paste is usually made from paste tomatoes — also called Roma, plum, or sauce tomatoes — which have pointed bottoms, dense flesh, and few seeds. It's often briefly sautéed in oil at the beginning of recipes with tomato paste to add a caramelized richness to the final dish.

You can make homemade tomato paste by cooking down sliced tomatoes, passing them through a food mill, and slow-roasting the resulting puree. “Thanks to the long caramelization, the flavors are layered and nuanced, even changing as they linger on the tongue,” says chef and food writer Kim McDonnel.

Tomato paste is also widely available at grocery stores, sold in cans or tubes. Anna Theoktisto, who manages recipe development and testing in the Food & Wine Test Kitchen, recommends the Muir Glen brand, which has a rich tomato flavor. You can also find double-concentrated tomato paste, which is simply a more concentrated version of the regular kind.

How to store tomato paste

Once opened, tomato paste will last in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a month. But since it’s often used in small quantities, Theoktisto suggests freezing it after opening. 

“Instead of just using the two tablespoons I need and then throwing away the rest or putting it in the fridge to rot, I place two-tablespoon dollops on a small piece of parchment paper and roll each dollop up. Then I place them in a resealable container and freeze until I need tomato paste again. It lasts forever this way,” she says. 

Make the most of a jar, can, or tube of tomato paste with these recipes.