Soup Like Tomato Sauce Problem: How To Make It Thicker?

Does your tomato sauce appear closer to soup than “sauce?” If it does, then it’s quite frustrating to come up with a supposed-to-be saucy dish that’s not rich enough to meet your expectations. Tomato sauce is used as the secret ingredient in making the dish smooth, rich, and tasty. However, it takes around 6 cups of fresh tomatoes with 5 pounds weight each to create the perfect dish that you want! Quite a lot, aren’t they? So to brighten you up, resolve the problem, and save the day, here are the different ways on how to thicken the tomato sauce:

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How To Make Soup-like Tomato Sauce Thicker

Collecting The Needs

So for you not to run in and out of the kitchen just because you forgot to prepare something, you need to collect first the essential ingredients and tools for the thickening process. Preparing your things beforehand will also help you to know the stuff available at your kitchen and those that you still need to buy in the market.

Here’s the trick, there are a lot of ways on how to make your tomato sauce thick. Therefore, it is not necessary to use all of the ingredients below. The ingredients that you will choose depends on the method that you will use. So, I require you to read the instructions carefully. The good thing here is that, if one method didn’t work out, you could just do the next one, until you finally got the result that you want!

  • Tomato sauce
  • Pot
  • ​Stove or even
  • Cornstarch, flour, or arrowroot (You can only choose one any of these)
  • Chili orbeans
  • Olive oil
  • Grounded carrots
  • Caramelized carrots
  • Tomato paste

The Main Processes: From Thin To Thick

1. Burn, tomatoes, burn!

Sometimes, a watery tomato sauce just needs a little heating up before it becomes thick. A little more time on the stove is just what it needs. The advantage of this method is that the longer time the tomato sauce is cooked, then the smoother, more flavorful, and richer it becomes. Leaving it evaporating the excessive liquid of an hour will make your soupy sauce thick.

Aside from the stove, you can also try to use a low oven. In this method, burning the bottom of the pot won’t be a problem anymore, and ultimately, you don’t have to spend all of your time waiting for the tomato sauce to bubble. You don’t have to look over it from time to time, unlike when you cook it over the stove. You save the pots and you have more time in doing other important stuff.

2. Thickeners Thick

By just reading the name itself, you know that it is the resolution that you need. However, tomatoes and artificial thickeners sometimes don’t go well together. Starch was observed to be incompatible with tomato’s acid content because flours, potato starch, and cornstarch tend to change the taste of the tomato sauce and leave it with lumps. So mixing starch-containing products and tomato sauce directly is not advisable. You should combine cold water and flour or cornstarch first before adding tomato sauce immediately. Here is a video which could help you out.

3. Leave It Thin

Maybe this method just made you raise your eyebrows out of curiosity or confusion. How could this be a method when you are not supposed to do anything? You are wondering, “Why would I want to leave it thin when I actually want to make it thick?” Well here is the catch, a thin tomato sauce is not necessarily bad. The tomato flavorful taste is still there but the consistency does not match your expectations.

Sometimes, there are restrictions. If your tomato sauce is cooked along with chili or stew, then the rest of the thickening methods recommended here are not helpful anymore. These added ingredients will be responsible for the thickening process. Of course, you don’t want your dish to become too thick not to be eaten. Mashed beans with chili or mashed potatoes with stew will give your sauce a thick consistency that it deserves. Also, they will give you a different flavor that you’ll love. Here is a video that might help you out.

4. Pour A Little Oil

If you want to add something that’s natural, you can try to blend a little olive oil with your sauce using an immersion style blender. Blend it well for 15 minutes or until it becomes smooth. If you are worried if it will affect your sauce’s taste, don’t worry because it does not. It does only one purpose – to thicken your tomato sauce.

5. Add More Vegetables

Let’s now head on to the most creative part. Adding no or only one vegetable is not part of the rule. This method allows you to choose the vegetables that you deemed fit for your sauce depending on the dish that you are cooking.

Examples of vegetables are caramelized onions and grounded carrots; they will give your entire dish the ideal thickness but will also add a satisfying flavor for your taste buds.

6. Add The Paste

This might sound of a cheat, but believe me, this works especially if you don’t have enough time to prepare. Adding tomato paste to your sauce is the easiest way to make your soup-like tomato sauce thick. It would not alter the tomato sauce’s fresh appeal so don’t be bothered. Once that you transformed your tomato sauce into the thickness you desired, you can now try making a classic spaghetti, pepperoni pizza, and a black bean chili pasta.

So if you have successfully turned your soup-like tomato sauce into a whole new delicious treat, then tomato sauce based recipes during early breakfasts, Sunday lunches, handy snacks, or mouthwatering dinners would make your tummies happy! If you find these methods useful or not, we want to hear it from you! Leave your comments here. You can also share your own way on how to thicken a tomato sauce and your special recipes. Happy cooking!