What do globe-trotting recipes like Crispy Ricotta Meatballs with Sheet-Pan Tomato Sauce, Moroccan Chicken and Cauliflower Stew, Cheesy Italian Baked Beans, and Kadai Paneer have in common—besides all being BHG staff favorites and downright delicious? Canned crushed tomatoes.
Crushed tomatoes stand out from other canned tomato varieties due to their texture. The consistency includes small chunks of tomato flesh, which lend lovely texture and a subtle rustic touch to everything from soups and stews to sauces, braises, casseroles, and beyond.
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Since a wide array of recipes call for this pantry staple, we go through cans far more frequently than we often predict. Occasionally, between re-stock runs, we find ourselves shy of cans right when we need them. We know we’re not the only ones, so we decided to pull together a complete guide for the best substitutes for crushed tomatoes.
6 of the Best Substitutes For Crushed Tomatoes
Crushed tomatoes are a blend of diced tomatoes and tomato paste or purée, so that means there are several suitable swaps.
Our Test Kitchen experts have put each of these crushed tomato substitutes through the paces so you can tackle that recipe with confidence until you can collect a few more cans of crushed tomatoes to be ready for next time.
- A different style of canned tomatoes (whole, diced, or stewed). Either pulse in a blender or food processor, or transfer the tomatoes to a bowl and use clean hands to coarsely mash to get a more “crushed” texture, suggests Sarah Brekke, M.S., Better Homes & Gardens Test Kitchen culinary specialist. If the final result is a bit too thin, add 1 tablespoon or so of tomato paste.
- Canned tomato sauce. Not to be confused with jarred pasta sauce, this canned tomato product is cooked tomato purée. Peek at the label to confirm that tomato purée is the first (and one of few) ingredients listed.
- Tomato passata. Sold in bottles, jars, or boxes, this product is uncooked tomato purée that has been strained of seeds and skins. Essentially, this is tomato sauce’s cousin that hasn’t seen any heat yet.
- Thinned tomato paste. Dilute this with equal parts water or broth (so mix ¼ cup tomato paste with ¼ chicken broth, for example, to replace ½ cup crushed tomatoes) to mimic a similar consistency to tomato sauce. This won’t have the chunks, but shouldn’t taste too far off.
- Pasta, pizza, or marinara sauce. If you’re firmly on Team Texture, look for a brand that is marketed as “rustic cut” or “chunky.” The blended saucy style will do the trick, too. “Just keep in mind that these sauces often have other ingredients such as onion, garlic, and spices that will influence the final flavor of the dish,” Brekke explains.
- Fresh tomatoes. If you’re lucky enough to be in the thick of fresh tomato season, take advantage of your seasonal produce. First, you’ll want to wash and use a knife to slice a small “X” into the skin of each tomato, Brekke says. In a pot of boiling water, blanch the tomatoes just until skins begin to loosen, which should take about 1 minute. Immediately plunge the hot tomatoes into ice water to cool fully before peeling off skins. Use a knife to cut the peeled tomatoes into quarters, then remove the seeds. (Need a little more detail about how to ace this process? Check out our tried-and true method for easily peeling and seeding tomatoes.) Place the seeded tomato quarters into a blender or food processor and pulse until the mixture has the consistency of a chunky purée. “At this point, the tomatoes can be used in your recipe,” Brekke says. “You may want to add 1 to 2 tablespoons of tomato paste for color, flavor, and consistency. And you may also find that you need to cook your dish a bit longer due to the higher water content found in fresh tomatoes.”
Related: 12 Easy Pantry Dinners You Can Whip Up with Staple Ingredients
Most of these crushed tomato substitutes can be used in a one-to-one ratio for crushed tomatoes. In other words, if your recipe calls for 2 cups of canned crushed tomatoes, use 2 cups of jarred or homemade pasta sauce. For the thinner swaps, start with two-thirds of the quantity (so 1 ⅓ cup to stand in for 2 cups of canned crushed tomatoes). Add more, up to 2 cups, to reach your desired consistency.
If you’re using fresh produce, estimate about 1 pound fresh tomatoes (treated in the way we explain above) to replace one 15-ounce can or 2 pounds of fresh tomatoes to step in for a 28-ounce can.
1 Crushed Tomato Substitute to Skip
As you can see, there are quite a few substitutes for crushed tomatoes that will help you create a recipe that your whole family will crush on. In most cases, no one will even notice you didn’t follow the original game plan as written!
They—and you—will taste the difference if you fall back on another tomato product.
“Avoid using ketchup as a crushed tomato substitute,” Brekke warns. “It ‘s far too sweet to be used as a swap.”
The Bottom Line
The best canned crushed tomato substitutes range from fresh tomatoes to thinned-out tomato paste to that jar of sauce you’ve been saving for pizza night. The next time you realize you’re fresh out of crushed tomatoes, turn to any of these Test Kitchen-approved alternatives (and save the ketchup for burgers, hot dogs, meatloaf, French fries, or Pull-Apart Piggy Bread).
