11 Tomato Paste Substitutes

If you're looking add that tomato flavor to your dish, tomato puree is a great substitution for tomato paste. It's less thick and concentrated than tomato paste, so you'll to make a few adjustments to factor in taste and texture.

Using 2 to 3 tablespoons of tomato puree to every tablespoon of tomato paste should do the trick. You can also reduce it down by cooking it for a few minutes in a separate pan, to give it a more concentrated taste and thicker texture, making it a perfect addition to a ragu or a bolognese pasta bake.

Tomato passata is basically strained tomatoes. Unlike tomato puree and tomato paste, passata is not cooked through, which gives it a fresher taste than stewed tomatoes.

Still, passata makes an excellent substitute for tomato paste. As with other alternatives, you'll need to cook it down a little. This will give it a closer taste and consistency to tomato paste.

Use 3 to 4 tablespoons for every tablespoon of tomato paste and reduce until you have a thick paste, perfect for tomato based stews. Passata also makes a great substitute for tomato sauce – it just needs to be gently cooked for 10-15 mins.

With a fresher, lighter taste and much thinner consistency, you'll need to strain canned tomatoes before you even consider using them as a substitute for tomato paste. Then, much like other alternatives, you'll need to reduce them in a pan.

Once you've strained off all the juices, use double the amount than the recipe calls for and reduce down. You'll have a thicker tomatoey paste that'll make a great addition to any saucy dish.

A smoother texture than diced canned tomato or whole canned tomato, crushed tomatoes make an ideal alternative to tomato paste.

Cook 4 tablespoons of crushed tomatoes down until they reduce by half. Then substitute 2 tablespoons per 1 tablespoon of tomato paste.

Although it's a little trickier to use than the other options on this list, you can still whip fresh tomatoes into a good substitute for tomato paste. It'll need a little bit of work.

Firstly, you'll need to peel and deseed the fresh tomatoes. Then, the tomatoes will need to be reduced to accurately reproduce the flavor and texture of tomato paste.

For recipes that call for a mix of tomato paste and crushed tomatoes, you can substitute tomato sauce. You can adjust the amount of tomato sauce you use until you reach a consistency that resembles a paste.

Tomato sauce can also be cooked longer for a thicker, extra intense stewed tomatoes taste. Tomato sauce can be used to great effect when making curry sauce or other sauces where a tomato touch is required.

While not the best substitute on the list, ketchup is still a viable alternative if you're caught short of tomato paste. Use sparingly, as the taste is quite different. Ketchup contains vinegar, sugar and a mix of subtle spices, so it'll definitely bring something different to a dish.

Sweet and tangy recipes with a hint of spice, such as chicken korai curry, would be best suited to using ketchup as a tomato paste alternative – use a 1:1 substitution ratio. It would also make a good substitution for tomato sauce in sweet and sour recipes, such as Hong Kong-style sweet and sour chicken.

Like fresh tomatoes, using red bell peppers as a substitute for tomato paste can be a little finicky. However, if you put the effort in, the resulting paste will be a great alternative.

The red bell peppers should be seeded, chopped and whizzed up in a food processor or blender. Once pureed, you'll need to reduce, to form a pepper paste that'll make a great alternative to that tomato flavor that would work wonders in a dish like this delectable lamb karahi. Once you have the pepper paste, substitute at a 1:1 ratio.

If you want to pick a pepper that will take tomato paste substitutions to the next level, check out this Spanish beauty. It's used in various dishes, from Galician octopus soup and Catalan romesco sauce, to traditional Valencian paella and the one and only chorizo sausage.

Characterised by a a distinctive deep red color and intensely rich and sweet flavor, ñora peppers are used by top chefs all around the world. If you want to add a touch of class to your dish, look no further.

Just blend 3 tablespoons of ñora peppers with a dash of water. You can add more water, until you get the desired consistency.

A fiery Tunisian condiment, harissa could make a great tomato paste substitute. Made of roasted red peppers, as well as herbs and spices such as garlic paste, caraway seeds, coriander seeds, cumin, this won't be an ideal substitute in every situation.

However, mix some harissa into a curry and you're onto a winner. Again, a lamb curry dish would taste great with the fiery pepper taste – opt for something like a lamb dopiaza. As harissa pasta has a similar consistency to tomato paste, so use a tablespoon of harissa for every tablespoon of tomato paste.

If you don't need that tomato flavor, but instead need a substitute for tomato paste that can add some richness and texture to a dish, pumpkin puree is fantastic. For those with a tomato allergy, it's a great substitute.

Pumpkin puree is rich, smooth and nutritious, and works best when added in place of tomato paste in a curry sauce or any other sauce that might need to be thickened. Add a tablespoon of pumpkin puree for every tablespoon of tomato paste.