Roasted Tomato and Pepper Sauce for Pasta

This creamy and flavor-packed roasted tomato and pepper sauce is such a treat, whether you make it in the summer or winter. It is a simple, quick, healthy and easy recipe that you can make during busy weeknights. Naturally vegan and gluten-free.

I have been roasting tomatoes more recently to enhance their flavor and make the most of them during the winter. This recent roasted tomato sandwich recipe is an absolute delight and everyone loves it. 

And now, this super easy roasted tomato and red pepper sauce shows how you can reach an ultra-deep, sweet and umami-filled pasta sauce flavor without having to simmer it for a long time.

I love making a classic pomodoro sauce when I have more time, but on busy weeknights, then I'll make this roasted tomato sauce instead to speed up the process.

The flavor is simply incredible! This is a creamy and rich sauce made with tomatoes, but also onion and red peppers, which round up and complement the flavors of the tomatoes that can be a little sour, especially when out of season. Plus, adding some garlic and a touch of balsamic vinegar really brings it to the next level and prevents the sauce from being bitter or bland.

And this roasted tomato pasta sauce is super simple! All you have to do is roast the veggies, then blend them before serving the creamy sauce with cooked pasta. It does take 40 minutes to come together, but this is mostly hands-off roasting time.

This recipe works well for busy weeknight dinners and kids love it too!

Hope you give it a try! ❤️

Why you will love this recipe

• Super simple pasta sauce that hides a fair amount of vegetables
• Made with simple ingredients
• Quick and easy, perfect for busy weeknight dinners
• Packed with vibrant and fresh flavors
• Versatile and easy to customize
• Great for meal prep and freezer-friendly
• Perfect sauce for the whole family: great way to sneak extra veggies into your kids's meal, but also suitable for a delicious and sophisticated dinner for adults
• Naturally vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free

Ingredients you will need

(See below in the recipe card for the measurements)

• Tomatoes: the best kind of fresh tomatoes to use for roasting and making pasta sauce is Roma tomatoes. They have a less watery interior and not as many seeds compared to other tomatoes, plus they make sauces taste amazing. That being said, other tomatoes will work too! You can use regular round tomatoes, cherry tomatoes or cocktail tomatoes.
• Red bell peppers: you will need 2 large red bell peppers. They add more natural sweetness and in this recipe, no need to remove their peels once roasted!
• Onion: I like sweet onion for tomato sauce to balance the acidity, but yellow or white tomatoes are perfect too.
• Garlic: add as much as you want, although I think this simple sauce benefits from having lots of garlic flavor. I used 4, but feel free to add 5-6. As a side note, the garlic is roasted until creamy and sweet, so the flavor isn't raw or very much pungent once blended into the sauce.
• Balsamic vinegar: it adds more sweetness and a nice complexity of flavor to this sauce. 
• Dried herbs: I added simply some oregano, but you can use your favorite blend such as Italian seasoning.
• Fresh basil: omit if you don't have it, although it brings a nice freshness to the sauce. Fresh parsley is a good choice too.

How to make roasted tomato and pepper sauce

(See below in the recipe card for the full recipe)

Preheat the oven to 400º and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Roast the vegetables

Start by cleaning the vegetables. Then remove the apex on the tomatoes and quarter them. Quarter the peppers and remove their seeds and also quarter or slice in big chunks the onion.

Transfer the vegetables to the prepared baking sheet, then add the whole cloves of garlic (with the skin on).  Spray a little olive oil over (or add about 1-2 tablespoons), then drizzle the balsamic vinegar, sprinkle salt and pepper and add the dried oregano. Toss the vegetables, then disperse them over the baking sheet and flip the red peppers skin side up.

Bake for 30-40 min or until the vegetables are softer and slightly charred or browned, but still juicy and not dried out.

Blend

Pick the garlic cloves and squeeze the garlic out of their peels, then discard the skin. Transfer the garlic and all the other roasted vegetables into a blender. Add the fresh basil and another pinch of salt, then blend on high until smooth and creamy.

If the sauce is too thick, then simply add a splash of veggie broth or water. This can happen if the tomatoes cook a little bit too much in the oven.

Alternatively, you can transfer the veggies in a bowl and blend using an immersion blender.

Adjust flavor and serve

Once the sauce is blended, taste and add more balsamic vinegar, basil or salt to taste. 

Serve the sauce over cooked pasta of your choice with more fresh basil. Enjoy!

Helpful tips

• No need to be very specific about how you cut the vegetables. The idea is to make an easy and quick recipe, so you can roughly cut them all about the same size. After all, they will be blended at the end!
• When transferring the veggies to the blender, use a spatula to scrape all the browned bits and the juices, they add so much flavor, so you don't want to leave this goodness behind!
• Keeping the skin on the garlic while roasting helps prevent it from burning, so try not to omit this! If you like Italian-style pasta sauce with a stronger garlic flavor, then feel free to add an extra raw clove in the blender at the end.
• If the blended sauce isn't hot enough once blended, then you might need to pour it into a pot and warm it up briefly on medium heat before serving.
• You don't have to remove the peels on the roasted peppers. If some part of the skin turned too dark, then you can simply remove these spots, but I usually don't bother, it adds more flavor anyway!

Serving suggestions

This pasta sauce recipe is amazing served with a side of crusty bread or focaccia to dip in the yummy sauce and a side of salad made with a tahini Caesar dressing would be lovely. We loved it with linguini pasta, although you can use your favorite pasta, such as spaghetti, fettuccini, penne, farfalle, etc.

You can garnish with more fresh herbs and a generous crack of black pepper, plus a dust of almond parmesan cheese for added flavor.

For an easy boost in plant-based protein, then use red lentil pasta or simply whole wheat noodles.

But there is more, this is such a versatile sauce you can also use it over:

• pizza
• meatball sandwiches
• dipping sauce for breadsticks
• gnocchi
• lasagna

Variations

This sauce can be used as a base to add more to it or use up what's left in the fridge. You can check out this vegetable pasta sauce for inspiration, but here are more variations to try:

• More vegetables: add some zucchini, eggplant, carrots, mushrooms and more. You can also add some leafy greens, although I would steam them for a few minutes instead of baking them.
• Spicy sauce: add a pinch of red pepper flakes to the blender! Also, you can try roasting some poblano peppers for a mild heat or for a much more spicy recipe, then roast some serrano peppers or habañero peppers. See how I roast spicy peppers in this roasted habañero mango salsa recipe.
• Cream sauce: once the sauce is blended, then pour it back into a pot and add some vegan cream (we like the one from NutPods) or coconut milk (unsweetened, start with half a can and stir the can well first). Also, you can soak about ½ cup of raw and unsalted cashews in boiling water while the veggies are roasting, then drain and blend the nuts with the veggies. Add some water or broth to compensate. You can add a pinch of nutritional yeast if making a cream sauce to add more flavor.

Storage tips

Let the leftover sauce cool down completely, then transfer it into an airtight container and keep it in the fridge for up to 4 days. The sauce stores better if kept apart from the noodles.

To reheat, you can use the microwave or the stove.

You can also freeze it, making it a great recipe to double or triple and then freeze in batches for later. Simply store the sauce in a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 3 months.  Defrost in the fridge overnight before reheating.

FAQs

Can I make it using a food processor?

Yes, a food processor would work well. The sauce might hold on to more texture and not be as smooth compared to using a blender, which would be totally fine too, but this is just something to keep in mind.

Do I need a high-speed blender?

No, not at all. Any blender will work. The vegetables are going to be soft and easy to blend once done baking.

Why is my sauce bitter?

Sometimes, vegetables can turn a little bitter while roasting, especially if they are not super sweet. The balsamic vinegar is meant to help balance that flavor, so if your sauce is too bitter, then add a little more or try some maple syrup or sugar.

Similar recipes to try

• Vegan creamy tomato sauce
• Tomato basil bruschetta
• Dairy-free tomato soup
• Creamy sun-dried tomato pasta
• Roasted red pepper pesto
• Marinara sauce
• One-pot tomato pasta
• Easy vegetable stew
• 30-min bucatini pomodoro

I hope you like this roasted tomato and pepper sauce recipe as much as we do! If you try it, please leave a comment below and rate the recipe to let me know how it was. Your feedback is so helpful!

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📖 Recipe