Sauce tomate (classical tomato sauce)
Non-vegetarian
Sauce tomate
The French tomato mother sauce. Salt pork and mirepoix are sweated in butter and lightly bound with roux, then simmered with ripe tomatoes, white stock, garlic and herbs and passed through a sieve. The result is smooth and savoury, fuller than an Italian marinara.
Sauce tomate (classical tomato sauce) is a French sauce from France, ready in about 2 hours 5 minutes and made with tomato, bacon and unsalted butter. It serves 12 and is rated intermediate to cook.
No licensed photograph of this dish yet.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 1 h 50 min
- Total
- 2 h 5 min
- Serves
- 12
- Level
- Intermediate
- Calories
- 84
Method
Step 1
Cut the bacon (opens in a new tab) into lardons and the onion (opens in a new tab) and carrot (opens in a new tab) into 1 cm dice. Core and roughly chop the tomatoes (opens in a new tab). Tie the bay leaf (opens in a new tab) and thyme (opens in a new tab) together.
How it looks · Photo: Christina & Peter on Pexels Step 2
Put the lardons in a cold heavy casserole and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring, until the fat runs and they are lightly golden.
Step 3
Add the butter, onion (opens in a new tab) and carrot (opens in a new tab) and sweat for 8 minutes until soft and just starting to colour at the edges.
- 8 min
- medium heat
- Wooden spoon (opens in a new tab)
Step 4
If using flour, sprinkle it over and stir for 2 minutes until it smells biscuity and is pale gold. This is a blond roux made right in the pan.
- 2 min
- medium-low heat
- Wooden spoon (opens in a new tab)
Step 5
Add the tomatoes (opens in a new tab), stock, garlic (opens in a new tab) and the herb bundle and stir well, scraping the bottom. Bring to the boil, then cover with the lid ajar and simmer very gently for 1½ hours, stirring every 15 minutes, until the tomatoes have completely collapsed. (Escoffier braised it in a 150 °C oven for the same time; either way works.)
- 90 min
- 150°C · If braising in the oven instead of on the hob.
- low heat
- Dutch oven / casserole pot (opens in a new tab)
- Wooden spoon (opens in a new tab)
Step 6
Remove the herbs. Pass everything through a sieve or food mill, pressing hard with a ladle or spoon so all the pulp goes through and only skins, seeds and lardons stay behind.
How it looks · Photo: Katerina Holmes on Pexels Step 7
Return the sauce to the clean pan and simmer for 5–10 minutes until it is nappe: it coats a spoon smoothly without running off in streams. Season with salt, pepper (opens in a new tab) and the sugar (opens in a new tab) if it tastes sharp.
- 8 min
- medium-low heat
- Wooden spoon (opens in a new tab)
How it looks · Photo: Bachir Mamud on Pexels
About this dish
- Origin
- France · Well documentedEscoffier listed sauce tomate among the grandes sauces in 1903; his version used salt pork, mirepoix, a little roux and white stock and was braised in the oven. Many modern school versions leave out the flour and rely on reduction; both are given here.Also popular in United Kingdom, United StatesMore food from France
- Dish
- Lunch · Dinner · Sauces
- Cooking method
- Simmered, Sautéed
- Taste
- savoury, tangy, umami, sweet
- Diet
- No nut ingredients · Low-carbWithout the optional extras: No gluten ingredientsWorked out from the ingredients. How labels work
All labels
Non-vegetarian · Flexitarian-friendly · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · Alcohol-free · Beef-free · Low-carb - Good for
- Make-ahead · Freezer-friendly · Batch cooking
- Cook more with
- Tomato · Bacon · Unsalted butter · Onion · Carrot · Chicken stock
- Techniques
- Sautéing · Boiling · Simmering · Braising · Slow-cooked gravy
Allergens
- Contains: Milkfrom unsalted butter
- Contains, can be adapted: Wheatfrom all-purpose flour
- Contains, can be adapted: Glutenfrom all-purpose flour
- May contain: Celeryfrom chicken stock
Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.
Nutrition
84 kcal per serving
Calculated1 serving ≈ 100 g · recipe makes 12
Where the energy comes from
- Protein 14%
- Carbohydrate 38%
- Fat 48%
| Nutrient | Per serving | Per 100 g |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 84 kcal | 84 kcal |
| Protein | 3.1 g | 3.1 g |
| Carbohydrate | 8.5 g | 8.5 g |
| Net carbohydrate | 6.7 g | 6.7 g |
| Sugars | 5.1 g | 5.1 g |
| Added sugars | 0.4 g | 0.4 g |
| Fibre | 1.9 g | 1.9 g |
| Fat | 4.7 g | 4.7 g |
| Saturated fat | 2.1 g | 2.1 g |
| Trans fat | — | — |
| Cholesterol | 10 mg | 10 mg |
| Sodium | 303 mg | 303 mg |
| Salt equivalent | 0.8 g | 0.8 g |
Vitamins & minerals per serving
- Potassium
- 389 mg
- Calcium
- 21 mg
- Iron
- 0.5 mg
- Magnesium
- 18 mg
- Vitamin A (RAE)
- 127 µg
- Vitamin C
- 19 mg
- Vitamin D
- 0 µg
- Vitamin B12
- 0 µg
- Folate (DFE)
- 24 µg
How these numbers were made
- Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
- Optional ingredients are not included: all-purpose flour.
- “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
- Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.
Good to know
Tips
- Fully ripe summer tomatoes need little or no sugar; canned plum tomatoes make a very good winter version.
- For a brighter modern sauce, leave out the flour and reduce the sieved sauce a few minutes longer.
Common mistakes
- Boiling instead of simmering. Tomato sugars catch on the bottom of the pan and give the sauce a burnt taste.
- Skipping the sieve. The classical sauce is completely smooth.
Serve with
- Sauce for poached or fried eggs, fish quenelles and croquettes.
- The base for sauce provençale (with garlic, olive oil and herbs) and sauce Portugaise (with tomato concassé and onion).
- Use as a smooth base for gratins, baked pasta and stuffed vegetables.
Food safety
- Stock-based sauces are a good medium for bacteria. Cool quickly (spread in a shallow container or set the pan in iced water), refrigerate within 2 hours and bring back to a full simmer before serving.
Storage
- Refrigerate in a covered container for up to 5 days; freeze for up to 3 months.
Reheating
- Simmer gently, stirring, until bubbling.
Variations
- Sauce provençale (France): Tomato sauce with garlic, olive oil, parsley and sometimes olives and capers.
- Sauce Portugaise (France): Onion sweated in oil with tomato concassé and garlic, finished with tomato sauce and parsley.
- Vegetarian sauce tomate (France): Leave out the bacon, use vegetable stock and add a little more butter.
Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated
Recipe DNA
How this dish is built
Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.
What the dish is built around
Main ingredient
- Bacon, unsmoked streaky bacon, pancetta or salt pork, cut into 5 mm lardons60 g
- Unsalted butter30 g
- Carrot, peeled and cut into 1 cm dice80 g
- All-purpose flour, plain (all-purpose) (optional)30 g
- Tomato, ripe plum tomatoes, cored and roughly chopped (no need to peel; the sauce is sieved)1500 g
Make it milder, swap ingredients for your diet, change the batch size or thickness — the original stays as it is.
Customise in Sauce & DrizzleReviews & corrections
Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.
You might also like
Marinara sauce
Italian · 30 min · 105 kcal · VeganVelouté sauce
French · 45 min · 108 kcalBéchamel sauce
French · 25 min · 115 kcal · VegetarianEspagnole sauce
French · 2 h 20 min · 91 kcal