This AIP, vegan-friendly, and nightshade-free Legit Nomato Sauce look and tastes like real tomato sauce. It’s easy to make using the Instant Pot and perfect for making nightshade-free marinara, ketchup, and bbq sauce too!
Table of Contents
Why This is THE BEST Nomato Sauce
The first is because of my secret ingredients which other recipes miss: fish sauce. Why fish sauce? UMAMI. Did you know? Tomatoes are one of the best plant-based sources of umami flavor. In fact, their sweet-yet-savory flavor comes from their high glutamic acid content. Fish sauce is also high in glutamic acid and umami flavor!
Color! A good AIP Nomato Sauce will look like the real deal in your recipes. With this nomato sauce recipe, I wanted the color to be PERFECT. The flavor is not too tangy, and with a tiny bit of sweetness to truly mimic what homemade tomato sauce would taste like. This AIP Nomato sauce comes together quickly and easily and is perfect to use in any recipe or even make AIP BBQ or AIP Ketchup!
Ingredients for Tomato Free Tomato Sauce
It might seem strange to find that there are no tomatoes in sight. However, for those with nightshade intolerances or allergies, a good nomato sauce is a kitchen staple. Here is what you will need to make this AIP tomato sauce.
- Don’t freak out about that big beet. You’re doing to peel it, and trim the ends. The sauce does not taste like beet at all. This helps get a nice color, you need it.
- Just a little sweet potato, this helps add a little sweetness without adding sugar or dates.
- Carrots, celery and onoin because a mirpoix is the foundation of flavor for all things!
- Fish sauce for salty umami which tomatoes have in spades.
- Apple cider vinegar for tangy acidic flavor.
- Copious amounts of garlic powder and Italian Herb seasoning for that Italian flavor!
- Not pictured, a cup of bone broth (or water) as the base.
Step by Step Homemade Nomato Sauce
This AIP marinara and tomato base sauce comes together very easily. Dice, saute, cook and blend. Here are simple steps to nightshade-free cooking bliss.
- Dice all your veggies, and heat the olive oil then add in the onion, celery, carrot and garlic. Saute until tender. Mix in the seasoings.
- Add in the apple cider vinegar to delgaze the pot. Add in the root veggies.
- Mix well and pour in the fish sauce and bone broth.
- Close the lid and pressure cook on medium for 8 minutes. Once done open the lid.
- Carefully transfer all of the vegetables and liquid to a blender.
- Puree until smooth.
- Taste and add more salt, vinegar or fish sauce as needed or to taste. If you’re not AIP you can also add in some black pepper.
Tips, Tricks and Recommendations for AIP Nomato Sauce
What I love about this sauce is that it’s really easy and you can use it for many different recipes like chili, soups, pasta, and more.
- Make it AIP BBQ Sauce: blend 1/2 cup Legit Nomato Sauce with 2 tablespoons honey, 2 teaspoons garlic powder, 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar, a tiny pinch of ground clove.
- Make it AIP Pizza Sauce: blend 1 cup Legit Nomato Sauce with 2 teaspoons Italian herb seasoning, and 1/4 teaspoon ground oregnago, 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon olive oil.
- Make it AIP Ketchup: reduce the broth or water by 1/4 cup, add 1 tablespoon honey or 1 date when blending and up the salt by 1/2 teaspoon or to taste.
- Make it less sweet: Omit the sweet potato.
- Make it more tangy: Add more lemon juice, up to 1/4 cup.
- Never run out: Make a double batch and freeze it in ice cube trays! Just pop a cube or two in any recipe calling for tomato sauce.
Notamto FAQ’s
Yes, but I would replace it with 1 tablespoon of nutritional yeast.
I don’t recommend it if you make this sauce only with carrots and sweet potato it will be too sweet and too orange. Don’t worry, you CAN’T taste it.
Yes, and replace it with only lemon juice.
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Legit Nomato Sauce (AIP, Whole30)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 5 cups 1x
- Category: Sauce
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: AIP
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
This simple tomato-free tomato sauce is perfect for any recipe for those with nightshade allergies.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 3 ribs celery, diced
- 2–3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon fine salt, more to taste
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 1/2 tablespoon Italian Herb blend (AIP compliant)
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 beet, peeled, trimmed, and diced (about 2 cups)
- 1 small sweet potato, peeled and diced (about 1 cup)
- 1 cup bone broth or water
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
Instructions
- Heat your pressure cooker (or Dutch oven) on saute mode. When it comes to temperature drizzle in the olive oil.
- Add in the diced onion, celery, and carrots. Saute for 3-4 minutes or until tender. Mix in the salt, garlic powder, and herbs.
- Continue to saute until aromatic, then deglaze the pot with the lemon juice and vinegar, scraping the bottom of the pot. Add in the beets and sweet potato.
- Mix in the broth (or water) and fish sauce, Close the lid and set to pressure cook on medium heat for 8 minutes. If you’re making it stovetop, cover and bring to a simmer for 30 minutes or until tender.
- Once done, open the lid, and transfer everything, CAREFULLY, to a blender.
- Puree until totally smooth and bright red! Taste and add more salt if you like or a little more lemon for more tang or more fish sauce for umami! See post for BBQ sauce, Ketchup, and Marinara modifications.
Recipe Notes:
- You can replace fish sauce with 1 tablespoon of nutritional yeast.
- You can omit the sweet potato but not the beet (replace the sweet potato with more carrots).
- You can use all ACV or all lemon juice depending on needs or preferences.
- There are NO added sugars in the recipe, it is WHOLE30 compliant. The sugar in the nutritional information is the natural sugars in the vegetables.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/2 cup
- Calories: 86
- Sugar: 3g
- Fat: 7g
- Saturated Fat: 0g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 13g
- Fiber: 3f
- Protein: 2g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
Keywords: AIP Nomato Sauce
Lisa Baker says
Best Nomato sauce I’ve made yet. My wife is a “ginger” and nightshade-sensitive. I did add 2 minutes to the cooking time since we live at 7,000 ft
★★★★★
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
Yeayyy glad you loved it!
Caroline says
Thank you so much for this recipe. We have been keto for 6+ years but had to go AIP in the last 6 months to rule out and help assess health concerns along with several blood panel tests + supplements. We have been struggling to keep our food entertaining, delicious, and creative to fall within the guidelines of AIP/Keto. This recipe is an ABSOLUTE GAME CHANGERRR for us. I decided to start with a 2x volume of the recipe *trusting the process* and hoping it would be delicious. I am so glad I did! We did the sauce with Chicken Crust Pizza and meaty toppings. Best dinner we have had in a while. I purchased your book, Made Whole, when it first came out many years ago but look forward to scouring your website and reviving our meals with your recipes. It’s been a joy following you on social media and supporting your content/journey and excited to see what life has in store for you and your family. Thanks again for the recipe.
★★★★★
Christine says
Hi! Can this sauce be canned? If so, is the pH low enough to process in a water bath canner?
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
I am not sure! I’ve never tried canning it.
Jenna says
This nomato sauce is the best. I made a batch of it and a batch of your pure beet nomato sauce the same day. They were both delicious but this OG recipe is my favorite. I froze the leftover sauce in mini muffin liners and bagged them up.
5 months later, I pulled 4 OG nomato sauce discs and 2 beet discs to combine with ground meat to eat over spaghetti squash for dinner.
I am the only nightshade sensitive person at my house and this is the easiest way for me to eat nomato sauce and my family can open a jar of whatever sauce they want. Next time I will make a quadruple batch.
This sauce was amazing with meatball subs for me. Mmmmmmm. Thank you so much for this recipe. Xoxo
★★★★★
Michelle says
As always, the absolute best! I’ve made this recipe several times and it is the empirical best Nomato Sauce recipe out there. My italian husband “legit” loves this and he’s very finicky about tomato sauces.
★★★★★
Susan says
Legit tastes amazing!! Even my family enjoyed it and couldn’t tell it had beets in it. I used canned beets for the recipe and it still came out great. Definitely will be using this for a lasagna recipe for thanksgiving! Thank you!
★★★★★
Lindsey says
I have tried SO MANY nomato sauces and this one truly is legit!! By far the best of the best…I am now to the point of making a double batch and freezing in 1-cup increments so I have it on hand to use in recipes and for spaghetti and meatballs!
★★★★★
Golden says
Question about the beets. I have those refrigerated, precooked beets on hand. I assume that is the same as a cooked beet that I can add at the end. Question is though, what is volume of beet in this recipe? Half cup? 1 cup? Thanks!
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
It does work with those, but the color comes out much lighter! Like very pink.
Sally Woller says
Gurrrl this sauce is fire!!! The taste is absolutely divine. Took a chance and doubled the recipe when I saw sweet potato. I just knew I’d love it 🙂
★★★★★
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
Thank you so much Sally!!
Olga Lopez says
Instead of freezing the non tomato sauce can I keep it on the refrigerator? And for how long
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
YUP, it will last in an air tight container about 8-10 days
Dina says
I started AIP for my daughter’s Hashimoto diagnosis. My first attempt of this recipe was very successful, in fact, the rest of the family was staring at the sauce and I kept a watchful eye to make sure they don’t eat it since I made a small batch for my daughter only. 🙂 I’m now quadrupling the batch! Yum!!! Thank you so much for this recipe!
★★★★★
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
Thank you for sharing Dina!
Dani Tineo says
Hiii! Made this recently and I LOVEDDDD the flavor!!!! Such a trippy experience as there is no tomato 😂 my only question was, the color did not come out like yours. Could it be I put too big of a beet? Or too much? I put 1 whole beet but it was a GIANT beet 🤔 it made it more a purple red color than an orangey color. I was really hoping to get a more accurate color to tomato sauce 😩 but other than that the flavor is deliciousssss!
Ashley says
Mine turned out the same way! SO purple! But the taste is crazy in how close it is to tomato!
★★★★★