Homegrown tomatoes are one of the garden’s greatest gifts. And for those of us who make and preserve our own tomato sauce and soup, paste tomatoes are particularly special.

Also known as sauce tomatoes, these elongated varieties have flesh that is very dry and meaty with few seeds. This, combined with their ripening schedule, makes them perfect for crafting homemade tomato sauces.

Most paste tomato varieties have plants that are determinate, which means their genetics determine the maximum height of the plant, unlike indeterminate tomato varieties, which will continue to grow until frost arrives. Determinate varieties grow to their genetically predetermined height (usually 3 to 4 feet for paste tomatoes), all the fruit ripens in quick succession and then that is that.

The benefit of this ripening schedule, of course, is that you have a big batch of sauce tomatoes ready for processing at the same time.

Sometimes also called Roma tomatoes, they have a shorter maturation period than most beefsteak tomatoes. Smaller-fruited varieties are ready to harvest in just 65 days, while larger-fruited paste tomatoes may take 78-85 days from transplant.

Often the branches of paste tomato plants are so heavily laden with fruits that they need extra support. A sturdy tomato cage or staking system is necessary even though the plants stay more compact.

The elongated fruits are ready to pick when their skin is fully colored and glossy and the tomato’s flesh gives easily under pressure from your thumb. Their rich, slightly smoky flavor and meaty texture are perfect for thickening sauces.

Try these varieties

If you’re looking to try some great sauce tomato varieties in your garden this year, it will be time to sow the seeds indoors under grow lights in early April. Don’t start them too early, or the fruits will be ready to harvest before your other tomato varieties are ripe enough to go into the sauce pot. Plus, tomato seedlings can grow too lanky and thin if the seeds are started too early.

Most local nurseries grow a few varieties of paste tomatoes, too, so if you can’t start your own from seed, you should have good luck finding transplants at the garden center.

While paste tomatoes aren’t prized for fresh eating (I find them a bit mealy for a sandwich or salad), growing them is a must for food preservers.

Here are a few of my favorite sauce tomato varieties:

“Nova” — The earliest sauce tomato I’ve grown, the red fruits are only 2 inches long, but packed with thick flesh and flavor. Plants stay on the small size, reaching just 3 feet in height. They’re great for growing in a container. Just make sure the plants stay well-watered.

“Cordova” — The 3-inch-long fruits of this variety are dense and perfect for canning salsa. Very productive and compact plants that produce oodles of fruits.

“San Marzano” — Though this variety takes a bit longer to mature than some others (nearly 80 days), there’s no comparison when it comes to making spaghetti sauce. The fruits are 5 inches long and have very few seeds. They’re easy to peel after a quick dip in boiling water, followed by a dunk in an ice water bath.

There’s a bigger strain of this sauce tomato, called San Marzano Gigante 3, with fruits that grow a whopping 7 inches long. However, the shoulders of the fruits stay green and I find them a bit harder to peel.

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)