Bought vs homemade: Tomato sauce

Tomato sauce is a tasty addition to many meals – and popular with children. Is a homemade version of this Kiwi favourite any healthier?

Bought

Wattie’s Lite Tomato Sauce

Ingredients: Concentrated tomatoes, sugar, food acids (acetic acid, citric acid), salt, natural flavours, spice

vs

Homemade

Healthy Food Guide Fresh tomato sauce

Ingredients: Tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, onion, garlic, raw sugar, sea salt, black pepper, basil leaves

Nutrition information per serve

We tried the Healthy Food Guide fresh tomato sauce both in its original chunky form and puréed. When chunky, it’s more like a pasta sauce. When puréed, it’s not as thick as the Wattie’s sauce. Nutritionally, the lower sodium and sugars in the HFG sauce make it a winner, but don’t imagine it lacked flavour or sweetness. Our tasters loved the flavour.

Wattie’s Lite Tomato Sauce has a very tangy flavour and is a thicker sauce. Our tasters were unsure they could convert the whole family to our homemade alternative, but a little vinegar added to the HFG sauce would add some tang and help conversion, if that is your goal.

Although we used fresh tomatoes when making the HFG tomato sauce, it would work just as well with canned tomatoes, saving time and, in the winter months, money too. The homemade sauce is a delicious alternative we highly recommend trying.