Tomato Paste, Passata and Sauce: Which to Use When

Tomato paste, passata, pasta sauce and pizza sauce all start with tomatoes — here's what each is and when to reach for it.

Same fruit, different jobs

Paste, passata, pasta sauce and pizza sauce all come from tomatoes, but they're processed differently — from raw and smooth to cooked and concentrated. Knowing which is which saves you from a watery sauce or an over-thick one.

The lineup, thinnest to thickest

• Passata: raw, smooth sieved tomatoes — pourable and uncooked
• Crushed, whole or diced: tomato pieces in juice — you control the texture
• Pasta sauce: cooked and seasoned — ready to heat and serve
• Pizza sauce: thicker, seasoned for spreading
• Tomato paste: cooked down and concentrated — intense, used by the spoonful

When to use each

Use passata for a fast, smooth sauce; canned tomatoes when you want texture and control; pasta sauce when you want dinner with no work; pizza sauce for spreading on dough; and tomato paste to deepen and thicken anything — soups, stews, braises.

Quick guide

• Smooth weeknight sugo → passata
• Chunky, slow-cooked sauce → whole or crushed
• Heat-and-eat → pasta sauce
• Pizza night → pizza sauce
• Boost depth or thicken → tomato paste (the Italian-herb version adds seasoning)

Tips

• A spoon of paste rescues a thin or pale sauce
• Passata needs only a short simmer
• Rinse the can or jar with a splash of water to get every bit
• Freeze leftover paste in tablespoon portions

Tomato products, made simple

Keep paste, passata and pasta sauce on the shelf and you're ready for anything from a 10-minute dinner to a Sunday Sugo. The Unico range covers paste, passata, pasta sauces and pizza sauces.