Easy Peasy Nomato Sauce! Yes that should be the name of this sauce. If you have been doing night shade free for a while, you already know what nomato sauce is. But for those who do not know what it is, it means ‘ no tomato ‘ sauce that tastes just like tomato sauce! There are lots of recipes from other AIP bloggers for nomato sauce and I have tried a couple of them. They were good but I was looking for a more sour sauce. And I did not want to add beets or carrots in it. Not that I have anything against beets or carrots – I actually love them a lot! But I wanted to try making a sauce that felt more tart and one that could also lend itself to more purposes. So kind of like a base sauce. For example, one base for making pasta sauce, pizza sauce, curry sauce or ketchup! I have posted a nomato sauce before when I made my cauliflower crust pizza.
This time I wanted to make it really really easy. Because life is so busy as is ..right? So I thought what could be really easy? And my mind said ‘a recipe where we just dump all the ingredients into the Instant pot and magic happens!’ So that’s how this recipe was born – out of a desire to use my time efficiently (or you could also say out of sheer laziness! )
So presenting the easiest nomato sauce ever! No chopping needed. No prep needed at all.!
What are the ingredients in this sauce?
There are only 3 main ingredients – Pumpkin puree, cranberries and cherries. You can use canned pumpkin puree and fresh or frozen cranberries and cherries. This recipe makes a sour or tart nomato sauce. So if you want it more sweeter, you can either reduce the amount of cranberries or increase the amount of cherries. This recipe is so easy to begin with that tweaking it every time you make it is not going to be hard at all. I am sure you can soon come to a ratio of the 3 ingredients that yields you that perfect taste that you like.
I like to add just minimal spices to this sauce and like to call it the ‘base’ sauce. That way I can add different spices to this depending upon what I am going to use it for. For example you can add oregano and more garlic for a pizza or pasta sauce or cumin and coriander for a curry sauce.
I have made a quick video for this too. You can watch it below!
- ½ cup pumpkin puree (canned or homemade)
- ⅓ cup cranberries (fresh or frozen)
- ¼ cup sweet cherries (fresh or frozen)
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ inch cinnamon stick (optional)
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ½ cup water
- Add all the ingredients to the insert pot of the Instant pot. use a spoon to give it a quick stir. Place the lid and turn the valve into sealing position. Pressure cook for 5 minutes.
- Let pressure release naturally or release it manually. Open the lid and discard the cinnamon stick. Blend the contents (using a hand held mixer or a regular blender) to a smooth consistency.
- Transfer to an air tight container and store in refrigerator for 3-4 days or in the freezer.
Is there a substitute for cherries and cranberries?
This recipe is great! Even my non AIP family members love it so makes my life easier to sub this for regular tomato sauce in recipes. Finally found organic frozen sweet cherries at Walmart. This will be a regular at our house now, thank you!
Thanks so much for the feedback Glori! I am so happy to hear that even your non AIP family love it! Hope you are doing well!
Hello,
Thank you for the recipe. Is there a way to make this on the stove without an Instapot?
Yes you can totally make it on the stove too in any cooking pot. I would cook it on low heat and double the cook time but also make sure to check frequently with stirring.Hope that helps!
For anyone out there who is wondering (like I was) if this will be any good without cherries (only cranberries), the answer is YES!
I made this last night to use in an AIP zucchini “lasagna” and it was fairly quick and simple to make and tasted great. To make it a little more “italian” tasting i replaced the garlic powder with a heaping teaspoon of minced garlic from a jar, 1 tsp dried basil, 1 tsp dried oregano, and 1/2 tsp dried rosemary. i also added 1 tsp of coconut sugar to make up for the lack of sweetness from not using cherries.
oh ALSO, i found the original recipe to be a bit small, so i went ahead and used enough cranberries to use a whole can of pumpkin and upped the water and salt as well. i have some sauce left over which is what i was hoping for!
Thanks so much for your comment and tips! Good to know that it tastes good even without the cherries. Btw, could you rate the recipe too so others can find it easily? Thanks so much!
Of all the nomato sauces, this is THE ONE. I use tinned pumpkin, frozen cherries and frozen cranberries in my instant pot then freeze it in silicon muffin trays so I can take out 1/2 cup for any recipe that uses tomato sauce / nomato sauce. It’s honestly life changing! I love that there’s no chopping involved and it freezes beautifully. I triple the recipe so I can use the whole tin of pumpkin and freeze a bunch for future recipes. Thank you Indira! 🙏
Hi Julia, thanks so much for sharing! I am so happy to hear that! That’s exactly how I felt when I made the recipe for the first time! That it was the perfect taste I was looking for! Thanks for sharing your tips!
Of course : )
thank you!
This sauce is FAR superior to any nomato sauce out there. And I have tried them all. In terms of acidity, color, and texture this is the gold standard. I don’t have an instapot so I just make it on the stove and then blend it up in my vitamix. I will be using this with your pizza crust recipe (also one of the best out there!) Thank you!!
Thank you so much for your feedback! I appreciate it greatly! Do you mind rating the recipe as it will help others find it? thank you!
Indu, I commented previously that I couldn’t find frozen cranberries so I wanted to try dried cranberries in this recipe. It was more difficult than I expected to find unsweetened dried cranberries, but I finally found them. Just made my first batch of your nomato sauce, and I am over the moon. It is so delicious. It’s a bit sweeter than I would prefer, probably because the dried cranberries are a bit more sweet than fresh, but the little bits of seeds from the cranberries remind me of the little tomato seeds in a traditional marinara. Great taste, great texture, and lightning fast to make. I’ll try more cranberries and fewer cherries next time, but with enough Italian seasoning and garlic, this is a heaven-sent alternative to enjoy with my AIP chicken meatballs and some spaghetti squash. Thank you for sharing this great alternative to beets and carrots.
thanks so much Phyllis for your feedback! So glad you enjoyed it even with dried cranberries! I must try it with chicken meatballs ! Sounds delicious!
I have tried the carrot and beet sauces and I don’t really love them. This sauce sounds like it would cook up to the right texture and have a more tomato-y taste–like you said, a more sour tast like tomatoes. I have a pumpkin-based barbecue sauce that really works well, but it doesn’t lend itself to much variation. I can’t find frozen cranberries anywhere in my area, and since this is April they are not in season. I think I may buy some preservative free dried cranberries, because I am really eager to try this recipe. AIP is so restrictive during the elimination that a versatile sauce like this would open many recipes that I currently cannot eat. Thank you for sharing.
Hi Phyllis! I hear you! yeah preservative and sugar free cranberries might work. I like Honestly cranberry. You may have to do some trial and error until you come with the best quantity to use. Good Luck!
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