There is a saying we have in Mexico that says: “Recado hace guisado”. That means that the end result of what you’re cooking depends on how well your tomato base sauce is done. “Recado” (or “recaudo”) can be raw, fried, or cooked like in this recipe. The ingredients are tomato, onion, and garlic. Recado is used every single day in Mexican households to prepare rice, stews, soups, etc.
Basic Tomato Sauce for Stew, Soups, Rice, and many other Mexican Dishes
Some people don’t even know it has a name, they simply learned how to cook dishes using this sauce that is so essential in our cuisine. The most popular version is the raw salsa that is made in a blender and then poured in to cook with the rest of the ingredients.
Here are a few examples of recipes using this salsa: Vermicelli Soup/Sopa de Fideos, Mexican Rice, Beef Soup/Caldo de Res, Meatball Soup, and Entomatadas, just to name a few. It’s a great idea to make some and freeze it or prepare it for canning when tomatoes are in season or if you find tomatoes on sale at the supermarket.
How to make basic tomato sauce
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Place tomatoes, onion and garlic cloves in a large stockpot or saucepan. Cover with water, place the saucepan lid on, and cook over high heat until it starts boiling; once the water starts boiling reduce heat to simmer. Cook until tomatoes are soft and skins are peeling. (Please check the ingredients list below)
- Carefully, place only the tomatoes, onion and garlic in a blender and puree until you have a very smooth sauce.
- Using a strainer, pour into glass jars. Once they’re completely cool, store in your refrigerator. The sauce will last about 4 days. Use as needed for your soups or other recipes.
Provecho!
Mely,
PS. Name a dish where you use this sauce in your cooking.
Basic Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
- 20 oz. of Tomatoes
- ¼ of a medium white onion
- 2 small garlic cloves skins removed
- Water
- ½ teaspoon of salt to season Optional
Instructions
- Place tomatoes, onion and garlic cloves in a large stockpot or saucepan. Cover with water, place the saucepan lid on, and cook over high heat until it starts boiling; once the water starts boiling reduce heat to simmer. Cook until tomatoes are soft and skins are peeling.
- Carefully, place only the tomatoes, onion and garlic in a blender and puree until you have a very smooth sauce. (Add a few tablespoons of water to the blender, only if your blender is having a hard time processing the sauce)
- Using a strainer, pour into glass jars. Once they’re completely cool, store in your refrigerator. The sauce will last about 4 days. Use as needed for your soups or other recipes.
Notes
- You can use plum or round tomatoes to make this sauce.
- You can core the tomatoes and make a small “X” cut at the bottom of each tomato to easily remove the skins after cooking, once they’ve slightly cooled. I have a powerful blender so I skip this step.
- This sauce is also prepared raw and then fried with 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a frying pan until it is fully cooked.
Rick
looking for something like this but with onions and celery to go on top of pork chops had it a long time ago or should I just wing it?
Mely Martínez
Hello Rick,
Just add them to the dish.
Esmelda Mitchell
I have so many tomatoes and what to do with them? Well today I am making large batches of this tomato sauce and freezing it. I did this last year and it worked out great for my rice, fideo, soups etc. Love your blog..
Mely Martínez
Hello Esmeralda,
That is such a great idea. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Mely
Juan
I live in Mazatlan, just made this sauce for the first time, when
I called it "recado" my Mexican friends had absolutely no idea
what I meant. I found recipes for a totally different sauce from
the Yucatan called recado rojo. Colour me confused.....
It's good though!!
Mely Martínez
Hello Juan,
Maybe they have known it in that area as recaudo. But, if your friends are young, I'm pretty sure they have not idea about it. That is mostly abuelitas kitchen lenguague.
Rebecca
Can this sauce be frozen?
mmartinez
Hello Rebecca,
Yes, it can be frozen.
Beth
I freeze this in my glass canning jars (leaving room for expansion) and it works out great!
mmartinez
Hello Beth,
You can make all the amount indicated and freeze the already made tortillas. You can also store them in the fridge for up to 5 days. Just reheat them and they are ready to enjoy.
Nola
I'm going to make this next time I make Mexican Rice! I enjoy your recipes so much, thanks for sharing them!
La Gringa Poblana
Blended raw and fried I use this for fideo seco, sopa de cualquier pasta, arroz, sopas. The smell when it hits the oil is intoxifying.
Leen
Fideo soup