The 5 Best Tomatoes to Grow for Sauce and Paste
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A Guide to Choosing the Right Roma, Plum, and Paste Tomatoes
There’s a reason I grow paste tomatoes every single year. Some are destined for roasting, others for slow-simmered marinara, and a few get turned into thick, rich tomato paste that lasts through the winter. I’ve trialed all types, Roma, plum, San Marzano-style, saladettes, even a few grape tomatoes, and when you get the right ones in the ground, the kitchen pays you back tenfold.
Paste and sauce tomatoes aren’t your typical slicing types. They’re bred to be meatier, less juicy, and have fewer seeds, which makes them ideal for cooking down into sauce, paste, or stewed tomatoes. They hold up better under heat and give you a stronger, more concentrated tomato flavor with less boiling or prep time. If you're planning to cook with what you grow, these are the plants to start with.
This guide covers the best varieties to grow for sauce and paste, plus some tips on growing them well so you can enjoy the reward of homemade tomato flavor long after summer ends.
What Makes a Paste Tomato Different?
Paste tomatoes, also called plum or Roma types, are typically smaller, firmer, and less watery than slicing or cherry tomatoes. The flesh is dense and flavorful, with fewer seeds and a thicker texture that cooks down easily.
Here’s what you’re looking for when choosing tomatoes for sauce:
- Thick walls with fewer seed cavities
- Low water content for faster reduction
- Strong flavor that holds up when cooked
- Fruits that ripen around the same time, ideal for batch processing
- Crack resistance and disease tolerance for healthy, high-yield plants
Some sauce tomatoes grow on determinate plants, which produce a concentrated harvest for canning. Others are indeterminate, which spread their harvest over time and are great for fresh cooking all season long.
My Favorite Tomatoes for Sauce and Paste
After years of planting, tasting, roasting, and preserving, these are the varieties I keep coming back to. Each one brings something special to the kitchen, and they all grow reliably in a home garden.
San Marzano Organic Tomatoes
80 days – Indeterminate
If you're making sauce from scratch, this is the tomato people ask about. San Marzano is known for its rich, slightly sweet flavor and dense, low-moisture flesh. The shape is long and narrow with very few seeds, which makes prep fast and easy. I’ve used these for everything from slow-cooked marinara to oven-roasted tomato paste. Park Seed’s organic version grows reliably and gives you that old-world flavor people expect from an authentic sauce tomato.
Agro Hybrid Tomatoes
97 days – Indeterminate
This is my go-to when I want volume. Agro produces firm, bright red fruit in generous clusters, and the consistency is spot on for sauce and paste. The size and shape make it easy to process, and I’ve found it handles heat and humidity better than most. It’s based on the classic San Marzano style but with improved yields and wider climate adaptability. If you're growing to cook, start here.
Margherita Hybrid Tomatoes
70–75 days – Determinate
This is the tomato I roast in big trays with olive oil and garlic, then freeze for winter. The fruit is long, smooth, and slightly thinner-skinned than others, which makes it perfect for baking and blending. Plants stay compact at around 3 feet but produce heavily, and everything ripens close together. For flavor and convenience, this one stands out.
Viva Italia Hybrid Tomatoes
75 days – Determinate
Dependable and productive, Viva Italia delivers blocky, pear-shaped fruit that holds up to just about anything. I use it for stewed tomatoes and pressure canning, where the consistency matters. The flavor is mellow and slightly sweet, and the plants have excellent disease resistance. This is a great choice if you're new to growing Roma tomatoes.
Golden Rave Hybrid Tomatoes
65 days – Indeterminate
This one breaks the mold a little. It’s a small, golden grape tomato with a surprisingly meaty bite. I grow it for fresh sauce, fast stovetop reductions, and any recipe where I want sweetness without extra sugar. It tastes like a grape tomato but cooks like a Roma. If you like to experiment, give this one a spot in the garden.
Tips for Growing Great Paste Tomatoes
Growing tomatoes for sauce isn’t that different from growing slicers, but a few small changes will improve your harvest and make processing easier later on.
- Give them full sun. Paste tomatoes need at least 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight to develop full flavor and firmness.
- Start from seed early. Begin indoors 6 to 8 weeks before your last frost. This gives your plants a head start and more time to ripen before fall.
- Space plants well. Good airflow helps prevent leaf diseases. I give mine 2 to 3 feet of space in rows or raised beds.
- Prune lower leaves. This reduces splash-up from rain or watering and helps avoid soil-borne issues.
- Use drip irrigation or water at the base. This keeps foliage dry and fruit from splitting.
- Fertilize with balance. Too much nitrogen means leafy plants with fewer tomatoes. I use a tomato-specific blend with added calcium.
How Many Paste Tomatoes Should You Grow?
It depends on how you plan to use them. For one quart of tomato sauce, you’ll need about 5 to 6 pounds of fresh tomatoes. If you want enough for canning or freezing, plan on growing 3 to 5 plants per person. For fresh pasta sauce once or twice a week, 2 plants may be plenty.
When to Harvest Sauce Tomatoes
Paste tomatoes are usually firmer and a bit more stubborn than slicers when it comes to ripening. Wait until they’re fully colored and just starting to soften. Pick them all at once for big-batch processing, or every few days if you’re making smaller fresh recipes.
Can You Use Roma or Plum Tomatoes for Sauce?
Yes—and you should. Roma and plum tomatoes are just other names for paste-style types. San Marzano is the most famous, but there are dozens of options that perform just as well (and are easier to grow). The key is to pick varieties bred for lower water content and firmer flesh. These are the ones that give you thick sauce without hours of simmering.
Growing your own sauce tomatoes gives you flavor that store-bought tomatoes just can’t match. You get full control over the ripeness, the texture, and the variety. Once you’ve cooked with tomatoes you started from seed, it’s hard to go back.
At Park Seed, we offer a wide selection of paste, plum, Roma, and processing tomatoes. Each one is non-GMO and carefully selected for home gardeners who want great flavor and high yields. Whether you’re canning in batches or simmering sauce by the quart, these are the tomatoes that will do the job right.