The Canned Tomatoes Ina Garten Uses To Thicken Her Pot Roast Sauce

Not every classic pot roast calls for tomatoes. In fact, very few do. But if famed cookbook author, recipe developer, and dinner party host Ina Garten suggests adding tomatoes to her pot roast alongside beef, onions, and carrots, who are we to disagree? Garten does just that when preparing her go-to pot roast recipe. "Everybody's secret favorite meal is pot roast," she says in a clip of "Barefoot Contessa" shared to Food Network's TikTok, noting her rendition of the dish has the volume turned all the way up. Garten's recipe focuses on big flavors, large chops of vegetables, and copious amounts of liquid from both chicken stock and red wine (plus a dash of perfectly paired cognac). Plum tomatoes, celery, and leeks are all three Ina-inspired additions.

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ina promises this is a pot roast good enough for company! ✨

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An essential but often-overlooked aspect of a perfect pot roast is its sauce. Braised beef is delicious on its own, but even better with a savory, velvety sauce that's thick enough to stay with your pot roast with each spoonful. To achieve this heartier, beef stew-like consistency for her pot roast, Garten doesn't just add whole tomatoes, she adds tomatoes in puree. "I actually choose the tomatoes that are in tomato puree so it's even thicker," she explains. Whole tomatoes themselves will already act as a thickening agent in a slow-simmering soup or sauce. As they cook down, their moisture evaporates, leaving you with a strong tomato flavor without much excess water. A 28-ounce can of plum tomatoes, plus their surrounding puree, helps elevate Garten's dish from a meat and vegetable stew to a cohesive, rich, roundly flavored meal. "It's earthy and it's comforting," she says.

Ina Garten shared one super simple method of thickening her sauce with Food Network, but it's not her only pot roast cooking tip. There are a few different, flavorful ways to improve the consistency of your sauce. On her website, Garten describes thickening the dish with whole plum tomatoes in puree a step further. After adding the contents of the can, she takes half of the pot roast sauce — stock, wine, vegetables, and all — and blends it together in a food processor before adding it back to the pot. If you don't have time for your tomatoes to break down, a food processor is an excellent, expedient thickening option.

Another easy method is to use tomato paste instead. Before deglazing your caramelized vegetables, add a hearty dose of tomato paste and stir until the paste darkens in color. Once you slowly add your wine, cognac, and stock, you'll have whisked together a thick, rich sauce without any whole tomatoes to break down. Finally, if you've just whipped up a pot roast sauce and are happy with the flavors but not the consistency, your best bet is to let the sauce reduce for a few more minutes on the stovetop. Sometimes, time is all you need to reach the perfect pot roast consistency.