Had to choose between canned tomatoes and tomato paste for my chili last night

I was making chili yesterday and realized I only had one can of diced tomatoes left but a full can of tomato paste. I went with the paste and just added extra water and some seasoning to thin it out. It actually turned out way thicker and richer than usual, which my husband loved. But I ended up using about 3 tablespoons of sugar to balance the acidity, which felt like a lot. Has anyone else tried swapping one for the other in a soup or stew and gotten different results?

3 comments

3 Comments

jamie77012d ago

Wait @bell.felix I read that adding a pinch of baking soda kills the acidity without needing all that sugar, ever tried it?

bell.felix12d ago

My buddy Dave tried this exact swap a few months back when he was making spaghetti sauce. He used a whole 6 ounce can of paste with about a cup of water and ended up with this crazy thick sauce that clung to the noodles like glue. He said he had to dump in a whole quarter cup of brown sugar to kill the bitterness, and his wife told him it tasted more like barbecue sauce than marinara.

taylorellis12d ago

Yeah I did something similar once but I just used a little bit of water at a time until it looked right... ended up using way less than a cup, maybe like half that. Turned out fine honestly, not bitter at all and my partner actually asked for the recipe.