Tomato paste is a thick paste made from ripened tomatoes with skin and seeds removed. Depending on its manufacturing conditions, it can be used to make either ketchup or reconstituted tomato juice. Its most common culinary usage is as a pizza sauce base, but it is also used in small quantities to enrich the flavor of sauces, particularly tomato sauce. It is most commonly available in tin cans and squeeze tubes.

• Hot break: heated to about 100°C; pectin is preserved -> thicker -> ketchup.
• Cold break: heated to about 66°C; color and flavor is preserved -> juice