salsa de tomate
/ˌsalsa de toˈmate/
Tomato sauce in Spanish is salsa de tomate.
The phrase refers to a thick sauce made from tomatoes used as a condiment or a base for cooking. While salsa de tomate is the standard term, salsa de jitomate can be used as a synonym.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of salsa (sauce), de (of) and tomate (tomato).
Which one should you use?
In Spanish, salsa de tomate refers specifically to a cooked sauce. To distinguish it from a culinary sauce used in cooking, the English word ketchup is often used or referred to as salsa kétchup.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Spain, the term salsa de tomate frito is commonly used to refer to tomato sauce.
How does it change in a sentence?
While salsa de tomate is the standard way to refer to the sauce, using the plural salsa de tomates is also grammatically correct and common when emphasizing that the sauce is made from multiple tomatoes.
How do you pronounce it?
/ˌsalsa de toˈmate/
Did you know?
- The word salsa is actually a descendant of the Latin word for 'salted', as it originally referred to things flavored with salt.
- While salsa means 'sauce' in Spanish, it has become a loanword in English to describe a specific spicy Mexican dip and a style of dance.
- While tomate is common, in many parts of Mexico you might hear people call it jitomate to distinguish the red tomato from other similar-looking fruits.
Examples in context
- ¿La salsa de tomate es saludable?Is tomato sauce healthy?This sentence is useful for asking about the health benefits of salsa de tomate.Tatoeba #10112806 by manufrutos, translation #10109812 by ddnktr
- Eso no es sangre, es salsa de tomates.It's not blood. It's tomato sauce.This sentence is useful for clarifying that a substance is salsa de tomate and not blood.Tatoeba #5018718 by don_ramon, translation #2514125 by Hybrid
- Cuanto más tiempo dejes cocer a fuego lento la salsa de tomate, más sabrosa estará.The longer you let the tomato sauce simmer, the tastier it will be.This sentence is useful for describing how cooking time affects the flavor of salsa de tomate.Tatoeba #5765634 by albrusgher, translation #5119623 by honestlang
- 3 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Daniel and Sofía are preparing a pasta dish in the kitchen.
- Daniel¿Tienes la salsa de tomate para la pasta?Do you have the tomato sauce for the pasta?
- SofíaSí, la salsa de tomate está en la despensa.Yes, the tomato sauce is in the pantry.
- DanielPerfecto, la usaré para la cena.Perfect, I will use it for dinner.
- SofíaMuy bien, Daniel, yo preparo los platos.Very well, Daniel, I will prepare the plates.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry salsa de tomate, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries de, salsa, tomate, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
