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Substitutions · 11 dishes here use it
Concentrated sweetness and savory depth, and it is raw out of the tube. Fry it in the pan until it darkens a shade before liquid arrives — that minute is most of what it is for.
Everything below is judged against that job. A swap that covers it is a swap; one that only looks similar is not.
3 of the 11 dishes here that mention tomato paste list it as optional — 27% of them. In those, the correct substitution is nothing.
Functional substitution system
For tomato paste, the page's working definition is: Concentrated sweetness and savory depth, and it is raw out of the tube. Fry it in the pan until it darkens a shade before liquid arrives — that minute is most of what it is for. The swap cards below are judged against that job rather than visual resemblance.
Job → candidate → side effects → small test → correct.
1 · Job
What is the missing ingredient doing?
2 · Candidate
Choose the shelf item that replaces that function.
3 · Side effects
Check water, fat, salt, acid, sweetness, and texture.
4 · Small test
Change a spoonful or small portion first when possible.
5 · Correct
Taste again and move only the axis that is still wrong.
Instead · 1
half a cup reduced to a tablespoon
Instead · 2
twice as much
Instead · 3
three or four per tablespoon
These dishes list tomato paste as optional. They were written to work without it, so no ratio is needed and nothing has to be bought.
These need it and are short enough that nothing hides: 4 required ingredients or fewer. Make the swap a decision rather than a repair.
The company tomato paste keeps in this library, counted off required ingredients. A swap that argues with the top two is the wrong swap, whatever a chart says.