Product knowledge
Is Tomato Paste the Same as Tomato Purée?
No — tomato paste and tomato purée sit at different points on the same concentration scale. Purée is tomatoes cooked and strained to a smooth, pourable consistency with most of their natural water still present, while paste is cooked down much further into a thick, deep-red concentrate with far more intensity per spoonful. The two aren't interchangeable in equal amounts: a recipe built around one tastes thin or overpoweringly sharp if the other is swapped in at the same quantity.
Buyers navigating pantry naming also run into "passata," an Italian term for raw tomatoes blended and strained without cooking — closer to purée in thickness but different in flavour because it never spends time reducing over heat. None of these three products are the same, and knowing where each sits on the ladder makes substitutions, and ordering decisions, more predictable.
The concentration ladder, from crushed tomatoes to paste
Tomato products for the trade sit on a ladder built almost entirely on how much water has been cooked out. Crushed and diced tomatoes keep nearly all of their natural liquid; tomato sauce is cooked and seasoned but still pourable; purée is simmered down further into a smooth, spoonable base; and paste sits at the top, reduced to what the trade calls a double concentrate — commercial specification sheets commonly put true tomato paste in the region of 28–30° Brix, a measure of soluble solids, against roughly 8–14° Brix for a standard purée. That gap in solids is the whole difference: paste carries far more tomato flavour, colour and body per spoonful than purée does.
Substitution ratios between paste and purée
Because paste is so concentrated, it can stand in for purée once it's let down with water — a rough starting point is one part paste to two or three parts water, tasted and adjusted for the dish, since exact water content varies by product and by how thick a purée the recipe wants. Going the other direction is harder: turning purée into something paste-strength means simmering off a real amount of its water, which takes genuine stovetop time rather than a quick fix. Kitchens that use both textures usually find it simpler to stock paste and dilute it as needed than to keep separate purée on the shelf.
Where passata and regional purée naming fit in
Passata adds a wrinkle: in Italian usage it means raw tomatoes blended and strained cold, never cooked down, so it sits close to purée in thickness but tastes brighter and less caramelised, since it never spent time over heat. Some packaging elsewhere uses "purée" loosely for what would be labelled passata by an Italian producer, which is why reading a jar or tin's ingredient list — cooked or raw, single ingredient or seasoned — tells a buyer more than the front-of-pack name alone.
What Levant Direct stocks, and how kitchens use it
Our range is paste, not purée or passata — Lio Tomato Paste from Syria in glass jars, and Zer Tomato Paste from Türkiye in tins, both built for the same double-concentrate role in stews, sauces and shawarma marinades. Purée or passata as a separate product would be sourced on request through our supplier houses rather than pulled from current stock. For kitchens portioning a large tin once it's open, see how kitchens portion tomato paste from large tins, or the full glass vs. tin comparison for choosing a format.
Related questions
Can I use tomato paste instead of purée in a recipe?
Yes, once it's diluted — start with roughly one part paste to two or three parts water, then adjust to the consistency and intensity the recipe wants, since paste carries far more concentrated flavour and colour than purée.
Is passata the same as tomato purée?
Not quite. Passata is raw tomatoes blended and strained without cooking, while purée is simmered down over heat; both are smooth and pourable, but passata tastes brighter and less caramelised.
Which is stronger, tomato paste or tomato purée?
Paste. It's reduced far further, putting it in the region of double the solids concentration of a standard purée, which is why it's used in small spoonfuls rather than by the cupful.