Skip to Content

Can Dogs Eat Tomato Sauce?

Overhead view of a bowl of tomato sauce on a white background.

Dogs Love the Odor

That is one thing about a dog, they do not care if the food is good for them or not. As long as it smells good, they want their portion. Whether it is pizza, spaghetti, lasagna, or other kinds of pasta, with tomato sauce, they want to eat it with you.

However, not all human food is right for dogs, and you have to be careful when feeding some to your treasured friend. Can you feed tomato sauce to your dog? Keep reading to find out if you can or not.

Can Dogs Eat Beef Loaf? Click here to learn more.

What is in a Tomato

Red ripe tomato on a white background.

To know whether or not you can feed tomato sauce to your dog, you need to know what is in it. We are not talking about additives like meat, green peppers, and so on, we are talking about what is actually inside a tomato.

The tomatoes come from the nightshade family of plants. This family contains a lot of poisons that can be harmful to both pets and humans. The common poison in the nightshade family is solanine.

However, tomatoes have a variant only and it is called tomatine. This can be harmful to both as well. However, there is some good news. Tomatine is found in the leaves and stems of the tomato plant, and green tomatoes.

This means that if you use beautiful red tomatoes to make your sauces, then there is no poison that can harm you or your pet in those sauces. So, your dog can eat tomato sauce if it is made from red tomatoes and no other toxic to them ingredients.

Can Dogs Eat Meatloaf with Onion? Click here to learn more.

They Can’t Just Eat Any Tomato Sauce

White bowl of tomato sauce topped with parsley and surrounded by small tomatoes, parsley and salt, on a wooden background.

If you do not make your own sauce but buy it in a can, jar, or some other container, then you still have to be careful about feeding it to your pet. While those sauces are made from red tomatoes, they may have other ingredients that are toxic to your dog.

The main suspects are onions, garlic, sugar, and salt. Too many of those items can make your pet very sick. The real danger in their eating pasta sauce or other sauces is if they are really small dog breeds.

Small dogs will suffer more than bigger dogs will even if they only ate a little bit of that sauce. If you make your own, then you can control what goes in it but it is best to let dogs eat their own food and save human food for your family.

Some Final Words

Wooden spoon full of tomato sauce and topped with basil

It is hard to look into those big, brown eyes your dog has and tell them no. You have to be strong as you need to protect your dog from its powerful nose. If the dish you are making smells good, they will want it.

So it is up to you to limit what human food your dog eats. You do not want them to get sick so watch what you feed your dog carefully. Tomato sauce in its purest form is okay but leave out those toxic ingredients.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.