Homemade Pizza Sauce

Homemade pizza sauce is simple to make, and tastes SO much better than store-bought! Take your flatbread and pizzas to the next level with this sauce that’s flavorful and easy. Make this easy sauce recipe in 5 minutes, using pantry staples.

If your family enjoys pizza night, this recipe will be a game-changer for you. I love pizza night as much as my kids because it’s SO easy for me to make the sauce and let them create their own pizza. Whether it’s flatbread, naan, homemade or pre-made pizza dough, it always tastes amazing with this sauce and cheese.

Did you know that you can create a fresh tasting sauce in just 5 minutes? As a bonus, it tastes better and is less expensive to make than anything from a can.

Plus, it’s not just for pizza! There are so many other tasty uses, it’s quite versatile. You can use pizza sauce to make pizza pinwheels for game day snacking, or use it as a dipping sauce for fried cheese sticks, Italian Sub Pinwheels, or Parmesan Garlic Herb breadsticks. Spread it on hot sandwiches and subs, use it in a pizza pasta casserole, and on top of chicken.

Occasionally, I even use it to help thicken Italian-style tomato-based soups, especially if I’m out of tomato paste.

INGREDIENTS NOTES AND SUBSTITUTIONS

NOTE: This is just a partial list of ingredients. For the full list with amounts, see the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Fire-roasted tomatoes – Using fire-roasted tomatoes adds an extra layer of rich flavor to the sauce. If you don’t have any on hand, you can either make homemade fire-roasted tomatoes, or you can substitute them for Italian style diced tomatoes.

Olive oil – You can substitute any neutral flavor of oil for olive oil. Good options include avocado oil, vegetable, or canola oil.

Fresh garlic – Don’t be put off by uncooked garlic blended into the sauce. The taste is not overwhelming at all but it does give the whole sauce and nice flavor boost! 

Tomato paste – I make pizza sauce with tomato paste for richer flavor and extra thick consistency.  

If you need a substitute for tomato paste, it’s very easy to make. Just reduce tomato sauce or tomato puree over medium-low heat until it thickens. 12 ounces of tomato sauce or puree will cook down to 6 ounces of tomato paste.

Store homemade tomato paste in a covered container in the refrigerator and use it up within a couple of weeks. 

Best Canned Tomatoes for Pizza Sauce

When you go to buy the tomatoes for your sauce, look for San Marzano tomatoes. They may be a little more expensive, but they are grown in Italy and the flavor is amazing.

For Italian recipes like this one and for pasta sauces like vodka sauce and spaghetti sauce, I think quality is better than any other variety of canned tomato.

Of course, if you are unable to find them or it’s a little too pricey, any variety will work just fine.

Kitchen Tools You’ll Need:

Food processor or high speed blender

Fine mesh strainer

Measuring spoons and cups

Wooden spoon or mixing spatula

Glass storage jars with lids, or resealable plastic food storage bags

HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE PIZZA SAUCE

This recipe is incredibly quick and easy to make. Just use a food processor or high speed blender to pulse the ingredients together. Then, use it right away, store it in the refrigerator, or freezer for later use!

Preparing the sauce

1. Drain the juice from the can of tomatoes. You can either discard it, or use it to add flavor to traditional spaghetti sauce or Bolognese sauce.

2. Blend the ingredients to combine. Add all of the ingredients to the bowl of a food processor or a high speed blender. Then, pulse several times or run on low speed to combine them. Avoid over processing, as it can make the sauce too thin.

3. Use right away to make a pizza, or store to use later.

STORING AND FREEZING INSTRUCTIONS

Store pizza sauce in the refrigerator, in a glass jar with an air-tight lid. In the refrigerator, pizza sauce will last up to 2 weeks. Make sure to use a clean spoon each time you remove sauce from the jar.

Freezing:

Portion blended pizza sauce into zip-top freezer bags. Try to get as much air out as you can, seal, and label the bags. Freeze pizza sauce for up to 3 months.

To use, simply pull a bag out of the freezer and place it into the refrigerator to thaw overnight.

If you made any of my recipes and shared them on Instagram, make sure to tag me @willcookforsmiles and #willcookforsmiles so I can see all the things you tried!

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