Homemade Pizza Sauce
A homemade pizza sauce recipe that’s sure to make your homemade pizzas taste so much better! This sauce is quick and easy to make, it freezes well, and has no mystery ingredients! Don’t you love knowing exactly what goes in your food?
Say hello to nice, thick and chunky homemade pizza sauce. I so wish you could smell this through your screen, it’s that good.
I think it’s safe to say that not all pizza sauces are created equal. And I can definitely tell you that i’m picky when it comes to sauce. Are you? I for one, cannot stand a super sweet tomato sauce. If it tastes like just a bunch of sugar, i’m not eating it. <– That’s a fib, i’m eating it, I just won’t be happy about it.
Making homemade pizza sauce isn’t difficult, and it doesn’t have to be time consuming. I know they say you’re suppose to slow simmer this sauce for days (or hours) and stuff, but really, it’s just not possible for everyone to do.
My tomato sauce takes 10 minutes of prep work and about 35 minutes of cooking time. I like to make a double batch and freeze half for later use. One batch makes enough to cover 2 pizzas with sauce generously. The sauce can be frozen for up to 3 months so on a busy weeknight you can have homemade pizza in under 30 minutes with homemade pizza sauce that’s full of real, authentic ingredients and none of that ‘mystery’ stuff.
So let’s jump right into this tomato sauce, i’ll explain stuff along the way too.
This first step really helps ensure the oil is well flavored. You want to use a qood quality olive oil here. <– Look at me, I sound like Ina Garten. But it’s so true! The better the oil, the better it will taste. Add in the herbs, i’m using oregano, basil, red pepper flakes, and grated onions. You can also give them a fine chop if you prefer a little more texture to your sauce. Let the ingredient brown in the sauce for 3-4 minutes.
Next we add in the garlic and let it cook for 1 additional minute. We don’t add the garlic in the first step, because we’d end up with almost charred garlic. That’s definitely not going to make for a good sauce. It may be a sauce you can’t forget, but definitely not in a good way.
Okay, pause — let’s talk tomatoes. Remember how we said we want to use a good quality olive oil? Well guess what? You also want to use a good quality tomato(es). You can use fresh tomatoes if you like, but it’s probably best to do so when they’re in season. Otherwise you’re better off using a canned tomato in terms of flavor. I’m using San Marzano tomatoes, these have so so so much flavor.
They’re perfect for the slow simma’ we’re about to put them through, too. Mine came peeled, whole in a can. Place them in a large bowl and just use your hands to break them down a bit.You can also use an immersion stick blender and just pulse it here and there until some of them are broken down. I don’t suggest a jug blender as they would become totally mushed.
Add the tomatoes to the sauce pan, along with the salt and sugar. And now starts the slow simma’. Let this baby hang out for at least 30 minutes on the stove. You want the tomato flavor to really develop by marrying all the other ingredients in the pizza sauce. Once the 30 minutes are up, give it a taste, adjust seasonings to your liking. For added flavor, you can continue to cook for an additional 15 minutes, but keep in mind that the sauce will reduce as you cook it. Cooking it for too long may leave you less than the amount of sauce I had.
Just look at that sauce! (insert emoji with hearts instead of eyes). That’s how I feel about this homemade tomato sauce. It’s an easy recipe to follow. There is so much you could do with this. I’m going to use this tomato sauce with some more basil and bake eggs with it in little ramekins. Perfect for when you have leftover sauce! How amazing is that going to be? Too amazing for words, clearly.
The texture to my pizza sauce is slightly chunky. If I had to describe it, it’s the kind of sauce you find on Chicago-style pizza. Can you blame a Chicago gal for liking Chicago-style pizza sauce?
Make a big batch of this stuff so you can freeze some for later. Only 9 ingredients for the perfect pizza sauce that will make every kind of pizza you make taste like it just came out of a pizzeria oven!
Oh and check here for an easy to follow along step-by-step tutorial on how to make homemade pizza dough!
Homemade Pizza Sauce
Ingredients:
- 1 (28-ounce) can San Marzano tomatoes (or the best quality you can find)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 cup grated onions (or finely diced for chunkier texture)
- 3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/4 -1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (depending on heat preference)
- 3 cloves garlic (grated or minced)
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
Directions:
- If your tomatoes are packed whole, pour them into a large bowl and using your hands break down the tomatoes so that they’re chunky but not completely liquidy. This can also be done with an immersion stick blender by just pulsing it a few times. Set aside.
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add the olive oil, grated onions, oregano, basil, and red pepper flakes. Allow the oil to cook the ingredients for 3-4 minutes, stirring as necessary. Add the garlic and continue to cook for another minute.
- Add the tomatoes from step #1, along with the sugar and salt. Turn the heat down to low-medium and allow the sauce to simmer for 30 minutes. Taste the sauce and adjust seasonings to preference. If you’d like a more concentrated tomato flavor, you can continue to simmer the sauce for an addition 15 minutes.
- Use the sauce for pizzas immediately or allow to come to room temperature before storing in containers. Sauce can be refrigerated for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 3 months.
Notes:
- This recipe can also be made with fresh tomatoes when they’re in season. You would need about 1 1/2- 1 3/4 pounds of tomatoes. Mark an “x” on the bottom of each tomato using a sharp paring knife. Add the tomatoes to boiling water for just 1 minute. Remove tomatoes carefully and peel. Continue from step #1 in recipe.
© . All images & content are the sole property of Little Spice Jar. Please obtain permission prior to using my images. If you would like to republish a recipe, please link back to this post and re-write the instructions in your own words.
Love this recipe?
Have you made this recipe? Take a picture and share it on Instagram using the hashtag #LITTLESPICEJAR. I love seeing your delicious creations!
If you like this recipe, you might also like:
All Purpose Easy Meat Sauce (Stove Top + Instant Pot)
![I may have gone through 8 pounds of cream cheese and 16 sticks of butter to perfect this recipe, but it was so so worth it! Creamy cheesecake topped with homemade pecan pie caramel topping. Bring this to any holiday party as it's a nice change of pace from the traditional pies we eat around this time of the year!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Recipe can be found by searching google for 'little spice jar pecan pie cheesecake bars' or by clicking the link in my bio @littlespicejar [https://littlespicejar.com/pecan-pie-cheesecake-bars/]⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
#littlespicejar #foodblogeats #thefeedfeed #thekitchn #foodwinewomen #eatingfortheinsta #easyrecipes #foodilysm #makeitdelicious #f52grams](https://littlespicejar.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)
Excellent!
This is awesome. Don’t skimp on tomato brands…San Marzano makes all sauces turn out best…I am a convert.
Came out better than expected. Worth a try. I used all ingredients but finely chopped the onion. Simmers 45 minutes.
How did you freeze the pizza sauce?
Hi I was wondering if I could substitute San marzano crushed tomatoes to save a step or will this change the flavor?
That should work just fine!
Fantastic,so easy and tasted great, recommend to anyone
I went searching for a pizza sauce recipe that I could home can this summer. I have found it. I absolutely love this recipe! Thank You.
This is my new go-to recipe for pizza sauce. Delicious. I used all ingredients as specified, but held the garlic out until the last because I love to taste garlic and cooking sometimes diminishes the flavor. I also let it simmer for at least an hour to develop the flavors
I love it – thank you!
I Can’t Stop Cooking – a Pinterest pinner
I made the recipe exactly as written, and it is fantastic! My husband even mentioned that it was the best pizza sauce he had ever eaten. He usually asks for light sauce, but he liked this so much he added extra. I cooked it while my pizza dough was rising, and it was so easy! Thanks for posting!!
Hi there, I was looking for a pizza sauce recipe and happened to come across your site. This recipe looked so good and easy that, after scrolling through all the comments, I decided to go big or go home and make a double batch. Omg, I’m so glad I did. It is DELICIOUS!! Made exactly as written and it is the best sauce ever. Next time, I’ll triple the batch. Thanks so much for an outstanding recipe!!
This is our preferred pizza sauce. We also add to it 1 1/2 tsp dried fennel.
I made this tonight exactly as the recipe states. AMAZING! Full of flavor, well balanced seasonings, and very easy to follow. This is going in my classic recipes file. 😍
How many cups would I need if I used fresh tomatoes?
Unfortunately, I’m not sure how many cups it would be, you’ll need 28 ounces total.
really lovely flavoursome sauce
Absolutely delicious! Will be trying this recipe. Thank you for the post 🙂
Very nice recipe
I tried and it’s come out same like above pictures and test is yummy I tried recipe without onion and garlic and test very nice
Thank you
Falguni
This looks so delicious. Now time to create!
Authentic and awesome, agree using good quality Italian tomatoes makes all the difference . Came out fantastic
This was such a great and easy recipe to make! Thanks so much. I posted a picture of the pizza I made with it, and had many peeps asking for the recipe. I sent them your way!! Thanks again.
Friday night is pizza night and nothing beats homemade pizza! I’ve made a lot of good pizzas but was still searching for that perfect sauce. I think I found it. Crushed the tomatoes with my hands and got that perfect texture I was looking for. My new go-to recipe. Wouldn’t change a thing. Thanks💕
I’ve made this for grilled pizzas for family and friends many times. It is always a hit! I add a touch more salt but otherwise I keep it like the recipe
I make a related sauce with Cento San Marzano tomatoes as the main ingredient. The way I do your step 1 is to roughly chop the tomatoes in the can with a sharp knife. Some may prefer that (one less bowl to wash), though using your hands is great too!
Great tip, thanks Mark!
Great pizza sauce I make it X4 every time. Last great in the freezer.
This is a favorite in our family. Simple and tasteful! I love that I can make two 15 inch pizzas and still have leftovers to freeze for next time. Super easy too!
I loved this. I couldn’t believe how good it smelled while it was cooking and have been raving about it to my husband ever since. It will be tempting to use every single tomato from my garden for just this sauce. YUM!!
I finely diced the onions (I couldn’t imagine the tears after grating an onion). I did about 2/3 teaspoon (or so) of basil and added probably 1/2 teaspoon (at least) of parsley (because I love it!!). I probably only did 1/8 teaspoon or less of crushed red pepper. And halved the sugar.
Great pizza sauce! I used fresh tomatoes and a can of tomato sauce and cooked it down for almost an hour. It was absolutely delicious! Thank you so much for sharing!!
I see you and your husband live in Texas I hope you do not live where tropical storm Harvey Hit.
I plan on trying this recipe without the red pepper flakes. I do not like spicy foods. but all of the other ingredients look ok. please be safe.
Hi Heather! We actually do live in the area that was unfortunately struck by TS Harvey, but were very fortunate to have made it through without much damage to our home. I really appreciate your concern! I’m glad to hear you’re giving the pizza sauce a try. Hope you enjoy it! 🙂
Love this sauce, my italian sister in law makes the same. I also this sauce for pasta spaghetti sauce by adding minced beef or porc, green peppers and mushrooms.. Love it. Just one thing that is different, instead of using sugar to reduce acidity she uses 1/2 tsp of baking soda wich I find cuts the sweetness and reduces acidity a lot more. Love your recipes!
Pingback: Meal Plan 8/6/17 – The Way The Cookie Crumbles
Pingback: 29 Easy Homemade Pizza [Recipes] | Tip Junkie
Just made this. Only change I made was adding a Parmesan rind. DELICIOUS!! Thanks for sharing!! ???
This is a family favorite in my house! We even use it for spaghetti. Would love to hear more about canning this if anyone had tried that yet.
Pingback: Margherita Pizza – Roots
Hi. Looks like a winner recipe, especially after reading all the glowing comments! Just wondering, before I make it fir myself, did you use fresh or dried oregano? The basil called for dried, so I wondered if the oregano was supposed to be fresh, and I couldn’t tell from careful scrutiny of the picture. Big difference in measurements for fresh vs dried so I wanted to check. Thanks so much! Brenley
Hi Brenley!I used dried oregano, but fresh oregano would work as well, you’d just have to double the quantity.
Pingback: 3 Healthy Meal Plans for Game Day ⋆ Sugar, Spice and Glitter
The tomatoes I used may already be on the sweeter side, so I thought the sauce was a touch too sweet. Next time I’ll maybe half the sugar and adjust after, but even still, this is one of the best sauces I’ve had and I’m only using it going forward. It’s even great on pasta (I blend the tomatoes because I prefer less chunky). Thank you for the recipe! No more jarred sauce for me.
Okay, I’m not sure if I should thank you or not because my family is obsessed with this sauce and I’ve made 6 batches since New Years haha! It’s really easy to make and the taste is phenomenal. I tried cutting back on the sugar and ended up missing it, so the recipe is perfect as is. Thank you, again!
I made this sauce and really enjoyed it, but my daughter wasn’t crazy about the oregano. I have since been using this exact receipt minus the oregano and sugar (I figured the sugar was used to offset the bitterness of the oregano and the basil seems to add enough sweetness) and my family loves it. I must confess that I didn’t try just reducing the amount of oregano. Thanks!
I’ve just tried this recipe on my pizza and it was amazing. Thank you very much!
Marzia, as a chef for 15 years, I have to tell you, this is the sauce I’m gonna use moving forward. Nicely done dear!
Whoa! That’s awesome — Thanks Mike!
You’re so incredibly welcome. ? If you ever need anything, from on chef to another, contact me via email.
Pingback: Easy No Cook Pizza Sauce - The Food Charlatan
This pizza sauce sounds delicious!! I love, love, love making pizza from scratch but I usually cheat the sauce and use a jar. Now, I am definitely going to try this recipe out and make my sauce! Thanks for the recipe!
much love,
Heather
Awesome, great work Marzia! This sauce looks great. I’ve been looking for a great pizza sauce recipe to use for a party guide that I’m putting together and I think this fits the bill perfectly.
Can’t wait to try it out for myself this weekend!
Do you add the leftover juice from the can of whole tomatoes or just the tomatoes?
My whole tomatoes came packed in more of a thicker sauce than a juice so I added it all in. But it’s to preference, if you prefer a thinner pizza sauce, add in the juice (½ or all!), if you prefer it thicker, i’d probably leave the juice out. 🙂
This was by far the best sauce recipe, thank you for sharing. .
This was the best pizza sauce ever! I didn’t use the sugar and my 12 year old niece loved it! Thanks!!
Have you ever canned your sauce, or have you only frozen it. I would love to make this in large quantities and then can it.
I’ve only frozen it. To be honest, i’m a little intimidated by the thought of canning. After doing some research, I think this recipe should be fine if canned.
Marcia you are so sweet for replying to every single comment. Question? If I use fresh tomatoes, do you recommend Roma Tomatoes?
Yup! Roma tomatoes are perfect for this recipe 🙂
This was a delicious pizza sauce. I used Muir Glen Organic diced tomatoes and had great results. Used the immersion blender to smooth it out. So happy to have sauce leftover to freeze!
Yay! Glad you enjoyed it Marcia!
HoW many fresh tomatoes would you use instead of the canned
This really depends on the size of the tomatoes, you need a total of 1 1/2 – 1 3/4 pounds.
Awesome… Just made it
Never using a store bought
What kind of container do you recommend freezing the sauce in? Love this and can’t wait to try it!
Hi Caren,
I store it in a plastic container. A ziplock bag that’s safe for liquids will work too. Just make sure to cool the sauce completely before putting it in the bag.
I love the is recipe. Thank you for sharing. I make my own spaghetti sauce and would love to see what you put in yours. thank you!
Thanks Heidi. It’s on my list of recipes to share, hopefully soon 🙂
as a nutritionist, I am surprised to see sugar and salt. yes, the recipe will taste better because we have acquired a taste for those products but they will kill you in the end.
Hi Giada,
As a nutritionist myself (as a profession), I can understand your concern. But using/not using salt and/or sugar are a personal preference. I am simply providing a healthier alternative than purchasing store bought sauce. Feel free to leave out the salt and sugar to your preference!
I think the sugar and salt in this recipe is such a small amount that even health concious people won’t be too concerned. A store bought or even restaurant sauce probably had much more. The good news about making your own is at least you know what’s in it and you can adjust the amount of any ingredient. Personally I think it looks perfect and I’m trying it tonight. Even picked up the San Marzano tomatoes tonight. Thank you for this!! You’re a doll!
I agree with you on the sugar/salt issue, Tammy! Exactly. Isn’t it awesome knowing exactly what goes into your food? Hope you enjoyed the sauce! Thanks for commenting 🙂
Yum- this would be perfect to use with the tomatoes I canned over the summer! Do you think I could also can this recipe up and store for later? It seems like it could work well 🙂
Hi Kelsey,
That sounds like a great idea! I’m unsure about canning, unfortunately i’m not very familiar with it. Please do let me know if you try it (and it works well). I’m sure others may be wondering as well. Thanks!
Hello! I am SO excited to try this! Just a quick question…in your ingredients it says:¼-1/2 red pepper flakes (depending on heat preference)
What is the measurement used? Teaspoon? Tablespoon?
Thank you!
Janet
Hi Janet,
Thanks for catching that, i’ve gone ahead and fixed the recipe card. The recipe is suppose to read ‘teaspoon’. Hope you enjoy it! 🙂