The Best Homemade Pizza Sauce
How to make a homemade pizza sauce recipe that’s sure to make pizzas taste so much better! This sauce is quick and easy to make, freezes well, and has zero mystery ingredients!
Say hello to a nice and thick homemade pizza sauce. I so wish you could smell this sauce through the screen right now.
It’s warm, hearty, and is the perfect sauce to use on homemade pizzas. Making homemade pizza sauce isn’t difficult and it doesn’t have to be time-consuming either. My recipe makes a large batch that you could use on 3-4 pizza crusts depending on your sauce preference. I go light on pizza sauce (heartburn is so real at 33) so it usually lasts me for closer to 5 pizzas. Keep in mind though that it all depends on how long you simmer the sauce. The longer you simmer the tomato sauce, the more concentrated it’ll be.
It also uses mostly pantry staples so you can make it in no time!
This Homemade pizza sauce recipe is…
- Vegan-friendly
- Gluten-free
- the best pizza sauce
- Ready in around 30 minutes
What you need to make this easy pizza sauce recipe:
- Canned whole tomatoes: I’ve made this recipe enough times now to have tested it with whole tomatoes, diced canned tomatoes, and pureed tomatoes, and though all three of these work, I still find the whole tomatoes to be the best choice for making pizza sauce at home. Start by crushing San Marzano tomatoes and making my own ‘crushed tomatoes.’
- Olive oil: a generous splash not only helps flavor the sauce but also helps cook and bloom all of our aromatics and spices.
- Grated onions: You can grate the onions on a grater box, roughly chop and throw it into a food processor, or you can finely mince the onions for a heartier sauce. I use the food processor for minimum tears!
- Pressed garlic: I use a garlic press to help with this step. It takes seconds and the garlic really works into the sauce that way.
- Dried seasonings: My seasonings of choice are dried oregano, dried basil, and red pepper flakes. Sometimes I’ll cut back on the dried oregano a bit, especially if I’m topping the pizza with tons of toppings. However, this is your call. You can also add a tiny pinch of dried marjoram if you’d like!
- Sugar and salt: The salt and sugar help flavor the sauce. I find canned tomatoes to be on the acidic side, so the sugar helps tame it a bit. You could omit the sugar completely if this isn’t something that bothers you.
Can you swap out canned tomatoes for fresh ones?
That would work. In the summertime when tomatoes are at their best, I like to use fresh Roma tomatoes for this recipe. You’ll need about 1½ – 1¾ pounds of tomatoes. To prep, the tomatoes, score an “x” on the bottom of each tomato using a sharp paring knife. Add the tomato to a pot of boiling water and allow them to boil for 1-2 minutes. Remove the tomatoes carefully and place them on a plate or in a bowl. Allow them to cool. Then, peel the skin away from the tomatoes. Once that’s done, you can follow the recipe as listed.
How to make pizza sauce from scratch:
- Break down the tomatoes: Using your hands squish the tomatoes in a bowl, or use kitchen shears to break down the tomatoes into smaller pieces. You could also just use an immersion blender and just pulse it so the tomatoes are smaller.
- Cook the aromatics: In a saucepan over medium heat, add the grated onions, and the dried seasonings. Allow the oil to cook the onions for around 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently so nothing sticks or burns. Then, add the garlic and continue to cook for another 30 seconds.
- Simmer the sauce: Add the tomatoes along with the sugar and salt and allow the sauce to come to a simmer, then lower the heat and allow for it to cook for 30 minutes. You can taste the sauce and adjust with additional seasoning or salt as desired. You could also simmer the sauce for longer should you find it needs to be a little more concentrated for your taste.
Can you freeze pizza sauce?
Yes, you absolutely can! I usually use about half the sauce to make two pizzas, and once cooled, pop the rest into these take-out containers. You could also just place it in zip-top bags if you’d like and freeze it flat. That way you can stack your bags. You can keep the sauce in the refrigerator for about a week, and it lasts for 3 months in the freezer.
Ways to use homemade pizza sauce:
- On freshly made lazy no knead pizza dough
- On my traditional homemade pizza dough
- As a sauce for my cheesy garlic pull-apart bread
- On my Detroit-style pizza (a family fave!)
- As a sauce for my pull-apart garlic roll wreath
Other homemade sauces to make and try:
The Best Homemade Pizza Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ cup grated onions (or finely minced)
- ½ - ¾ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- ¼ - ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (depending on heat preference)
- 3 cloves garlic, pressed
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- TOMATOES: Pour the tomatoes into a large bowl and using your hands, kitchen shears, or an immersion blender, break the tomatoes down so that they’re chunky but not completely liquid.
- AROMATICS: In a medium saucepan placed over medium heat, heat the olive oil, grated onions, oregano, basil, and red pepper flakes. Allow them to cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently so nothing sticks or burns. Add garlic and continue to cook for another 30 seconds to a minute.
- SIMMER: Add the prepared tomatoes along with the sugar and salt. Let the sauce reach a simmer, then lower the heat to medium-low and allow the sauce to simmer for 30 minutes. Taste and adjust with additional seasonings as desired. If you like a more concentrated tomato flavor you can continue to simmer the sauce for up to 15 more minutes. Ue the sauce for pizzas immediately or allow to come to room temperature before storing in containers.
Notes
- Sauce can be refrigerated for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 3 months.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
~½ cupAmount Per Serving: Calories: 85Total Fat: 7gCarbohydrates: 6gFiber: 1gProtein: 1g
The nutrition information is provided as a courtesy and is just an estimate. To get the most accurate information, please input the ingredients you've used into a nutrition calculator.
Reviewed five different sauces, with each one I analyzed all the ingredients and chose this recipe for my pizza sauce, with the other four recipes as alternative choices.
After making four pizzas two different times, this recipe is hands down the only recipe we needed. It is absolutely the most delicious sauce we’ll ever need!
It’s so rich, yet has a sweet fruity and succulent taste. Delicious!
I made this sauce tonight for the first time and it is now my go-to pizza sauce recipe. The search has stopped.
OH MY GOD!! This recipe just made my life a little more difficult. I will never use jarred sauce again!! This is amazing.
Hello. Thank you for sharing. I’m wondering how well this pizza sauce recipe would taste if pressure canned for later use? If i go to all this work to make a small amount it makes more sense to me to put two or three batches up at one time.
So much better than store bought! Thanks so much, this has made weekly pizza night that much better!
Today, I’m making it for third time. We (my family) like it very much! It is the best! Thank you for sharing.
Can I substitute crushed tomatoes instead of using whole tomatoes?
I LOVE this sauce! I order cases of San Marzano organic tomatoes, and use those 28-oz cans. I make the sauce and then put it in small plastic containers which go into the freezer. Each container holds enough for one pizza, so I remove it from the freezer and thaw it on the day I am making pizza. If I forget, it takes only a few minutes to pop it into a pan on top of the stove to thaw it out.
This is the BEST sauce!!!
Excellent! It’s my favorite pizza sauce now. I made it with the fresh tomatoes from my garden. Also, I added a little fresh basil. Thank you!
This recipe is AMAZING! Love it so much. I always use San Marzano organic canned tomatoes. Homemade pizza is weekly staple in our house and this is my go to sauce. Delicious!
Soooooo good!!
I don’t have whole canned tomatoes, but I have a large can of crushed tomatoes. Are there any adjustments I need to make?
Simply AMAZING! Was just scrolling through the comments while it’s simmering on the stove and decided to leave one. I just discovered this recipe in the last year and haven’t used a different one since. Making a double batch this time to have some extra in the freezer. Thank you, for such a wonderful recipe!
Good base to start with. Made per recipe, but basil, oregano, salt and sugar were not enough. While I like hot peppers, I think I will leave them out next time.
I never thought about grating onion for a sauce, but it works well. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Made this on the weekend. It was Amazing!!! Will never buy bought pizza sauce again. Thank-you!
This recipe is absolutely delicious! I have added it to my list of “Go To Recipes”–recipes that are a resounding success and crowd/family favorites. I used canned diced tomatoes and smashed them with a potato masher. I left out the sugar (trying to omit sugar whenever possible), but otherwise followed the recipe exactly as written. Simmered for 45 minutes.
I will be visiting your site often now and recommending to others. Can’t wait to try the marinara sauce recipe next.
Why is it SO salty?!
People…I recommend using 1/2 teaspoon and then tasting
Made this tonight with my grandson. It is delicious. He loves garlic and it looked like a lot,, so I figured he snuck in extra, however it was perfect. We had only fresh basil and oregano. I did add a little tomato paste which it needed, probably because I used the store brand whole tomatoes, which often have more liquid. I tripled the batch, which covered 3 pizzas with about 3-1/2 cups left over. My grandson insisted we make breadsticks with extra pizza dough just to dip in the sauce because he loved the sauce so much. I am never bothered by a little salt and sugar, and it really is minimal. They balance the flavors.
I make this pizza sauce all the time. It is so easy and so good. My favorite part is squishing the tomatoes by hand. I’ve used this sauce for regular pizza, calzones, and the crispy cheesy pan pizza from the King Arthur flour recipe. But it is so good I could just eat it straight. The recipe makes a lot, so I have plenty to freeze, and it’s great to have some on hand. For reference, the last batch I made, it was enough for two large calzones and two pan pizzas.
This is the best sauce ever. I could drink it lol . We use all the time with our Ooni pizza oven. We get compliments on it all the time.
Love this sauce. I use it for pizza and spaghetti.
Good flavor – a keeper recipe
This is literally THE only pizza sauce I will make! Any time I make a pizza, even if the recipe has instructions for its own sauce, I’ll come back to this one!
Can this sauce be canned
This sauce tasted like fancy pizza shop sauce. So delicious that I’m making a double batch now to freeze some for next pizza night. I’d be so pleased to offer this on pizza for guests.
I made this last night–my first attempt ever at pizza sauce–and it was delicious! So tasty! Only difference was that I omitted the red-pepper flakes since I can’t handle “spicy.” Will make a bigger batch next time and freeze the extra. 🙂
Put everything in the food processor to make it silky smooth, but decreased the garlic by one clove, as hubby isn’t a fan .. lol .. the local Amish-grown garlic is powerful! I used our own garden onions and canned Unico Diced Tomatoes, it came out lovely. Thank you.
I’ve always made the dough from scratch. This is the 1st time making the sauce….all I heard was complements….the sauce is so good…from 6 different people.
In your opinion would fresh basil improve this recipe?
SO SCRUMPTIOUS! I’ve actually used this recipe for pasta and lasagna, too. And one case I added meet and not for the other. Everyone raved! Point being it’s not just for pizza sauce.