I’ve made homemade pizza sauce before but I wanted one that was even thicker and richer because I had some big plans to dip things in it (and by “things” I mean pizzadillas). Dipping sauces have to be really thick or else they won’t hang on to whatever is being dunked in them. But I also love a good, thick pizza sauce on my pizzas. A thick pizza sauce gives all the flavor without making the dough soggy. No watery pizza sauce here, folks!
Ingredients for Pizza Sauce:
To make this super thick and rich pizza sauce, you’ll need the following ingredients:
- Olive Oil & Garlic: Garlic sautéed in olive oil provides a deep base flavor for this pizza sauce.
- Crushed Tomatoes: Canned crushed tomatoes provide the bulk of the volume of the sauce. The crushed texture is smooth enough that you won’t have chunks in your sauce, but still has enough texture to prevent the sauce from being too thin.
- Tomato Paste: A little dollop of tomato paste helps thicken the sauce even further and provides a super concentrated tomato flavor to the sauce. No weak sauce here!
- Seasonings: We keep the seasoning pretty simple with just a little basil, oregano, salt, pepper, and a little sugar to help balance the acidity of the tomatoes. Oh! And a pinch of crushed red pepper too, for a little kick. ;)
How Much Sauce Does This Make?
This homemade pizza sauce recipe makes three cups, which is about 3 large pizzas or 12 dipping portions (or like, six pizza sandwiches). The sauce freezes great so go ahead and freeze some of it and then you won’t have to make a batch the next time you want a pizza!
How to Use Homemade Pizza Sauce
Pizza sauce is great for a lot more than just pizzas! This super thick and rich pizza sauce recipe is my new go-to red sauce. Use it for meatball subs, eggplant or chicken parmesan, or just for dipping breadsticks. It’s a quick, easy, all-purpose red sauce for smothering and dipping. Here are a few other great ways to use your Homemade Pizza Sauce:
How to Store Leftover Pizza Sauce
If this pizza sauce recipe is more sauce than you need for one meal, go ahead and freeze the remainder of the sauce. I suggest using a quart-sized freezer bag. To reheat, just tear away the freezer bag and empty the frozen pizza sauce into a small sauce pot. Reheat over low, stirring often, until it is heated through.
Homemade Pizza Sauce
Servings 3 cupsIngredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.26)
- 1 clove garlic, minced ($0.08)
- 1 28oz. can crushed tomatoes ($1.47)
- 1 6oz. can tomato paste ($0.59)
- 1/2 Tbsp sugar ($0.05)
- 3/4 tsp salt ($0.05)
- 1 tsp dried basil ($0.10)
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano ($0.05)
- Freshly cracked black pepper ($0.05)
- 1 pinch crushed red pepper (optional) ($0.02)
Instructions
- Add the olive oil and garlic to a sauce pot and cook over medium heat for 1-2 minutes, or just until the garlic is soft and fragrant.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, salt, basil, oregano, some freshly cracked pepper (10-15 cranks of a pepper mill), and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Stir to combine.
- Cover the pot, allow the pot to come to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low, and let simmer for 15 minutes minimum, or up to 30 minutes (I often let it simmer as I prepare my pizza dough).
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
Video
How to Make Homemade Pizza Sauce – Step By Step Photos
Sauté one clove of minced garlic (or two if you like things garlicky!) in 2 Tbsp olive oil over medium heat for one to two minutes, or until the garlic is soft and fragrant.
Add one 28oz. can crushed tomatoes, one 6oz. can tomato paste, 1/2 Tbsp sugar, 3/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp dried basil, 1/2 tsp dried oregano, some freshly cracked pepper, and a pinch of red pepper flakes to the sauce pot.
Stir the ingredients together, place a lid on top, then allow it to come up to a simmer. Once simmering, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for 15 minutes minimum (I sometimes let it simmer longer while I’m preparing the pizza dough and the flavor just gets sweeter and deeper).
Delicious and so very easy! I like to add extra red pepper flake sometimes for a little more kick, but great as written.
Hello do you ever bottle your sauce up to keep on the shelf or give to friends as a gift?
We haven’t tried that for this one! Sweet idea, though!
Can this recipe be canned?!
We haven’t tried, Susanna! We don’t can in the studio really so we haven’t tested that out.
Absolutely delicious!!! I have made this a few times now. I freeze this in 1/2 cup portions for Friday night pizza, love it!! I always have these ingredients on hand and it is so simple to make. Thank you for this recipe!!
This is the only pizza sauce recipe I use and I make a lot of pizzas! I do add less tomato paste (about 1/3) because I like my sauce a little less thick. I also saute the paste, garlic and herbs separately, prior to adding to the tomatoes (which I crush myself). If I have them in the freezer, I also add Parmesan or grana padano rinds for a little extra flavour. I always make at least a double batch (I tripled it today!) so I have jars in the freezer when I need them. Thank you!!
Can I make(crust) night before, put in fridge overnite and finish making the pizza next day???
The sauce can be made ahead of time, refrigerated, and used the next day! If you’re asking about the crust, it depends on what recipe you’re using, how much yeast is used, etc. But most pizza doughs can be refrigerated over night and used the next day.
This recipe is so damn good. Been using it for a couple years now. I could probably eat a bowl of it alone with a spoon
I changed a few things like I toasted the herbs and garlic. I also added finely chopped green bell pepper just a teaspoon. I followed every thing else in reciepe. Turned out great.
We make pizza regularly, just about every week, and this sauce quickly replaced all others I’ve tried. It’s great as written, though often, I blitz whatever vegetables I have on hand to sneak some extra nutrients in for picky kiddos. I sauté them first and then carry on with the recipe as written. Carrots, mushrooms, onion, and bell pepper work nicely.
No flavor.. bland. You’ll need to add some seasoning.
I make essentially the same sauce, except with a 15 oz can of diced tomatoes, instead of crushed, and fresh herbs if I have them. I do not cook it at all. Just whirl the ingredients in a food processor and it’s done. It has a nice fresh tomato flavor.
Been trying different sauces for over 5 years from my own mixtures to different ones online I found this one a couple weeks ago and didn’t have the crushed tomatoes just diced I mashed them with a potato masher and it was ok but I got the crushed tomatoes this week it is terrific finally got a sauce my daughter likes