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).
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Notes
Nutrition
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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).
My Parents came from Italy back in the sixties and opened 3 pizzerias in New York. Sadly after they sold the business, at the time I was in my teens I went to work for a few upper westside joints. Of course, the recipes vary from place to place, however, the main integrant was never, ever cook the pizza sauce. Yours has a little more than most but the flavor is there for a dipping sauce for calamari, motz sticks, calzones, etc…
Can I use tomato sauce..
Using tomato sauce will change both the flavor and texture of this sauce.
I made this tonight to put on calzones. It is perfect as is. I didn’t change a thing and we really liked it. Thank you for the recipe.
Dope but i dont really care hahahaha
Wowz
Delicious!
I chop veggies and add them to the leftover sauce for a chunky spaghetti sauce a couple days later.
Very good base. Tweaked a bit. Love it’s nit sweet. We HATE sweet sauce.
I love the consistency of this sauce!
I love doubling this recipe and adding it to my freezer stash. Combined with your thin crust recipe and whatever we have in our fridge, this makes dinner prep a snap! We add a side salad to round it out to a full meal. We do this almost once a week, and my kids love helping pick the toppings.
We also love making enchilada pizza with your red enchilada sauce. It’s so good, it almost doesn’t matter what toppings you use!
Turned out great :)
I made it as is to use with your pizza roll ups recipe and it is fantastic! It did make a lot of sauce for me to use alone though! How long would you say it would keep in the fridge for?
Probably about 5 days in the fridge, but you can also freeze it! :)
Great consistency- a nice smooth, thick sauce! So easy and delicious too!
Dice a habanero pepper (with seeds) and add it to the sauce in lieu of the crushed red pepper. Gives it a little more kick. Fantastic recipe.
Phenomenal. I added a couple extra cloves of garlic and a pinch more red pepper. I simmered for about 30 minutes and couldn’t stop licking the spoon. Game-changer!
This my go to recipe! I add more oregano, basil, and about 5-6 cloves of garlic, and a sprinkle of ginger which really brings out the flavor. For me, this recipe makes about 3 pizzas. Awesome recipe!!
This sauce is my go-to! It’s SO flavorful and thick – just what I was looking for in a pizza sauce. It freezes really well (I didn’t even need to “wake-up” the spices after months of being in the freezer). In addition to pizza, I’ve also used leftovers to make your Creamy Tomato and Spinach Pasta (amazing!) and a bean and vegetable soup.