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
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!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).
This is my QUICK AMAZING GO-TO SAUCE on any day of the week!!! THANK YOU FOR SHARING as you have made my life happier with this!!!! AND TASTIER!!! Loll. =D =D. My twin is always super excited when they know I’m going to make this!! I pour it over pasta, whole wheat pasta, chickpeas, and cauliflower pasta so far! Might try red lentils!
Thanks again!!! I have a mom who is 100% Italian and makes a BANGIN out of this world sauce!! So this sauce helps me get by in life until she cooks her classic when she’s ready! Lol
Quick and easy! My family loved this pizza sauce.
This is as authentic as it get. Bold flavors spring from the ingredients. We do not make pizza enough to use all the resultant sauce and hate to waste.
Could the finished sauce be processed and canned?
Unfortunately, I don’t have any experience with canning so I can’t answer that one, but you can certainly freeze it! It also works great as a dip for things like garlic bread or pizza roll ups. :)
I love cooking a lot and love to see more recipes
very useful recipe…used this recipe. In my starting pizza business
Do you think I could use fresh tomatoes in place of the canned crushed toms?
I haven’t tried that so I’m not sure how it would turn out. Generally canned tomatoes do have a different flavor from fresh tomatoes because they’ve been cooked, but perhaps cooking the sauce a little longer will make up for that. It’s one of those things that’s hard to guess without testing first. :)
Yes That is what i use.
This is my go to pizza sauce recipe! I make 2 pizzas and then freeze 3 small bags of sauce that each make 2 pizzas (so 8 pizzas). Thank you so much!
Love it thank you for sharing
This recipe is as good or better than any restaurant sauce I have ever eaten. I am going to feature this in my fb live “Out Of The Blues Kitchen” series Monday, June 28th, 6pm. A variety of pizzas will be presented.
can we use diced tomatoes from the can? lol I’m not that fancy
This recipe uses canned tomatoes. :) You will want to use “crushed” canned tomatoes, not diced though, or else your sauce won’t have the right texture.
I was taught by an italian lady that a minute or two while roasting the garlic, you then add all the dried herbs and spices to the pan and get them good and hot too with the oil, it brings out more of their flavor
mgm51440@gmail.com
This recipe sounds great, I am definitely going to make it. So, do you make your own crust too? If so, would love to get your recipe.
Hi Michelle, there is a list of linked pizza crust recipes just below the recipe. :)
This was so good!! Exactly what I’ve been looking for in a homemade pizza sauce! I added a teaspoon or so of balsamic vinegar to give it a little more robust flavor and it was perfect on my sourdough crust! For sure my new go-to recipe! Thank you!
This sauce turned out really well. My husband said that this was the best pizza I’ve made yet.
This is Soooo good. I have made this twice. Easy to make. Try it for sure.