We love making pizzas at home on Friday nights using this easy homemade pizza sauce and our favorite Pizza Dough Recipe. It’s always fun to make smaller personal pizzas and let everybody top their own!
This is the Best Homemade Pizza Sauce!
In my quest to make pizza at home that tastes just as good as the kind you get from your favorite pizza place, I feel like I’ve tried dozens of different pizza sauce recipes. While pizza sauce can be as simple as pureed tomatoes that are minimally seasoned with a little salt and pepper, I wanted a pizza sauce that would remind me of the old school pizza parlors I loved (and still love when I find them!) of my childhood. You know the ones I’m talking about. The ones with a few arcade games in the corner, wood paneling on the walls, and pitchers of root beer for the table. I sometimes feel nostalgic for those old school pizza places, which can be hard to find since big pizza franchises have taken over so much of the market these days. Which is why I developed this awesome, easy pizza sauce that adds a major authenticity factor to the flavor quotient of our homemade pizzas. It’s far superior to the small (expensive!) jars of pizza sauce that you can buy at the store.
Homemade Pizza Sauce ingredients
Tomato paste – Basically highly concentrated tomato sauce that has bold tomato flavor. You will find a small can of tomato paste just about anywhere. Tomato sauce – the base of the pizza sauce. Dried oregano Dried basil Sugar – adds a touch of sweetness Garlic powder Onion powder Salt Freshly ground pepper Crushed red pepper flakes – adds a nice kick of flavor.
How to make Pizza Sauce from Tomato Sauce
I use a combination of tomato paste and tomato sauce and dried herbs and spices to get the thick, rich, condensed tomato flavor without having to cook down crushed tomatoes. Not only is the no-cook pizza sauce easier, but in the end I actually found that I preferred the flavor over the many batches of pizza sauce I tested using slowly simmered crushed or diced tomatoes. And it’s literally just a matter of adding all of the ingredients together in a bowl and whisking them until they are combined. You don’t even need to lug out your blender! This easy pizza sauce recipe takes less than five minutes to pull together, so don’t be intimidated by the list of ingredients. I went all-in on the spices to get a really classic pizza sauce flavor. It really shines underneath all the cheese and toppings that seem to get the glory when it comes to making homemade pizza. There is the slightest amount of heat thanks to the crushed red pepper flakes, which you can omit or cut in half if you are worried about the sauce being too spicy. But it makes such a big difference and really takes this pizza sauce to the next level. I highly recommend it. This pizza sauce is thick thanks to the addition of tomato paste, but easily spreadable at room temperature. If you would like to thin the sauce a bit, I recommend adding a tablespoon or two of olive oil.
How to use Pizza Sauce
I mean the most obvious way to use this amazing sauce is on your homemade pizza crust but it also makes a great dipping sauce for Toasted Ravioli , Breadsticks, meatballs, make some pizza cups, add it to pasta, add a scoop of pizza sauce to your tomato soup, cook some beef in it, and so much more!
Storing & Freezing Instructions for Home Made Pizza Sauce
Make-Ahead & Storing: This pizza sauce can be made up to 1 week in advance and kept in the fridge in an airtight container. The sauce will thicken when it gets cold. Be sure to pull it out of the fridge at least 1 hour before you plan to use it so it has time to come up to room temperature. Or you can microwave it to heat it enough so that it is easy to spread. Freezing: You can freeze homemade pizza sauce for up to 3 months. Just let it thaw overnight in the fridge and then sit out on the counter for an hour or two to warm up before using it to top your pizza. You can even freeze your sauce in a mason jar like the ones in these picture. Just make sure you don’t fill them as full as I did! If the jar is straight, you can fill it 1-2 inches from the rim. But with jars like these where they have rounded “shoulders”, fill them 1-2 inches below the shoulder so there is plenty of room for the sauce to expand while it freezes without shattering the jar.
More Recipes Like This
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Best Homemade Pizza Dough Recipe
Cast Iron Pan Pizza (Copycat Pizza Hut Pizza Recipe)
Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
Let me know what you thought with a comment and rating below. You can also take a picture and tag me on Instagram @houseofnasheats or share it on the Pinterest pin so I can see.
