For such a simple dish, there sure is a lot of things to consider when making pizza at home. Stuff like testing out different pizza dough recipes until you find one that works. Deciding whether you should use a pizza stone in a regular oven, or if you should invest in one of those fancy ovens like an Ooni. And even trying out different cheeses and toppings to get that perfect taste. But in my experience, the one thing that most people never take into consideration with homemade pizza is the pizza sauce.
Which is pretty wild! I mean pizza sauce is one of the key components of the dish that we all know and love. And the least we could do is take some time to give it it’s due. Luckily making pizza sauce from scratch is incredibly easy and only takes a couple of minutes to prepare.
No cooking required
When it comes to making homemade pizza sauce there are generally two philosophies, cooked, and uncooked. And while I have nothing against cooked sauce, I am definitely in the uncooked camp. Not only is it unnecessary since the sauce will cook when we cook our pizza, but it also saves you a ton of time.
Think about it like this. You could either simmer your sauce for 30 minutes to an hour just so it becomes slightly more concentrated. Or you can simply add all of the ingredients to a mixing bowl, stir them together, and get pretty much the same results. The answers fairly easy if you ask me!
What goes in pizza sauce?
Another point of contention revolves around what should go in pizza sauce. Some purists will state that a simple mixture of crushed tomatoes, olive oil, and salt is all you need. And in many ways I have to agree, sometimes simpler is better.
However, I prefer to give my sauce a little more oomph by adding in some oregano and garlic. And this is the beauty of making your own sauce, you can add whatever you want. Toss in a pinch or two of crushed red peppers for a little kick. Maybe try out a different array of dried herbs like basil or marjoram. Or even add in some anchovy paste for a deeper umami flavor. It’s your sauce, you’re eating it, so make it how ever you want!
Tips, Tricks & Suggestions
- The quality of the tomatoes you use is very important. So try and stick with a brand of canned tomatoes that you like, or when in doubt use a can of San Marzano tomatoes. That being said if your canned tomatoes are of lower quality and thus are a little watery you can simply add in a tablespoon or two of tomato paste to thicken it up.
- You have the option to use either crushed tomatoes or whole tomatoes. I prefer whole tomatoes because I can crush them by hand resulting in a slightly chunky sauce. However, if you prefer a smooth pizza sauce then save yourself some time and go with crushed tomatoes.
- This pizza sauce will stay good in your fridge for about 1 week. In fact, I recommend that you make the sauce a day or two ahead of time so that the ingredients have time to meld. Also if you end up not using all of this sauce you can easily freeze it for future use. Just place the sauce in either a ziplock bag or a freezer-safe container and keep it for up to 6 months.
- Looking for ways to use our pizza sauce? Then try out our recipes for french bread pizza, or calzones.
Easy Pizza Sauce Recipe
Total time: 5 minutes
Servings: Enough for 4 medium-sized pizzas
Ingredients
28 oz. Can of either whole tomatoes or crushed tomatoes
2 Cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 Teaspoon of dried oregano
1 Teaspoon of Salt
Sugar to taste
Instructions
- (Optional) Crush your whole tomatoes: Get out a medium-sized mixing bowl and add your can of whole tomatoes to it.
Then simply use your hands to squeeze and crush your tomatoes to your desired consistency. 
Also, pro-tip, make sure that you aren’t wearing a white shirt as sometimes the tomatoes will eject juice while squeezing them.
- Add all the other ingredients except the sugar to the mixing bowl and use a spoon or spatula to stir everything together.
- Taste the pizza sauce and add a teaspoon or two of sugar if the tomatoes are too acidic, plus more salt if you feel like it needs it.
- Use the pizza sauce, or store it in your fridge for later, enjoy!
Easy Pizza Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 28 oz. Can of either whole tomatoes or crushed tomatoes
- 2 Cloves of garlic minced
- 2 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Teaspoon of dried oregano
- 1 Teaspoon of Salt
- Sugar to taste
Instructions
- (Optional) Crush your whole tomatoes: Get out a medium-sized mixing bowl and add your can of whole tomatoes to it. Then simply use your hands to squeeze and crush your tomatoes to your desired consistency. Also, pro-tip, make sure that you aren’t wearing a white shirt as sometimes the tomatoes will eject juice while squeezing them.
- Add all the other ingredients except the sugar to the mixing bowl and use a spoon or spatula to stir everything together.
- Taste the pizza sauce and add a teaspoon or two of sugar if the tomatoes are too acidic, plus more salt if you feel like it needs it.
- Use the pizza sauce, or store it in your fridge for later, enjoy!
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