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Pizza Sauce Recipe

Meet the best pizza sauce recipe! This pizza sauce is super simple, flavorful, quick and easy to make, freezes well, and is made with pantry friendly ingredients; but best of all, your pizzas will taste straight out of an Italian pizzeria! This homemade pizza sauce is made by quickly sautéing the garlic then throwing everything into the blender - that’s it! Despite its quick preparation, this pizza sauce recipe boasts rich, bright tomato flavor, laced with fresh garlic, oregano, basil, thyme, onion, red pepper and my secret ingredient that takes it to the top. In short, your search for the best pizza sauce stops here!
Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Servings 2 cups

Ingredients

  • 1 15 oz. can fire roasted tomatoes with juices
  • 4 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 3-4 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tsp EACH dried basil, dried oregano or 1 1/2 TBS fresh
  • 1/2 tsp EACH onion powder, dried thyme, granulated chicken bouillon
  • 1/4 teaspoon sugar more or less to taste
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/8-1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Instructions

  • Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, 30-60 seconds, then transfer to a blender.
  • Add the rest of the pizza sauce ingredients to the blender and blend to desired consistency (I leave it a little chunky).
  • You’ll use about 1/3-1/2 cup for one 12-inch pizza.

Notes

Storage

Refrigerate leftovers for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 6 months.

Tips and Substitutions 

  • Use fire roasted tomatoes: Regular canned tomatoes won’t give you the same depth of flavor as fire-roasted ones.  I recommend the brand Muir Glen, but of course, use whatever you can get your hands on. 
  • Use whole canned tomatoes:  If you only have canned whole peeled tomatoes on hand, never fear!  You can substitute the diced tomatoes with whole canned San Marzano tomatoes that you blitz in a food processor.
  • Use crushed tomatoes: Substitute the diced tomatoes with one 15 oz. can crushed tomatoes – go for fire roasted Muir glen brand if you can.
  • Garlic powder:  If you are in a zero-chopping mood, then you can substitute the garlic cloves for garlic powder.  You will need 3/4 teaspoon. 
  • Make it garlicky:  For the garlic lovers!  Add even more garlic if you don’t want to not be kissed tonight.   
  • Add balsamic:  I often will add up to 1 teaspoon quality balsamic vinegar.  It enhances the sweet tanginess.
  • Add Parmesan:  I usually shower freshly grated Parmesan all over my pizza before I pop it in the oven, but that doesn’t mean you can’t add it directly to the sauce!
  • Make it spicy: Love spicy pizza sauce? Add more red pepper flakes or a dash of cayenne. 
  • Adjust consistency:  For a thicker pizza sauce, add more tomato paste; for a thinner pizza sauce, reduce the tomato paste or thin with a splash of water.