by In the past when I’ve made homemade pizza, I have usually used a store bought pizza sauce. While they are “okay”, they are definitely nothing to rave about.
Yesterday, I wanted to make homemade pizza to use up some mozzarella cheese that I in the fridge. However, after I made the pizza dough, I looked through my cupboards and suddenly realized that I didn’t have any pizza sauce.
However, I knew I had canned tomatoes and tomato sauce in the cupboard. I searched for a few recipes online, and ended up combining a couple of recipes to create my own version of a homemade pizza sauce. It was so much better than the store bought sauces! I was pretty heavy handed on the spices- probably adding even more than I listed in the recipe below. I tasted the sauce as I was simmering it, and kept adding a little more of this or that as I went.
Some of the recipes called for crushed tomatoes, while others called for tomato sauce. I did not have any crushed tomatoes left in my cupboard, but did manage to find a couple 15-oz cans of tomato sauce and a can of tomato paste. Woo-hoo!- pizza dinner was back on!
The tomato sauce and tomato paste combo made a nice, thick sauce….which is what you want on a pizza. I might try it with crushed tomatoes next time, just to see how it changes the texture and/or taste. This is definitely a recipe that you would want to customize to your own taste- adding more or less of different spices to make it exactly how you like.
This recipe makes double the amount of sauce that you would need for a single batch of pizza dough, but it can easily be frozen to use at a later date.
Pizza Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 28 oz can tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes (or 2 15-oz cans will also work)
- 6 oz can tomato paste
- ½ Tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp basil
- 2 tsp oregano
- ¼ tsp black pepper, optional
- ⅛ tsp red pepper, optional
Instructions
- Add the olive oil and garlic to a sauce pot, and cook over medium heat for 1-2 minutes, until the garlic is soft and fragrant.
- Add the tomato sauce (or crushed tomatoes), tomato paste, sugar, salt, basil, oregano, and pepper. Stir to combine.
- Cover the pot (leave the cover slightly askew) and allow the sauce to come to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low, and let simmer for 15-30 minutes.
- Be sure to taste the sauce as you are making it- add more (or less) spices, salt, etc to your taste.
Notes
- If the spices listed in the recipe sound like a lot to you, then it’s probably spicier than you like your sauces. It’s easier to add more spices during the simmer process, then it is to fix a too spicy sauce- so start out slow with the spices, tasting it as it simmers- adding more spices until it reaches how you want the sauce to taste.
- This makes enough for 2 batches (i.e. 4 pizzas), but the leftovers can be frozen to use the next time you make pizza.
- To freeze the sauce:
- Cool it completely in the refrigerator.
- Pour it into mason jar or quart-sized freezer bags, or another freezer-safe container, and freeze until solid.
- When ready to use, reheat over low heat in a sauce pot, with a lid. Stir often, until heated through.
