Perfect Pizza Sauce

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This Perfect Pizza Sauce is a quick and easy homemade recipe. Make a big batch…the leftovers can be frozen to use another time. Plus a tip for the easiest pizza sauce ever.

Friday nights are the “It’s the weekend, let’s party!” night in our house. We generally makeย delicious homemade pizza and settle down to a movie. In the busyness past year we had gotten away from our tradition.

But with our latest stay at home orders, we’ve renewed our love for pizza night.

pizza sauce in a sauce pan

Years ago we went on the hunt for the perfect pizza sauce. I stumbled across this homemade pizza sauce recipe years ago and this was the sauce we finally settled on as our favorite. ย It’s the perfect blend of spices, tomato flavor, and sweetness for our family. My guess is that you will like it, too!ย 

Easy Pizza Sauce Recipe

This sauce recipe is a homemade version of some of your favorite pizza sauce brands. Here’s what you’ll love about it:

  • simply seasoned with pantry staple seasonings
  • tomato puree for intense tomato flavor
  • add as much or as little water as you’d like for a thin or thick sauce
  • leave the sugar out if you’d like to make it Whole30 and Paleo friendly
tomato puree with pizza sauce seasonings

How to Make Pizza Sauce From Scratch

There are three simple steps to making the tomato sauce:

  • Pour the puree and all of the spices into a saucepan.
  • Turn the stove on medium heat until it starts bubbling, whisking constantly.
  • Turn down the heat to low and let it simmer for 30 minutes.ย 

Easy, right?ย Your very own extraordinary pizza sauce!

I’ve told you that I’m a somewhat picky eater, right? I’m not one for chunks of veggies in my sauce, so this smooth, flavorful sauce is perfect in my book.

**Pro Tip: Do you like chunks in your sauce? Add a can of drained diced tomatoes. You can also add mushrooms or peppers.**

pizza sauce in a jar

Easiest Pizza Sauce Ever

Here’s a bonus. What if you don’t want to take 45 minutes to make a sauce. If you need a pizza sauce NOW?

This is the answer: Take a can of whole plum tomatoes and run them through the food processor until they are smooth. And that’s it.

When I visited Chicago last year, we learned all about the best homemade pizza (find our tips here). And the recommended this trick for blending whole canned tomatoes for a quick sauce. I honestly loved it more than I thought I would. It gives such a rich, fresh taste to the pizza.

So while the recipe below is a great alternative to jarred pizza sauce from the store, the blended tomatoes serve as a quick substitute.

homemade pizza with pepperoni and cheese

What to Serve Pizza Sauce With

Pizza sauce is great on homemade pizza, but also on:

Homemade Pizza Sauce in a bowl with a spoon
Homemade Pizza Sauce in a bowl with a spoon

Perfect Pizza Sauce

4.75 from 28 votes
This Perfect Pizza Sauce is a quick and easy homemade recipe. Make a big batch…the leftovers can be frozen to use another time!
Servings 15 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes

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Ingredients
 

  • 2 cans tomato puree (29 ounces each)
  • 1 1/4 cup water
  • 5 tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 5 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon oregano
  • 3/4 teaspoon basil
  • 3/4 teaspoon thyme
  • 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Instructions
 

  • Mix all ingredients into a saucepan. 
  • Turn stove onto medium heat until sauce starts to bubble.
  •  Let simmer for 30 minutes. Put it on your pizza or use it as a dip!

Video

Notes

For the easiest sauce ever: Take a can of whole plum tomatoes and run them through the food processor until they are smooth. That’s it!
ย 
The calories shown are based on the recipe making about 8 ½ cups of sauce, with 1 serving being about ½ cup. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate. **We are not dietitians and recommend you seek a nutritionist for exact nutritional information.**

Nutrition

Serving: 164g | Calories: 37kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 240mg | Potassium: 102mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 124IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 7mg | Iron: 1mg
Course Condiment
Cuisine American
Calories 37
Keyword homemade, italian food

Try this Perfect Pizza Sauce with Perfect Pizza Crust!

About JulieJulie Clark

About Julie Clark

I'm Julie Clark, CEO and recipe developer of Tastes of Lizzy T. With my B.A. in Education and over 30 years of cooking and baking, I want to teach YOU the best of our family recipes.

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4.75 from 28 votes (24 ratings without comment)
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Sue
5 months ago

Puree has already been cooked (cento brand is decent in a pinch) Pasatta (isn’t cooked before its jarred) is better if you can find.
Pizza sauce is best cooked on the pizza.
Try just mixing it up and store in the fridge a day before : )
We’d make good pizza buddies

Abigail
2 years ago

5 stars
Easy ingredients, easy to make, and delicious! Can’t wait to try your crust recipe!

Stacey Baughman
2 years ago

5 stars
This pizza sauce recipe has become my go-to! Super simple and extra tasty! Iโ€™ve used it multiple times for our Friday night pizza nights. Thank you for this fantastic recipe!

Diane B
4 years ago

Question. Can this sauce be canned?

Mike
5 years ago

Wowsers. That’s a lot of sugar.

I wonder if heirloom tomatoes which are naturally sweet would require sugar at all.

Pravani
6 years ago

5 stars
This was SOOO easy and SOOO delicious! Thanks for catering to the “it needs to be smooth” crowd!

Tom Shrill
9 years ago

5 stars
My family loves to make homemade pizza all the time. I have yet to actually find a sauce recipe that I actually enjoyed until I stopped here. I am so glad I can actually enjoy the homemade version of my favorite food now!

Lisa @ Cooking with Curls
11 years ago

I don’t like chunks in my sauce either, so this will be perfect for me ๐Ÿ™‚ I will have to give it a try next week when we have pizza again. Thanks for sharing!

Carole
11 years ago

Lizzy, that does look pretty perfect. Cheers

Donna Pierce-Clark
11 years ago

WOO HOO
Just printed out this and several more of your recipes.
You’re going viral!!!
Betcha!
Love, Grandma Clark