Level up your homemade pizza with this easy pizza sauce recipe. Made with 8 simple ingredients, it's quick and flavorful—no cooking required!
Making pizza sauce from scratch is simpler than it might seem. You don’t need any fancy ingredients or even very much time. My easy pizza sauce recipe calls for 8 pantry staples and comes together in 5 minutes—no cooking required!
I could be biased, but I think this homemade pizza sauce is better than store-bought. It’s thick and flavorful, seasoned with fresh garlic and dried herbs.
It’s also super affordable. This easy pizza sauce recipe makes a large batch, enough for 5 to 6 pizzas. Make it for your next pizza night, and store any leftovers in the freezer. You’ll love having them on hand for whenever a homemade pizza craving strikes. I know I do!
Pizza Sauce Recipe Ingredients
My easy homemade pizza sauce recipe calls for 8 basic ingredients, most (or all) of which you likely have in your pantry! Here’s what you’ll need to make it:
- Canned whole peeled tomatoes – I’ve tried making homemade pizza sauce with canned tomato sauce and canned crushed tomatoes. But I find that the sauce has the best texture and flavor when I start with whole peeled tomatoes and blend them myself. Because this recipe is so simple, I recommend seeking out good-quality canned tomatoes. If you can find them, choose San Marzano tomatoes, which are especially sweet.
- Tomato paste – It adds tangy tomato flavor and thickens the sauce.
- Extra-virgin olive oil – For richness.
- Fresh garlic and dried Italian seasoning – For savory depth of flavor. Use your favorite store-bought Italian seasoning, or make homemade Italian seasoning with dried oregano, dried basil, marjoram, rosemary, and thyme.
- Cane sugar – Its sweetness balances the acidic tomato paste.
- And salt and pepper – To make all the flavors pop!
Optional, but delicious:Â If you’d like the pizza sauce to have a spicy kick, feel free to add a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Pizza Sauce
This pizza sauce recipe is quick and easy to make. Once you’ve assembled your ingredients, all you need to do is plop them in a food processor and blend until smooth! If you don’t have a food processor, you can use an immersion blender or regular blender for this step instead.
This is a no-cook pizza sauce recipe. Unlike my homemade marinara sauce or fresh tomato sauce, I don’t simmer this sauce on the stove. After blending, it’s thick enough to spread straight onto the pizza dough!
Simply season to taste before using it.
How to Store Pizza Sauce
This recipe makes a fairly large batch—it yields about 4 cups sauce, enough for 5 to 6 large pizzas.
Store leftover sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
It also freezes well. Seal it in an airtight container or jar and store it in the freezer for up to 3 months. Transfer frozen sauce to the fridge to thaw overnight.
- Tip:Â Freeze the sauce in 2/3-cup portions so that you can thaw enough for 1 pizza at a time.
Homemade Pizza Recipes to Try
Use this pizza sauce recipe on any homemade pizza! Spread it on homemade pizza dough and top it with shredded mozzarella cheese and your favorite pizza toppings. Bake in a 500°F oven until the pizza crust is browned, typically 10 to 15 minutes.
Or try it on my favorite veggie pizza or sheet pan pizza!
Pizza Sauce
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, drained
- 1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon cane sugar
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a food processor, place the garlic. Pulse until finely chopped.
- Add the whole tomatoes, tomato paste, olive oil, Italian seasoning, salt, sugar, and several grinds of pepper. Process until smooth and season to taste.
- Spread pizza sauce directly on stretched pizza dough (there’s no need to cook it separately first). Store leftover sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. It also freezes well for up to 3 months.
Hi L&L, I have not had success freezing uncooked pizza sauces in the past. When thawed, the sauce becomes very watery making them unusable since they would result in a soggy, doughy pizza.
I do see that you are adding tomato paste and am wondering if this would eliminate that watery consistency when thawed.
Thoughts? Thanks!
Can regular sugar be substituted for cane sugar? How much? Trying to save some $$$ here.
yep!
Love this recipe. Tried others but this is simply the best ?
Hi Janet, I’m glad you love the pizza sauce!
Skip the food processor (and save yourself the cleaning) and just use an immersion blender!! Great easy recipe.
How long can it stay on fridge and freezer?
Hi Soso, I’d keep it up to 5 days in the fridge and a few months in the freezer.
Can you make this sauce ahead of time and store in the fridge until ready to use?
Hi Jenna, yes, definitely! It freezes well too.
Do you grease your pizza pan or stone before putting the dough on?
Hi Cass, nope, it’s not necessary. The dough won’t stick to the preheated stone, and if you try greasing a pan, you’ll have harder time stretching the dough to the edges without it springing back.
Can you use this as a pasta sauce also or do you have a recipe for it?
Hi Carl, this one is just for pizza (because it cooks while the pizza bakes), but check out this post for a few delicious versions of tomato pasta sauce: https://www.loveandlemons.com/creamy-pasta-pomodoro/
Why use canned tomatoes while you could use fresh ones?
you can use fresh ones if you like – this is my simple go-to pantry pizza sauce that I use year round.
I love how simple this is! I always imagined pizza sauce having to simmer down. Thanks for sharing!
Yep, it cooks as you bake the pizza! It’s not a heavy tomato-past-y sauce, it’s light like a Margherita pizza sauce which is what I prefer.