This Easy Pizza Sauce Recipe is so much fun to make. Takes only 30 minutes to make using fresh tomatoes, bell pepper, extra garlic and dried spices.
Don’t you just hate it when you want to make pizza and the expensive sauce you bought from the store has fungus growing? Happened to me the other day, so, I decided to come up with a homemade pizza sauce recipe of my own.
Making this sauce from fresh tomatoes is the way to go. I found that it gives the it a rough texture.
Ingredients
Here is a quick look at the ingredients. It is to understand why these specific ingredients were chosen. To get the full recipe, go to the bottom of this post.
Garlic – Homemade pizza sauce recipe with copious amounts of garlic is a staple of many Italian recipes. I decided not to mess with this ratio, so, I included so much garlic in it. Garlic has proven benefits like lowering blood pressure and boosts immunity. Source: ClevelandClinic.org.
Tomatoes – Fresh tomatoes are packed with nutrition like lycopene and and anti-inflamatory properties. In addition to fresh tomatoes, I added canned tomato paste. It helps thicken the sauce adds a rich red color. Source: ChicagoHealthOnline.com.
Bell Peppers – They are a great source of Vitamin C. However, in this case, you won’t get much benefit from it because it’s being heated. But, it does add a lot of flavor to the sauce.
Dried herbs – Dried herbs add so much flavor to this sauce. They also have anti-inflammatory properties that help heal painful joints. If you can find fresh herbs, use them instead of the dried.
The ingredients in my sauce include 12 cloves of garlic, 9 tomatoes and dried spices. Can you imagine the aroma that was coming out of my kitchen when I was making it?
I wish I could bottle that aroma and take it with me everywhere. Any ideas on what I would call this perfume?
🍅 Handy Tip: Use ripe plum tomatoes that are also a little firm. Preferably, they should be organic and heirloom.
How do I make pizza sauce?
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- Cut the tomatoes and bell pepper into cubes and place in a bowl. Add garlic, one portion of the oil and dried herbs. Mix well.
- Transfer to a casserole or baking dish and place in the oven. Cook for about 15 minutes or until the tomatoes start to brown on the outside.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes before transferring the contents to a food processor.
- In a medium pan, add the remaining oil and heat for 30 seconds. Add the blended tomato sauce, fresh Rosemary, salt and pepper.
- Stir well and cook for about 2 minutes on low heat to prevent splattering.
- Let it cool down before storing it.
👩🍳 Substitution tip: Beefsteak tomatoes can be substituted for plum tomato. Or, choose campari tomatoes because they are plum and juicy.
Answering Common Questions
Yes, you can use just canned tomatoes and tomato paste. It just tastes better with fresh tomatoes
Marinara sauce is a little thicker than pizza sauce. Since pizza sauce needs to spreadable, it’s more like a sauce than marinara.
It takes 30 minutes to make pizza sauce from scratch.
Make ahead and storage
This recipe is perfect to make and store for about 1-6 months. You can also be can it so that you can use it outside of tomato season.
Once you make it, cool it down before you transfer it to (Affiliate Link) glass jars. Refrigerate it for about 1 month and it will still be good.
You can also freeze this pizza sauce in freezer friendly bags and store them for up to 6 months. They will taste just as good. Save them in single serve quantity, if you want. I like using these (Affiliate Link) freezer bags that are BPA free.
🧊 Freezing Tip: Try storing pizza sauce in single serve portions. This way, you don’t have to thaw the whole batch and then freeze it again.
How to use pizza sauce
- Pizza sauce is a great sauce for an Ooni pizza dough recipe. I also like to use them as a dip to my cheesy garlic bread and air fryer garlic bread.
- Have you tried dipping pinwheels in pizza sauce? It tastes so good. If you have picky eaters, give them this dip to broccoli dippers.
- It’s also a a great way to flavor meatball sandwiches, meatball calzone and meatball casseroles.
- You can also use it as a dipping sauce for mozzarella sticks or even garlic bread. If you are in the mood for a quick snack, make bagel pizza using this sauce. There are so many uses for it.
What is your favorite way to use it?
More sauce recipes to try
- Just because you are on keto, doesn’t mean you can’t eat enchiladas with keto enchilada sauce.
- For stir fry fans, here is a black bean sauce that I use for cooking my tempeh and lo mein.
- Peanut satay sauce is made with peanuts and it’s a great keto sauce to use on many recipes like a summer roll.
- Spicy coconut sauce is my go-to sauce for flavoring corn and noodles.
- Fancy sounding soubise sauce is a great sauce to use in things like ratatouille or pasta.
Sharing is caring
Don’t be shy, chime in below in the comments. Let me hear your opinion on this easy pizza sauce recipe. If you enjoyed this, please give it 5 stars and share it on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram.
The Best Pizza Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 9 Plum Tomatoes
- 1 Red Bell Pepper Or Green Bell Pepper
- 12 Cloves garlic (adjust to your taste)
- 1 Tbsp tomato paste unsalted
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp dried parsley
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp dried basil
- 1/2 tsp rosemary (optional)
- 4 tsp extra virgin olive oil (divided into 2 portions)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- Cut the tomatoes and bell pepper into cubes and place in a bowl.9 Plum Tomatoes, 1 Red Bell Pepper
- Add garlic cloves, one portion of the oil and dried herbs. Mix well.12 Cloves garlic, 2 tsp dried parsley, 2 tsp dried oregano, 4 tsp extra virgin olive oil, 2 tsp dried basil
- Transfer to a casserole or baking dish and place in the oven.
- Cook for about 15 minutes or until the tomatoes start to brown on the outside.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes before transferring the contents to a food processor.
- In a medium pan, add the remaining oil and heat for 30 seconds.4 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- Add the blended tomato sauce, fresh rosemary, salt and pepper.1 Tbsp tomato paste, 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp rosemary
- Stir well and cook for about 2 minutes on low heat to prevent splattering.
- Let it cool down before storing it.
Notes
- Beefsteak tomatoes can be substituted for plum tomato. Or, choose campari tomatoes because they are plum and juicy.
- Use ripe plum tomatoes that are also a little firm. Preferably, they should be organic and heirloom.
When you say to coat the ingredients well, are we coating them with the one portion of oil and the tomato paste?
Hello Sandra, That’s the way I did it the first time I made the pizza. But, you can also add the tomato paste after the tomatoes are roasted.
Why is the sodium count so high? Just from the salt and 1 T of tomato paste? I was going to use up my tomatoes and make some, but that’s making me hesitate. Please get back to me 🙂
The recipe I have says sodium of 2411. Got it some years ago from this site.
Hello Sandra, I used a different nutrition calculator and this time, I didn’t add the salt in it. So, that brings the sodium count way down. I think that would be the way to go for you. Or, you can add just a 1/2tsp? Let me know.
Hello Sandra, Thank you for your email. I cannot tell you why the salt is too high. As you can see, I use the unsalted tomato paste and I also say the salt itself is optional. Also, keep in mind that this recipe can make about 2 jars of sauce. So, it might be normal for the salt to be that high? I suggest not adding the salt when you make this pizza sauce. Add salt when you use it to make pizza. Let me know how it turns out. Feel free to ask me more questions. I love it and will answer them anytime. Thanks
Very very very good pizza sauce. I doubled the recipe and am yielding 5 1/2 cups of prepared sauce. I plan to use approximate 1/2 cup sauce for a 12” pizza. I now am getting ready to freeze. March 16/2016 reply says can be frozen up to two weeks and Sept 10, 2020 reply says to freeze in ziplock for up to 6 months. What is your suggestion. Does the sauce become a bit more watery when thawed.
Hello Janet, Sorry for the delay in responding. Thank you so much for making this sauce and your beautiful comment. It might get a little watery when thawed, but, what I do is to empty the contents into a hot pan. This minimizes the watery texture.
This is absolutely delicious! I had made pizza sauce before and used a packet from Mrs. Wages. This is way better than that! I only added 1 t. of oil, didn’t add the rosemary and after putting it through the food processor I added the tomato paste, salt and pepper and simmered on the stove for about an hour.
Oh I am so delighted to hear that, Melissa. You made me very happy. Thank you.
This recipe is how I broke in my first food processor. Delicious flavor, liked the texture too. Thank you.
What can I add to this recipe to preserve for say six months? I would like to be able to store it.
Thank you, Pete. Make it as written and then freeze it in zip lock bag or in a freezer friendly jar. You don’t need to do anything extra to store it for 6 months.
Do i add the seeds of the tomatoes or discard them?
You can keep them in, Kanika. Thank you
Could you please elaborate on the method to can this recipe?
Hello Heather, I am no canning expert, but, I can tell you how I do it. I place the mason jar(s) in boiling water and then add the pizza sauce. Then, I close the lids and remove from heat.
Do you need to peel the skins from the tomatoes?
Also is it okay to substitute for another type of tomatoes?
We have beefsteak, better boy, and early girl? Thank
Thank you, Doug. No, you don’t need to peel the skin from the tomatoes. I left them in and they tasted so good. It adds a nice texture to the sauce. As for the type of tomato, you can use any you have on hand. Beefsteak tomatoes would be great in this recipe. Let me know how it turns out. 🙂
I am going to make a large batch and can it. Ty for your generous offer for this recipe.
Making this now! I threw in a small yellow onion in the oven as well. Where in the recipe is the tomato paste used?
Thank you, Jessica. In step 4, where it says “Add all the ingredients…”, is where you add the paste.
I was looking through the recipe and you didnt provide instructions on when to add the garlic?
Thank you, Jeremy. In step #4, add all your ingredients except for the salt, pepper and part of the oil. That is where you can add the garlic.
Can this be frozen, also? Love this easy pea set recipe for bulk usage of my garden plum tomatoes!
Thank you, Dee. Yes, this can be frozen for up to two weeks. I try not to use it after 2 weeks because the spices tend to loose flavor.
Just what I was looking for, since most recipies call for canned tomatoes I don ‘t see the point in making your own sauce and adding preservatives and chemicals to it. Definitely going to give it a try since these seems like the real deal.
Thank you, Tania. I LOVE hearing from folks like you. The fresh ingredients make all the difference in the world. Please let me know what you thought of it.
How much do 9 plum tomatoes weigh? I need this info so I can substitute a different kind of tomato.
Thank you, Christie. They weigh just a little over 1 pound or about 455grams.
Is there anyway this can be canned?
Thank you, Staci. Yes, you can absolutely can this sauce. In fact, I just made a huge batch over the weekend and put some of it in Mason jars. Canned them for use in the winter
What a great idea! I’ll have to make it for my next party! 🙂
Thank you, Rachel
Yum! Love homemade pizza and the addition of the pepper will add a new layer of flavor!
Thank you, Debra.
I love the addition of the bell pepper and tonsssss of garlic 🙂
http://www.alittlerosemaryandtime.com
Thank you, Kelsey
Definitely better than any store bought sauce. Looks so good and I love the red peppers, I need to try this.
Thank you, Janette