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Looking for a quick and easy homemade pizza sauce recipe that tastes even better than your local pizzeria’s? This pizza sauce from scratch is just that!
Table of Contents
- The BEST Pizza Sauce From Scratch
- Homemade Pizza Sauce Ingredients
- How to Make Pizza Sauce From Scratch
- How Long Does Pizza Sauce Last?
- Can You Freeze Pizza Sauce?
- Can I Omit the Brown Sugar?
- Tips for Making the Best Pizza Sauce
- More Homemade Condiment Recipes You’ll Love:
- Other Homemade Pizza Recipes
- Homemade Quick and Easy Pizza Sauce
- Homemade Pizza Sauce Recipe
The BEST Pizza Sauce From Scratch
Over the years we’ve discovered that not all pizza sauce is created equal. There are definitely a few brands whose sauce I just don’t love, and we aren’t just talking pizza delivery, but store-bought as well. They just aren’t right. We wanted to find an easy-to-make homemade pizza sauce recipe that still tasted amazing even if it didn’t simmer on the stove for three days and have ingredients that were shipped from Italy.
Guess what? We found it. A homemade, quick and easy pizza sauce recipe you’ll fall in love with.
We love this homemade pizza sauce recipe because we can use it right away if we’re in a hurry and it only takes 5 minutes to make. But if we have time, we let it simmer for a couple of hours and the flavor just gets better and better.
Oh my goodness, and the smell. It is intoxicating. Cade walked in and came crawling into the kitchen begging to know what smelled so amazing. I love when he does that.
And the best part is he actually finished the sauce and made it amazing with his secret ingredient, cheese. I swear, dairy makes the world go round. If ever in doubt, add a little cheese, right? A little Parmesan made all the difference in this pizza sauce from scratch, and now I’ll never have a store-bought pizza sauce again!
We’ve been practicing and practicing to find our perfect homemade pizza sauce recipe, so let’s get into how to make it.
Homemade Pizza Sauce Ingredients
This pizza sauce from tomato paste and tomato sauce requires primarily pantry staples. Here’s what I used in this pizza sauce recipe:
- Olive oil
- Butter
- Garlic
- Onion powder
- Red pepper flakes
- Fresh basil and oregano
- Tomato sauce
- Tomato paste
- Grated Parmesan cheese
- Brown sugar
- Water
- Salt and pepper
How to Make Pizza Sauce From Scratch
It all starts out with blooming your spices. Start with a little oil in a dutch oven or pot. Adding your garlic and spices straight to the oil and butter brings them into contact with the heat, which opens up their flavor even more.
Then it’s just a matter of dumping in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, sugar, cheese, and water. Water helps to mellow out the tomato sauce a bit. Obviously, fresh tomato sauce or paste would be best, but I’m a mom and don’t have time to always make fresh everything.
Bring the pizza sauce to a light boil and use immediately, or let it simmer for 1 to 2 hours to let the flavors really develop.
read more: Want to switch up your pizza recipe? Try using our Simple Pesto Recipe instead of red sauce!
How Long Does Pizza Sauce Last?
Tomato-based sauces are only good for 5 days to a week. Don’t wait for the mold to form. In many cases, you won’t see the mold in the pizza sauce after five days, but it actually could be there.
Can You Freeze Pizza Sauce?
Yes, we like to make a big batch of homemade pizza sauce and often freeze the leftovers. Simply freeze it in an airtight container and it will last for up to 3 months.
Can I Omit the Brown Sugar?
Technically yes, but we recommend leaving in the small amount of brown sugar since it helps balance out the acidity in the tomatoes.
Tips for Making the Best Pizza Sauce
You all know that we prefer to use a 2qt round dutch oven by Le Creuset because that coated cast iron makes for the best pizza sauce every time and it’s the perfect size for this recipe.
Note that this pizza sauce is not spicy like some restaurants do. That’s just not my style. But please feel free to give it a little more oomph if you need it.
You can use fresh or dried herbs in this pizza sauce recipe. Fresh herbs are better if you know you’ll be eating this pizza sauce immediately and don’t have time to let it simmer for an hour.
More Homemade Condiment Recipes You’ll Love:
- Red Enchilada Sauce
- Tomatillo Cilantro Ranch Dressing
- Taco Seasoning
- Classic Pesto
- Burger Sauce
- BBQ Rub
- Authentic Salsa Verde
- Restaurant Style Salsa
- Nacho Cheese Sauce
- BBQ Sauce
- Spaghetti Sauce
- Ham Dipping Sauces
- All CONDIMENT RECIPES!
Other Homemade Pizza Recipes
- Perfect Pepperoni Pizza
- Meatball Lasagna Pizza
- Pepperoni Pizza Pinwheels
- Pepperoni Pizza-Stuffed Crescent Rolls
- Pizza Dip
- Pepperoni Pizza Bagel Bites
- Mexican Corn Grilled Pizza
- Pulled Pork Pizza
- Upside-Down Pizza Casserole
- …All of our Pizza Recipes!
If you need a quick and simple pizza dough recipe, try this 3 ingredient pizza dough from our dear friend at Fueling a Southern Soul!
Homemade Quick and Easy Pizza Sauce
Homemade Pizza Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons Olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon Butter, optional (or sub more olive oil)
- 4 Cloves Garlic, minced
- 1 3/4 teaspoons Onion Powder
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
- 1 1/2 teaspoon Fresh Basil, chopped (or 3/4 teaspoon Dried)
- 1 teaspoon Fresh Oregano, chopped (or 1/2 teaspoon Dried)
- 5 Tablespoons Fresh Parmesan Cheese, grated
- 2 teaspoons Brown Sugar
- 2 Cans Tomato Sauce, 8oz cans
- 4 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
- 2/3 Cup Warm Water
- Salt and Pepper , to taste
Instructions
- In a large pot over medium heat, add the olive oil and butter and heat until almost shimmering.2 teaspoons Olive oil, 1 Tablespoon Butter
- Add the garlic, stirring a few times around the pot. Then, quickly add the onion powder, red pepper flakes, basil, and oregano.4 Cloves Garlic, 1 3/4 teaspoons Onion Powder, 1/4-1/2 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes, 1 1/2 teaspoon Fresh Basil, 1 teaspoon Fresh Oregano
- Stir a few times and allow the herbs to bloom.
- Add Parmesan cheese and brown sugar, then quickly dump in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, and water.2 Cans Tomato Sauce, 4 Tablespoons Tomato Paste, 5 Tablespoons Fresh Parmesan Cheese, 2 teaspoons Brown Sugar, 2/3 Cup Warm Water
- Stir to combine and bring to a light boil.
- Turn the heat down to low, season to taste, and allow to simmer for 1-2 hours for ultimate flavor or use immediately if needed.Salt and Pepper
Recipe Notes
- This sauce can be stored in a sealed mason jar for up to 3 weeks.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I looked at a lot of recipes for pizza sauce and this one looks the best. However, I don’t think that the nutritional information is correct. Your yield and serving size is 1 quart. I plugged this into My Fitness Pal and the total recipe is only 567 calories. So I don’t know how you get to 1135 calories. Unless you are making a deep dish, and even then a serving is probably 150 calories at most if the serving size is about 1 cup. On the subject of nutritional information your information does not list sodium. This recipe made with regular tomato sauce has 1000 mg of sodium per serving. I’d like to cut that down if possible, maybe low sodium tomato sauce, then salt to taste.
Hey Mark! We have been having issues with our nutrition calculator so I will double check those numbers. Thanks for the heads up!
Mmm this pizza sauce looks awesome and so nourishing!
It is so so good! And so fresh!
It’s great sauce recipe, thank you for sharing this recipe, great combination with pizza
Thank you! I love to make a big batch and keep it on hand. We love pizza around here!
My Parents came from Italy back in the sixties and opened 3 pizzerias in New York. Sadly after they sold the business, at the time I was in my teens I went to work for a few upper westside joints in Manhattan. Of course, the recipes vary from place to place, however, the main integrant was never, ever cook the sauce. Yours has a little more ingredients than most but the flavor is there for a “dipping” sauce. Respectfully, Joseph.
Thank you for your unique perspective Joseph!!
Making pizza tonight and noticed I didn’t have any pizza sauce and didn’t want to go to town to get some. I decided to attempt to make my own. Run across your recipe and decided to give it a try. Have it simmering now. Just tasted it and it tastes awesome! So glad I found this recipe!
Thank you!!
Thanks Theresa!! We won’t ever do store bought again because this is so dang good! Thanks for leaving a comment!!
I was looking for a fresh pizza sauce and a tasty one I came across this recipe. Oh my this is so good. I made as directed. My small town is seriously lacking in fresh herbs so I used dried it tasted very delicious but I wanted fresh basil as the sauce was just getting done I had a idea that I had frozen basil pesto in ice cube trays from a over abundance of basil from my garden last summer. I put one of those cubes in the sauce and let it melt in oh my goodness it took it way over top. Can’t wait for hubby to come home &try this. Thanks so much for sharing !
Liz, So happy to hear that!!! It’s our favorite pizza sauce and hearing that someone else thinks so too feels so good!
First time making it and it was fabulous!
So happy to hear that!
Thank you so so much for posting this. It is very easy to make and tastes amazing. I hated making homemade pizza because all the store bought pizza sauces are just so bad. Problem solved 🙂
They really aren’t very good, huh!
Thank you for posting this awesome pizza sauce recipe 🙂 Made for a pizza party that we had at our home with friends and everyon devoured the pizza’s and especial complimented the fresh pizza sauce!! I got so many compliments 🙂
WOOOHOOOO!! That is such good news! So happy you gave it a go!
This sauce has a lot to live up to with the fabulous reviews. My grandkids are coming next weekend and they wanted to make pizzas so this is the sauce I will make and I cant wait. I can almost smell it cooking now. Thank you so much I will let you know how the kids love it as I know they will.
I hope you enjoy it!
This recipe isn’t just spectacular, it’s multipurpose! I made too much the first time, so I chopped up some onions, mushrooms, and other veggies to throw in the left overs for a killer spaghetti sauce.
I do season it a bit more heavily than what’s recommended here, but that’s just my personal taste.
YUM!!! I love when one recipe can become more!