Homemade Pizza Sauce Recipe

This is my favorite quick and easy homemade pizza sauce recipe. It takes less than five minutes to make with no cooking or chopping necessary! Recipe includes a how-to video!

5-Minute Pizza Sauce

The perfect pairing for my homemade pizza dough (possibly my most loved recipe on the whole website), today’s 100% homemade pizza sauce recipe is a weekly staple in my kitchen. I developed this recipe years ago after many reader requests, and since I’ve been sharing so many new pizza recipes lately (like this buffalo chicken pizza and BBQ pizza version), it just made sense to share it again.

My recipe is incredibly easy and fast–it’s almost as simple as opening a jar of store-bought sauce. Flavor-wise, it knocks the store-bought stuff out of the park, and it pairs so well with any pizza (including my sourdough pizza crust!). I can’t wait to hear what you think about it!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Takes literally 5 minutes to make! When I said this recipe was fast, I meant it!
• Robustly flavored thanks to plenty of Italian spices, tomato paste, and a pinch of sugar.
• Bare minimum prep-work: no chopping or cooking required. Literally all you need to do is toss some ingredients together and hit a button!
• Uses simple ingredients, most of which are pantry staples.

And don’t forget, this sauce isn’t just for pizza! It tastes great with calzones, breadsticks, stromboli, pizza bagels, arancini, and even mozzarella sticks!

Ingredients

I wanted to share a recipe that was as simple as possible (while still being robustly flavorful) so we’ll use just 10 ingredients. Most of them are spices/seasonings!

• Canned diced tomatoes. Yes, canned! And yes, I’m a bit defensive about this. I talk more on this below. You can substitute whole canned tomatoes for diced, or you can switch things up and use fire roasted tomatoes for even more flavor (like I do in my award-winning chili recipe!).
• Olive oil. This gives the sauce the proper mellow mouthfeel and adds flavor. Use a good quality extra virgin olive oil.
• Spices. I use dried basil, oregano, black pepper, and crushed red pepper. While fresh herbs could be use instead (and would need to be substituted properly), remember, this is meant to be a quick and easy pizza sauce!
• Garlic. We’ll use fresh garlic here since it’s easy to just toss a whole clove into the food processor. If you’re using pre-minced garlic, I recommend a heaping teaspoon.
• Sugar. A pinch deepens the flavor of the sauce and cuts the acidity from the tomatoes without making the sauce sweet. I use sugar in many of my tomato recipes for this reason, like my cherry tomato sauce.

You’ll also need a food processor or a blender to combine everything. I’ve linked to the one that I own and love in the recipe below. I got it as a wedding gift and use it for everything from pie crust to scones!

SAM’S TIP: Pizza sauce is meant to be a bit thick (more-so than marinara), but if the sauce is too thick for your liking, just add a drizzle more olive oil.

Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!

A Note on Using Canned Tomatoes

Now, about those tomatoes…If I seem a little salty or defensive about the fact that I’m using canned tomatoes in the video below, I am 😂 

I use canned tomatoes here for the same reasons that I use them in my marinara sauce (and prefer to use them in my homemade salsa and tomato soup). Not only is it easier, but the taste of canned tomatoes is actually typically better, more consistent, and less watery than fresh tomatoes. 

Look, if there’s anyone who’s going to tell you to go the extra mile or put in the extra effort when making something at home, it’s going to be me. You’re going to have to just trust me when I say that canned tomatoes are best here. And let me remind you, this is specifically meant to be a fast, easy, no-cook pizza sauce recipe! Canned tomatoes provide the most consistent flavor and texture, and they save time. 

How to Make Pizza Sauce

1. Add all ingredients to a food processor or blender. There is no need to chop any ingredients before adding them, just toss them in!
2. Pulse until smooth. Or if you like your sauce to have some texture, stop pulsing whenever you like.
3. Use as desired. It’s that easy! If you don’t plan to use your sauce right away, store it in your fridge until ready to use.

SAM’S TIP: Always do a quick taste test before using your sauce. Different brands of tomatoes may contain different ingredients, you may find you need to add a pinch more salt, or a bit more sugar if the acidic taste is particularly strong. 

Frequently Asked Questions

If you are interested in a “white” version of this recipe, my Alfredo sauce recipe is perfect for that!

Enjoy!

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