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Basic Pizza Sauce Recipe

Basic Pizza Sauce
Difficulty: Easy | Total Time: 30 mins | Active Time: | Makes: 3 cups

A good pizza doesn’t need fancy ingredients so long as the sauce is full of flavor. Our thick sauce has straightforward tomato flavor and is a snap to prepare.

Game plan: This sauce can be stored in an airtight container and refrigerated for up to 4 days or frozen for up to 1 month.

INGREDIENTS
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 medium garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup tomato paste
  • 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes, with juices
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. When oil shimmers, add garlic and cook until fragrant but not browned, about 1 minute. Add tomato paste, stir to incorporate, and cook until raw flavor is gone, about 4 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes and oregano and stir to combine.
  2. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to low. Cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool before using to top pizza.
    Write a review | 12 Reviews
  • Basic Pizza Sauce Recipe
    1

    Pizza sauce doesn't need to be cooked. It will cook again when you bake the crust which can affect flavor. Go with an uncooked tomato sauce if you want the tomato flavor to shine through. The sauce used by many high end pizza joints is often just crushed San Marzano tomatoes, salt, and little else. An easy way to make a simple uncooked sauce is puree a jar/can of good quality tomatoes (liquid drained), add sea salt, a pinch of sugar or balsamic, and a pinch of dried herbs. That's it. You can add a little garlic or EVOO if you want, but I prefer it without. The tomato sauce will have a bright, vibrant flavor that cooked sauces lack. Oh and high temperatures are optimal for best results. I bake mine on a pizza stone pre-heated at 500-550 degrees.

  • This recipe belongs on all recipes.com, not on chow.

  • Boring, and too wet. Classic aromatics (carrot, onion, garlic, celery) will give it more body and depth. Tomato paste is totally unnecessary, as is sugar (NEVER in tomato sauce- if the tomatoes are that bad, make something else). Trick is to cook out as much moisture as you dare before adding the tomato pulp- with care, you can make a sauce that won't taste overcooked and wont make your crust soggy.

  • I've tried making homemade pizza sauce a dozen times, and sadly enough I still prefer the canned sauce. (Maybe the sweetness?) Whenever I use canned tomatoes/paste combinations the sauce takes on an over-cooked astringency; very off-putting. This recipe looks better, having only a small amount of paste. I think I would try using canned whole tomatoes, drained, plus a titch of sugar or a portion of plain applesauce. Maybe a tablespoon of sweet red or white wine after simmering would perk things up. With dried Italian herbs, you have to let your nose decide how much and which kinds to use--we all prefer different flavours and old herbs get stale. Definitely throw them in during the last 5 minutes of simmering, tasting and adjusting as you go. A tiny amount of fresh minced rosemary leaf is golden in most Italian tomato sauces. Thanks for inspiring me to try again.

  • I prefer adding dry basil to pizza sauce rather than oregano. While oregano is a great Italian herb, I find it can be overpowering.

  • I like the sauce but , The oragano Should be a sprinkle on top of the pie just before putting in the oven. Basil leaf in the cooking. Garlick, salt , Olive oil. Tomato Past ?. Whole plum tomatoes a Must. Simple is best. the Sauce is the foundation of the pie. build from there. TYP NY_NJ Bill

  • Hef - Thanks for a completely useless criticism! How about posting something useful, like an improvement??

  • As the maker of an Italian Seasoning blend (DiFiore Seasoning), I can't believe you would publish such a pedestrian recipe. There's a lot more to good Italian seasoning than garlic and oregano. This recipe is missing at least 4 critical herbs and spices. In addition, by placing the herbs and spices on top of the cheese instead of in the sauce; you create an additonal level of flavor which makes the crust, sauce, toppings and cheese all retain their original taste while isolating the unique taste of the seasoning. This gives your pallate an opportunity to savor every flavor.

  • If you try this recipe on the grill, the oregano flavor is pretty reduced when compared with stovetop cooking. I have used it twice. 1st time as described. 2nd time added a dash of beer with hot (ish) spanish paprika and ground dried poblano. Replaced the can of crushed tomatoes with finely chopped hothouse tomatoes. The grilling really makes a difference with herbs. Cheese eats up more of the smoke and less of the herb. Topped with standard white mushrooms sliced pretty thick, and just a little chopped cilantro and basil. Served with yucatan hot sauce on the side. Next time I am adding some corn from a can for sweetness. Not too much but I think it will go so well with the grill flavors.

  • Not all pizza sauces have basil in them. Most, however do have oregano.

  • Wondering about the lack of basil myself....

  • Wow. This recipe contains waaaay too much oregano. I'll qualify as not being an oregano-lover. I was also shocked to see there's not a single leaf of basil in this recipe.

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