Pizza Sauce From Scratch
This pizza sauce from scratch is thick, rich, and packed full of traditional New York-style pizzeria sauce flavor. Make a batch for tonight’s homemade pizza, or cook it in bulk and freeze it in portions so you always have some on hand when you want to quickly throw a pie together.
Fire-roasted sauce that beats any pizza shop hands down
I lived and worked in the restaurant industry in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, for about 20 years, very close to Old Forge, which is known as the Pizza Capital of the World. There are about 160 pizza shops for every 1,300 residents in the area, and they’re all successful — because one is better than the next. I learned a thing or two about pizza while I was there, including how to make both New York City-style and Old Forge-style pizza. This homemade pizza sauce recipe grew out of that knowledge.
It’s a cooked sauce that’s heavily seasoned in the tradition of New York pizzerias. Diced tomatoes give it a fresher tomato flavor than versions made with tomato sauce, and I use fire-roasted tomatoes as my own twist — a variation that even earned the approval of the owner of my favorite pizza shop. Best of all, it takes less than 20 minutes to make.
If you love making sauces from scratch as much as I do, be sure to try my lentil Bolognese pasta sauce, brandy cream sauce from scratch, and homemade pumpkin Alfredo sauce too.
Recipe ingredients
- Fire-roasted diced tomatoes: Use canned fire-roasted diced tomatoes for the extra depth they bring to the tomato base. The tomatoes are roasted before canning, which develops a richer, more complex flavor while still giving the sauce the fresh tomato character and texture of diced tomatoes.
- Tomato paste: Tomato paste provides concentrated tomato flavor and is important to the texture of this sauce. It adds richness and body while helping thicken the tomatoes into a substantial pizza sauce that spreads easily over the dough without being watery.
- Extra virgin olive oil: Use a good-quality extra virgin olive oil for the fuller flavor it brings to the tomatoes and seasonings. The oil also carries the flavors of the herbs throughout the sauce and gives it a richer finish.
- Italian seasoning: This dried herb blend has just the right combination of seasonings for the classic flavor of a New York-style pie. You can mix your own dried Italian herb blend or use fresh herbs if you prefer, but a well-blended Italian seasoning works so perfectly here that it’s my preference for this sauce.
- Granulated sugar: Only a very small amount is used to balance the natural acidity of the tomatoes. You won’t taste the sugar in the finished sauce, and it does not make this a sweet pizza sauce.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
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How to make pizza sauce from scratch
Step 1: Add the fire-roasted diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and extra virgin olive oil to a saucepan. Stir to combine and warm over medium heat until the mixture is hot and beginning to gently simmer.
Step 2: Remove the saucepan from the heat temporarily and use an immersion blender to partially blend the tomatoes. Leave some of the tomato pieces intact rather than blending the sauce completely smooth; this gives the finished sauce a thick, slightly textured consistency.
Step 3: Stir in the pressed garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, granulated sugar, black pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes. Mix thoroughly so that all of the ingredients are evenly distributed throughout the tomato base.
Step 4: Return the saucepan to the heat and reduce the heat as needed to maintain a very light simmer. Cook uncovered at a very light simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. This gives the seasonings time to meld into the sauce while preventing the thick mixture from scorching or splattering.
Step 5: Remove the sauce from the heat and use it to sauce your prepared pizza dough before adding the cheese and toppings.
Top tips
- Stick with canned tomatoes: Canned tomatoes provide consistent flavor and quality year-round, making them a better choice for this sauce than fresh tomatoes, which can vary considerably by season. Fire-roasted diced tomatoes also provide the deeper roasted tomato flavor this recipe is built around, while partially blending them creates the thick, textured base you want for pizza sauce.
- Make it ahead when you can: The sauce benefits from resting after cooking, giving the garlic, herbs, and spices additional time to come together. Refrigerating it overnight is an easy way to have the sauce ready before pizza-making begins.
- Turn up the heat: The crushed red pepper flakes in the recipe add flavor without making the sauce particularly spicy. For a pizza sauce with noticeable heat, increase the amount of crushed red pepper flakes to suit your preference.
- Refrigerate for short-term storage: This sauce will keep for up to 5 days when stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
- Freeze in amounts that match how you make pizza: If you normally make one or two pies at a time, measure the amount of sauce you typically use and freeze it in those quantities. Labeling each portion with the amount makes it easy to pull exactly what you need from the freezer.
- Leave expansion room when freezing in containers: Tomato sauce expands as it freezes, so leave some empty space at the top of rigid freezer containers rather than filling them to the rim.
Serve
This thick, richly seasoned sauce is perfect for making all kinds of homemade pizza. Use it for traditional round pies, sheet pan pizza, French bread pizza, English muffin pizzas, and personal pizzas.
Spread it over a traditional New York bagel and top it with your favorite cheeses for a great homemade bagel pizza. Or make my homemade garlic focaccia and use it as the base, along with this sauce, for an unforgettable Sicilian-style pizza. I make a great focaccia bread spider pizza every Halloween using that focaccia and this sauce, and it’s always a big hit!
This sauce’s thick consistency also makes it especially good for dipping. Serve it warm with calzones, stromboli, pizza rolls, pizza pinwheels, garlic knots, or breadsticks.
Other recipes you’ll love
If you loved this from scratch pizza sauce recipe, give these other great recipes a try too!
No Cook Pasta Sauce With Fresh Tomatoes
Simple Ginger Scallion Sauce Recipe
Homemade Cajun Tartar Sauce Recipe
Original Buffalo Sauce Recipe
Stone Ground Mustard Sauce
BBQ Sauce from Scratch
Pizza Sauce From Scratch
Ingredients
- 28 ounces fire-roasted tomatoes
- 6 ounces tomato paste
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 large garlic cloves pressed
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Add the fire-roasted diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and extra virgin olive oil to a saucepan. Stir and warm over medium heat until hot.
- Partially blend the tomato mixture with an immersion blender, leaving some texture in the sauce.
- Stir in the pressed garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, granulated sugar, black pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes until evenly combined.
- Reduce the heat to maintain a very light simmer. Cook uncovered for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove the pizza sauce from the heat and use as desired for homemade pizza.
Notes
- The small amount of granulated sugar balances the acidity of the tomatoes without making the sauce sweet.
- For a spicier pizza sauce, increase the crushed red pepper flakes to taste.
- Store leftover pizza sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- For longer storage, freeze the sauce in portions sized for your usual pizza night, leaving room for expansion in rigid containers.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
