Meet your new favorite red Pizza Sauce! This is how the pros make red sauce for pizza using just 5 simple ingredients, and it’s ridiculously easy with no cooking required.
It has a beautiful tomato flavor similar to what you’d enjoy in a fancy Italian pizzeria! Make it now and store it so it’s ready when you want authentic homemade pizza.
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Helpful Reader Review
“10/10!!! Not sure how many times I have made this, I always try to keep some in the freezer. I am making another batch now. Truly outstanding recipe!“ – Angela ★★★★★
Best Pizza Sauce
My family loves to make pizza using my Overnight Pizza Dough recipe or my Quick and Easy Pizza Dough (for same-day pizza), and this homemade pizza sauce. We add our favorite toppings and serve with my Caesar Salad. Pizza night is always a fun way for me to get my kids and hubby into the kitchen together, and it results in a delicious meal–you can’t beat that!
Made-from-scratch pizza sauce is so much better than store-bought pizza sauces, and it is faster than checking out at the register. It’s ready in under 5 minutes! Pre-cooked and canned sauces tend to dry out on a pizza, and the true flavor of the tomatoes dulls, while this uncooked sauce keeps its vibrant tomato flavor and color.
Unlike marinara sauce, authentic pizza sauce is not cooked until it is on the pizza in the oven. I learned how to make the best red sauce from the pizza masters at BonAppetit and Baking Steel.
Ingredients for Homemade Pizza Sauce
These 5 ingredients have the perfect amount of tomato flavor to flavor the pizza without overwhelming the toppings and cheese. Pantry staples are all you need for a truly great red pizza sauce.
- Crushed Tomatoes – we love Italian San Marzano canned tomatoes. A 28-oz can makes 3 cups of sauce. You can also use fresh tomatoes (peel and crush in a food processor), pureed tomatoes for a smoother consistency, or diced tomatoes with a bit of tomato paste.
- Simple flavorings – garlic, extra virgin olive oil, fine sea salt, and dried oregano. You can add a pinch of red pepper flakes for a bit of heat.
Natasha’s Pro Tip:
You might be tempted to add more than 1/2 tablespoon of salt, but after the flavors meld, the sauce will be perfect. Also, remember your toppings (like cheese) will also add saltiness to your pizza.
How to Make Pizza Sauce
To make this easy tomato sauce for pizza, all you need is a blender, food processor, or immersion blender, and there is no cooking required – seriously!
- Pulse together all of the ingredients until blended and well-combined.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or up to 7 days before using. It’s best the next day.
How to Use Red Pizza Sauce
- On Pizza – After resting, the sauce is ready spread on pizza without cooking. Use about 1/4 cup over a large pizza dough. Don’t over-saturate the dough so that the crust fully cooks in the middle. Add pizza toppings, like mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, and veggies, and bake!
- As a Dip for breadsticks made from my Sourdough Pizza Dough recipe, Stromboli, Mozzarella Cheese Sticks, Calzone, or Garlic Bread.
- As a Topping – try my Pizza Chicken – it’s delicious!
Make-Ahead and Storage
I love this red sauce because it is a make-ahead recipe and gets better with time as the flavors meld together. We love it best the next day, which is perfect with my overnight pizza dough.
- To Refrigerate: Pour sauce into a mason jar or airtight storage container, cover tightly, and refrigerate for 1 to 2 weeks.
- Freezing: Portion into freezer-safe zip bags, remove any extra air, and seal. Lay flat in the freezer, and it will be quicker to thaw. You can also freeze pizza dough for an easy pizza night when the craving hits. Thaw pizza sauce in the fridge overnight or in a bowl of cold water.
Helpful Reader Review
“We have been searching for a great pizza sauce. I was skeptical because it wasn’t cooked. Made it and let it sit overnight. Simply amazing. Thank you for all your great, easy recipes. Your pizza crust was a hit as well!” – Jennifer ★★★★★
This easy pizza sauce recipe couldn’t be easier, but it always comes out perfectly! It has an authentic Italian flavor and is perfect for meal prep, since it freezes and refrigerates well. Here’s the start to truly amazing homemade pizza, so blend up a batch in just moments today!
P.S. If you prefer a white sauce for pizza, make sure to try my homemade garlic-parmesan White Pizza Sauce. It is my children’s favorite and the one they always request for homemade pizza.
Pizza Sauce
Ingredients
- 28 oz crushed tomatoes
- 2 garlic cloves, pressed or finely grated
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 Tbsp fine sea salt
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
Instructions
- Pulse together – Combine all of your ingredients in the bowl of a food processor or blender and pulse together until well combined and blended.
- Cover and refrigerate – You can use the sauce to make pizza right away, but for best results, cover and refrigerate for the flavors to meld for at least 3 hours or store in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 weeks.
Notes
- Refrigerator: Blend the ingredients and then store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
- Freezer: Pack in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 6 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight or by placing the container in a cold bowl of water.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
My Best Homemade Condiments
When it comes to sauces and condiments, homemade always wins. Here are our top sauces, dips, dressings, and condiments that you have to try!
- Tartar Sauce
- Tzatziki Sauce
- Marinara Sauce
- Horseradish Sauce
- Italian Dressing
- Ranch Dip
- Green Goddess Dressing
- Homemade Mayonnaise
This is a keeper! I have tried many different recipes to use making pizza with my new outdoor pizza oven and I have found the best! The white sauce is amazing as well! Thanks!
It’s good, the only issue I have is after refrigerating overnight, it congeals into almost Jello like form. Must the the olive oil (I use Italian EVOO).
Thank you for your recipes, i will put them to use.
I’m in love! This pizza sauce is quick, easy, and delicious!
The flavor is fantastic and so simple to make! I’ll never go back to store bought. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite, Cindy!
So simple, but delicious. My hubs even declared it a winner! Thanks for recipe.
Fantastic flavor! I was looking for a new sauce to try. The sauce I usually use is made with a lot of seasonings and it’s good but your pizza sauce simple and flavorful. I used it on a couple of thin crust pizzas tonight. We used your sauce as the base and we liked it so much we dabbed it on top of the pizza when it came out of the oven. Thank you for posting this!
I made this last night. It was fast and delicious. Great find!!
Love your recipes Natasha! I tried so many Pizza recipes, But your recipe was the best one.
keep the good work!
That’s wonderful to hear. Thank you for the wonderful feedback.
I took a taste of this sauce and was tempted to drink it! Thank goodness for self control as we were close to not having it for pizza.
Thank goodness for self control indeed! It really is that good! Thank you so much for sharing that wonderful review with me.
In my region I don’t have canned tomatoes, only regular tomatoes. How can I make the sauce with those kind of tomatoes?
I haven’t tested that but one of our readers shared this “OK for you purest that insist on using your tomatoes, we used a squeezo on raw tomatoes to make a sauce and remove the seeds and skins. We then rendered it down to one half volume to get the thickness we wanted. this might be different for you depending on your particular tomatoes and how thick you want your sauce. we then let it cool, took 28 ozs out of the pot and used this recipe. it came out perfect” Hope that helps.
My daughter is a picky eater. Is their something other than garlic I can use that will still enhance the flavor that I can use as a substitute?
Hi Cassandra, I supposed you could just use salt and pepper but garlic is a tough one to replace here. You might also try adding some dried garlic which is a little more mild, but overall, the garlic cooks off nicely and isn’t overpowering once the pizza is baked, even if fresh is used.
I made this pizza sauce tonight for supper and it turned out perfect. I tweaked it little used my own home grown tomtoes that I had in frezzer. Left over sauce is in the fridge for round two. Next I am going use left over pizza dough two make to smaller ones and try your white sace on them.
That’s great, Colleen!
I add a few leaves of basil and about 3/4 Tsp of salt…..Perfection!
Yum!
Hi, can’t wait to try this sauce with home grown tomatoes.
Can this sauce be frozen , if we make a huge batch?
Hi Lynn! Yes- see my note above for storing.
OK for you purest that insist on using your tomatoes, we used a squeezo on raw tomatoes to make a sauce and remove the seeds and skins. We then rendered it down to one half volume to get the thickness we wanted. this might be different for you depending on your particular tomatoes and how thick you want your sauce. we then let it cool, took 28 ozs out of the pot and used this recipe. it came out perfect1
Thanks for sharing!
This sauce is for people who love garlic. I ‘m not one. I thought the garlic flavor was overwhelming.
I made this sauce today using fresh tomatoes. I also added a 2 tbsp of tomato paste to thicken it up and 1 tsp of sugar I like my sauce with sweetness flavor.
Hi there, how long will this last in a vacuumed freezer bag in the freezer…a year?
Hi Joy, from what I’ve read, when frozen properly, pizza sauce will last up to 6 months in the freezer.
This may be a silly question, but do you heat the sauce before putting it on the pizza dough?
Hi Lorraine! There is no need to heat it up. Thank you for asking.