This pizza sauce recipe uses just 4 ingredients (plus salt) and is so simple to make you won't ever need to buy store-bought pizza sauce again. In fact, this is the best pizza sauce recipe ever for any kind of homemade pizza (except, of course, Neapolitan pizza and classic Italian pizza recipes).
If you're starting to learn how to make pizza, it's worth it to also learn how to make a tasty, easy pizza sauce to go with it. Check out the pizza sauce video below to see just how easy this recipe is.
We live in Italy and are fortunate enough to eat a lot of delicious Italian pizza (all varieties), but we still end up making homemade pizza several times a month (as you can see by the many pizza recipes here on the site).
We often make pizza at home, mostly because we enjoy eating a variety of different styles of pizza, including some that aren't easy (or even possible) to find in Italy. It's super delicious and easy to make...and you can save money by skipping delivery🤗 and have fun making it with your family.
If you love pizza as much as we do, check out this Ultimate Guide to Making Homemade Pizza (with real photos, my best dough recipes, favorite toppings, sauces, and more)!
Jump to:
- Why I Have Multiple Pizza Sauce Recipes
- About This American-Style Pizza Sauce
- Why You'll Love This Easy Pizza Sauce Recipe
- Pizza Sauce Ingredients (with Substitutions)
- Overview: How to Make Pizza Sauce
- How Much Pizza Sauce Should I Add to a Pizza?
- My Favorite Pizza Dough Recipes
- FAQ
- More Easy Pizza Recipes
- Best Desserts to Serve With Homemade Pizza
- Easy Side Dishes to Serve With Pizza
- 📖 Recipe
Why I Have Multiple Pizza Sauce Recipes
You might wonder why I have more than one pizza sauce recipe that my family absolutely loves. The answer comes down to two practical factors every home cook can relate to when a pizza craving hits:
1. What ingredients are currently in my pantry?
When you get a craving for homemade pizza, your sauce depends on what tomato products you have on hand-whether that's chopped canned tomatoes, peeled whole tomatoes, tomato passata, or tomato sauce.
2. What style of pizza am I making?
The sauce you use should match your pizza style. Cooked vs. uncooked pizza sauce is an ongoing debate among pizza makers, but the distinction really comes down to American vs. Italian traditions.
Authentic Neapolitan sauce is never cooked, but rather it's hand-crushed and added raw to the pizza, allowing the fresh tomato flavor to shine through.
American-style pizzas, on the other hand, benefit from a cooked tomato sauce. The longer baking times and heavier toppings work better with a thicker, more robust sauce that holds up under heat and won't make the crust soggy.
If I'm making Neapolitan pizza, classic Italian pizza, or pizza fritte, I use a simple, no-cook sauce. But for classic American-style pizza, whether that's thin-crust, hand-tossed, Imo's St. Louis-style pizza, Detroit pizza, Chicago deep dish, or pan pizza, I will often reach for a different sauce entirely.
About This American-Style Pizza Sauce
This is one of my go-to homemade pizza sauce recipes for making any style of classic American-style pizza. It's herby, garlicky, and simmered until the tomatoes are sweet, thick, and saucy, which takes just 25 minutes to make.
According to a 2024 survey, three-quarters of Americans eat pizza a few times a month or more CSP Daily News, so having a reliable homemade sauce ready makes pizza night that much easier!
Looking for an Italian pizza sauce recipe? Head over here to get that lighter, fresher-tasting version instead.
Why You'll Love This Easy Pizza Sauce Recipe
- It's ready in 25 minutes from start to finish
- It works on even the thinnest thin-crust pizza without making a soggy crust (see photos for proof♡)
- Inexpensive to make
- This is a vegan pizza sauce recipe and perfect for making dairy-free Pizza Marinara
- No preservatives, dyes, etc. (you know exactly what ingredients are in this sauce)
- Using tomato passata means this pizza sauce cooks up a little more quickly than using other canned tomatoes
- A perfect meal-prep pizza sauce recipe you can freeze
- Blooming the oregano in extra virgin olive oil first extracts more pure herb flavor (oregano is a fat-soluble herb)
- This is a no-sugar healthy pizza sauce recipe that works with just about any diet but you can add sugar if desired (especially if the tomatoes aren't naturally very sweet)
Pizza Sauce Ingredients (with Substitutions)
All you really need to make the very best homemade pizza sauce is tomatoes, salt, oregano, fresh garlic, and extra virgin olive oil. But as mentioned earlier, you may not have these exact ingredients on hand when you have a pizza craving.
Here's a snapshot of the ingredients needed for making pizza sauce, along with several substitutions:
Tomato passata - Sub: whole peeled, crushed, or chopped canned tomatoes; blanched fresh tomatoes. Passata's thicker consistency reduces faster. Choose high-quality brands with just tomatoes (or tomatoes and salt).
Extra virgin olive oil - Draws out more flavor from woody herbs like oregano, rosemary, and thyme, which are fat-soluble.
Garlic cloves - Sub: garlic powder. If using garlic salt, reduce the recipe's salt accordingly.
Dried oregano - Sub: Italian seasoning or a blend of dried basil, oregano, marjoram, rosemary, and thyme.
Fresh oregano (optional) - Sub: fresh basil or marjoram to taste.
Salt - Reduce for a low-sodium version.
Pro tip: Oregano or Italian seasoning creates that classic American pizzeria or "pizza restaurant" aroma you recognize from Pizza Hut or Domino's.
So, don't be afraid to shake more of these herbs onto your sauced pizzas before adding the rest of the pizza toppings. Also, if your tomatoes are too acidic, add a pinch or two of sugar to help take the edge off.
Overview: How to Make Pizza Sauce
This easy homemade pizza sauce takes just 25 minutes, doesn't use tomato sauce, and is easier than ever to meal-prep and store in the refrigerator or freeze it. Get the full recipe details and watch the pizza sauce how-to video in the recipe card.
Step 1. Bloom the herbs and garlic. In a medium-sized pot, add the extra virgin olive oil and herbs and sauté over medium-high heat for 2 to 3 minutes until fragrant, and the garlic is blistered. *Be sure not to have the heat turned up too high, or it can burn the herbs and make them bitter.
Step 2. Add the tomato passata & reduce the sauce. Add the tomato passata to the herbs and olive oil, add salt, and adjust the seasonings.
Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat, reduce to a simmer, and cook uncovered, stirring periodically to avoid scorching for 20-22 minutes, or until the sauce is reduced and thick.
Remove it from the heat and allow it to cool to room temperature before adding sauce to your favorite pizza. dough recipe. Enjoy!
How Much Pizza Sauce Should I Add to a Pizza?
If you're making thin-crust pizza, be sure to use only about ¼ cup of this pizza sauce (see photos below). But, if you're making pan pizza, cast iron pizza, or thick-crust pizza, use up to ⅓ cup of sauce per pizza. This will help keep your pizza crust from being soggy.
My Favorite Pizza Dough Recipes
Use this homemade pizza sauce with any of these delicious and easy homemade pizza dough recipes:
FAQ
The best way to store pizza sauce is in a sealed glass jar. You can refrigerate pizza sauce for up to 5 days or freeze it for up to a year. I prefer to use wide-mouth glass canning jars, but you can use any repurposed glass jar with a lid. Remove the pizza sauce from the refrigerator and allow it to temper for 30 minutes before using.
You can freeze pizza sauce and my favorite way is to freeze it in tempered glass jars like Ball, Mason, Kerr, Weck, and Bormiolo Rocco. Just be sure to leave at least 1 to 2 inches of headspace (unfilled area at the top) so that as the sauce freezes and expands, it doesn't break the jar. You can also portion and freeze pizza sauce in an airtight container including freezer bags with the air pressed out.
To thaw, place the sauce into the refrigerator overnight or place it on a kitchen towel on top of the counter for a few hours until no longer frozen. The towel will soak up any condensation.
You can make 8 Thin-crust pizzas which use ¼ cup of pizza sauce per pizza, or 6 thick-crust pizzas which use about ⅓ cup of pizza sauce per pizza.
Depending on what pizza you're making, you'll need to decide which is the best pizza sauce recipe to use. For Neapolitan and traditional Italian pizzas, I don't cook the pizza sauce. For making regular pizza I typically cook the sauce first to reduce it to a thick consistency. However, if you're making pizza sauce using tomato paste and tomato sauce, you don't have to cook it because it will already be thick enough.
You can absolutely make great-tasting pizza sauce using leftover pasta sauce -- I've done it using this 
If you use ketchup to make pizza sauce, it won't taste like pizza sauce and your pizza won't taste like pizza. When I first moved to Chengdu (China), you would often see "pizza" with ketchup used as both a sauce and for making pasta. It was as terrible tasting as it sounds. Use any type of canned tomatoes, but not ketchup.
More Easy Pizza Recipes
I told you how much we love pizza! Give any one of these easy pizza recipes a try for your next pizza night in!
- Crispy Italian Fried Pizza (Easy Abruzzo Pizza Fritta)
- Thick-Crust Pizza (Fluffy 00 Flour Pizza Dough Recipe)
- Best Bread Flour Pizza Dough Recipe (5 Ingredients)
- Best Whole Wheat Pizza Dough Recipe (For Thin Crust Pizza)
- Easy 20-Minute Thin & Crispy St. Louis-Style Whole Wheat Pizza
- Best 20-Minute Thin and Crispy St. Louis-Style Pizza (No-Yeast )
- 20-Minute Valentine's Day Heart-Shaped Pizza
- Best 00 Flour Pizza Dough Recipe (Thin-Crust, 5 Ingredients)
Best Desserts to Serve With Homemade Pizza
Here are a few of our favorite side dishes to serve with this homemade pizza!
- Crostata di Marmellata (Authentic Italian Jam Tart w/Video)
- Fudgey Biscoff Brownies w/Cornflake Crunch
- Strawberry Crostata (Italian Crostata di Marmellata di Fragole)
- Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies (One Bowl, No-Mixer)
- Best Strawberry Cheesecake with Biscoff Crust
- Easy Dump Truck Royale Chocolate Chunk Cookies (Compost Cookies)
- Authentic Italian Cannoli (Homemade Shells & Filling Cannoli Siciliani)
- Double Oreo Chocolate Chip Confetti Cookies
- Best Chocolate Cupcakes (Devil's Food Cupcakes w/Chocolate Ganache)
- Classic Cheesecake w/Biscoff Cookie Crust (+ Mini Option)
- Easy Cookies-and-Cream Double Oreo Chocolate Chunk Cookies
- Bakery Style Pan-Banging Chocolate Chip Cookies
Easy Side Dishes to Serve With Pizza
Let's get started!
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📖 Recipe
Best Homemade Pizza Sauce Recipe (With Video)
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 1 Pint
- Diet: Vegan
Description
If you're starting to learn how to make pizza, it's worth it to also learn how to make an tasty easy pizza sauce to go with it. This pizza sauce recipe uses just 4 ingredients (plus salt) and is so simple to make you won't ever need to buy store-bought pizza sauce again. In fact, this is the best pizza sauce recipe ever for any kind of homemade pizza (except, of course, Neapolitan pizza and classic Italian pizza recipes). Check out the pizza sauce video below to see just how easy this recipe is.
Ingredients
- 24 ounces tomato passata (700g) (sub whole peeled tomatoes, crushed or chopped canned tomatoes, or blanched peeled whole fresh tomatoes)
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (15g)
- 2 garlic cloves, smashed (sub ¼ teaspoon garlic powder)
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano, or more to taste (sub Italian seasoning blend or a mix of dried basil, oregano, marjoram, rosemary, and thyme)
- 1 teaspoon fresh oregano (sub dried oregano, fresh basil leaves, or fresh marjoram to taste)
- ½ teaspoon sea salt, or more to taste
Get Recipe Ingredients
Instructions
- Bloom the herbs and garlic. In a medium-sized pot, add the extra virgin olive oil and herbs and sauté over medium-high heat for 2 to 3 minutes until fragrant, and the garlic is blistered. *Be sure not to have the heat turned up too high, or it can burn the herbs and make them bitter.
- Add the tomato passata & reduce the sauce. Add the tomato passata to the herbs and olive oil, add salt, and adjust the seasonings. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat, reduce to a simmer, and cook uncovered, stirring periodically to avoid scorching for 20-22 minutes, or until the sauce is reduced and thick. Remove it from the heat and allow it to cool to room temperature before using it to sauce your favorite pizza recipe. Enjoy!
Notes
- Add a pinch or two of sugar if your tomatoes are really tart and acidic (up to ¾ teaspoon works well if you like a sweet pizza sauce).
- Store pizza sauce in the refrigerator in a sealed glass jar after it's cooled to room temperature and the garlic cloves have been removed. Refrigerate for up to 5 days or freeze it for up to 1 year.
- Freeze pizza sauce in glass jars with 1 to 2 inches o headspace at the top to allow for it to expand as it freezes without breaking the jar. Alternatively, store the sauce in an air-tight container with a sheet of parchment paper placed directly on top (to keep ice crystals from forming), or in a freezer bag with all the air removed. To thaw, place the sauce into the refrigerator overnight or place it on a kitchen towel on top of the counter for a few hours until no longer frozen. The towel will soak up any condensation.
- This recipe will sauce 8 Thin-crust pizzas which use ¼ cup of pizza sauce per pizza, or 6 thick-crust pizzas which use about ⅓ cup of pizza sauce per pizza.
- If after 20- 22 minutes your pizza sauce still doesn't look quite thick enough, just let it cook for 3 to 5 minutes more, or until thick and spreadable.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Condiments + Sauces + Dips
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian-American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ¼ cup
- Calories: 35
- Sugar: 3g
- Sodium: 180g
- Fat: 1.5g
- Saturated Fat: 0.2g
- Unsaturated Fat: 1.3g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 5g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 1g
- Cholesterol: 0g
Irene says
This beats store-bought sauce hands down because I know what my kids are eating! Made a double batch and froze half - perfect for quick pizza nights.