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This homemade pizza sauce recipe takes only 5 minutes and 5 ingredients! It’s rich and garlicky, and it makes the perfect base for any style of pizza.
Here’s a secret for you: this homemade pizza sauce has transformed my pizza nights forever, and once you taste the difference between this and anything from a jar, you’ll know why I can never go back!
As a cookbook author and pizza afficionado, I created this recipe based on lots of research (including a few trips to Italy). Turns out, all you need are 5 ingredients and 5 minutes. Dip your spoon in and you’ll be amazed: it’s garlicky, rich, tangy and bright. Once you try it, you’ll bookmark this recipe for every pizza night!
Why I Love This Recipe
This pizza sauce recipe has become my ultimate pizza hero, and here’s why it should become yours too:
- Better than store-bought: Once you taste the flavor compared to sauces with preservatives and sugar, you’ll never go back to the jar from the store.
- Just 5 ingredients and 5 minutes: Using pantry staples, you get a sauce that rivals anything from your favorite pizzeria: bold, garlicky, and tangy.
- No cooking required: That means no standing over a simmering pot, no extra dishes to wash, and no waiting. I just dump everything in a blender.
- Perfect base for any style pizza: Whether it’s a classic Margherita pizza or plain cheese pizzas for kids, this sauce adds flavor to any pie.
5-Star Reader Reviews
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “Fave pizza sauce! Such great flavor and so easy!” -Emily W.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “This pizza sauce is soo delicious. The fire-roasted tomatoes are what make it so good. Don’t skimp on this. If you can’t find them in your local grocery store, you can order them in bulk on Amazon. Keep the great recipes coming; every recipe of yours that I make is delicious.” -Mary
Ingredients You’ll Need
There are just 5 ingredients in this pizza sauce recipe. Even better: it requires no cooking: just a quick whiz in the blender! Here are a few things to know:
- Crushed fire roasted tomatoes: This is the star of the show: fire-roasting caramelizes the sugars and adds depth to the flavor. Regular crushed tomatoes work in a pinch, but you’ll lose that signature smoky sweetness (you could add smoked paprika or tomato paste). San Marzano tomatoes make a good substitute if you can’t find fire-roasted.
- Extra-virgin olive oil: This adds richness and body. Don’t use your priciest bottle, but make sure it’s extra-virgin for the best flavor.
- Fresh garlic: I use one small clove. You could substitute with ½ teaspoon garlic powder if needed, but fresh gives that sharp, vibrant flavor that makes this sauce special.
- Dried oregano: Essential for that classic pizza flavor. Make sure yours is fresh (under a year old) for maximum impact.
- Kosher salt: Brings all the flavors together.
How to Make This Homemade Pizza Sauce Recipe
Many pizza sauce methods simmer the sauce on the stovetop. But lots of testing, I found that fire roasted tomatoes make it possible to make without cooking. Every time I dip my spoon into that beautiful red sauce, it’s beyond my wildest dreams. Here are the steps:
Step 1: Peel and finely mince the garlic. If you’re using the blender method, peel the garlic clove and slice it into a few rough pieces.
Step 2: Mix the garlic with crushed fire roasted tomatoes, olive oil, oregano, and salt until the olive oil incorporates. Or, throw them in a blender and then blend until fully combined.
Step 3: Spread a very thin layer of the pizza sauce onto your favorite pizza dough recipe.
Tips for the Perfect Texture
Getting the texture right can make or break your homemade pizza. Here’s everything I’ve learned about achieving pizza sauce perfection:
- This pizza sauce has a loose texture like what’s used in a traditional Neapolitan pizza. Don’t expect it to be like canned American pizza sauce, which can have extra ingredients like sugar and thickeners like cornstarch.
- Use a very thin layer of it on top of the pizza dough. The most common mistake I see? Using too much sauce. For a 12-inch pizza, I use about ⅓ cup, spread almost to the edges. Too much sauce equals soggy pizza.
- If your sauce seems too thin (this can happen with certain brands of canned tomatoes), you have options. Add a tablespoon of tomato paste for body, or let the sauce sit in a fine-mesh strainer for 10 minutes to drain excess liquid.
How to Store Pizza Sauce
Refrigerator storage: Transfer the pizza sauce to an airtight container and it will store up to 1 week. Just give it a good stir before using, as some separation is normal.
Freezer storage: This sauce freezes for up to 3 months. For pizza-sized portions, freeze in 1/2-cup containers.
Using frozen sauce: Move it to the fridge overnight to thaw, or use the defrost setting on your microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring between each.
Ways to Serve
Use this easy pizza sauce recipe on any of your favorite pizza recipes! You can also use it as a dipping sauce for grilled cheese or breadsticks, in baked pasta, or for a pizza quesadilla. Here are some of our favorite ways to use it:
- Classic pizzas: This sauce is perfect for a Margherita pizza. It’s also great on a homemade cheese pizza, atop my famous pizza dough or KitchenAid pizza dough, or with any of these popular pizza toppings.
- Large or deep dish pizzas: It’s great on my sheet pan pizza that makes 3 pizzas at once, or fluffy focaccia pizza. It’s also great on a cast iron pizza or pan pizza.
- Quick pizzas: On busy weeknights, I spread this on pita pizza or naan pizza for a 10-minute dinner. It’s also fantastic on English muffins or bagels for instant personal pizzas.
- Dipping sauce: Use it as a dipping sauce for breadsticks, calzones, or grilled cheese dippers. It’s a great marinara sauce for game day apps.
- Veggie-based dishes: Use it in lasagna or eggplant Parmesan, or as a base for minestrone soup. Or try it on veggie pizzas like portobello mushroom pizza or eggplant pizza!
Dietary Notes
This pizza sauce recipe is vegetarian, gluten free, vegan, plant based, dairy-free, and refined sugar free.
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely! While crushed fire-roasted tomatoes are ideal, you can use whole peeled tomatoes (crush them yourself), regular crushed tomatoes, or even diced tomatoes in a pinch. If using diced tomatoes, blend them thoroughly. San Marzano tomatoes are particularly excellent for their natural sweetness and low acidity.
For the freshest, brightest flavor, I always recommend no-cook pizza sauce. Since your pizza bakes at high heat (usually 450°F or higher), the sauce cooks on the pizza itself. Pre-cooking can actually dull the tomato flavor and make the sauce too thick. Many authentic pizzerias, especially those making Neapolitan style pizza, never cook their sauce.
While you technically can use marinara sauce or spaghetti sauce on pizza, they often contain added sugars and seasonings that don’t work well on pizza. Pasta sauce is meant to coat noodles, while pizza sauce needs to stay put on your crust. This homemade pizza sauce recipe is specifically formulated for the right consistency and flavor balance for pizza.
For heat lovers, add ¼ to ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper or red pepper flakes to the base recipe. Start small: you can always add more! You could also try a pinch of cayenne, a dash of hot sauce, or even finely minced jalapeño. I sometimes add a tiny bit of Calabrian chilis for a sophisticated Italian heat.
Pizza Sauce Recipe (5 Minutes!)
This homemade pizza sauce recipe gets rave reviews! It uses only 5 ingredients and takes only 5 minutes: no cooking required.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 ½ cups 1x
- Category: Sauce
- Method: No Cook
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 15 ounces crushed fire roasted tomatoes*
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small clove garlic (1/2 medium clove)
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- Scant ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Finely mince the garlic (or if using the blender method, simply chop it into a few rough pieces).
- Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until fully combined. You can also stir together all ingredients in a bowl until the oil incorporates.
- To serve, spread a very thin layer of sauce on top of pizza dough, keeping in mind that this sauce has a loose texture that’s similar to what’s used in a traditional Neapolitan pizza or Margherita pizza. (Don’t expect it to be like canned American pizza sauce, which can have extra ingredients like sugar and thickeners like cornstarch.) Store refrigerated for 1 week or frozen up to 3 months.
Notes
Recipe inspired by Flour Water Salt Yeast
- Fire-roasted tomatoes are essential for the best flavor. If unavailable, use San Marzano crushed tomatoes or high-quality regular crushed tomatoes plus a tiny pinch of smoked paprika.
- Don’t use diced tomatoes unless you plan to blend thoroughly.
- This sauce is intentionally loose-textured for authentic pizza. Don’t expect thick, store-bought consistency.
- For spicier sauce, add ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes or a pinch of cayenne.
- Adding 1 tablespoon tomato paste creates a thicker consistency if preferred.
This is so good and so easy. So much flavor. I added a little more garlic because I like garlic. This will be my go to for pizza sauce. Next up the pizza.
What is the lowest temperature in the oven can I cook this pizza. I try to save money on my bills and it would take awhile to cool down my house.
I wouldn’t do below 450F, otherwise the crust will get very dense.
We have a blackstone pizza oven which we love ecause of the rotating stone. We’re wondering if the crust recipe will work well in it. I’ve been using the recipe that came with the oven and it’s very similar to yours except It uses bread flour. Thanks
If you are making margarita or Napoleon style pizza, best recipe would be great… If you are not, the one tweak that you could do, is to drain the tomatoes before you blend them. This makes the sauce, thicker, for those who like that.
Fave pizza sauce! Such great flavor and so easy!
Love pizzas. Going to do my own for first time today.the Margharetti 1.hope it will b good.using canned tomato.Thank u for all the tips. Saving them.
So glad! Let us know what you think. Hope you love the pizza sauce!
We absolutely love your pizza sauce recipe. So easy and so delicious. It just wouldn’t be pizza night without it!
I have been making homemade pizza all my life. I went out and bought a pizza stone just to make this. I think I found my new pizza recipe! Delicious!
So glad you enjoyed! Thank you.
Absolutely delicious and totally easy. I see this hasn’t been rated lately, and since I’ve been making it for years now, it’s time to show my love. Had a pizza party with friends the other evening and they loved the sauce so much we put it on the table to drizzle on our slices. The only caveat is that unless you have a pizza oven (I preheat a cast iron skillet in our home oven to 500F skillet), too much of this sauce could result in a soggy pizza. For the record, I use Muir Glen organic fire roasted diced tomatoes.
Thank you for the comment! So kind :) Glad you are loving it!
First, I want to say how much I enjoy your website. It’s the first place I look for recipes whether cocktails, grilling or now pizza.
Quick question on the pizza sauce. If I don’t have a clove of garlic on hand can I use garlic powder? And if so how much?
Thanks and keep those recipes coming.
Duyg
Thank you!
Yes, you could use 1/4 tsp garlic powder, but the fresh is really a lot better :)
This pizza sauce is soo delicious. The fire-roasted tomatoes are what make it so good. Don’t skimp on this. FYI – if you can’t find them in your local grocery store, you can order them in bulk on Amazon (at a lower cost than in the store). Please keep the great recipes coming! Every recipe of yours that I make is delicious.
Thank you for this recipe we loved it.
Every recipe of yours that I try is delicious – and also very easy to make! This is no exception. Thank you.
Thank you!
Great Sonja & Alex, I will ask God that your pair should always be safe so that I can learn to make some recipes every day from your website
This is a great recipe. I always add sugar (or Splenda) when I’m making anything with tomato sauce. So I added about a teaspoon of Splenda to this. I think it rounds out the flavor by balancing the acidic nature of the tomatoes. Love how simple and healthy it is! Thanks so much.
So glad you enjoy!
Hi there. First of all, thank you so much for the recipe. You refer to a video for this several times, but I can’t find a link. Am I just missing something? Thanks again.
Hi! It appears after the popup video ad.
This very easy chicken recipe is a delicious, safe, and meal to enjoy with any holiday.
Is there any chance you have tried making a similar sauce without olive oil? My daughter is allergic to olives and their oils.. wondering if canola oil may work as a substitute?
That should work!
This sauce was not only easy but amazing! I made a double batch, one for my pizza and will use the leftover on penna pasta! I can’t wait to have it for dinner! Thank you so much
Regards
Fran
You’re welcome! So glad you enjoyed!
This pizza sauce was amazing
Excellent fast and easy! Thanks
Just tried this recipe and I must say that is a Great pizza sauce. Yummy!
This is the best pizza sauce ever. My family also raved and said it was the best Magherita pizza I ever made. I have no doubt this sauce was the secret.
So glad you enjoyed it!
Hi! The recipe says to “see video” for thicker pizza sauce, but I didn’t hear any direction for thickening the sauce. Love your recipe, but would like a thicker pizza sauce.
Thank you!!
Hi there! The video simply shows the desired texture of this sauce, which is Italian style and not as thick as a traditional American sauce. However, it’s incredibly tasty! If you’d like a sauce closer to American-style, add 1 to 2 tablespoons tomato paste to the blender (to taste).
I love, love, love this recipe. It’s so simple and so delicious. I usually add a teaspoon of sugar as my small kids prefer it and it’s perfect.
So glad you enjoy it!
I made this pizza sauce last night and it was excellent. Everyone loved it. I will definitely be using this sauce now whenever I made pizzas. It was so easy to make!
This is now my go to pizza sauce. Love it. Even if I use regular canned tomatoes, it still tastes excellent.
DELICIOUS!!! So Easy to Make!!! Made the pizza so Enjoyable; every bite!!!
That sauce was really f@!*ing good.
Ha! Glad you loved it :)
Hi Sonja, your presentations are interesting. I am on a sodium restricted diet. As a result, years ago, I started fire roasting my own tomatoes and peppers on a propane grill. I like them better than canned. I also swap some organic dried kelp pellets for the salt. I do like the southern European styles of pizza much better than North American styles. I like the minimalist approach to both their dough and their toppings. We were supposed to spend a month in Italy last summer, but….hopefully next summer. I do have cooking classes lined up there. Keep up the good work. Peter
Hi Sonja,
So fun to find your recipe and video. I’m a good friend of your parents. I loved how easy this recipe was. I’m a big fan of fire roasted tomatoes too. Yummy sauce. Definitely a keeper.
Thanks Phyllis
Hi! What blender are you using? I was worried my vitamix might be too strong.. perhaps the immersion blender? thanks!
Hi! We make this with a standard blender and a vitamix with the same results. Just don’t blend it for too long :)
Hello! How do you store leftover sauce per your recipe? And how long is it good for in the fridge/freezer?
This lasts for 1 week refrigerated and 3 months frozen! We’ve updated the recipe.
Thanks! Maybe the pandemic is causing supply chain problems in our area. It’s also inspiring us to make lots of pizza.
I find that there’s a lot of variability on what tomatoes different stores stock as well. Enjoy the pizza!
Can you provide a source for fire-roasted crushed tomatoes? It seems they’re rarer than unicorns. I’ve tried five grocery stores and three large online retailers, including Amazon. They all have diced fire-roasted tomatoes, but my understanding is that diced tomatoes are treated with calcium chloride to help maintain shape. Where are you purchasing crushed, fire-roasted tomatoes?
We can find them at Whole Foods and Fresh Thyme grocery in Indianapolis. Usually the crushed are in the smaller 14-ounce cans. Muir Glen has a locator on their website as well: https://www.muirglen.com/find-us/
Since I didn’t have fire roasted tomatoes, I added a splash of balsamic. I too added a can of tomato paste and a little more herbs.
Made the sauce, delicious. So easy to make. Never using jar sauce again. I usally have all the ingredients on hand. Very much like Italian sauce
So glad you enjoyed it!
Yes, mine was quite a bit runnier than video. I will try a different brand – or strain and reserve the liquid from the tomatoes and add as needed to get the consistency.
Thanks for the note! This pizza sauce is intended to be Italian-style, which might be a little runnier than you’re used to from store bought versions that are American style. Would you be able to take a look at the video and see if it turned out runnier than shown in the video? Then it seems it would be due to the runniness of the tomato brand — which can vary greatly!
I ended up adding almost an entire can of tomato paste. It tasted fine, just was thin and anemic looking. I guess either we are used to a more robust sauce or my fire roasted tomatoes were weak.. Once I did that though, it was great! I used Hunt’s fire roasted tomatoes..
Should you drain the tomatoes first? My sauce was very thin and not sure if that was the issue. Thanks
Hi! No, you shouldn’t need to drain them. I wonder if your can just had extra liquid?
Hi Andrea, could you let us know if you remember: what brand and type of tomatoes did you use?
Mine also turned out very thin. I used Kroger fire roasted diced tomatoes (the only fire roasted tomatoes I could find). It tastes great! Just thin.
Hey, thanks for the note! As I noted above, this pizza sauce is intended to be Italian-style, which might be a little runnier than you’re used to from store bought versions that are American style. Would you be able to take a look at the video and see if it turned out runnier than shown in the video? Then it seems it would be due to the runniness of the tomato brand — which can vary greatly!
This pizza sauce was amazing, never buying store bought sauce again.
We are SO glad to hear it! Thank you so much for trying it out!
Hi! I’ve never been a commenter but I love your site and your cookbook. I always thought fire-roasted meant spicy, is that not true? Thank you for helping us to bring healthy food to the table!
Thank you so much for the kind comment! No, actually fire-roasted is not spicy at all! It does seem that way :) Fire roasting is just a way to cook the tomatoes that really brings out the sweetness. Their flavor is a lot more developed than most canned tomatoes. If you can’t find them you can just do crushed, but we love the flavor of fire roasted here!
Wow how easy was this and good to. Thank you
If I were using fresh tomatoes, should I crush them in a blender and cook them for a few minutes?
Good question! We typically don’t use fresh tomatoes in our tomato sauce, but you can! Most recipes I’ve looked up do what you suggested but cook the tomatoes for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. If you can, I’d use canned here and then put fresh tomatoes on top! (Thinly sliced or seeded and diced, since they do release some water when cooked)
Hi Sonja I made the sauce but tweaked it a bit. I used what I had on hand, a can of crushed tomatoes,but I drained the liquid From the tomatoes. Next I fire roasted 4 Roma tomatoes I had on hand drained them the juice and blended it all along with the rest of the ingredients. Delicious! Not runny at all .someday I will experience an actual Margherita pizza in Italy, til then this will work. Thanks.
I peel, seed, and freeze my fresh tomatoes in fall. I used those to make this recipe. I simmered the tomatoes until they reached the desired consistency. Since they were not fire roasted I added some smoked paprika. I used about a 1/4 tsp for a half batch. it was really good but next time I will use a bit less.
This is a delicious, fast, versatile recipe. Thank you Sonja and Alex for sharing it.
How would you do this with fresh tomatoes??
Cannot wait to try this; love how simple this is!! I always have these ingredients on hand to…perfect! :)
I understand the inspiration from visiting Italy and love how you capture that in this pizza recipe and love artisan recipes, thank you
Thanks for reading!
I like to simmer the ingredients together for half an hour or so, then use an immersion blender. I cook the garlic in the olive oil for a few minutes then add the rest of the ingredients: and I also like the flavor that thyme brings, so I use that as well as oregano.
That sounds delicious! We’ve tried cooked sauces but have never found one we love. We’ll have to try your version! What tomatoes do you use?
We had friends over for a make your own pizza party this weekend – I tried this sauce (instead of my typical store bought) and everyone loved it! It was so easy to make. I’m never buying pizza sauce again!
Ooo we are so glad it was a hit! Thank you so much for trying it and that makes our day!