When making a pizza from scratch, the ingredients will always be the most important factor. Skimming on low-quality ingredients tend to create a lackluster pizza. So to help you out, here is our homemade Perfect Pizza Sauce. It’ll pack the type of flavor that will enhance your pizza to the next level. After this, you can officially say your pizza was indeed made from scratch.
Who Doesn’t Love Pizza
Pizza is beloved worldwide for so many reasons! First, who can resist the perfect combination of gooey cheese, tangy tomato sauce, and a crispy crust? It’s like a flavor explosion in every bite. But it’s not just the taste that makes pizza so popular. It’s also the versatility. You can top it with just about anything, from classic pepperoni to exotic ingredients like pineapple or BBQ chicken. Plus, it’s the ultimate social food. Whether you’re grabbing a slice with friends after a night out or ordering a pie for a family movie night or celebrating a child’s birthday party, anywhere, pizza brings people together. And let’s not forget how convenient it is. With delivery and takeout options, pizza is always there for you, no matter where you are or what you’re craving. So, it’s no wonder that pizza has captured the hearts (and stomachs) of people all around the globe!
Why Not Just Buy Pizza Sauce From The Store?
You might be wondering why bother making pizza sauce from scratch when you can easily pick up a jar from the store. Well, let me tell you why homemade pizza sauce is worth the effort:
- Store-bought pizza sauce often contains preservatives, additives, and high levels of sodium and sugar. When you make your own sauce, you have full control over the quality and freshness of the ingredients, allowing you to create a healthier option for you and your family.
- Making your own pizza sauce can be a fun and rewarding experience. It’s a great way to get creative in the kitchen and tailor the sauce to your specific taste preferences.
While the process in making this sauce will seem like a chore, it’ll be worth it in the end after creating your own amazing pizza!
Where To Start
Before we begin, we need to gather ingredients. Fresh vs. dried herbs. That is the question. For this recipe, we’ll use dried, since it’ll be readily available for the common reader, but this recipe can easily be converted to natural, fresh herbs if it’s your preference.
We use pure, unseasoned tomato from a can (puree or crushed) instead of whole fresh tomatoes to control quality and consistency. Not all tomatoes are identical, and just like any natural ingredient, they have their preferred peak season. This enables us to make this pizza sauce throughout the year.
Tomato Puree is the flatter, smoother version of the sauce, more common. Crushed Tomatoes is for a heartier, chunky option for the sauce. It’s up to the cook.
Place The Tomato Sauce in a Large Pot
This process in making pizza sauce is slow, and somewhat messy if not done correctly. So it is important to get the process and temperature correct to avoid any disaster.
First, we need a large pot. Preferably a pot that can handle two cans of tomato sauce, boiling without any spillage. Now place the tomato sauce in the pot, with a temperature first on medium – to get the ball rolling.
Now we wait for the tomato sauce to boil before we add our seasoning. After the sauce boils and stars bubbling, reduce the temperature to medium-low, can add all your ingredients. We add the ingredients early in the process to allow the flavors to meld. Note, because the whole point in making this sauce is to reduce the water content, the flavors will not taste the same from start to finish. If you’re experimenting with flavors, add a few ingredients and build as you go. This process can be hands-off, if you reduce the temperature to low, can occasionally stir the sauce. Never leave the sauce unattended too long. We don’t want it to burn!
Perfect Pizza Sauce
Ingredients
- 56 oz. tomato puree or can crushed tomato, 2-28 oz. cans
- 3 tbsp. garlic powder
- 1½ tbsp. onion powder
- 5 tsp. sea salt
- 5 tsp. black pepper
- 2 tsp. red crushed peppers
- 2 tsp. oregano
- 1½ tsp. basil
- 1½ tsp. sugar optional, see notes
Instructions
- In a large, preferable tall pot, pour the 2-28/29 oz. cans of tomato puree or crushed tomato into the pan. Turn heat on medium. Wait for sauce to start boiling. Keep pot lidless.
- Once boiling, reduce heat to medium-low and start adding your seasonings. If you're experimenting with flavor, add your seasonings or herbs in stages throughout the cooking process, as the goal is to reduce the water in the sauce.
- Stir the herbs in well, and continue to let boil again, while stirring occasionally. If you're planning to hover over sauce, you can keep the temperature at medium-low, or increase to medium. If you have to do something or walk away, lower the temperature to low.
- In all processes, stir occasionally and keep pot uncovered throughout the cooking process. Keep adding your seasoning if experimenting.
- Keep stirring until sauce gets reduced by about half. Then it's up to you if you want to reduce all the water out, or leave some in. If sauce is the most important part of your pizza, reduce water as much as possible. If it's not the biggest factor, keep some in.
- One complete, let cool before using or storing. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Why We’ll Keep Doing This
Pizza is an important social meal in modern life. From children to adults, it’s an easy meal to congregate and celebrate together, or just enjoy solo. To us, the sauce is as important to a pizza as the crust and cheese. It’s a marriage or a team. When one lacks, it effects the whole pizza.
Making something like pizza sauce is not the sexiest thing. But, it can have great effects on your patience and cooking skills as a whole. You’ll appreciate the art of cooking as a whole, and your next pizza: either bought or homemade, a lot more.
Speaking of Italian food and garlic, if you need a little help with your experimenting of fresh ingredients, look no further than How To: 7 Ways To Peel A Garlic Clove . It makes the whole process go a little more smoother.
