The Best Thick Homemade Pizza Sauce

No homemade pizza is complete without Homemade Pizza Sauce! Our version uses pantry staples to create a thick, incredibly flavorful sauce that is easy to make and is guaranteed to be the best tasting pizza sauce you have ever had.

Why We Love This Homemade Pizza Sauce Recipe 

We’ve been making homemade pizza for years, but only recently started making our own pizza sauce. It just seemed like the crust and the toppings were the stars, and the sauce played a supporting role that wasn’t worth the extra effort.

I was wrong.

After finding our cupboard bare of store-bought sauce I did a quick search for homemade pizza sauce. After a bit of tweaking, I came up with a sauce that is thick, packed with flavor, easy to make, and uses pantry staples. And the classic flavor profile works deliciously well on pretty much every pizza we have tried it on! Trust me- it’s time to kick the store-bought sauce to the curb.

Ingredients for Homemade Pizza Sauce:

• Crushed Tomatoes– Crushed tomatoes give the perfect texture to your pizza sauce.
• Tomato Paste– Tomato paste helps to thicken the sauce.
• Olive Oil– Olive oil adds a smooth texture and delicious flavor.
• Garlic– Fresh garlic is an essential ingredient- go ahead and measure with your heart!
• Sugar– Sugar helps to balance the acidity of the tomatoes.
• Italian Seasoning– We found that dried Italian seasoning gave us the best flavor.
• Onion Powder– Because we didn’t want onion chunks in our sauce, we used onion powder.
• Salt & Pepper– To season. We used sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper.

How to Make Homemade Pizza Sauce:

1. Cook the garlic. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for just a minute or two, until the garlic is soft and fragrant.
2. Simmer the sauce. Add the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a low boil, then simmer for at least 10-15 to thicken the sauce and allow the flavors to meld.
3. Spread on your pizza! Spread on your pizza, or use as a dipping sauce! Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Enjoy!

Tips & Suggestions:

What is the difference between pizza sauce and marinara sauce?

Pizza sauce and marinara sauce are very similar, and call for many of the same ingredients. The main difference is in the texture. Pizza sauce is thicker than marinara sauce, allowing you to get a thick coating of flavor on your pizza crust!

Can you substitute marinara sauce for pizza sauce?

Yes! You can absolutely use marinara sauce in place of pizza sauce in a pinch. Because it is thinner, you might not get quite the same overall flavor, but you’ll still end up with a tasty pizza.

Can I use tomato sauce instead of crushed tomatoes?

You can substitute tomato sauce, however, the flavor isn’t as good. We recommend sticking with crushed tomatoes.

More pizza sauce variation ideas:

• For a bit of heat, try adding 1/4-1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• Add fresh basil
• Stir in some parmesan cheese
• Add additional seasonings like dried basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, or fennel

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