This is seriously the Best Italian Pizza Sauce out there! Skip the jarred stuff and make your own pizza sauce right at home on pizza night. If you are as pizza-obsessed as me, perfecting a homemade pizza sauce is important. Using just pantry staples, this easy pizza sauce recipe turns out perfectly flavored for any kind of pizza!
Use this amazing sauce to make Cauliflower Crust Pizza, Margherita Pizza, and Pizza Pot Pies!
Why This Recipe Works
So Delicious: The most important reason to make this best ever Italian pizza sauce is to up your pizza game for the most delicious homemade pizza! This sauce tastes fresh and has the perfect balance of flavors. For some reason, the jarred pizza sauce just doesn’t compare.
Easy to Make: There is truly no reason not to make this homemade pizza sauce, considering it is so easy to make. If you love making homemade pizza at home as much as I do, then you should have this pizza sauce recipe in your recipe book! It does require a bit of cooking, but you will realize it is totally worth the 15 minutes of effort!
Ingredients
My best Italian pizza sauce recipe uses whole ingredients that you should have on hand already! Here’s what you’ll need:
- Olive Oil: First we start with a little bit of olive oil in the pan, in order to add flavor.
- Garlic Powder: Garlic powder adds a nice depth of flavor here, but be careful to not leave it alone in the pan for too long or else it could burn.
- Canned Tomatoes: You can use your favorite brand of canned tomatoes.
- Basil Sprigs: I let some basil sprigs cook in the sauce, and then removed them before serving. If you don’t have fresh basil, you can add a few shakes of dried.
- To Taste: Salt, Sugar & Cracked Black Pepper are all used to balance out the flavors. Salt is used if the sauce is too bland, and sugar is used if it tastes too acidic. You can add a pinch of each to start and go from there depending on your preference!
Here’s How You Make It
Step by Step Instructions
- Prep the Sauce: Warm the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Once it is shimmering, stir in the garlic powder. Almost instantly, add the tomatoes. Add a pinch of salt and sugar, and submerge the basil sprigs. (photos 1-2)
- Allow to Simmer: Once the sauce is bubbling, reduce the heat to low and allow it to simmer while you prepare your pizza. (not pictured)
- Blend and Use: When you’re ready to use the sauce, remove the basil sprigs, check to see if it needs more salt if it is too bland or more sugar if it is a bit too acidic. Using a stick blender, blitz until smooth OR carefully transfer to a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. (photos 3-4)
Expert Tips
- You can substitute the canned chopped tomatoes for tomato sauce in order to skip the blending step. However, the sauce will not have the same taste. The canned chopped tomatoes have a fresher taste!
- Use this best homemade Italian pizza sauce on my Margherita Pizza Recipe and my Meat Lover’s Pizza Recipe!
- You can also use this pizza sauce recipe as a dipping sauce for things like mozzarella sticks and garlic bread.
Frequently Asked Questions
Store the pizza sauce in a glass jar in the fridge for up to one week. You can also freeze the sauce in jars for up to 3 months! Take the sauce out and let it thaw in the fridge overnight when you are ready to use it.
If you don’t have a stick/immersion blender, you have to be careful about how you blend the sauce. Blending it in a regular blender or food processor while it’s too hot could result in too much pressure in the blender and the lid can pop off more easily. If using a blender or food processor, allow the sauce to cool until it is warm. Then transfer it to the blender or food processor, place the lid on top and use a towel to hold the lid down tightly. Then blend until smooth.
More Italian-Inspired Recipes to Try
- Olive Garden Chicken Alfredo
- Easy Classic Lasagna
- Slow Cooker Spaghetti & Meatballs
- Healthy Chicken Parmesan
- Chicken Marsala Tortellini
Best Italian Pizza Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil - extra virgin
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 1 14 oz can chopped tomatoes
- 2 large basil sprigs
- salt to taste
- sugar to taste
- cracked black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Warm the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Once it is shimmering, stir in the garlic powder. Almost instantly, add the tomatoes. Add a pinch of salt and sugar, and submerge the basil sprigs.
- Once the sauce is bubbling, reduce the heat to low and allow it to simmer while you prepare your pizza.
- When you're ready to use the sauce, remove the basil sprigs, check to see if it needs more salt if it is too bland or sugar if it is too acidic. Using a stick blender, blitz until smooth OR carefully transfer to a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.
Every time I whip up this pizza sauce at home, I wonder why I ever bothered with the store-bought stuff!
this looks outstanding! We usually make pizza once or twice a week and this one will be on the menu sooN!
Wow, what a dreamy combination! And marrying those flavours with a pizza base is just the cherry on the top, maybe I can get my OH to eat alfredo if it’s on a pizza 🙂
haha.. he was totally my favorite too! 🙂
Loving this pizza Tiff sounds amazing and officially want pizza for dinner tonight… with a cold beer of course. Sounds like the perfect friday night to me.