The Perfect Homemade Pizza Sauce ~ Recipe | Queenslee Appétit (2024)

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This Homemade Pizza Sauce is the perfect addition to your homemade pizza. Easy to make and packed with flavour — once you make this sauce, you'll never resort to store bought again!

The Perfect Homemade Pizza Sauce ~ Recipe | Queenslee Appétit (1)

Who doesn't love pizza? I love to order pizza every now and then, but I mostly make it at home because NOTHING compares to homemade pizza! My perfect homemade pizza dough topped with this delicious sauce, along with my favourite toppings makes for the perfect pizza!

The Perfect Homemade Pizza Sauce ~ Recipe | Queenslee Appétit (2)

The Perfect Homemade Pizza Sauce

This sauce is nice and thick. It's the same kind of sauce you put on top of a Chicago style pizza, but I love it so much I had to use it on regular pizzas too! But just because it's called "pizza" sauce, doesn't mean that's all it can be used for. You can use this sauce for dipping breadsticks, topping chicken parm, and more!

Come to think of it, this recipe reminds me of my Homemade Meat Sauce, just without the meat! This is basically a vegetarian friendly sauce you can use in your favourite lasagna or as a spaghetti topping.

The Perfect Homemade Pizza Sauce ~ Recipe | Queenslee Appétit (3)

Ingredients for the Perfect Pizza Sauce

This sauce requires 15 ingredients — but don't let that scare you away! These are very basic ingredients that you may have on hand already:

Olive Oil and Butter — this is the base of the sauce. The olive oil is used to cook the onions and spices in, and it's the best type of oil you can have in the sauce. The butter just adds some extra flavour to the entire sauce.

Onion — for this recipe, we don't slice or dice the onions, we grate them. Even tho it's an extra pain in the eyes, it's necessary to add a ton of moisture and flavour to the sauce. I used 1 small onion which yielded about ⅓ cup.

Garlic Cloves — a flavour powerhouse that does great things in this sauce!

Spices — oregano, basil, Italian seasoning, onion powder, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper are all used to season the sauce. Although this is supposed to be the base of a pizza, I still wanted it to be full of flavour.

Tomato Sauce and Tomato Paste — Make sure you choose the best-quality canned tomatoes for the most excellent flavour. When adding the tomatoes, I like to add a little bit of water to the can, swirl it around, and pour it into the sauce. I usually do this to clean the jars completely and get every last bit of tomato in the sauce. Even without the extra water the sauce will be watery, so to thicken it up we’re gonna add a can of tomato paste.

Parmesan Cheese — Yup, you heard right. Or read? Either way, we're gonna add a few tablespoons of parmesan cheese to enrich and thicken the sauce! The flavour is very subtle, but it does wonderful things to the sauce.

Sugar — as with all tomato sauces, we add a tiny bit of sugar to give the sauce a little bit of sweetness and mask the acidity in the tomatoes.

The Perfect Homemade Pizza Sauce ~ Recipe | Queenslee Appétit (4)

Time = Flavour

I know a lot of recipes cater to busy people with their "5 minute sauces", but we're not doing that over here. Simmering is what gives a sauce it's amazing flavour! Luckily, instead of simmering for 2 hours like we do in my meat sauce recipe, we only need to simmer this sauce for 30 minutes. We want all the flavours to develop and meld together. Trust me, the extra time will totally be worth it in the end! The simmering also reduces the water and thickens up the sauce. The best part about this is that you can control how thin or thick you want your sauce to be. Thinner sauce = less time, thicker sauce = more time.

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This is enough sauce for about 2-3 large pizzas, or about 3-4 (12-inch) pizzas, depending on how much sauce you like on your pizza. The sauce can be used right away for topping pizzas or stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week or frozen for a few months. To freeze the sauce, allow it to cool completely, then pour it into large re-sealable bags and place in the freezer. Transfer the sauce to the refrigerator to thaw out the night before you plan to make your pizza, then re-heat it on the stove top.

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Planning on Making Homemade Pizza? Give these recipes a try!

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The Perfect Homemade Pizza Sauce ~ Recipe | Queenslee Appétit (10)

Yield: 2 cups

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

This Homemade Pizza Sauce is the perfect addition to your homemade pizza. Easy to make and packed with flavour — once you make this sauce, you'll never resort to store bought again!

Ingredients

  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • ⅓ cup grated onions (1 small onion)
  • 4 garlic cloves, finely minced
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • ¼ teaspoon onion powder
  • ¼-1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
  • 1 (28 ounce) can tomato sauce
  • 1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
  • 3 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
  • 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • ½ teaspoon Salt, or to taste
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste

Instructions

  1. Add the oil and butter to a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, add the grated onion, minced garlic, oregano, basil, Italian seasoning, onion powder and red pepper flakes, for a little heat (optional). Toss around with a wooden spoon and cook until onions are softened and slightly browned, about 3-5 minutes. Be careful as the garlic can easily burn.
  2. Once the onions are cooked, add the tomato sauce and tomato paste. Add a little water to the jars, shake a bit and pour into the pot.
  3. Add parmesan, sugar, salt and pepper. Stir until everything is combined. Turn the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes to reduce the water and enhance the flavour. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasonings to your preference.

Notes

  • The sauce can be used right away for topping pizzas or stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week or frozen for a few months. To freeze the sauce, allow it to cool completely, then pour it into large re-sealable bags and place in the freezer. Transfer the sauce to the refrigerator to thaw out the night before you plan to make a pizza, then re-heat it on the stove top.
  • This is enough sauce for about 2-3 large pizzas, or about 3-4 (12-inch) pizzas, depending on how much sauce you like on your pizza.

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FAQs

What makes homemade pizza taste better? ›

Baldwin suggests making your toppings yourself for the best homemade pizza. "Slice your own pepperoni for a thicker cut, roast red peppers and garlic, crumble and sauté some sausage," she says. "Doing all these things from scratch makes the pizza truly great."

How do you make pizza sauce taste better? ›

  1. Use ripe, juicy tomatoes for a fresh, bright flavor.
  2. Add herbs such as basil, oregano, and garlic for depth of flavor.
  3. Balance sweetness and acidity with a pinch of sugar and a splash of red wine vinegar.
  4. Simmer the sauce to allow the flavors to meld and thicken.
  5. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Jan 30, 2023

What is the secret of making good pizza? ›

Here are some secrets to making a mouthwatering pizza:
  • Quality Ingredients:Start with high-quality ingredients. ...
  • Homemade Dough:If possible, make your pizza dough from scratch. ...
  • Proper Dough Resting:Allow the pizza dough to rest and rise properly. ...
  • Quality Tomato Sauce:Use a good-quality tomato sauce.
Jun 12, 2021

When making pizza do you make the sauce or cheese first? ›

Many pan/Sicilian style pizzas are made by layering the cheese on the dough first and then adding the sauce, as JD said it protects the dough from the moisture of the sauce.

Why doesn t homemade pizza taste like restaurant? ›

The pizza you love is baked in a 650 degree commercial pizza oven with a stone deck. The high heat of a pizza oven causes dough to rise rapidly, crusts and toppings to caramelize and other flavor, and texture, enhancing changes to take place. Your home stove doesn't even come close to its pizza making ability.

Why does my homemade pizza sauce taste bitter? ›

That bitterness could be acid from the tomatoes and one way people typically fix that is by adding a small amount of sugar. Completely unnecessary. That acidity is usually caused by the use of crushed canned tomatoes. As opposed to whole, then hand-crushed.

Should you add sugar to pizza sauce? ›

Spices: Basil, oregano, onion powder, salt & pepper. Taste and adjust these spices to your liking. Sugar: I know it sounds like a weird addition but granulated sugar is an essential ingredient as it mellows out the acidity of the tomatoes.

Why do you put vinegar in pizza sauce? ›

Skip The Sugar In Pizza Sauce

And if you're out of balsamic, or just want a different taste, red wine vinegar will work, too. A rich, flavorful balsamic vinegar brings a kind of sweetness that's balanced, elegant, and perfect for a savory dish — because the last thing a good pizza needs is an overly-sweet tomato sauce.

How to make homemade pizza taste like real pizza? ›

3 Steps for Better Homemade Pizza
  1. Make your own dough. Mix it up in the morning (or the night before) and it will be waiting for you come dinnertime.
  2. Keep the sauce and toppings simple. A simple, no-cook red sauce is best. ...
  3. Bake it hot. Crank the oven to its highest setting and let it heat for at least half an hour.

What is the best cheese to use for homemade pizza? ›

The most commonly used cheese on pizza is mozzarella, because it melts beautifully without turning oily or lumpy. Cheeses such as feta, haloumi and aged gouda are tasty toppings, but they're a bit fancy for families and don't melt as well as mozzarella. Low-moisture mozzarella in particular has great melt and stretch.

What temperature do you cook homemade pizza? ›

The best oven temperature for pizza is between 450 and 500 degrees F (250 to 260 degrees C). Pizza ovens cook at temperatures between 800 and 900 degrees F. You can't get that hot in your home oven, but the higher you can go, the better. Place a pizza stone on a lower oven rack.

What goes first on homemade pizza? ›

Cheese always goes belowthe toppings

You've got your dough as the foundation. Then your sauce. The cheese is the next solid layer. Then your toppings (after all, they're called top-pings and not bottom-ings), and then finally your garnishes like basil, pepper, fresh mozzarella, etc, after the pizza is cooked.

Do you cook pizza dough before sauce? ›

If you're baking the pizza in the oven, whether on a pizza stone or not, I always pre-bake the dough for 4-5 minutes before adding toppings, to make sure the pizza dough cooks crisp on the outside and soft and airy in the middle. Once you add the Pizza Sauce and toppings, return it to the oven to finish baking.

Do Italians put cheese on pizza first or last? ›

Traditionally, Italians put cheese on their pizza before cooking it. The cheese is typically added as one of the first toppings and melts during the baking process, resulting in a deliciously melted and bubbly layer on top of the pizza.

Why does restaurant pizza taste so good? ›

According to Inside Science, using a wood-fired brick oven is what's best for pizza. Restaurants use these ovens because the key to a well-rounded savory tomato pie is for both the toppings and the dough on the bottom to finish cooking simultaneously.

How do you upgrade homemade pizza? ›

Pizza Making Tips: Elevate Your Homemade Pizza Experience
  1. Prevent Soggy Bottoms with a Baking Rack. ...
  2. Add Dried Oregano for an Authentic Aroma. ...
  3. Choose Fresh Mozzarella. ...
  4. Limit Your Toppings. ...
  5. Dry Wet Toppings. ...
  6. Experiment with Different Cheeses.
Apr 28, 2023

How to make a pizza tastier? ›

But here's some tips:
  1. Use the best quality ingredients you can lay your hands on. Do not use canned pizza sauce or pre-shredded cheese.
  2. The pizza crust should be tasty enough to enjoy without any toppings. Whether you like whole wheat, sourdough, or some other variation, key to pizza dough is a long ferment.
Mar 17, 2019

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