If you’re even the slightest bit serious about making pizza at home, you’ll do yourself a favor and make your own sauce instead. Why? Because it’s easy and 10x better.
Whenever I make pizza at home, I generally stick to 3 basic sauce recipes. Which one I use really just depends on what I have in the pantry or the mood I’m in. They’re all delicious so you really can’t go wrong.
Regardless of which one you pick though, there’s one thing you want to keep in mind: Pizza sauce is meant to be uncooked. No matter what you hear elsewhere, don’t cook your pizza sauce.
Unlike pasta sauce which may simmer for hours on end, your pizza sauce should be about room temperature and uncooked.
Just chuck all the ingredients in some sort of blender or food processor (any will do) or mix with a spoon if you don’t have one (it’ll come out chunkier of course, but it still tastes great).
Ok, now that that’s out of the way, onto the recipes…
TOMATO, PESTO, GARLIC
The name says it all with this one. If you like pesto and garlic (who doesn’t??), you’ll be sure to like this one. Throw these bad boys in a blender and away you go.
1 can crushed/diced tomatoes
2 dollops of pesto
1 clove of crushed garlic
a pinch of salt
A TASTE OF TANG
This one is a little tangier than the others. I’ve only ever had it on a cheese pizza, but I’m sure it goes well with just about anything. Again, mix in a blender and enjoy.
1 can crushed/diced tomatoes
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
juice from 1 lemon
a pinch of salt and pepper
MARINARA-ESQUE
A bit more traditional than the others, this one is pretty similar to your typical marinara sauce.
1 can crushed/diced tomatoes
a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
a pinch of dried oregano
a pinch of salt and pepper
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic
It’s also worth noting that some pizza purists believe there are only 1 or 2 types of canned tomatoes you can buy.
While some are certainly better than others, it’s not always so easy to get the exact brand of tomatoes. Instead, I suggest going with what you have available as long as you are buying high quality ingredients.
Bonus sauce: Just use straight up pesto. Pesto is chock-full of flavor and makes for an awesome alternative to your typical red sauce.
YOU SHOULD BE MAKING YOUR OWN PIZZA AT HOME!
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Making pizza from scratch is one of the most satisfying things you can do in the kitchen. It’s surprisingly easy to make a pizza that you’ll be stoked on, but it can also be a little daunting at first.
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