Homemade Pizza Sauce (Ultimate Easy Recipe You'll Swear By!)

5 from 4 votes

Learn how to make the BEST homemade pizza sauce with this quick, easy recipe that turns out rich, thick and deeply flavorful. Foolproof!

Prep Time10

Cook Time30

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: homemade pizza sauce, Pizza sauce recipe, red sauce for pizza, red sauce pizza

Servings:

1 28 oz can tomatoes preferably Roma or San Marzano variety (or 1.75 lbs ripe tomatoes - see notes below.)
¼ cup olive oil
3 large cloves garlic minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 sprigs fresh basil or 1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes optional, for a little heat

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
Add the minced garlic, dried oregano, and fresh or dried basil to the pan. Stir and cook for about a minute, until the garlic is fragrant.
Add the chopped tomatoes to the pan. Use a potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon to crush the tomatoes until they're in small pieces.
Stir in the salt, and optional red pepper flakes.
Lower the heat to low and let the sauce simmer. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for at least 30 minutes, up to 1 hour if you have time. The longer it cooks, the more the flavors will meld together.
Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Remove fresh basil sprigs, if used.

NOTES:

If using fresh tomatoes, you can optionally blanch the tomatoes to remove their skins first (or just leave it on if you don’t mind a bit of texture).
- Cut a small "x" in the bottom of each tomato. Immerse in boiling water for about 30-60 seconds, or until the skins begin to peel back. Cool them under cold water and peel off the skins. Remove the cores and chop the tomatoes.
If you prefer a smoother sauce, you can use an immersion blender to blend it right in the pot, or you can let it cool slightly and then blend it in a regular blender.