Planning to treat your family over the weekend with some home made pizza? Try our pizza sauce recipe that uses Zero Preservatives. Simple, Home made pizza sauce using fresh ingredients.
Learn to make pizza sauce recipe from scratch using fresh tomatoes. Enjoy home made pizza using this preservative free sauce recipe. Easy to make recipe using pantry staples.
Pizza is loved by all age groups. Be it a celebration, weekend meal plan, gathering with friends or game nights, pizza is a crowd pleaser!
While ordering a pizza might be the simplest solution, baking a fresh one at home is always an amazing experience. The aroma of freshly baked pizza is something else!
For a delicious pizza experience, the sauce is quite crucial apart from the bread, of course! If you haven't tried making the sauce from scratch, this recipe would be a good start.
Making pizza sauce at home from scratch is a very simple process. Don't let the long list of ingredients on the bottle at the super market daunt you. Once you try home made sauce, you will never go back to the packaged stuff.
Jump to:
- Tips to Pick the right tomato for pizza sauce
- How to Make Pizza Sauce from scratch - Instructions
- How to use Pizza Sauce?
- Shelf life of Pizza Sauce
- Basic Rules to Store Condiments
- Using Store Bought Tomato Puree instead of Fresh Tomatoes
- Adding Sugar to Pizza Sauce
- Other Condiments to Try
- Homemade Easy Pizza Sauce Recipe
A good pizza sauce needs RIPE RED TOMATOES. In India, we have very few varieties of tomatoes that are sold in markets.
Either its the hybrid variety of tomatoes which is dark red in colour or the naatu thakkali also known as Indian heirloom tomatoes. The heirloom variety is not deep red in colour but is more sour than the hybrid variety of tomatoes.
Tips to Pick the right tomato for pizza sauce
- The tomato should be red in colour (especially for making pizza sauce). Do not choose tomatoes that have a pale yellow or green skin around the stem.
- Tomatoes should be firm to touch and should be heavy when you pick them or hold them in your palm.
- The skin should be free of any blemishes, cuts or marks.
By the way, cherry tomatoes can also be used for the recipe instead of regular tomatoes.
Best part about making pizza sauce at home is that it uses very few ingredients, most of which are available at home.
Might I go ahead and add that its quite budget friendly to make things at home from scratch?
Store bought condiments have preservatives and high sodium content. We avoid store bought ready to use pastes and sauces as much as possible and prefer stocking such home made sauces for regular consumption.
If you have kids at home who constantly demand pizza, making the sauce from scratch would be a good idea.
This sauce is quite handy to stock in your refrigerator not only to enjoy home made pizza but also use it as a spread for savory bread recipes too. In fact, I use it for the latter more than just making a pizza.
By the way, pizza sauce is quite different from pasta sauce and while there is no rule set on stone that it cannot be used for making pasta, I would strongly recommend using two different sauces for each of the recipes.
If you love PASTA, do try our Vegan Pumpkin Sauce Pasta Recipe and Tomato Sauce Pasta Recipe, the next time you plan on making pasta at home from scratch.
How to Make Pizza Sauce from scratch - Instructions
(1) Wash and pat dry, 8 nos. ripe red tomatoes.
(2) Roughly chop them and add to a mixer grinder jar.
(3) Grind until smooth. Do not add any water while grinding.
(4) Heat a pan, add olive oil and finely chopped garlic.
(5) Once the garlic has roasted slightly, add the finely chopped onions.
(6) Saute the onion and garlic until the onions have turned translucent and there is no raw smell.
(7) Now pour the tomato puree and mix well.
(8) Add kashmiri red chilli powder, dried oregano, salt to taste and roughly torn fresh basil leaves.
(9) Mix well, reduce the flame to low heat and cook until the mixture thickens. Keep stirring at regular intervals to avoid sticking or burning at the bottom.
Note - The sauce will bubble and splutter around so ensure you keep the flame on medium heat to limit the cleaning activity.
I would not recommend cooking the sauce with a lid as it takes longer for the moisture to evaporate.
(10) Once the sauce thickens (you will notice oil on the sides of the pan), add a tsp of sugar and mix well. Switch off the flame.
(11) The Pizza sauce is ready. Cool it completely before transferring to a clean, dry and airtight jar.
Recipe Notes -
- Please note that there is no peeling of the skin or sieving the puree involved in making the pizza sauce.
- Ensure you finely chop the onions. Do not use garlic paste for this recipe. Use fresh chopped garlic for great flavor experience.
- If you don't prefer the garlic pieces, use garlic powder. 1 tsp can be added.
- This recipe yields 300 ml sauce. You can easily make 4 nos. 10 inch pizza.
- If you plan to make bread pizza using this recipe, you can easily make atleast 20 slices (standard Indian Square bread slice)
- Do not skimp out on the oil mentioned in the recipe. It is required to preserve the sauce under refrigeration.
- If you do not have olive oil in stock, please use any neutral flavour oil. Avocado Oil, Sunflower oil, rice bran oil are good alternatives.
- You can use dry basil instead of fresh. Add 1 tsp for the below mentioned recipe measurements.
How to use Pizza Sauce?
Smear on homemade or store bought pizza base and add toppings as required.
Apply a generous tbsp of sauce over a slice of bread and add cheese, toppings etc to satisfy quick pizza cravings.
Use it as a spread over plain parathas or tortilla and make a quick wrap.
Shelf life of Pizza Sauce
This sauce stays fresh under refrigeration for 15 days. In the freezer, this stays fresh for atleast a couple of months. Thaw the sauce completely before using.
Basic Rules to Store Condiments
Always wash and dry your airtight glass container or jar. There should be no oil residue (especially when using recycled glass jars) or smell.
Soak your glass jars in hot water + lemon solution and then rinse well before drying them completely. This helps in getting rid of excess oil stuck in crevices or corners of the jars.
Always use a dry spoon to scoop out the sauce from the jar.
When freezing such sauces, always freeze in small portions. 1/4th cup of sauce would be good enough for a 8" or 10" pizza so freeze accordingly.
Thawing a whole bottle and then freezing it back again will compromise the shelf life of the sauce.
Using Store Bought Tomato Puree instead of Fresh Tomatoes
Can be used if you don't have access to fresh tomatoes or have few packs of store bought tomato puree stocked in the refrigerator that you want to finish up.
Store bought puree is usually darker in colour and hence you might not need the kashmiri red chilli powder or smoked paprika. Please check before adding the ingredients.
Adding Sugar to Pizza Sauce
- Sugar is added to balance the tartness from the tomatoes. Always taste your tomatoes and add sugar only towards the end. If the tomatoes are too tart, add some more to balance the flavours.
- Honey is a good alternative to sugar.
- Please note that adding sugar will not make this a sweet pizza sauce. You will NOT taste the sugar in the sauce.
Other Condiments to Try
Cilantro Mint Chutney - Completes every Indian meal and is a perfect side / dip to Indian appetizers.
Vegan Basil Pesto Sauce - Basic Italian sauce, perfect for Pasta, breads and dips
Muhammara - Middle Eastern Condiment made with Roasted Bell Peppers and Syrian Aleppo chillies.
Roasted Tomato Salsa - A twist to the Mexican classic tomato salsa. Must try if you love smoky flavors.
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Homemade Easy Pizza Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 nos Tomatoes
- 1 tbsp Garlic (finely chopped)
- ¼ cup Onions (finely chopped)
- ¼ cup Olive Oil Read Notes below
- 1 tsp Oregano (dried)
- 2 tbsp Fresh Basil (roughly torn) Read Notes below
- 1 tsp Kashmiri Red chilli powder Read Notes below
- 1 tsp Sugar Read Notes Below
- 1 tsp Salt
Instructions
- Wash and pat dry, 8 nos. ripe red tomatoes.
- Roughly chop them and add to a mixer grinder jar. Grind until smooth. Do not add any water while grinding.
- Heat a pan, add olive oil and finely chopped garlic.
- Once the garlic has roasted slightly, add the finely chopped onions.
- Saute the onion and garlic until the onions have turned translucent and there is no raw smell.
- Now pour the tomato puree and mix well.
- Add kashmiri red chilli powder, dried oregano, salt to taste and roughly torn fresh basil leaves.
- Mix well, reduce the flame to low heat and cook it until the mixture thickens. Keep stirring at regular intervals to avoid sticking or burning at the bottom.
- Once the sauce thickens (you will notice oil on the sides of the pan), add a tsp of sugar and mix well. Switch off the flame.
- The Pizza sauce is ready. Cool it completely before transferring to a clean, dry and airtight jar.
Notes
- Please note that there is no peeling of the skin or sieving the puree involved in making the pizza sauce.
- Ensure you finely chop the onions. Do not use garlic paste for this recipe. Use fresh chopped garlic for great flavor experience.
- If you don't prefer the garlic pieces, use garlic powder. 1 tsp can be added.
- This recipe yields 300 ml sauce. You can easily make 4 nos. 10 inch pizza.
- If you plan to make bread pizza using this recipe, you can easily make atleast 20 slices (standard Indian Square bread slice)
- Do not skimp out on the oil mentioned in the recipe. It is required to preserve the sauce under refrigeration.
- If you do not have olive oil in stock, please use any neutral flavour oil. Avocado Oil, Sunflower oil, rice bran oil are alternate choices.
- You can use dry basil instead of fresh. Add 1 tsp for the below mentioned recipe measurements.
- This sauce stays fresh under refrigeration for 15 days. In the freezer, this stays fresh for atleast a couple of months.
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We will be back again with yet another exciting recipe .. Until then, stay healthy and happy!
Vidya Narayan
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