You've come to the right place if you want a recipe for the best pizza sauce. This homemade pizza sauce without tomato paste is the most basic and easy sauce you'll ever make. Its fresh, bright flavor will convince you.
What's fantastic about this recipe is that it uses canned tomatoes, is no-cook, and does not have tomato paste. It is pretty close to the most authentic Italian pizza sauce recipe you'll ever find. This is the sauce I make when pizza night rolls around, and I make my Fluffy Pizza Dough or my Stromboli Pizza.
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Gather the Ingredients for the Homemade Pizza Sauce without Tomato Paste
- This recipe was created using canned tomatoes, not fresh ones. Using canned tomatoes is easy and quick, and no cooking is involved. If you'd like to use fresh tomatoes, you'll enjoy my recipe for pizza sauce with cherry tomatoes.
- I love the Mutti brand tomatoes. I use Finely Chopped Tomatoes (Polpa) to make this pizza sauce. These tomatoes are cold crushed and pasteurized for one hour. This processing technique results in a fresh, bright taste that is not muddy or dull.
- If you can not find this brand, look for the word crushed on the labels of canned tomatoes to help you differentiate the very best variety to purchase when making this pizza sauce.
See the recipe below for quantities and details.
How to Make Pizza Sauce without Tomato Paste
Combine Ingredients. Add your prepared ingredients to a medium bowl and stir well. I told you it was easy!
Substitutions
- Use one teaspoon of dried basil to replace the fresh basil if that is what you have handy.
Storage
- The pizza sauce can be refrigerated for three days and frozen for up to 3 months.
Frequently Asked Questions
I created this recipe to be easy and quick, so it calls for crushed canned tomatoes. I have not tested it with fresh tomatoes, though I believe you'll enjoy my pizza sauce with cherry tomatoes if you'd like to use garden fresh tomatoes.
The short answer is yes. Because I am using a high-quality tomato product, there is no reason not to use this sauce over pasta. In fact, my marinara sauce is made in a similar fashion, except I sauté onions and garlic, use dried basil, and omit the oregano. Simmered for 30 minutes, and you have virtually an identical sauce.
As mentioned above not a whole lot is different in my books. Pizza sauce does have the distinct flavour of oregano that makes pizza sauce, pizza sauce. But in a bind, both sauces can be used interchangeably.
At the moment, I have yet to find a San Marzano tomato product that lives up to the flavor of the Mutti tomatoes. In my experience, San Marzano tomatoes are overhyped, and I have experimented with a few brands. Not only will San Marzano tomatoes cost you roughly double the price of another suitable type of tomato for this sauce, but the texture will also be rather thin and watery. Save your money and put it towards a nice bottle of wine instead 😊
This recipe will yield enough sauce to make two 9-inch by 13-inch pizzas or two 12-inch round pizzas. I use the entire 2-and-a-half cups of sauce when making my pizza dough recipe using the above-mentioned pan sizes. But use however much sauce you like on each pizza.
Secrets for Success
- If you are using a good-quality tomato product, there is no need to add sugar to the recipe, as many recipes call for. Adding sugar would not be very authentic, either, in my opinion. This sauce has no added sugar, which is another win!
- Make sure the pizza sauce is at room temperature before using it on pizza dough. The cold sauce will shock the freshly risen dough and potentially interfere with the fluffy rise when baking.
📖 Recipe
Homemade Pizza Sauce without Tomato Paste
Equipment
- bowl, medium size
- measuring spoons
- spatula
Ingredients
- 1 (28-ounce can) or (796 millilitres) Mutti Finely Chopped Tomatoes, or crushed canned equivalent
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 fresh basil leaves, cut into ribbons
- 2 teaspoons garlic, finely minced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Add your prepared ingredients to a medium bowl and stir well. I told you it was easy!1 (28-ounce can) or (796 millilitres) Mutti Finely Chopped Tomatoes, 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 3 fresh basil leaves, 2 teaspoons garlic, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Notes
Nutrition
Deborah says
I love the taste, but it is very liquidy, almost more like salsa. Any recommendations to thicken it without adding carbs?
Donna Poirier says
Hello Deborah, thanks for trying this recipe and I’m sorry to hear it was liquidy. I like a brand called Mutti for this recipe and I specifically used their Finely Chopped Tomatoes (polpa). Did you use these too? If you used another brand of crushed tomatoes or used diced or whole tomatoes, I would first drain the tomates over a sieve to capture the excess liquid and then and the remaining ingredients to the tomato pulp to create your sauce. Keep the tomato liquid to then thin the sauce if needed. I hope this helps you create a thicker sauce without adding carbs 🙂
Deborah says
Thank you, I used garden fresh tomatoes. I'll try draining then next time.
Donna Poirier says
Deborah, if you enjoy using fresh tomatoes for pizza sauce I thought you might be inspired and enjoy my recipe for pizza sauce made with cherry tomatoes. You can find it by clicking on this link: https://ladypeartree.com/pizza-sauce-with-cherry-tomatoes/. Enjoy