The Best Pizza Sauce
Easy to make, NY style pizza sauce
Servings: 4 cups
Calories: 208kcal
Ingredients
- 28 oz tomato puree or tomato sauce (I now prefer sauce; you can also use diced tomato, whole tomatoes that you puree yourself, etc)
- 1/2 cup water (**only if using store bought puree**)
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- fresh basil large handful (I only use this in summer when in season, you can also use basil paste or frozen cubes) do not use dried basil.
- 1-2 teaspoons sugar (optional - taste your tomatoes first as they all differ in sweetness and then, if needed, add a little at a time)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1.5 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper (optional)
Instructions
To Mix Sauce
- Combine all ingredients except water in a bowl and mix well
- If you used puree, slowly add water, using more or less if necessary until you reach desired consistency.
- The sauce should be thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon but thin enough to spread easily on the pizza.
- Keep in mind that the sauce thickens a bit in the oven when baked on pizza, so if it is too thick to begin with you will end up with paste.
Optional: Back of the Spoon Test for Consistency
- Take a spoonful of the sauce and let it sit on the back of a spoon. Make sure to use a spoon with a convex, rounded back rather than a flat one.
- If the sauce is too thin and runs off the spoon immediately without leaving a coating, it may be too watery. In this case, you might want to thicken it by adding a small amount of tomato paste (or cook it over low heat, slowly, to thicken it).
- If the sauce is too thick and doesn't move or spread easily, it might be too dense. You can adjust it by slowly adding a little water (1 tablespoon at a time) to achieve a smoother consistency.
- Ideally, the sauce should have a balanced consistency, neither too thin nor too thick. It should gently coat the back of the spoon and slowly drip or flow off it.
Notes
Top each pizza with at least 1/2 cup of pizza sauce - generally, use between 1/2 cup to 1 cup. Remember, too much sauce can make the pizza soggy. Less is more!
Leftover and Storage:
- Pizza sauce can be made ahead of time and stored for convenience.
- Store it in an airtight container.
- Homemade pizza sauce can be refrigerated for 5-7 days.
- To freeze pizza sauce, pour it into a freezer-safe container, leaving some headspace, and store it for 3-4 months.
- Thaw frozen pizza sauce in the refrigerator overnight or use quick thawing methods like the microwave or warm water.
- Reheat pizza sauce gently over low to medium heat, stirring occasionally, without boiling it.
Nutrition
Calories: 208kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Sodium: 1224mg | Potassium: 920mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 1376IU | Vitamin C: 22mg | Calcium: 60mg | Iron: 4mg