Making delicious pizza at home is not difficult at all, as long as all of the components you use are equally well made and delicious. I recently came across a great recipe for pizza dough and shared it with you on my recent post for game day pizza, where we made a white pizza without tomato sauce but with some incredible toppings that made it so memorable that I am still getting compliments from it! Today, I cooked for one of my neighbors who recently had ankle surgery. Her son was visiting from college, so I thought I would make pizza again, after all, who doesn’t love a great homemade pizza? I really loved how the crust turned out last time, so I was going to definitely start using that as my go to recipe.
This time it was going to be something more traditional since her two teenagers were going to be home for dinner. They all wanted a traditional pepperoni pizza, so with this request, I had to make my super easy recipe for delicious homemade pizza sauce. I don’t use any of that canned or jarred stuff, not even in a pinch. I will always make my own because it’s quick, easy and delicious.
I prefer to use crushed tomatoes in this recipe because I love the thick texture it gives to the final product. Add a little tomato paste and a handful of spices that most people already have on hand and you have a great pizza sauce that can also be used in a pinch for a marinara sauce over pasta or as a great dipping sauce for fried calamari, homemade mozzarella sticks, grilled or breaded vegetables. Try it, you will definitely thank me for this one.
Quick Homemade Pizza Sauce (makes 3 cups)
1 can crushed tomatoes (28 oz)
1 cup of filtered water
½ of a small can of tomato paste
2-3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
4 teaspoons onion powder
1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano
1 ½ teaspoons dried parsley
1 ½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
½ teaspoon pepper (or to taste)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large bay leaf
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
crushed red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper for a zesty sauce**optional
Add all of the above ingredients except the parmesan cheese to a medium sized pot and bring to a boil then lower temp and simmer for about 10-15 minutes. If you would like to make this a zesty sauce, add your choice of red pepper flakes or extra spice. Once the sauce has finished cooking, add the grated parmesan cheese and set aside to cool. Finished pizza below (16”) used 1 cup of sauce. Do not add too much sauce or your toppings may come sliding off. You can always serve extra on the side or freeze for future use. If you prefer not to use too much sauce, you can add your mozzarella to the crust first, and then drizzle the sauce over the cheese or any other extra fillings you plan to use.
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