Two cups of pizza sauce in 5 minutes. One can of crushed tomatoes, salt, and a choice: keep it clean or punch it up with basil and oregano.
Time: 10 min | Yield: 2 cups | Difficulty: Easy | Serves: 5 | Published: 2026-05-18
This is the only pizza sauce recipe you need on your phone. Two minutes to make, two cups of sauce, zero cooking. One can of good crushed tomatoes plus salt is the entire basic recipe.
80% of the time, that's all I make. The 6-minute pizza bake at 550 does all the cooking the sauce needs. Anything more and you're concentrating it into something jammy that fights the cheese instead of complementing it.
When I want a brighter, more aromatic sauce for Neapolitan-style or a summer pizza, I add fresh basil, dried oregano, and a splash of olive oil. The herby variation is below. Both work. Pick one based on the pizza.
Pizza sauce is one of those recipes where most home cooks overthink it. They simmer it for an hour. They add 12 spices. They reduce it. The result tastes like spaghetti sauce on a pizza, heavy, dark, cooked-down, dominant. That's not what you want.
Great pizza sauce is bright, raw, and tomato-forward. It cooks WITH the pizza in the oven (4-8 minutes at 500°F+), which is plenty. Any pre-cooking dulls the flavor and shifts the sauce toward 'pasta sauce' territory. The 90-second method is also the best method.
The tomatoes are 95% of it. Bianco DiNapoli (Chris Bianco's brand) is the gold standard, they're picked at peak ripeness, packed without additives, and have natural sweetness that means you need ZERO sugar. San Marzano DOP (the ones with the official seal) are excellent runners-up. Most supermarket 'San Marzano-style' crushed tomatoes are mediocre, they're often the cheaper Tomati variety with added citric acid. See my best tomatoes for pizza sauce guide for the full breakdown.
Salt is more important than you think. Crushed tomatoes from cans are usually under-salted. 1 teaspoon per can sounds like a lot, it's actually about right. Taste after seasoning. If it still tastes flat, add more salt before reaching for sugar or herbs. Most 'this sauce needs more flavor' problems are actually salt deficiencies.
The herby variation is for when fresh herbs are in the pizza. If your pie has fresh basil on top (Margherita-style), use the basic sauce, let the basil come from the topping. If your pie is heavier (cheese-only NY, pepperoni, white pizza with sauce drizzle), the herby variation adds aromatics that don't compete. Match the sauce to the pizza you're making.
Don't overblend. The herby variation calls for a quick pulse, 3-5 short pulses with an immersion blender, max. You want the herbs broken down enough to distribute their flavor, not pureed. Over-blended sauce loses texture and turns watery as the cell walls of the tomatoes break down.
Used the cheaper San Marzano-style canned tomatoes (not real DOP) or generic brand. The tomatoes are 95% of the sauce. Bianco DiNapoli ($5-8 per can) or San Marzano DOP (look for the official seal). The flavor difference between premium and generic is massive. One can makes 4-5 pizzas; the extra cost works out to $1 per pizza.
Cheap tomatoes with high acid content, OR not enough salt. First try MORE salt before reaching for sugar. Most acidity complaints are actually salt deficiencies. If salt doesn't fix it, you have bad tomatoes, buy better ones next batch.
Immersion blender pulverized the tomato cell walls and released too much water. 3-5 short pulses MAX, less than 5 seconds total blending. Going beyond breaks the sauce structure. If already over-blended, can't be fixed, just use it (it'll still taste fine, just not perfect texture).
You followed instincts from spaghetti sauce. Pizza sauce is NEVER cooked. Use uncooked. The pizza bake (4-8 minutes at 500°F+) does all the cooking the sauce needs. Pre-cooking turns bright fresh tomato into dark concentrated paste, that's pasta sauce, not pizza sauce.
Stored in a can, OR contaminated with garlic/onion residue, OR exposed to too much air. Always transfer to a glass or food-safe plastic container. Top with a thin layer of olive oil to prevent oxidation. Use within 3 days. Freeze the rest in ice cube trays.
Raw garlic in pizza sauce becomes harsh and bitter when exposed to acid, especially on a Margherita where it overpowers the basil. Don't add garlic to pizza sauce. Use garlic confit oil (slow-cooked) drizzled on the finished pizza instead. Or build a [garlic confit white pizza](/recipes/alfredo-white-pie-stracciatella) where garlic is the star.
Correct. Pizza sauce gets cooked WITH the pizza in a 500°F+ oven for 4-8 minutes. That's all the cooking it needs. Pre-cooking the sauce removes the bright, fresh tomato flavor that great pizza sauce has. If you've been simmering your sauce for hours, you're making pasta sauce, different application.
Bianco DiNapoli is my #1, picked at peak ripeness with natural sweetness, so you don't need sugar. San Marzano DOP (with the official seal) is a great runner-up. Avoid generic supermarket 'San Marzano-style' tomatoes, which are often the cheaper Roma variety. See best pizza sauce recipe.
Basic is for pizzas where fresh basil is the topping (Margherita-style). The herby variation is for cheese pizzas, pepperoni, white pies with sauce drizzle, anywhere you want aromatic complexity without putting fresh basil on top. Both are valid; pick based on the pizza.
You can but I don't. Raw garlic in pizza sauce can taste harsh and overpowers a delicate Margherita. Better approach: slow-confit garlic oil drizzled on the finished pizza after baking. Or use it as the star in a garlic confit white pizza.
2-3 days in the fridge, sealed. After that the texture starts breaking down, the tomato cell walls release water and the sauce gets thinner. For longer storage, freeze in ice cube trays and pop a cube as needed.
Skip it. Good tomatoes are naturally sweet. If your sauce tastes too acidic, the problem is the tomatoes, buy better ones next time. Sugar masks the issue, doesn't fix it.
It's too thin and too lightly seasoned for pasta. Pasta sauce wants longer simmer, more aromatics (garlic, onion), and more body. Pizza sauce is specifically formulated to be quick, fresh, and to cook IN the oven on the pizza. Different applications.
About 1/3 cup for a 12-14 inch pizza. Less is more, too much sauce makes the crust gummy. Spread with the back of a ladle in a spiral, leaving a half-inch rim. One 2-cup batch covers 4-5 pizzas.
Crushed tomatoes tend to have a thicker consistency and are more acidic.
Nutrition (1/3 cup (enough for 1 pizza)): 35 calories, 1g protein, 7g carbs, 1g fat.