Homemade pizza sauce comes together in a snap with regular pantry ingredients. This Last-Minute, No Cook Pizza Sauce will save your pizza night.
Pizza night rolls around and you’ve got a hankering for homemade pizza. You’ve done your due diligence and prepped the sourdough pizza crust already — or bought some when you were at the store.
But, uh-oh. You forgot about sauce.
Never fear. You can make it in minutes.
Years ago I was under the misunderstanding that you had to have pizza sauce to make pizza. As if there was something special, magical even in commercially-prepared pizza sauce.
In fact, so dire was my confusion that if I didn’t have a jar of pizza sauce on hand for Pizza Night, I would make a special trip to the store to get some. Gasp!
Thankfully, I learned the error of my ways. Never make a special trip when you’ve got something else that will do already in your cupboards.
And never buy commercial pizza sauce. Ever.
Any tomato or pesto sauce works great on pizza. Any sauce really! I’ve used BBQ sauce and Pad Thai sauce on a Thai Chicken Pizza. so you can use pretty much anything.
No Cook Pizza Sauce
That said, it’s nice to have a traditional, Italian-herbed tomato sauce to spread on your pizza. You can simmer a cooked homemade pizza sauce or you can stir together this quick and easy, no cook pizza sauce.
It’s easy. It’s last minute. It saves the day.
What is the best pizza sauce?
The best pizza sauce is the one you like. Forget what others say. Suit yourself!
Find the right combination of spices and herbs and tomato and then bookmark that recipe so that you can have it on the regular.
What is pizza sauce made of?
Pizza sauce is simply a puree of tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and Italian herbs.
I like to use Jamie’s Spice Mix for this sauce as it’s already packed with flavor. If you prefer, you can use a commercial spice blend, such as Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Salute.
How do you make no cook pizza sauce?
While simmered sauces should cool prior to spreading on the dough, this no cook pizza sauce comes together in minutes and is ready to use as soon as you set down the whisk.
To make this no cook pizza sauce, simply stir a few tablespoons of the spice blend into diluted tomato paste and you’ve got a fantastic (and easy!) pizza sauce made with a handful of ingredients that you can easily keep on hand all the time. Use right away or chill until ready to use.
How long is pizza sauce good for?
Pizza sauce, like other prepared food, is good in the fridge for up to four days.
Can you freeze pizza sauce?
Pizza sauce freezes very well. Simply spoon the sauce into an airtight container or ziptop freezer bag. Label and freeze for up to 2 months.
Is it cheaper to make homemade pizza sauce?
We assume that making homemade will cost less money than buying it in a can. This is often, but not always the case. Let’s see how much the homemade sauce really costs, shall we?
This homemade no cook pizza sauce is made from some basic ingredients, ingredients that when bought at regular, non-sale prices break down as follows:
- tomato paste – $0.75/6 ounce can
- seasoning for custom blend – $0.25
This batch of sauce turns out to be $1.00 for 16 ounces. By comparison, commercial pizza sauce costs $2.19 for 14 ounces. Save money and control your ingredients with this no cook pizza sauce!
How to make this even more economical.
Here is the key strategy you can use to make this recipe more economical:
- Shop in bulk. I buy tomato paste, olive oil, and spices in bulk from Costco. This is pretty much the cheapest way to go and makes this No Cook Pizza Sauce super affordable.
- Stock up when you see a sale. See a sale on tomato paste? Stock up, knowing that you’ll use it every week when you make pizza!
Tools I use to make this recipe easy:
This is a pretty straight-forward dish. You don’t need any fancy equipment. However, having some good basic kitchen tools can really make your time in the kitchen more enjoyable. Over time, I’ve honed my collection so that they are perfect for my needs. Here are the tools that I like to use in this recipe. You won’t need many!
- can opener – A good hand held one will do the job.
- whisk – Get one with a sealed barrel so you can’t throw it in the dishwasher.
This batch makes enough to cover four 12-inch pizzas, depending on how thick you like your sauce spread on the pizza. If you prefer a thicker sauce, feel free to add less water and/or use less per pizza.
If you prepare this recipe, be sure to take a picture and hashtag it #GOODCHEAPEATS. I can't wait to see what you cook up!
Last-Minute Pizza Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
- 1 1/4 cup water less for a thicker sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp Jamie's Spice Mix
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the tomato paste and water. Add the spice mix and stir well. Stir in the olive oil, whisking until well-combined.
- To make ahead: sauce can be prepared up to 3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator or frozen for up to 2 months in an airtight container.
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published April 16, 2013. It has been updated for content and clarity.
Margery H. says
I use one 8-oz. can of tomato sauce and mix in 2 Tablespoons of Italian seasoning blend (bought super-cheap in a huge canister from Costco.) It takes about 30 seconds to make. This is enough for our family of five to eat a huge dinner (including a voracious teenaged son) and have leftovers for about three or four-people lunches.
I make our pizzas on a mixture of various pans and baking sheets, usually one regular pizza circular pan, three pie pans, and one huge rectangular cookie sheet. I usually have to bake it in two shifts. Maybe I should order a third oven rack for my oven…
Kathy says
I am pinning this! I always decide to make a pizza at the last minute and then never have the right ingredients!
Jessica says
@Kathy, thanks!
Melissa says
You can buy various flavored tomato sauces in the small cans – my favorite one for pizza sauce is the one with basil and garlic. I pick them up on sale with coupons. – I think its Hunts. Otherwise I use plain tomato sauce and add herbs and garlic.
TSandy says
I love homemade pizza. Your photo looks fabulous and it makes me hungry! I do use my Zo bread machine to make pizza dough. We like sweet pizza sauce (most commonly found on deep dish pizzas) which I also make using tomato paste (plus honey, olive oil, anchovy paste, and spices). Why did I pay for inferior overpriced pizza sauce from the grocery store all those years? I paid $1 for my pepperoni (same name brand found at the grocery store). We have a regional dollar store chain where I find some crazy bargains. Now I have like a 5 year supply of cheap pepperoni in the freezer. Makes pizza night cheap and so much better than anything you can buy.
Jessica Fisher says
No pepperoni would ever last five years at my house. LOL!
cindy3539 says
Finally, a homemade sauce that is tasty! I used the sauced on a pizza today. Thanks for posting.
Jessica Fisher says
Yay!
Mialee says
Wow! Super easy and delicious! I passed up the jar of pizza sauce at the store because of the extra unnecessary ingredients. And I knew YOU would have a recipe. Thanks for saving Pizza Night from here on out! 🙂
Jessica Fisher says
It’s my go-to recipe these days. So simple and easy!
Carol says
Delicious pizza sauce!