Pizza Sauce: Making an Easy No-Cook Sauce at Home
The great pizza debate continues to rage across the country, with people on all sides aggressively supporting their favorite style of pizza and pizza sauce. While everyone should recognize that the best pizza in the country comes from New Haven, CT, unfortunately, that’s not the case.
Pizza is so popular among Americans that one man makes millions of dollars reviewing pizza restaurants and frozen pizza on his Youtube channel.
From cracker-thin crust to deep dish (not pizza), or fresh mozz vs. a blend of shredded cheeses. Chunky pizza sauce or thin and tangy, the way people like their pizza varies from region to region and state to state. Pizza is a cultural icon in our country. When my family moved from the Northeastern United States to rural Northwest Illinois, I had no idea I was saying goodbye to decent pizza (sorry deep dish). Living in New Haven County, I was literal minutes away from several of the top-rated pizza joints in this county. Now, the best pizza I can find is from a gas station pizza chain, and it’s not that great.
Learning to Make Pizza
For me, I had no choice but to learn how to make my pizza at home. I can’t find thin-crust New York Style pizza where I live. If you’re in pizza limbo like I am, I want you to benefit from the five-years I’ve spent perfecting homemade pizza. Whether you prefer it on the grill or in the oven, I can show you have to make your preferred style of pizza right at home.
Today we start with the sauce. Making pizza and sauce shouldn’t be complicated. While New York Style pizza dough takes several days sitting in the fridge to be perfect, the best sauce is a no-cook sauce that mixes up in minutes. Most of the ingredients are probably already in your pantry.
So, in this part of our pizza making series, we make a no-cook pizza sauce that you can customize to your liking!
Why Make Pizza Sauce?
“Can’t I just buy a jar of pizza sauce?”
Yes, you could. But you would end up with bland sauce that’s too sweet, too runny, or too chunky. Why put spaghetti sauce on your homemade pizza dough when you can create a customized pizza sauce with a few ingredients and a bowl. No simmer involved. We like to make things from scratch here at Makers Make Stuff, including our pizza sauce.
Some people prefer their sauce tangy, some prefer lots of dried herbs, and some like their sauce on the sweet side. You don’t have to spend hours simmering tomatoes to get a delicious homemade sauce. The key to a no-cook pizza sauce is tomato paste. The tomatoes are peeled, de-seeded, and simmered down for you. Not all things homemade have to take hours to create.
How to Make Homemade No-Cook Pizza Sauce
For a no-cook sauce, all you need is a small bowl and a few simple ingredients. Make this sauce about 15-20 minutes before you’re ready to put your pizzas together to let the flavors mingle and allow the dried herbs to soften up.
This recipe makes a small bowl of sauce, a perfect amount for one or two pizzas. If you’re having a pizza party, you can double or even triple the recipe.
Ingredients:
- Four tablespoons of canned tomato paste.
- Two tablespoons of red-wine vinegar.
- 2-4 cloves of minced garlic. If you don’t have garlic on hand, you can substitute for garlic powder.
- 1-2 teaspoons of dried oregano. (Adjust the amount based on your personal preference).
- 1-2 teaspoons of dried basil
- 1-2 teaspoons of dried thyme
- 4-6 tablespoons of water. (Adjust to reach your desired consistency).
- Salt and pepper to taste
Adjust the herbs to your preference, you can use less or more depending on your desired taste.
*Some people prefer a thin sauce, and some prefer a thicker paste-like sauce. We recommend you adjust the amount of water to get your desired consistency. *
If you want a little sweetness in your sauce, start by adding a teaspoon of sugar and adjust up from there.
Directions:
- In a small bowl mix together your tomato paste, vinegar, and garlic. Add your sugar at this stage if you’re using sugar.
- Add your herbs and then stir to combine.
- Stir in your water slowly until you reach your desired thickness.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Let your sauce rest for 15-20 minutes before putting together your pizza. Give your sauce a good stir before putting on your pizza.
Making Pizza At Home
The best part of this no-cook sauce is that you can adjust the flavors as you go and create a fully customized sauce for your homemade pizza. These ingredients are the foundation of a good pizza sauce. You can tweak the amounts and the flavors to your liking. Be sure to write down any changes that you make to recreate your pizza sauce in the future!
Don’t forget to check out our recommendations on Backyard Pizza Ovens!
