Forget the big pizza chains! It’s too easy to make pizzas on the grill at home just the way you like them. Whether you use my pizza dough recipe or fresh dough from Whole Foods or your favorite pizzeria (yes, they will sell you fresh dough by the pound), you can make this delicious pizza sauce with only a few ingredients.
Easy Homemade Pizza Sauce
Author: Jeff Parker
Serves: 1½ cups
Ingredients
- One 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes in juice (preferably San Marzano plum tomatoes)
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1½ teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Add tomatoes and juice to the bowl of a blender and pulse for chunky sauce or puree for smooth sauce (for those non-tomato eaters... you know who you are); set aside. In a medium saucepan heat the olive oil over medium low heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant; do not let the garlic color. Note: you want to get as much flavor from the garlic into the oil before it starts to color. Add the tomatoes and remaining ingredients except salt and pepper, turn up the heat and bring to a low boil. Reduce the heat and simmer to reduce and thicken, about 15 to 20 minutes. Once thickened, fish-out the herb sprigs and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Cool to room temperature before using or storing in the refrigerator. It's that easy!
- The pizza sauce will keep in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Cheers and Happy Pizza Making!
~ Jeff
As a child until my early teen years, I grew up and worked in my Grandparents Italian market with Italian food-to-go. I remember helping them make their spaghetti/pizza sauce which simmered for hours in a huge stock pot 2-3 times a week. When I lived in Italy for a summer as a teenager, I was surprised at how my friends and family would make fresh spaghetti sauce from scratch for dinner using a very simple recipe in just a matter of minutes, not hours. (In Italy, they have pasta with every meal as a side dish although most times, it’s not with red sauce “al pomodoro.”) I’ve been looking for decades for an easy, quick and tasty recipe. It all brings me back to such a great time of my life. THANK YOU!
Thank you, Terri! What a great comment… I am so glad that the post brought up so many fond memories for you. I wish that I had known you grandparents had an Italian market, I would have probably hung out there with you!