Homemade Pizza Sauce

The pizza sauce that beats the jarred stuff and uses one ingredient most home cooks already have on the shelf: a can of tomato paste. Starting from concentrated paste rather than crushed tomatoes is the key. The 30-to-40 minute simmer with water reconstitutes the paste while reducing it back down to a sauce thicker and glossier than any whole-tomato version.

Why thicker matters: thin, watery sauce soaks into pizza dough and turns the bottom crust soggy before it has a chance to crisp. This sauce holds its shape under shredded mozzarella, stays where you spread it, and bakes to a deep brick red.

The seasoning trio of oregano, marjoram, and basil is classic Italian-American pizzeria territory. A tablespoon of brown sugar tames the acidity of the tomato paste, and a finishing spoon of grated Parmesan adds umami depth without leaning into meat-sauce territory.

Pro Tips

• Simmer uncovered. The sauce needs to evaporate water and concentrate; a lid traps steam and keeps it thin.
• Stir often during the simmer. Tomato paste sauces stick and scorch on the bottom faster than crushed-tomato sauces.
• Taste before salting at the end. Parmesan and tomato paste both bring sodium, so the sauce may need very little extra.
• Cool fully before topping a pizza. Hot sauce melts the cheese before the dough has a chance to rise in the oven.

Variations

• Add a teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes for a spicy arrabbiata-leaning sauce.
• Stir in a splash of red wine during the simmer for richer, fruitier depth.
• Use fresh garlic and chopped fresh onion in place of the dried versions for a brighter, more aromatic sauce.