Learn to make this authentic 5-minute pizza sauce just the way they do in ITALY – easy, fast, and SO fresh!
Authentic, Neapolitan-style pizza is my ALL-TIME favorite food and a dinner I love to try and replicate at home pretty much on a weekly basis. I’ve been so blessed to travel to Italy a few times and take some pizza classes, and I love to share as much as I can with you here on the blog! While there are several pizza recipes here, I’ve never posted a recipe for just a basic sauce. And it’s always best to start with the basics when you are trying to master a certain type of recipe or cooking technique!
This 5-minute pizza sauce recipe is a replica of the sauce I learned to make in the pizza classes I took with Walkabout Tours in Florence, Italy. It’s my #1, all star, go to sauce recipe for every pizza I make, and I think it tastes just like the sauce I have come to know and love on Neapolitan-style pizzas in Italy!
How to Make 5-Minute Pizza Sauce
This sauce could not be EASIER to make – no simmer, blending, or pureeing needed. All you need is clean hands!
- Smush whole San Marzano tomatoes into small pieces – I love that it’s so easy to find imported San Marzano tomatoes here in the US. This is the kind of canned tomato used to make pizza sauce in Italy, and it’s prized for its sweet flavor profile and low acidity. This tomato tastes so good on its own that the less you add to it, the better! In the class I took, we were intructed to smush the tomatoes into small pieces by hand. Crusing by hand instead of in a blender prevents the tomato seeds from being broken open. When the seeds are broken, it can impart a bitter taste into your sauce, so keeping the seeds whole ensures your sauce will have a smooth, slightly sweet flavor.
- Stir in the seasonings – once the tomatoes are crushed, you will stir in the seasonings. Fresh basil, salt, pepper, and a good-quality olive oil are all you need! The purposed of these ingredients is to enhance the flavor of the tomaotes, not cover it up. The San Marzano tomatoes are so delicious already! If you are making this in the winter and don’t have fresh basil, 1/2 a teaspoon of dried basil or Italian seasoning blend will be fine.
- Use the sauce on pizza – once you stir in the seasonings, the sauce is ready to use on pizza! You will only need about 1/3 cup of sauce per 10-12” pizza. In Italy, they will teach you to avoid over-topping the pizza to prevent it from becoming soggy.
Uses for 5-Minute Pizza Sauce
In addition to using this sauce on pizza, I love to use it in this easy Cauliflower Parmesan, Pizza Baked Gnocchi, and as a dip for cheesy bread, calzones, or stromboli!
This pizza sauce recipe makes a total of 4 cups, so I like to freeze it in 1/2 cup servings in small meal prep containers or in the wells of a muffin tin. If you go the muffin tin route, line the wells of the tin in wax paper so you can pop the disks of sauce out once they are frozen and just place them in layers in a freezer-safe container. Freeze up to 6 months, and thaw the amount you need in the fridge the night before you’d like to use the sauce.
If you love pizza as much as I do and need some inspiration, check out some of my favorite pizzas recipes below!
- Salad Pizza with Strawberries and Spring Veggies
- Kale, Bacon and Butternut Pizza with Hot Honey Drizzle
- BLT Naan Pizza
- Roasted Grape and Chicken Sausage Pizza
- Host a Make Your Own Pizza Party
- BBQ Chicken Peach Pizza
Are you ready to try this 5-Minute Pizza Sauce? I’m so excited for you to try this recipe. Once you get the chance to make it, please let me know how it turns out for you! Leave a comment and rate the recipe below. This will help me with the creation of future recipes! I’d also love to feature your creation in my monthly newsletter, so you can upload a photo to Instagram or Twitter with the tag @sweetcayenne5 to be featured!
5-Minute Pizza Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 (32 ounce) can whole San Marzano tomatoes
- 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, packed
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly-cracked black pepper
- 2 tablespoons good quality extra virgin olive oil (I like California Olive Ranch or a single-olive, single-origin Italian variety like Pruneti Frantoio)
Instructions
- Place the tomatoes and their juices into a large bowl. Wash your hands, then use your fingers to smush the tomatoes into the juices. Smush them into small, 1'' pieces.
- Wash the basil and cut the leaves chiffonade style into thin strips.
- Stir the basil, salt, pepper, and olive oil into the prepare tomatoes.
- Use the sauce right away on pizzas, or freeze in small containers or the wells of a muffin tin to use for up to 6 months.Thaw frozen sauce in the refrigerator the night before you plan to use it.
