This recipe is an ultimate household favorite I am finally sharing!  If you’re like us, you love pizza.  Who doesn’t anyway, right?  Here in the JBS kitchen we love to make our own from scratch on the regular.  This has been a tradition going on 8 years and we are ready to share our perfect pizza sauce from scratch.

When we started researching recipes and methods for perfect homemade pizza, we started searching for the most authentic New York pizza recipes.  We found this recipe on Pinterest and it was a sheer winner.  The recipe we are bringing you today is our own adaptation based on that original pin.  Few changes were made, and most were for convenience sake, so credit to Best Recipes Evar for getting us on the right path.

Whatever your level of experience making pizza sauce, or even just regular pasta sauce from scratch, don’t be intimidated by it.  I was intimidated for far too long, and felt foolish for missing out once I finally did it.  It doesn’t take any crazy tools, time, or difficult ingredients to make an outstanding sauce from scratch.  This recipe is simplified even more to get the JBS Super Simple stamp of approval, so you can do it too!

Time to make this delicious sauce!

Perfect Pizza Sauce From Scratch

• 1 26 ounce box of crushed tomatoes–Pomi is a quality boxed brand we trust, try it!
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed or finely grated to equal about 3 teaspoons
• 1 medium yellow onion peeled and cut in half, or 1 large shallot cut in half
• 1 bunch fresh basil–should be the whole package from the refrigerated salad section of your grocery store, or if you grow your own like us, about 14 large leaves
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• salt to taste

In a large, deep skillet, add olive oil and butter.  Melt together over medium heat.

Add all spices and garlic.  Cook until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes.  Your house will have never smelled better!  Stir regularly since garlic burns quickly.

Pour in tomatoes.  Stir together.  Once the tomatoes, butter, oil, and seasonings are well mixed, take your onion halves and basil and nestle them right into the sauce.

Bring to a simmer.  Reduce heat to keep at a low simmer.  Continue simmering, stirring occasionally until reduced by about half.  This can take up to an hour, but it has reduced in as quickly as 30 minutes for me.  Be careful not to rush this step though; be patient.  Remove basil and onion.  If desired, blend onion in a blender until smooth and add back to the sauce.  We recently tried blending the onion and adding them back to the sauce, and we will never toss these delicious onions again!

(Peek a glimpse at the onion in the corner of the picture below before removing and blending.  If you don’t blend, you can save and add as a topping even, my husband has done just this!)

Pizza, Assemble!

This sauce recipe should cover about 2 homemade 16-inch pizzas, depending on how saucy you like it.  With perfect pizza sauce from scratch, you have the perfect base for the rest of your homemade pizza.  We have still not found the perfect crust from scratch according to our taste, but we will keep trying.  Until then, we do often use premade crusts from the store.  Combining perfect pizza sauce from scratch really elevates even a store-bought crust.  So don’t sell your pizza game short even if you buy the crust, make this delish sauce, you, your taste buds, and your fam will be glad you did!

For the toppings, go with whatever you like!  That’s the fun of making pizza at home, you have complete control over what, how much, and where all your fave toppings go.  For the cheese, we have found that low-moisture, high-quality, shredded mozzarella lends to the perfect melt.  Cheaper brands, whole mozzarella balls, or packages that don’t say low-moisture will make for a soggy pizza, so steer clear of them.  A couple dabs of fresh mozzarella as a topping are great, but not for whole coverage at home.

Perfect Pizza Sauce From Scratch Recipe

• 1 26 ounce box of crushed tomatoes
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed or finely grated
• 1 medium yellow onion or 1 large shallot cut in half
• 1 bunch fresh basil
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• salt to taste

Cooking Directions

In a large, deep skillet, add olive oil and butter.  Melt together over medium heat. Add all spices and garlic.  Cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes.  Stir regularly since garlic burns quickly.  Pour in tomatoes.  Stir together.  Once the tomatoes, butter, oil, and seasonings are well mixed, take your onion halves and basil and nestle them right into the sauce.  Bring to a simmer.  Reduce heat to keep at a low simmer.  Continue simmering, stirring occasionally until reduced by about half.  This can take up to an hour, but it’s reduced in as quickly as 30 minutes for me.  Be careful not to rush this step.  Remove basil and onion.  Basil can be tossed.  If desired, blend onion in a blender until smooth and add back to the sauce.

Enjoy!

And there it is!  Perfect pizza sauce from scratch to make your own pizza creation from home!  This recipe is so delicious we even had homemade pizza with everything from scratch as Christmas dinner…several times.  Sure traditional meals for major holidays are good, but sometimes you can’t beat a perfect pizza.

Can you tell what one favorite pizza topping is in this house?  Yup!  Black olives!  Making pizza at home lets the kiddos have some fun with “olive fingers.”  That is always an extra good time for them.  What are your favorite pizza toppings?

For more family friendly recipes, be sure to check out our Recipes tag!