Simple, Italian style pizza sauce has a light texture with chunks of bright tomatoes and a very short ingredient list that really lets each one shine. Paired with our Neapolitan Style Pizza Dough, found here, it’s perfect for re-creating your favorite brick-oven restaurant pizzas at home. In Naples, this style of pizza is known for its simplicity- a great dough, simple sauce, fresh mozzarella and basil with a drizzle of olive oil. Use this sauce for any of your pizza creations! It’s worth splurging for Italian San Marzano tomatoes and a good olive oil here, when they are the star of the show! This simple, delicious sauce only takes about 15 minutes start to finish. If you’re looking for a great American style pizza sauce, which is thicker, smoother, and sweeter, we have a great recipe for that, too!
Ingredient Notes
- San Marzano Tomatoes – I recommend using San Marzano tomatoes for this recipe since the canned tomatoes are really THE main ingredient here with very little else, added. These Italian tomatoes have amazing, rich flavor, and can be found next to the other canned tomatoes in most grocery stores. I also love to use these for my Easy Pressure Cooker Tomato Soup!
- Olive Oil – Use a good quality, flavorful extra virgin olive oil here.
- Fresh Garlic
- Dry Oregano
- Kosher Salt and Black Pepper
How to Make a Simple Neapolitan Pizza Sauce
- Warm Your Garlic: Start by adding a generous amount of a good olive oil into a small pot. If you try and skip the olive oil (trying to lower the fat, or any other reason) you will just end up with a pot of boiled tomatoes. The oil here helps form the sauce so it’s important for both flavor and texture. If you want to really be quick, you can literally just dump all the ingredients in the post and bring it to a simmer. I do however like to start by putting my garlic and olive oil in the pot first, over gentle heat, to release some flavor.
- Crush the Tomatoes: This is super simple. With clean hands, grab the whole tomatoes from your can and simply crush them over your pot as you drop them in. Discard any basil leaves you may come across in the can as well as any especially hard cores. Add some dry oregano to the pot, and some salt and pepper and then bring it to a simmer.
- Simmer the Sauce for 10-15 Minutes: Traditional Italian sauce isn’t simmered, let’s just get that out into the open. But I like to cook mine! As the sauce simmers, some of the liquid evaporates and it will become slightly thickened. It will never be the texture of American style pizza sauce . This is a looser, chunkier sauce. After it’s done simmering you can use it immediately, or simply store in the fridge until you’re ready to make pizza.
Storage and Other Tips
- Store finished sauce in an airtight container in the fridge and use within one week.
- If your family doesn’t like tomato chunks, you can blend this sauce. Just be aware it is a thinner style sauce. You may want to try this homemade pizza sauce that’s a bit thicker and has no tomato pieces.
Frequently Asked Questions
You sure can. I recommend freezing smaller portions in a silicone muffin tray so you can thaw just what you need. Once frozen, be sure to remove as much air as possible from your storage bag to prevent freezer burn and use sauce within 6-8 weeks.
Feel free to add fresh herbs to this sauce, if you have some. It would be delicious with fresh basil or oregano.
Simple Neapolitan Style Pizza Sauce
Ingredients
- 32 oz can San Marzano tomatoes
- 3 tablespoons good olive oil
- 1 large garlic clove pressed or very finely minced
- 1 teaspoon dry oregano
- 3-4 cracks freshly ground black pepper
- Kosher salt to taste usually about 1 teaspoon
Instructions
- Set a medium sized sauce pan over low-medium heat. Add olive oil and garlic and let warm. You don’t want to fry your garlic so it turns brown or crispy, simply warming in the oil for a minute helps release the flavors. Let it slightly bubble for about 30 seconds.
- Open your can of tomatoes and with clean hands, crush the individual tomatoes with your hands into the pot, discarding any basil leaves and hard tomato cores. Discard juice left in can (or transfer juice to a container and save in fridge or freezer for another purpose, like adding to a soup!)
- Add oregano, pepper, and about 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt. Bring sauce to a simmer and let cook for 10-15 minutes, smashing any larger tomato chunks with your spatula as it cooks. Season with additional salt to taste.
Questions & Reviews
I’ve tried this sauce twice now and both times it’s been a big hit. It really does come down to the simple, quality ingredients.
This is the best pizza sauce we’ve ever made! So simple but also so full of depth!
This is great pizza sauce. I have two obnoxiously difficult eaters. Even they love it. It tastes fresh. It isn’t sweet. It isn’t bland. So, so good. We’ve made this sauce 5 times, and get at least two “pizza nights” out of a batch, for our family of 4. I typically make 5-6 12″ pizzas.
I was told by my partner that this was the best pizza sauce he’s ever had. I even made him clarify for restaurants. He said it beat EVERYTHING. This is my go-to from NOW ON!! Excellent recipe!
best compliment ever!
I almost never write comments on anything, but I have to tell you that this is my new favorite pizza sauce. I looooove that it’s not sweet! It really lets the tomatoes shine through and is perfect for Margherita pizza with just this sauce, fresh mozzarella and fresh basil leaves. The flavor is so amazing, my husband commented on how good the sauce was and said it “made the pizza’”. Thank you for this easy delicious recipe.