Tomato paste pizza sauce is a great kitchen hack if you need pizza sauce, but don't want to run to the store. It's flavorful, quick, and uses a few basic pantry staples.
When it comes to building out a capsule pantry, tomato paste is an ingredient I always have on hand because of its versatility.
I was recently making homemade pizza and as I was rolling out the pizza dough, I realized I didn't have pizza sauce or even canned tomatoes, so I quickly threw together a tomato paste pizza sauce and it's now my go-to pizza sauce recipe.
Ingredients
- Tomato paste - it's easiest to use tomato paste in a can for this recipe.
- Extra virgin olive oil - this is added to give the sauce a richer flavor.
- Fresh garlic - this gets cooked gently on the stove with the rest of the ingredients for another dimension of flavor.
- Italian seasoning - a blend of dried herbs such as basil, thyme, oregano, rosemary, marjoram, and sage.
- Pinch of sugar (optional) - helps bring out the natural sweetness from the tomatoes in the tomato paste and rounds out the acidity, but can also be left out.
- Kosher salt and black pepper - flavor.
Find the full ingredient list in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
How to Make Tomato Paste Pizza Sauce
1. Add all the ingredients to a saucepan over medium heat (or just under) and whisk until a cohesive sauce has formed.
2. Let it gently simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and use right away or let cool completely and store in a tightly sealed jar in the fridge for up to two weeks or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, tomato sauce is made from pureed, cooked tomatoes that have been strained to remove the seeds and skin. Whereas tomato paste is made by cooking down tomato sauce to reduce the water and then strained until you have a concentrated, thick paste.
I've made this sauce both cooked and uncooked, but the flavor is best when it's been heated for a few minutes.
Let the tomato paste pizza sauce cool completely before transferring to a tightly sealed container. Then store it in the fridge for up to two weeks or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
More Sauce Recipes
Tomato Paste Pizza Sauce
Ingredients
- 6 ounces tomato paste
- ¾ cup water
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt reduce by half if using another kind
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- tiny pinch of sugar (optional)
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients to a saucepan over medium heat (or just under) and whisk until a cohesive sauce has formed.
- Let it gently simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and use right away or let cool completely and store in a tightly sealed jar in the fridge for up to two weeks or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Makes about 1 ½ cups of pizza sauce.
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