Zesty Pizza Sauce

Last Updated on October 9, 2023 by Carne Diem

Sauces, Rubs and Accompaniments

Origin: Italian, European

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We have been making this zesty homemade pizza sauce for years, and it is always our go to pizza sauce for New York style pizza or when making our Wood Fire Pizza Dip. The scratch made pizza sauce is packed with flavor from the herbs and spices and the additional of anchovy paste loads the sauce with umami flavor. Better yet, this easy homemade pizza sauce is ready to use in under 30 minutes. Making pizza sauce from scratch is so easy, and so much better than store bought sauce.

Making the Zesty New York Style Pizza Sauce

To make this easy homemade pizza sauce recipe you will need tomato sauce, grated parmesan cheese, anchovy paste, tomato paste, olive oil, and a variety of herbs and spices. We also make the zesty pizza sauce with wine, which is cooked down to add another layer of flavor.

We make the herbed pizza sauce with basil, oregano, onion and garlic powder, black pepper, crushed red pepper, and parsley. The sauce can be made with dried herbs that you have on hand, but the best pizza sauce uses fresh herbs when you can find them.

Prepare your ingredients

To make the homemade pizza sauce combine all of the herbs and spices in a small bowl.

Measure out your tomato sauce and red wine. Feel free to use your favorite tomato sauce, but our personal favorite is Hunt's with basil, garlic, and oregano. For the red wine for the pizza sauce, again use a red wine that you like. When cooking with wine, always choose a wine that you also enjoy drinking. If you do not like how it tastes when drinking it, you will not like cooking with it. Our personal favorite wine for the zesty pizza sauce in a nice Chianti or a Cabernet Sauvignon.

If desired, you may omit the wine from the pizza sauce. When omitting the wine, also omit the tomato paste from the homemade sauce.

For more great recipes to cook with wine try out some of our favorites like our Malbec Sauce For Steak, Red Wine Wassail Recipe, or Shrimp Mozambique: Spicy Portuguese Shrimp.

Simmer the homemade sauce

Combine all of the sauce ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Simmer the pizza sauce for 20 minutes, until most of the wine has cooked off, and the herbed pizza sauce has thickened. Stir frequently to keep the sauce from burning.

Using the Zesty Sauce for Pizza

Your homemade New York Style Pizza sauce is now ready to use along with your favorite pizza recipe. While this sauce is formulated for New York Style pizza, it also works well of thin crust or wood fire pizza.

The sauce can be used immediately while warm or refrigerated for up to 3 days if you want to make the sauce ahead of time. If using refrigerated sauce, be sure to warm the sauce before applying to the pizza.

This zesty New York Style Pizza Sauce recipe should make enough sauce for a roughly 16-inch pizza or 2 small pizzas. The recipe is easily doubled if you are making more pizzas.

For more of our great pizza recipes to make in a pizza oven like an Ooni, on a grill or smoker, or even in your home oven, be sure to check out some of our favorites:

• Chicago Tavern Style Pizza
• Detroit Style Pizza on Your BBQ Grill
• Pizza Oven Sausage and Pepperoni Stromboli
• Traditional Turkish Pide: Turkish Flatbread Pizza
• Skullzone (Halloween Pizza Stuffed Skulls)
• Pequod's Inspired Cast Iron Pizza
• Best Sicilian Style Pizza

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