Homemade pizza marinara sauce is easy, healthy, and only takes about 15 minutes to whip up! Who knew marinara sauce from scratch was so easy?
I love a good homemade pizza. The sauce, the toppings, all the cheese. Honestly, make your own pizza night is one of my favorite things when I don’t know what else to make for dinner!
But storebought pizza sauce is awful. Why is it so runny and salty? A bad sauce can ruin your homemade pizza. Good pizza sauce makes all the difference!
Because this sauce is so thick, it can also be used in pastas and other dishes as a marinara sauce. It’s a very versatile sauce!
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What does it taste like?
This pizza marinara sauce is slightly sweet and slightly tangy, with tons of flavor from the fresh garlic, red wine, and fresh basil. It’s thick, but still easy to spread over your pizza, making it the perfect sauce for homemade pizza.
Ingredients
Crushed tomatoes – Canned crushed tomatoes work perfectly in this recipe. They’re thick and much easier to work with than fresh tomatoes. Using canned tomatoes instead of fresh speeds this recipe up, but without sacrificing flavor!
Tomato paste – Remember when I said I hate thin pizza sauce? The tomato paste really thickens this pizza marinara sauce up, making it so much better than storebought.
Fresh garlic – I have a confession. I typically buy pre-minced garlic because it’s so much easier to work with when I’m busy. But, you definitely need to the fresh garlic for this recipe because it makes the flavor so much better. I tried this recipe with preminced garlic, it’s definitely not as good. Use fresh garlic!
Olive oil – I normally cook with avocado oil, but olive oil is a must in this recipe. The flavor of olive oil pairs so well with the other flavors in Italian-style dishes. You can use another oil, but it won’t taste quite the same.
Red wine – This is probably my favorite ingredient in this recipe, and not just because I love wine! It adds a deep, bold flavor to the homemade pizza sauce that you can’t replicate with any other ingredients. I use either pinot noir or red blends, they both work great for this pizza sauce.
Dry oregano – This is an essential ingredient in any tomato sauce for pizza, and will add a lot of flavor to this sauce.
Onion powder – I like to use onion powder instead of fresh onions in my homemade pizza sauce because I don’t like chunks of onion in the sauce, and I’m too lazy to puree! Onion powder is a happy medium because it adds the onion flavor and blends perfectly into the sauce.
Salt – This enhances the sweetness and other flavors in the sauce. You don’t need to add very much salt to make a huge difference!
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil on medium heat in a large skillet. Saute the garlic for about 30 seconds, until slightly golden.
- Add the red wine and heat for 1-2 minutes, until reduced by about half.
- Add crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, onion powder, and salt.
- Stir until combined.
- Cover and cook on low for 5-6 minutes.
- After about 5-6 minutes, uncover and stir in the fresh basil. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly before making your pizza!
Tips & FAQ
You can definitely use marinara sauce for homemade pizza. Most people will not be able to tell the difference, especially after you add all of your pizza toppings! This pizza marinara sauce can be used as pizza sauce or as marinara!
Pizza sauce works great on top of chicken, flatbread, in pastas, and even as a dipping sauce!
Yes, you can! Make sure to use wide-mouthed jars, and leave about 2 inches at the top for the pizza sauce to expand in the freezer. If you fill the jars too full, they will break and your pizza sauce will be ruined!
Nutritional Info
This pizza marinara sauce is really low in calories, carbohydrates, and sodium, and is full of flavor without a ton of added preservatives, sugars, oils, and other additives you may find in other pizza sauces.
Compared to other pizza sauces, I think the biggest different here is the sodium level. Most storebought pizza sauce is loaded with sodium, and usually has added sugar, too!
There is minimal sodium in this recipe without any sacrifice of flavor, and the only added sugar here is from the wine, and that’s pretty negligible.
Overall, this is one healthy homemade pizza sauce that you can feel good about feeding to your family!
Total nutritional content per serving is:
- Calories: 38 calories
- Protein: 2 grams
- Sodium: 139 mg
- Carbohydrates: 7 grams
- Fiber: 2 grams
*This nutritional information is an estimate and calculated based on the ingredients used to create the recipe. The nutritional value of your ingredients may differ slightly. Furthermore, this food is not intended to prevent, diagnose, cure, or treat any disease.
Pricing Info
What I paid to make this recipe:
- 2 tsp olive oil: $.15
- 4 fresh garlic cloves: $.10
- ¼ cup red wine: $1.00
- 28 oz canned crushed tomatoes: $.89
- ¼ cup tomato paste: $.23
- 2 tsp dry oregano: $.12
- ½ tsp onion powder: $.01
- ¼ tsp salt: $.01
- 2 tbsp fresh basil: $.35
Total for 32 oz of sauce comes out to be $2.86, or $.24 per serving!
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Recipe
Pizza Marinara Sauce From Scratch
Ingredients
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 4 fresh garlic cloves minced
- ¼ cup red wine
- 28 oz canned crushed tomatoes
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- 2 tsp dry oregano
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp fresh basil minced
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil on medium heat in a large skillet. Saute the garlic for about 30 seconds, until slightly golden.
- Add the red wine and heat for 1-2 minutes, until reduced by about half.
- Add crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, onion powder, and salt. Stir until combined, then cover and cook on low for 5-6 mintes.
- After about 5-6 minutes, uncover and stir in the fresh basil. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly before making your pizza! This makes about 32 oz of sauce, or roughly enough sauce for 12 servings/2 large pizzas.
To Freeze:
- After the sauce is done cooking, allow to cool completely before freezing. Pour into wide-mouth jars, leaving 1-2 inches of room at the top of each jar to allow it to expand while it freezes.
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Upgrade your homemade pizza night with this pizza marinara sauce from scratch! In only 15 minutes, you’ll have the most flavorful, freezer-friendly sauce ever!
xoxo Megan
This recipe was amazing! I made a few changes because I am on a low sodium diet but it made no difference in the taste. Thank you for the recipes for homemade seasonings.
Oh yay!!! I love this pizza sauce so I’m glad you do too! 🙂 I’m happy to help!