This best pizza sauce recipe is straightforward once you have got the technique down.
A good pizza sauce is simple, quick, and transforms a pizza. The key principle of Neapolitan pizza sauce is that it’s not cooked before going on the pizza – it’s a raw crushed tomato sauce that cooks in 90 seconds inside the oven. Cooking it beforehand concentrates it too much and removes the fresh, bright flavour that makes it work.
The Classic Neapolitan Pizza Sauce
Ingredients (enough for 4 pizzas)
- 1 x 400g tin of good quality San Marzano tomatoes (or best quality whole plum tomatoes you can find)
- 1/2 tsp fine salt
- A few fresh basil leaves (optional, added at the end)
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (optional)
Method
Open the tin and pour the tomatoes into a bowl. Crush them by hand – squeeze each tomato to break it down into a chunky pulp. Remove any tough core pieces or stringy bits. Add the salt, mix, and taste. The sauce should be bright, sweet-acidic, and lightly seasoned. That’s it.
Don’t blend it to a smooth paste – the slightly chunky texture spreads better and doesn’t make the dough soggy. Don’t cook it. Don’t add garlic, herbs, or anything else to the base sauce. The simplicity is the point; the toppings and the oven do the rest.
Why San Marzano Tomatoes?
Authentic San Marzano tomatoes (DOP certified, grown in the volcanic soil near Naples) have lower acidity, higher sugar content, and fewer seeds than standard plum tomatoes. They produce a sweeter, more balanced sauce that doesn’t need added sugar to compensate for excess acidity.
If you can’t find genuine DOP San Marzanos, use the best quality whole plum tomatoes you can find. Avoid chopped tomatoes for pizza sauce – they have added calcium chloride that affects the texture. Whole, hand-crushed every time.
How Much Sauce to Use
Less than you think. For a 12-inch Neapolitan pizza, use 80-100g of sauce (roughly 3-4 tablespoons). Spread it in a circular motion from the centre outward, leaving 2cm of crust at the edge untouched. Too much sauce makes the centre wet and prevents the base from cooking through properly.
Variations
Garlic Tomato Sauce
Add one small clove of finely grated garlic to the crushed tomatoes. This is more common in Roman-style pizza than Neapolitan, but works well on all pizza styles.
Spicy Arrabbiata
Add a generous pinch of dried chilli flakes (or fresh red chilli, finely chopped) to the base sauce. Good on a meat pizza or with a scattering of nduja.
White Pizza (No Sauce)
Skip the tomato entirely for a white pizza. Use a base of ricotta (thinned slightly with olive oil and salt), or just a drizzle of olive oil with toppings directly on the dough. White pizzas work well with mushrooms, truffle, potato, or prosciutto cotto.
Cooked Sauce (for deeper flavour)
If you prefer a richer, more cooked tomato flavour, simmer the crushed tomatoes with a tablespoon of olive oil, a clove of garlic, and a pinch of sugar for 20-25 minutes until thickened. Use this for thicker-crust pizzas or for Detroit-style where the sauce goes on top of the cheese. It’s not traditional for Neapolitan but delicious in different contexts.
Storage
Raw crushed tomato sauce keeps in the fridge for 4-5 days in an airtight container. Make a batch at the start of the week and it’s ready for multiple pizza sessions. It also freezes well for up to 3 months – freeze in ice cube trays or small containers sized for one or two pizzas at a time.
The best pizza sauce is made with great tomatoes and very little else. Resist the urge to add more ingredients – the restraint is what makes Neapolitan pizza sauce taste so clean and bright once it’s cooked at 500°C in a good pizza oven.
