We just love making cauliflower crust pizzas and loading them with our own unique toppings. The sauce can be quite a conundrum though….most brands contain soybean or canola oil! Yuck!
We had an abundance of tomatoes this year, so I decided to forego plain old tomato sauce or sun-dried tomatoes and use them to make homemade pizza sauce that is healthy for my family. Let me tell you, as I was developing this recipe, I was so obsessed with tasting it that there might be a chance that I eat some as soup this winter. It’s that tasty!
Homemade Pizza Sauce (to freeze)
When you have an abundance of tomatoes, make homemade tomato sauce! It's perfect for pizza, pasta, and even soup.
Ingredients
- 20 large tomatoes, chopped
- 2 organic bell peppers, chopped
- 2 large heads of garlic, peeled and chopped
- 2 onions, peeled and diced
- 1 bunch basil, de-stemmed and finely chopped
- 4 cans organic tomato paste
- 2 Tbsp paprika
- 2 Tbsp kelp granules (optional)
- 2 Tbsp coconut sugar
- Sea salt, to taste
- Black pepper, to taste
Instructions
1. Wash and chop all of the vegetables and add them to a large stockpot.
2. Cook over medium-high heat until it starts to bubble.
3. Add in spices, stir and turn down to low heat.
4. Cover pot and let it simmer for 3 hours.
5. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
6. Add in the tomato paste.
7. Using an immersion blender, puree the sauce right in the stockpot until smooth.
8. Ladle into clean 1/2 pint canning jars, leaving 1" headroom to allow for expansion if you plan to freeze the sauce.
9. Cool completely and stack upright in the freezer (don't forget to label and date the jars!).
10. Lasts up to 1 week in the fridge and up to 1 year (or more) in the freezer.
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70 Replies to “Homemade Pizza Sauce (to freeze)”
I love freezing sauce! What a good idea to add coconut sugar. ~ Ashlee @ thecrunchymoose.blogspot.com
You can cut the cooking time down simply by first putting the tomatoes through the blender. Then putting them in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning the tomato pulp will float to the top. I use a turkey baster to suck most of the tomato water out. Then add the remaining ingredients and heat thru, cook and can or freeze. Save the tomato water for cooking and add flavor and nutrients!
Great idea Tammy! Thanks for the tips 🙂
Hi Kate, this pizza sauce looks great! I’m looking for a sauce that can be use for both pasta and pizza. Would you recommend using this one for pasta/spaghetti as well?
Merlyn, definitely works for pasta. It even works good as a soup!
hi kate…..plan on making this today…are you single?
So pinning this to my canning board. Followed you here from the HomeAcre Hop, would love for to share on Real Food Fridays.
https://yourlife7.blogspot.com/2013/10/real-food-fridays-9-link-up.html
can you process for 25 min. to seal and further cook? Then they won’t have to go in freezer!!
Yes, you can also can them using a water bath. I was just too lazy to dig out my canning equipment. We have three freezers!
Can you do this in the crock pot?
Definitely! I love my crock pot.
Yum! Thanks for sharing on The HomeAcre Hop!
What is the point of the kelp granules? I’ve never heard of them and am curious as to whether they are necessary.
Laura, kelp granules are great source of minerals and are especially good for thyroid health. I add them to a ton of the foods that I cook! But again, they are entirely optional 🙂
Hey, just curious…what size cans of tomato paste? This looks like a great recipe to try and I love canning tomato sauces! I've done a ton of different marinaras and salsas already.
The small cans, I think they are 4 ounce
This looks really great, but is there a reason for the coconut sugar? I'm allergic to coconut. Is it bitter without? Our tomatoes have a natural sweetness to them already. Also I would probably hotwater bath these, will the kelp reduce the amount of acid? I add lemon juice to the jars when canning to increase it. Thanks!
You can certainly omit the coconut sugar. It will not be bitter without it. I have just found that pizza sauce is a little sweeter than traditional tomato sauce. So, we add the sweet and it tastes perfect as pizza sauce! 🙂
I also processed this using the canning method. Not putting it in the freezer.
Yeah the canning method makes it last longer. I just didn’t have time to do the whole canning thing this year so I froze them. Good enough for me 🙂
Did you peel the tomatoes before chopping/cooking them?
No I did not peel them
What size canning jars? One spot says 1/2 pint and the other says pint. I’m looking forward to trying this!
Ooh, good catch. I do half pints. Its a better serving size when pulling them out of the freezer. I updated the post. Thanks! I hope you like it 🙂
i have a question, the jars don’t bust being placed in the freezer? I would be afraid the glass would shatter. Thanks in advanced. I want to try this but thinking I should use my Tupperware instead. Thoughts?
Dawn, you need to leave 1″ of headroom from the top of the jar to allow for expansion. I have frozen stuff in jars hundreds of times. Only had a few break, when I first started doing it and did not leave enough room. Works great! Your tupperware would work too, but it might stain the tupperware pink.
Sounds like a good recipe! oIf you didn’t want to do the kelp, would you use salt in its place? Why kelp, for flavor or iodine? Or perhaps both?
Curious,
Thanks,
Donna
Hey Donna,
It is basically there for added nutrition. It does lend a little flavor, but can certainly be omitted.
I am currently making a double batch of this recipe, but even after letting the sauce simmer for 3 hours, it seems pretty watery. Any suggestions?
Thanks!
Some tomatoes are going to have more water content. Just keep cooking it until you get the thickness that you desire 🙂
You mentioned that you did not peel the tomatoes. I thought you were always supposed to blanch and peel tomatoes when canning {I’m still new to this 🙂 }. I hate blanching and peeling tomatoes, but if you say you just chop and throw in, I’m happy!
I also hate blanching and peeling, so I decided not to do it with this recipe. 🙂
Would you have an approximate idea of how many tomatoes you used by weight? For some reason I continue to be unable to grow big tomatoes but my cherry tomatoes are exploding and I’d love to make some pizza sauce to freeze, ESPECIALLY one that does not involve peeling all those little boogers. Thank you!!
I am not sure, so I googled it. Here is what I found: 1 medium tomato weight 5 to 6 ounces and equals about 3/4 cup. 1 large tomato weighs 7 or more ounces and equals about 1 1/4 cups. 2 1/2 pounds fresh tomatoes = 3 cups chopped and drained fresh tomatoes = 2 1/2 cups seeded, chopped cooked tomatoes. 1 pound fresh tomatoes = 3 cups pureed tomatoes.
Thank you! Lol, Google, what a concept. 😉 I am normally much better about doing that myself, not sure why it escaped me this time!
I learned that a pint is a pound the world around. So 8 cups x 8 oz is 64 oz. Hence 16 oz is a pound or 4 pints is 64 oz. Or 4 pounds.Loretta
So like 8.75 pounds of fresh tomatoes for this recipe?
your instructions don’t mention when to add the paste.
Good catch Stacey, thanks for the heads up! I edited the recipe. 🙂
What if you accidentally add the paste along with the veggies? Will it make a huge impact to the tase?
No it should be fine. The sauce might be a little bit less thick though
Would be nice if you had a print friendly version. I clicked on your print button and it took up 6 pages with all the photos. I could have written it faster,
At the top when you are going to print, if you decrease the photos from 100% to 0% the photos disappear. Sorry about that.
I learned that a pint is a pound the world around. So 8 cups x 8 oz is 64 oz. Hence 16 oz is a pound or 4 pints is 64 oz. Or 4 pounds.Loretta
Hi! Could you possible make this with canned diced tomatoes? If so,
How many cans? Thank you.
Followed the recipe with San Marzano tomatoes fresh from the garden. Sauce is very thick before tomato paste. What kind of tomatoes did you use?
A variety of different tomatoes. Mostly beefsteak
I just finished this recipe and used half pints. (I’d agree it is a good size for Pizza sauce) however we have maybe a little less than half the batch left after filling 12 half pint jars, so I’m wondering if it’s a 20 half pint batch (and therefore maybe the 10 listed at the top of the recipe is 10 for a Pint?) We have a few Quart jars we are doing to fill with the rest of this batch, but I thought I’d add that question/comment.
I also used regular sugar instead of coconut sugar as that’s what I had on hand. I started with half the amount as I’m trying to minimize my sugar. My husband kidded me though if I was going to eat the whole batch before any of it made it into jars. Lol.