Canning pizza sauce with fresh tomatoes is a simple way to have homemade pizza sauce in your pantry. Combine ripe tomatoes, spices and a bit of citric acid or lemon juice and you have a delicious, easy pizza sauce for homemade pizza night.
Before you know it you have homemade pizza sauce with fresh tomatoes!
Tomatoes are one of my favorite summer fruits. Yes, a tomato is a fruit. Oven-roasted tomato soup, canning diced tomatoes, and making tomato paste are all things I make during tomato season.
Jump to:
- ✨ Here is why this recipe is amazing:
- 🥫 Ingredients needed:
- 📝 Ingredient notes:
- 🥣 Helpful Kitchen Tools
- 🔪 How To Make Pizza Sauce From Fresh Tomatoes
- 📷 Best Homemade Pizza Sauce Recipe, photo instructions
- 🫙Canning Supplies:
- 🫙 Pizza Sauce Canning Recipe
- 📝 Frequently asked questions, answers and tips:
- 📄 Related Recipes
- Pizza Sauce with Canning Instructions
- 👩🏻🍳 Sarah Mock
- Comments
✨ Here is why this recipe is amazing:
- Fresh tomatoes are preferred but this pizza sauce recipe is perfect if you want to use up tomatoes you have in the freezer.
- Customize the flavor profile of the sauce by adjusting the spice blend to your tastes.
- Adjust the thickness of the sauce by increasing or decreasing the time the sauce reduces on the stove.
🥫 Ingredients needed:
Traditionally Roma tomatoes, san Marzano tomatoes or another variety of paste tomatoes are the type of tomatoes used to make a pizza sauce from fresh tomatoes due to them having the best flavor. All of these variety of tomatoes are fabulous and I encourage you to use them if you can find them. This year those tomato plants did not make it past the bugs so we went with these fresh red tomatoes that I found at my local farm stand.
Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the recipe at the bottom for quantities.
📝 Ingredient notes:
A basic tomato sauce is just tomatoes, citric acid and a touch of salt. But to add more layers of flavor to your tomato sauce to turn it into a pizza sauce you will want to add seasoning. I have 2 seasoning blends for you to choose from. See the recipe card below for detailed measurements.
Italian Seasoning Blend
- Dried oregano
- Dried basil
- Garlic powder
- Dried thyme
- Crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
Creole Seasoning Blend
- Sweet paprika
- Hot paprika
- Cayenne pepper
- Dried oregano
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Ground black pepper
- Dried thyme
- Celery seed
- Ground white pepper
🥣 Helpful Kitchen Tools
- Food Mill - a food mill is a handy kitchen tool that will help separate out the skins and the seeds from the juices and meaty goodness of the produce.
🔪 How To Make Pizza Sauce From Fresh Tomatoes
- Cut whole tomatoes into quarters and add to a large stainless-steel stock pot bringing the tomatoes to a simmer.
- Bring the tomatoes to a boil and boil for 15 minutes or until the tomatoes are fork-tender.
- Pass the cooked tomatoes through a food mill to remove the skins and seeds.
- Return the tomato puree to the stock pot and add the seasonings, if using.
- Bring to a rolling boil, reduce to medium heat and simmer for 45 minutes or until the pasta sauce has reduced by half.
📷 Best Homemade Pizza Sauce Recipe, photo instructions
1. Wash and cut fresh tomatoes into quarters. Remove any bad spots.
2. Add the chopped tomatoes to a large stockpot or large enamel pot.
3. Cover the tomatoes and heat the tomatoes over high heat.
4. Allow the tomatoes to simmer, stirring occasionally.
5. Simmer for 15 or until the tomatoes have become soft and tender.
6. Prepare a food mill by placing it over a stock pot and using a ladle to transfer the hot tomatoes into the hopper of the food mill.
7. Turn the food mill to remove the skins and seeds.
8. Discard the tomato skins and seeds.
9. Return the pressed tomato pulp and juice back into the stock pot.
10. Add the seasoning blend, if desired.
11. Bring the sauce to a boil, and reduce it to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Allow the sauce to reduce by half. This should take around 45 minutes. Stir in the citric acid or lemon juice and salt, if desired.
12. Once your desired consistency is reached, cool completely and store in an air-tight container. If canning, follow the instructions below.
🫙Canning Supplies:
- Canning Jars - Be sure they are canning jars. I use a 4 ounce Ball canning jar for this recipe. Glass jars do not equal canning jar.
- Lids.- These can not be reused from batch to batch. Get new lids.
- Rings - These are used to keep the lids tight to the jars are they process in the hot water bath.
- Wide-Mouth Funnel - Great way to get your product IN the jar…not on the counter
- Lid Wand - This is essential for safely getting the sterilized lids on the jars without burning your fingertips!
- Ladle - Needed to get your hot recipe, pickling liquid or juice in the jars. (A heat-safe mug can be used in a pinch)
- Clean Cloth - These are used to wipe the rim of the jar before the lid is applied.
- Large Pot - A large pot that can accommodate canning jars PLUS 1-2 inches of water.
- Tongs or Jar Lifters - ESSENTIAL for getting the jars out of the simmering water.
🫙 Pizza Sauce Canning Recipe
- While your sauce is reducing prepare your jars. See my canning 101 post for more canning information.
- Ladle the hot tomato sauce into hot jars, leaving ½ inch of headspace.
- Remove any air bubbles and wipe the rim of the jar.
- Center a new lid on the jar, apply the ring and finger tighten.
- Place the jar in the boiling water bath canner.
- Fill all the mason jars, returning each one to the water bath.
- Process the pint jars for 35 minutes or process quart jars for 40 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Turn off the heat, allow the jars to stand for 5 minutes then remove the jars and allow to cool on a heat-safe surface.
📝 Frequently asked questions, answers and tips:
This recipe calls for reducing the sauce by half but if that is not the consistency of thick sauce you are looking for, just increase the time and reduce the sauce more. I will reduce my sauce by almost ¾ to get the sauce thickness I like for my pizza sauce.
👩🍳 Chef Tip
If you don't have a food mill but still want to have a sauce without skins and seeds in it, you can! Follow my instructions on how to remove the skins and seeds from tomatoes in my canning diced tomato post.
After the seeds and skins are removed, continue with this recipe as written. When you get to the food mill step, use a hand immersion blender or a food processor to puree the cooked tomatoes.
📄 Related Recipes
Pizza Sauce with Canning Instructions
There is more to a recipe than just the recipe card. Frequently Asked Questions within the blog post that you may find helpful. Simply scroll back up to read them!
HELPFUL KITCHEN TOOLS
Ingredients
Tomato Sauce
- 15 pounds Tomatoes (fresh, ripe)
- 1 ½ teaspoon Citric Acid (or lemon juice)
- 1 Tablespoon Salt (Optional)
Italian Seasoning Blend
- 2 tablespoons Oregano (dried)
- 2 tablespoons Dried Basil
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons thyme
- 2 teaspoons Crushed red pepper flakes
Creole Seasoning Blend
- 1 Tablespoon paprika
- 1 Tablespoon Hot Paprika
- 1 Tablespoon cayenne pepper
- 1 Talespoon Oregano
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- 2 teaspoons thyme
- 1 teaspoons celery seeds
- 1 teaspoons white pepper
Instructions
- Wash and cut fresh tomatoes into quarters. Remove any bad spots.
- Add the chopped tomatoes to a large stockpot or large enamel pot.15 pounds Tomatoes
- Cover the tomatoes and heat the tomatoes over high heat.
- Allow the tomatoes to simmer, stirring occasionally.
- Simmer for 15 or until the tomatoes have become soft and tender.
- Prepare a food mill by placing it over a stock pot and using a ladle to transfer the hot tomatoes into the hopper of the food mill.
- Turn the food mill to remove the skins and seeds.
- Discard the tomato skins and seeds.
- Return the pressed tomato pulp and juice back into the stock pot.
- Add the seasoning blend, if desired.2 tablespoons Oregano, 2 tablespoons Dried Basil, 1 tablespoon garlic powder, 2 teaspoons thyme, 2 teaspoons Crushed red pepper flakes, 1 Tablespoon Salt
- Bring the sauce to a boil, and reduce it to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Allow the sauce to reduce by half. This should take around 45 minutes. Stir in the citric acid or lemon juice and salt, if desired.1 ½ teaspoon Citric Acid
- Once your desired consistency is reached, cool completely and store in an air-tight container. If canning, follow the instructions below.
Canning Instructions
- While your sauce is reducing prepare your jars.
- Ladle the hot tomato sauce into hot jars, leaving ½ inch of headspace.
- Remove any air bubbles and wipe the rim of the jar.
- Center a new lid on the jar, apply the ring and finger tighten.
- Place the jar in the boiling water bath canner.
- Fill all the mason jars, returning each one to the water bath.
- Process the pint jars for 35 minutes or process quart jars for 40 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Turn off the heat, allow the jars to stand for 5 minutes then remove the jars and allow to cool on a heat-safe surface.
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclosure
Nutritional facts are estimates and are provided as a courtesy to the reader. Please utilize your own brand nutritional values to double check against our estimates. Nutritional values are calculated via a third party. Changing ingredients, amounts or cooking technique will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.
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👩🏻🍳 Sarah Mock
CEO/Owner/Founder/Culinary Blogger
Sarah Mock is a classically trained Chef and graduate of Johnson & Wales University. A culinary blogger for 13 years Sarah helps the home cook prepare her recipes with professional results.
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