Ever wondered how to make flavorful pizza sauce from scratch using fresh or frozen tomatoes? This easy, pantry-friendly canned pizza sauce recipe walks you through making a perfect sauce to water-bath can or freeze. The best trick: use frozen tomatoes to cut down on cooking time and let you make sauce any time of year. Say goodbye to store-bought cans and hello to a reliable homemade recipe for your next pizza night.
✩ What readers are saying…
“This is the best…..the method and the recipe!!! I am so excited to have my own pizza sauce…It is so thick and beautiful.” -Yvonne
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This seasoned canned pizza sauce is one of my canning staples alongside my favorite salsa, roasted tomato sauce, and tomato chutney. During tomato season I make generous batches of these basics so we rarely need store-bought tomato products the rest of the year.
One season I couldn’t keep up with the tomatoes, so I froze many bags of paste tomatoes (with a few heirlooms mixed in) and made the pizza sauce later. The result: the quickest, tastiest pizza sauce I’ve made. Since then I often freeze tomatoes a day or two before processing so the cooking-down step is much faster. You can make this with fresh tomatoes — directions are provided — but frozen tomatoes are my preference for speed.
Recipe Ingredients
Besides tomatoes you’ll need the following ingredients:
Ingredient Notes
- Oil: Olive oil is traditional and preferred, but you can substitute avocado or another neutral oil. The small amount used here is safe for canning when following the tested recipe.
- Fresh onions and garlic: For shelf-stable canning, follow the exact amounts in the recipe. Do not increase fresh garlic, onions, or fresh herbs when canning; if you wish to add more, freeze the sauce instead.
- Salt: Use canning salt or pure sea salt without additives.
Origin and Safety of this Canned Pizza Sauce Recipe
This recipe is adapted from the Ball Blue Book’s Seasoned Tomato Sauce, adjusted for pizza flavors and portioned to make canning practical. It’s a tested base that safely allows the small amounts of fresh onion, garlic, and oil included. You may reduce those ingredients but do not increase them if you plan to water-bath can for shelf stability. If you prefer to use more fresh ingredients, freeze the sauce instead.
Canned Pizza Sauce Recipe: Step-by-Step
Full, specific quantities and step-by-step instructions are in the recipe card below. Here are helpful tips for each major step.
Step 1: Thaw (if needed), Puree and Strain Tomatoes
To Use Frozen Tomatoes
- Thaw tomatoes overnight in a bowl or sink in case bags leak. A quick method is placing a partially filled bag in hot tap water briefly to loosen skins.
- Drain any accumulated clear juice by opening a corner of the bag and pouring it off.
- Run the tomatoes through a food mill, strainer, or sauce maker to remove seeds and skins and obtain a smooth puree.
To Use Fresh Tomatoes
- Wash, core, and halve tomatoes.
- Heat them to a boil in a large stockpot, then remove from heat.
- Strain through a food mill while warm to separate skins and seeds and capture the puree.
Three Ways to Strain Tomatoes for Sauce
- Manual Food Strainer (Victorio-style): Efficient when working with warm tomatoes; some models struggle with very cold pulp unless warmed slightly.
- Tripod/Cone Food Mill (Chinois): A reliable vintage-style tool that works well but may require more effort and yields slightly less pulp than a powered unit.
- Electric Sauce Maker: Fastest and easiest option. A good electric strainer handles fresh or frozen fruit without preheating and yields quick, smooth puree.
TIP: Use the remaining pulp. Spread tomato pulp thinly on dehydrator trays and dry at low heat until fully crisp. Break into crumbs in a blender and store in a jar to use as a natural thickener and flavor boost for soups, chilis, and sauces.
Step 2: Make Pizza Sauce
- Sauté chopped onion and minced garlic in olive oil until softened, about 5–10 minutes. Add the tomato puree and the dried seasonings (basil, oregano, thyme, pepper, sugar/honey, and salt).
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered about 30 minutes. Use an immersion blender or work in batches in a regular blender to make the sauce smooth.
- Return to a boil, then reduce to low and simmer until the sauce thickens to your desired consistency. This can take 1–2 hours depending on whether you started with frozen or fresh tomatoes and how juicy the tomatoes were.
TIP: Sauce taking a long time to thicken? Fresh, slicing, or heirloom tomatoes can be much juicier than paste types, causing longer reduction times. If you poured off thawing juices from frozen tomatoes, that also speeds drying down. Keep simmering until the sauce reduces by about one-quarter to one-third or reaches the texture you prefer.
Step 3: Water Bath Can the Sauce (or Freeze)
You can freeze the sauce for up to a year or water-bath can it for shelf stability.
- Add bottled lemon juice or citric acid to each clean, warm jar (measurements in the recipe card), fill jars leaving 1/2-inch headspace, wipe rims, and attach lids.
- Process pints and half-pints for 35 minutes in a boiling-water canner.
- Remove jars to a towel-lined surface and let sit undisturbed for 24 hours before checking seals and storing in a cool, dark place.
TIP: Half-pint (8-ounce) or 12-ounce jars are convenient sizes for pizza. Twelve-ounce jars are ideal but less commonly available; use what you have. Full pints may be too much for a single pizza unless you make multiple pizzas at once.
How much pizza sauce to make for a year?
I aim for about 20–24 jars in various sizes to last a year, since we make homemade pizza a couple times a month and occasionally use pesto instead of tomato sauce. This sauce is also great in other Italian dishes, so it gets used beyond pizza.
Reader Raves
“I just used your recipe earlier this week & I must say kudos and thanks to you! It used up all the tomatoes from my garden perfectly and your freezer method was fabulous…” -Nicole
“This is an incredible recipe. We have our jars processing in the water bath now…Yummy!!!” -Roberta
“Thank you for the great recipe! Mine is simmering down now and smells awesome…I’m new to this canning thing so I get a little nervous but your post really was great in explaining everything.” -Susan
“This was freakin fantastic. I started with a half batch and once I tasted I knew I’d have to do more.” -Kat
I hope you enjoy this canned pizza sauce recipe — if you try it, leave a rating so others know how it turned out for you.
Easy Canned Pizza Sauce Recipe With Frozen or Fresh Tomatoes
Equipment
- Sauce maker or food sieve
- 12-quart or large stock pot
- Water bath canner and supplies (if canning)
- Canning jars and lids (if canning) or freezer containers (if freezing)
Ingredients
- 22 pounds tomatoes (fresh or whole frozen)
- 3 cups chopped onions
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons dried basil
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- 1/2–1 tablespoon black pepper (to taste)
- 1 tablespoon sugar or honey (or to taste)
- 2 tablespoons salt (canning or pure sea salt)
- 1–2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
- Acid for canning: Bottled lemon juice or citric acid — 1 tablespoon lemon juice OR 1/4 teaspoon citric acid per pint or 12-oz jar; 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice OR 1/8 teaspoon citric acid per half-pint.
Instructions
Prepare tomato puree from frozen tomatoes:
- (If frozen were cleaned and cored before freezing) Thaw 24 hours, then drain accumulated juices.
- Run thawed tomatoes through a strainer or food mill to remove seeds and skins and collect the puree.
Prepare tomato puree from fresh tomatoes:
- Wash, core, and halve tomatoes. Heat to boiling, then remove from heat.
- Put through a strainer or food mill while warm to remove skins and seeds.
Make the pizza sauce:
- In a 12-quart or larger stockpot, cook onions and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until softened, 5–10 minutes. Add tomato puree and dried seasonings (basil through pepper flakes). Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer about 30 minutes, uncovered. Blend to a smooth consistency with an immersion blender or in batches in a blender.
- Return to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered until sauce reaches desired thickness (reduced by about 1/4–1/3). Stir occasionally to prevent sticking and scorching. This typically takes 1–2 hours, depending on tomato type and starting temperature.
Water-Bath Can:
- Add the measured lemon juice or citric acid to each clean, warm jar. Fill jars with hot sauce leaving 1/2-inch headspace; wipe rims, apply lids and rings fingertip-tight. Place jars on the canner rack as you fill them.
- Process pints and half-pints in a boiling-water canner for 35 minutes.
- Remove jars to a towel-lined surface and let sit undisturbed for 24 hours before checking seals, labeling, and storing in a cool, dark place.
Notes
Adaptation credit: Recipe adapted from Ball Blue Book’s Seasoned Tomato Sauce; adaptations keep preserved ingredient ratios intact while adjusting seasonings and methods.
High altitude: If you are above 1,000 feet elevation, adjust processing times per a reliable canning guide for high-altitude adjustments.
Nutrition
| Calories: 46 kcal
| Carbs: 8.2 g
| Protein: 1.7 g
Your Questions Answered
Yes. Halve all ingredient measurements exactly when scaling down.
No for canning: fresh herbs are lower in acid and can affect safe canning ratios. Use dried herbs for canned sauce; fresh herbs can be added if you plan to freeze the sauce.
The 22 pounds refers to the total weight of tomatoes fresh or frozen before any draining or processing.
There are differing opinions. This recipe has long been prepared by draining thawed juices and adding citric acid to jars before processing. If you are concerned, do not drain and allow additional reduction time, or freeze instead of canning. Always follow practices that make you comfortable and safe.
No. Adding thickeners like tomato paste before processing changes density and has not been tested for safety. Instead, cook the sauce down longer to thicken.
Yes, if the canned product contains only tomatoes. A 14.5-ounce can is roughly equal to 1 pound of tomatoes, so adjust quantities accordingly.
It varies by strainer type and tomato variety, but roughly 17–18 cups of puree will usually reduce to the 14–15 cups needed for the 7–8 pint yield.
More Easy Canned Tomato Recipes
- Water-Bath Safe Canned Roasted Tomato Sauce
- Addictive Tomato Chutney
- Nice and Thick Salsa for Canning
This recipe post was updated from its original 2014 publication.
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