How to Make Pizza Sauce with Tinned San Marzano Tomatoes

Tinned San Marzano tomatoes, crushed by hand and seasoned simply, make a fresher, brighter pizza sauce than anything simmered on the hob, and it takes ten minutes to put together. It is the sauce we make at home, built around a good tin of San Marzano tomatoes and fresh basil. There is nothing to cook, and one bowl to wash up.

Ingredients

Quantities are for one 400g tin. The garlic butter is optional, and it is made by taste rather than by weight.

For the Sauce

For the Garlic Butter (Optional)

Method

1. Crush the Tomatoes by Hand

Tip the whole tin into a bowl and squash each tomato between your fingers. As you go, pull out any loose skin, the hard pale core at the stem end and the small eye where the stem was attached. We remove them because the skin turns stringy on a pizza and the core stays tough after the rest of the tomato has broken down.

2. Season the Sauce

Stir in the salt, pepper and torn basil. Taste before you add any sugar. Tins vary in sweetness from one to the next, so add a small pinch at a time and only if the sauce tastes sharp.

3. Let It Rest

Cover the bowl and leave it in the fridge until you are ready to build the pizza. Even 10 to 15 minutes gives the flavours time to settle, and overnight is better (see below).

4. Make the Garlic Butter

Mix the salted butter with the olive oil, then stir through the oregano, sea salt and garlic. Start light, taste it and add more of whatever it is short of.

5. Spread and Bake

Spread the sauce over the dough in a thin layer. Top the pizza, bake it, and finish with the garlic butter if you are using it.

Getting It Right

Crush the tomatoes by hand and keep the blender in the cupboard. Blending can break up the seeds and turn the sauce bitter, and hands leave you with a better texture as well.

Go easy on the amount. A raw sauce is concentrated, and a thick layer leaves the base soggy before it has had the chance to crisp. Spread it thinly right to the edge, or leave a generous border if you want a puffed, airy crust.

Use the garlic butter sparingly too. Butter does not evaporate the way water does, so too much pooled on top can leave the base greasy and soft. A thin, even drizzle over the whole pizza before it goes in is enough, and brushing it onto the crusts works well, either instead or as well. Brush them straight out of the oven while they are hot enough to soak it up.

Making It Ahead

We find the sauce tastes better when it is made the day before and left covered in the fridge overnight. The salt has time to draw some moisture from the tomatoes and the basil flavours the whole bowl, which is something a sauce mixed twenty minutes before baking does not manage. It also takes one job off pizza night.

Why We Leave the Sauce Raw

Cooking a pizza sauce first means cooking the tomatoes twice, and the second cooking in a hot oven is enough by itself. In our experience a raw sauce keeps the tomatoes tasting like tomatoes, where a reduced one goes muddier and sweeter than you wanted.

What to Serve It On

This sauce needs a good base. Our guide to making pizza dough for a wood-fired oven covers it from mix to bake, and a stackable dough box keeps the dough proofing in the fridge until you are ready. A pizza peel makes getting the finished pizza in and out of a hot oven much easier.

Shop San Marzano Tomatoes Shop the Dough Box Shop the Pizza Peel

Common Questions

Do I need to cook pizza sauce first?

No. The sauce cooks on the pizza in the oven, so a raw sauce of crushed tomatoes, salt, pepper and basil is all you need.

Can I use a blender?

We would not. Blending can break up the seeds and make the sauce bitter, and crushing by hand takes a couple of minutes.

Can I make the sauce in advance?

Yes. Make it the day before, cover it and keep it in the fridge. We find the flavour is better for the wait.

How much sauce should go on a pizza?

A thin layer. Too much leaves the base soggy before it has had the chance to crisp.

Do I have to add sugar?

Only if the tomatoes taste sharp. Add a pinch at a time and taste as you go.