I admit it. Sometimes, when I'm in a super-lazy-just-get-me-in-front-of-netflix mood, I buy a frozen pizza. Eek! Shame. At least I know I'm not the only one out there. Right friends? This is a habit I thought would surely change when I went vegan, but grocery stores are getting so smart, that now they even sell vegan frozen pizzas.
These frozen pizzas are definitely convenient, but a delight to the taste buds? Perhaps not. Homemade pizza always taste infinitely better, and is probably much healthier too. So why not just make a pizza from scratch? My excuse was that making the marinara sauce was too time consuming, but then, dun dun dahhh!!!! The clouds opened, and a light shone down revealing, The World's Easiest 5 Minute Pizza Sauce.
Where did I get this exciting recipe? My good friend, and chef, who has worked at both of Toronto's most famous pizza joints, made it one day. So I stole er... was inspired by, his simple pizza sauce recipe. While you may not be able to spin the dough above your head, I promise you, you can totally make this recipe.
I gave it a go the other night, and not only was it a breeze, it was so fast that it hardly took any extra time to prepare a fresh homemade pizza. Joy! There was just something so pleasing, about not having to remove plastic wrap from the pizza. I happened to have extra dough in the end, so I prepared an extra pizza, and froze that! Take that store bought frozen pizza!
The World's Easiest 5 Minute Pizza Sauce:
1 28oz Can of Whole Tomatoes
10-15 Basil Leaves
¼ teaspoon Salt
Couple Grinds of Pepper
1 Clove of Garlic
Optional Add ins:
1-2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Dried Oregano
½ teaspoon Chili Flakes
½ an Onion Chopped
The Pizza:
Pizza Dough: I buy mine pre-made from my grocery store in the bakery section
Toppings of Choice: Today I opted for mushrooms, onions, and Daiya Cheese, but use whatever you like! The possibilities are endless.
In a large bowl, dump in the can of whole tomatoes. You may be inclined to buy crushed or chopped canned tomatoes, but I recommend the whole ones. I find that they always have way more flavour. The crushed tomatoes always taste watery too me.
Tear up or chop the basil, and add that to the tomatoes. Mince, press, or grate the garlic, and add that. Season with salt and pepper. Toss in any of the optional add ins if you like, but I usually just keep it simple and stick to the basics.
Now you have two options, for a more rustic sauce (my preference), get in there with your hands and crush all the tomatoes. Or if you prefer a smoother sauce use a submersion blender to blend it all up. You could also do this in a standing blender.
Rustic sauce on the left, blended sauce on the right.
Stretch your pizza dough, and top with all your favourite toppings. This time I used mushrooms, sliced onions, and Daiya Cheese. Toss it in the oven, at 425F (220C) for about 15 minutes.
Welcome to the non-frozen pizza world. Isn't it so satisfying in here?
Bon Appetegan!
I cannot tell you how much I love this recipe. I made it once but didn't write down where I got it from. It was so good I didn't even want to consider using a different recipe, so I just spent the last 20 minutes tracking this one down again. I bookmarked it this time. Thank you.
Haha, so happy you love it!
Yum! Sam, do you think this would work for pasta? I want to make a pizza pasta sort of thing. Pizza toppings, bow tie pasta, and something other than my jarred spaghetti sauce. Would this be too thick? Do you think I should double it for 16 oz pasta?
Hi Keisti,
This probably wouldn't work well for pasta sauce pasta sauce, or a store bought jarred one.
Hope that helps!
Looks and sounds delicious, also for my kids. I think we might have pizza tomorrow 😉 If I make a larger portion, how long do you think I can store the sauce in the fridge???
I would say it would last about 5-7 days kept in an air right jar in the fridge. Probably about a month or two in the freezer. Enjoy your pizza! 🙂
Thanks a lot!
You’re very welcome Nici.
Besides the fact that the pizza looks mouthwatering, I love how easy that sauce is! Whenever I think of making tomato sauce from scratch I think of a lengthly recipe and something I certainly couldn't throw together on a weeknight. This is perfect, awesome! 🙂
Thanks Melissa! I know, I felt the same way. I don't mind the lengthier process for the sauce when it's the feature of the dish, like a pasta, but for just one layer of a pizza, it seems annoying! I was so happy when I found this recipe! Glad you like it too 🙂
Fabulous! This sounds like just what I want on those Monday evenings after a late client has left and we order expensive take out pizza. Can't wait to try it.
Awesome! Glad you like it. It's so much more fun to make pizza from scratch, and I always find it's way more scrumptious!