How to make and can homemade pizza sauce: A flavorful pantry staple

Finished sauce, ready for the pantry

There’s nothing quite like homemade pizza, and a jar of my own pizza sauce in the pantry makes pizza night so easy ;) It’s also a great way to use up all those garden tomatoes at harvest time. Here’s exactly how I make it and can it in a water bath.

Why make your own pizza sauce?

Store-bought pizza sauces can be convenient, but they often lack the deep, fresh flavors you get from homemade. When you make your own pizza sauce, you control the ingredients and the flavor.

Canning the sauce makes it shelf-stable, so you can whip up a pizza any time without making sauce from scratch every time.

What you’ll need

Mix of freshly harvested tomatoes from the garden

Ingredients

• 13 cups fresh tomato purée (about 9 pounds of tomatoes; I use a garden mix, mostly Roma)

• ½ cup bottled lemon juice

• 2 teaspoons dried oregano

• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

Makes about 8 half-pint jars.

This is the tested Ball Pizza Sauce from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving.

Equipment

• Large stainless steel pot

• Colander

• Immersion blender, food processor or food mill

• Half-pint mason jars with new two-piece lids and bands

• Water bath canner with a rack, or a large stockpot

• Jar lifter

• Ladle and canning funnel

How I make and can pizza sauce

1. Make the tomato purée

Wash and core your tomatoes. To peel them, blanch them in boiling water for about 30 seconds, then move them to an ice bath, and the skins slip right off (save them for my tomato skin powder ;)). Seed and chop the tomatoes, let them drain in a colander for 15 minutes and discard the liquid. Then purée them with an immersion blender or a food processor until smooth. You need 13 cups of purée. A food mill does the peeling and seeding in one go, too.

2. Get the jars ready

Wash your half-pint jars and keep them hot until you fill them. Get your new lids and bands ready, too.

3. Cook the sauce

Put half of the tomato purée in a large stainless steel pot and bring it to a boil over high heat, stirring now and then. Keep it boiling and add the rest of the purée, 1 cup at a time. Stir in the bottled lemon juice, oregano, pepper, salt and garlic powder. Boil hard, stirring often, until it’s like a thin store-bought pizza sauce, about 15–25 minutes. Take the pot off the heat.

4. Fill the jars

Ladle the hot pizza sauce into the hot jars, leaving ½ inch of headspace. Remove any air bubbles with a non-metallic utensil, add more sauce if needed, and wipe the rims with a clean, damp cloth. Place the lids on and screw the bands on fingertip-tight.

5. Process in a water bath

Place the filled jars on a rack in your water bath canner with at least 1 inch of water over the tops. Bring it to a rolling boil and then start the timer: 40 minutes for half-pints if you’re between 1,001 and 3,000 feet (I’m at 2,273 feet, so 40 minutes it is). Below 1,000 feet it’s 35 minutes, and above 3,000 feet it’s longer, so check my altitude chart.

6. Cool and store

Turn off the heat, take the lid off the canner and let the jars sit in the water for 5 minutes. Then lift them out with a jar lifter onto a towel on the counter and let them cool undisturbed for 12–24 hours, then check the seals. Take the bands off, then store the jars in a cool, dark place. For the best flavor, use them within a year. Any jar that didn’t seal goes in the fridge, and so does an open jar.

As the jars cool, you should hear a “pop” as they seal.

Using your pizza sauce

When you’re ready to use your sauce, simply open a jar, spread it on your pizza dough and add your favorite toppings. It’s also great in pasta, as a base for casseroles, or as a dipping sauce for breadsticks.

Tips and tricks

• Tomatoes: Meaty Roma or plum tomatoes have less water, so the sauce cooks down faster. I use a garden mix, mostly Roma.

• More flavor: Ball says you can add more dried oregano, pepper and garlic powder to taste; the tomato purée and lemon juice stay the same.

• Garlic and olive oil: Love extra garlic or a drizzle of olive oil? Add them on the pizza when you serve it ;)

• Thicker sauce: Want it thicker on your pizza? Stir a spoonful of my tomato paste into the sauce when you open the jar.

• More veggies: Want a chunkier sauce with onions, peppers or mushrooms? That’s a pressure-canner sauce, like my canned garden ragu.

• Safety first: The bottled lemon juice in the tested amount is what makes this sauce safe for the water bath (here’s why that matters).

Happy canning!

Making and canning your own pizza sauce is a rewarding way to bring fresh, homemade flavors to your meals year-round. Whether you’re hosting a pizza night, making a quick weeknight meal, or looking for a versatile pantry item, this sauce will come in handy. Plus, knowing you made it from scratch makes every pizza taste even better ;)

More tomato sauces from my pantry: my oven-roasted marinara and Italian passata.