There are a few things that can take your pizza to the next level and be better than any pizzeria. 

One of those things is…..the pizza sauce

Luckily authentic neapolitan pizza sauce is very easy to make. It’s usually my go-to sauce when I’m making pizza. 

Whether you’re making neapolitan pizza or not, this sauce is going to impress! 

Did I mention it only takes 5 minutes to make? Easy right?

There are a number of reasons why I love making this Neapolitan pizza sauce;

• It can be prepared with any other toppings
• It can keep in the fridge for a few days or in the freezer
• It only needs a few ingredients

One thing that is very important is that you do use the best quality ingredients you can find. This is going to really give it the flavor to stand out against any store bought pizza sauce. 

When it comes to ingredients, you only need tomatoes, basil, sea salt, and olive oil. I sometimes add an onion for a little extra sweetness. 

I’ll often saute the onion but other than that if I’m using a pizza oven then this authentic neapolitan pizza sauce recipe doesn’t need to be boiled. 

It’s because the oven gets so hot that it properly cooks the pizza sauce. Now if you was using your kitchen oven, then I’d be tempted to boil the tomatoes for a couple of minutes first. 

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Neapolitan Pizza Sauce with San Marzano Tomatoes

Does the tomatoes you use actually matter? If you’re just doing a quick pizza then not really…

If however, you want to create a traditional neapolitan pizza sauce or impress your dinner guests then, YES! 

At first I just used a normal can of chopped tomatoes and happy days! 

This was until I started making my sauce with San Marzano and they really do give the sauce an extra depth of flavor. 

It makes an amazing tomato for pizza sauce, as it’s less acidic but is sweeter. The main reason is because they have a much stronger tomato taste.

Fresh Tomatoes Vs Canned Tomatoes – What’s Best For Neapolitan Pizza Sauce?

I’ve made pizza sauce with both fresh tomatoes and canned. Each way has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Since I’m trying to make the best Neapolitan pizza sauce, it’s important to test different ingredients. 

So which one do you think would be best?

Neapolitan Pizza Sauce With Fresh Tomatoes

Fresh ingredients are usually better right? Problem is how fresh are they? 

Fresh does not always mean that they have flavor. 

Have you ever been to the store and bought tomatoes and they just didn’t have much taste?

That’s because those tomatoes were probably grown out of season and have been stored for months. 

If you’re going to use fresh tomatoes, you’re going to want to make sure they’re as fresh as they can be. Farm shops are usually your best option. 

Using fresh tomatoes does require a little more prep work. You need to take the leaves off and crush them with a mill. 

Neapolitan Pizza Sauce With Canned Tomatoes

Canned tomatoes are perfect if you want something that doesn’t require as much preparation. 

I would recommend getting canned San Mazarno tomatoes as they give you the ideal sweetness for a perfect neapolitan pizza sauce. 

Canned tomatoes are ideal, as it means you can get san marzano tomatoes anytime of the year. 

One thing I would recommend is to get whole tomatoes and not chopped tomatoes, I find they just have more flavor. 

If you can get them without the skin on them as well, this will give you a much better texture. 

So would I go for fresh or canned? 

If I could get fresh san marzano tomatoes then I would, since its hard to get them outside of Italy then I would go for canned. (Unless I grew them myself)

I’d just make sure id get canned san marzano tomatoes. 

How Much Pizza Sauce Do You Need?

Even with the best tasting Neapolitan Pizza Sauce, you dont want too much. If you add too much sauce then it can make the base go very soffy. If you’re having the pizza size is 12 inch, normally 100g of pizza sauce would be enough. 

The great thing about this sauce is that you can save it. Normally 3-5 days is okay in the fridge and then up to 3 months in the freezer. 

Check out this guide on how long you can keep pizza sauce

Step By Step Authentic Neapolitan Pizza Sauce Recipe

Even though this neapolitan pizza sauce recipe is very simple. I wanted to give step by step instructions. just to make it even easier. 

This pizza sauce is totally worth any effort put into it. 

If your using onions and garlic to add an extra level of depth, it’s important to saute them first. 

This will help to bring out the flavor but also makes it softer so its easier to eat and stir onto your pizza base. 

Once these have been sauteed, you need to place them to one side and allow them to cool. 

Doing this will also help to remove any additional moisture, so it doesn’t make the base all soggy. 

Next it’s incredibly simple. 

Just add all the ingredients except the olive oil into a bowl and give everything a good stir. 

If for any reason you don’t like lumpy pizza sauce because of the onions, you could now place it into a blender and get it nice and smooth. 

NOTE: do this before you add the basil, as you want to keep pieces of basil in the sauce for extra flavor. 

With the basil you want to roughly chop this or just rip it into pieces with your hand. 

If you’re using whole tomatoes, you may want to use a potato masher to mash them down a bit more. 

Finally add the olive oil and again give everything a good stir. 

Now typically this recipe is used for wood fired pizza ovens. It does also cook perfectly well in your home oven. I would recommend a pizza peel though, just to take it to the next level. 

FAQ

Pizza Sauce Vs Marinara – What’s The Difference?

Marinara and Pizza Sauce are very similar to each other. They’re not the same though. Pizza Sauce does tend to be a lot thicker and is cooked when on the pizza dough. Marinara is thinner and is used more as a dip or topping sauce for pasta. 

What Can I Do To Make My Pizza Sauce Taste Better?

If you follow this authentic neapolitan pizza sauce recipe, then it will taste amazing. You can however make any pizza sauce taste better by just adding some additional ingredients. First make sure you’re using a sweet tomato like san marzano. Next you want to add a chopped onion for additional sweetness and some black pepper for a little kick. 

I wouldn’t add too many herbs and spices as you don’t want the sauce to overpower the toppings. The sauce should just bind them together and work together with the toppings that you use. 

Final Thoughts On Neapolitan Pizza Sauce

If you’ve ever wondered how to make authentic neapolitan pizza sauce, hopefully this recipe has helped. 

It’s my go-to recipe when I’m making homemade pizza sauce.

The recipe is so easy to make and tastes incredible. 

Its one of those things that will really take your pizza to the next level.