Here’s the story behind this fantastic Roasted Tomato Pizza Sauce. I have the kindest neighbors you’d ever hope to live by. I’m surrounded by some of my favorite people on all sides and I’m so thankful. One of them stopped by last week with a bunch of ripe tomatoes from their garden. We had such a warm winter that their tomato plants just kept on going! I immediately did a mental check to see if I had all the ingredients for a BLT on hand and made one that very day for lunch. My favorite!
As the gifted tomatoes began to ripen faster than I could eat them, I began to think of the best way to preserve them. Since we all love pizza here, I thought I’d try roasting them into a thick, homemade pizza sauce. It was so easy and delicious I had to share it here.
I sliced the tomatoes into 1/4 inch slices and placed them on a baking sheet in an even layer. Then I drizzled them with olive oil and sprinkled them with kosher salt. I placed them in the oven at 375 degrees and by the 40-minute mark, they were bubbly and beginning to caramelize.
Roasting tomatoes brings out their natural sweetness. As those juices get all bubbly, the water evaporates and the flavor becomes more intense. If you have ever had a homegrown tomato, you know they taste nothing like what comes from the grocery store. I was really hoping to preserve that special homegrown flavor, and I think roasting them and keeping the spices simple accomplished that goal.
After roasted them, I scooped them into a food processor and added the dried basil, oregano, garlic powder, and onion powder, as well as a bit of honey. With a few pulses, I had the most beautiful thick, rich pizza sauce!
I whipped up my favorite pizza dough, and declared it officially pizza night. We all constructed our own personal pizzas, and I kept mine simple with just mozzarella cheese topped with some dried basil and Parmesan. Perfection!
I’m so looking forward to harvesting the ripening tomatoes in my own garden. I have a whole bed dedicated to tomatoes this year, so I’m really glad to have a way to preserve them. A girl can only eat so many BLTs!
If you find yourself with an abundance of ripe tomatoes, or even overly ripe tomatoes needing to be used very soon, this Roasted Tomato Pizza Sauce is just the thing!
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Roasted Tomato Pizza Sauce
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 1 1/2 cups
- Category: Sauce
- Method: Roast
- Cuisine: Italian
Description
How to turn your abundance of ripe homegrown tomatoes into the most delicious, flavorful Roasted Tomato Pizza Sauce!
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. ripe tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon honey
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Wash, dry, and slice tomatoes 1/4 inch thick and place on a rimmed baking sheet.
- Drizzle tomato slices with olive oil, and sprinkle with kosher salt.
- Roast the tomatoes in the oven for 40-45 minutes. They will be bubbly and slightly caramelized.
- Scoop the roasted tomatoes into a food processor, and add basil, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, and honey. Process until smooth.
- Use immediately, or refrigerate until ready to use, up to 1 week. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Julie G says
What a terrific idea!! I am definitely going to make this..bookmarked it so we can try it with tomatoes from our garden. I love that I can make a bunch and freeze it too. Brilliant!
Shirley says
Let me tell you, by the time I got to the bottom of your email, I was craving homemade pizza like crazy! This looks scrumptious! Now I’m going to have to go and get some organic tomatoes from one of the local farmers until I get my own tomatoes growing. I can’t wait to make this yummy looking pizza sauce and if I can find a recipe on here somewhere for the dough, I will make that too!
I couldn’t eat another bite of anything right now but if I could I’d be trying to figure out how to make something similar out of what I have on hand…lol!
Ruth says
You are THE BEST neighbor! I’m excited to try this. Everything from your kitchen is so delicious!
Patrícia says
This recipe looks amazing!! You’re so kind sharing.
Robert Welke says
I do a similar recipe but with whole cherry tomatoes instead of slicing in halves.
I have baked this recipe a number of times for my pizza sauce, and find that the residual tomato skin leaves too many solids even after vitamizing the mixture.
So, the last ime I prepared this dish, I removed most of the skins before vitamizing.
A much better result!
Julie Schaper says
My tomatoes have been roasting for only 15 minutes and it smells like a pizzeria in my house!! Can’t wait to use them for my pizza!! Thank you!!
Janice Snodgrass says
Can you can this recipe
Sarah says
I know you asked this question last year but I’m about to try it and see how it goes! Don’t see why you can’t 🤷🏼♀️
Moni D. says
This was a very good sauce, it was so fresh tasting…After they were roasted, I strained them to remove any liquid, then into the food processor. It was thick and tasty…and free since my son gave me a ton of tomatoes from his garden..
Traci says
Wonderful flavor! I froze my sauce in silicone muffin cups so I can just use a few at a time to make pizzas. I didn’t need to strain them, the sauce is perfectly thick, but it probably depends on your tomatoes.
Coral C. says
Absolutely perfect way to use the last of this year’s tomato harvest. It’s delicious!
Forestdog says
I too have used this recipe to use up my enormous crop of cherry and grape tomatoes, canning it in quart jars. I’ve been wanting to make my own homemade pizza sauce for years since I have an excellent New York style pizza dough recipe that my family loves. Between the natural sweetness of fresh tomatoes and a roasting, I can’t imagine adding any honey or sugar to the sauce. My family also prefers it with almost twice as much salt and a little dash of pepper.
Sheri says
How long is your canning process please?
Krusatyr says
Using Calimari vine tomatoes, I halve and put cut side up on parchment paper on jelly roll pan, apply olive oil, salt, pepper and oregano, along side split poblanos, garlic cloves and quartered red bell peppers, and roast until tomatoes are sizzling and peppers are getting scorched at edges, then remove any loose pepper skins, chop all of it fine on a cutting board, transfer to non stick pan and simmer to reduce moisture.
Julia Tidball says
This is a perfect recipe for pizza sauce…thick and flavorful ! I freeze it and use it for our weekly Ooni pizza.
carl says
Thank you very much; excellent !
Patricia says
This is my go to recipe now! So easy and delicious and thick. I freeze mine and ice cube trays so we can take out a few at a time for personal pan pizza.
Thank you!