I am making a dip that requires 'pizza sauce'. The store doesn't sell anything called 'pizza sauce' that I could find. Instead, I got plain tomato sauce. What do I need to add to it to make it 'pizza sauce'?

6 Answers
6

Pizza sauce is, presumably, whatever tomato-based sauce you'd put on a pizza. Those tend to be essentially like smooth (not chunky), lightly seasoned spaghetti sauce. If by "plain tomato sauce" you mean a jar of tomato sauce for spaghetti, you're probably in good shape. If you mean a can of pure tomato sauce, with no other ingredients, you'll probably want to add some seasoning. Basil and oregano are good bets for herbs; garlic and onion are also common, and perhaps crushed red pepper if you want a little kick.

As for the tomatoes, you can start with pre-sauced sauce, paste, stewed tomatoes, or fresh. One recipe I've seen has the tomatoes cooked on a hot grill, then mashed into the pizza with herbs. I often use stewed/canned tomatoes, and mash them into something more sauce-like while reducing them. The closer to fresh, the better they taste!
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Bruce AldersonFeb 6 '11 at 23:59

Pizza sauce is typically much thicker than the tomato sauce you would put on pasta and more heavily seasoned. The idea is that you are spreading a thin layer of the sauce over a large area, so a thinner sauce won't work and/or might lose too much liquid as you bake your pizza. Don Pepino pizza sauce is great, assuming you can get it where you live. If you have a jar of commercial pasta sauce around, I would add basil, oregano, and garlic to it. Then, add a good bit of tomato paste to make it thicker.

Most grocery stores carry Pizza Sauce. I know for certain I have purchased a Ragù variant at Publix, Walmart, Sweetbay and Meijer on separate occasions. It typically comes in a much smaller glass jar than that of spaghetti sauce. I've seen it shelved either with the pasta sauces, canned tomatoes or in a bakery section next to pizza doughs.

Or you can just make your own, as I tend to do most of the time these days.