Homemade Pizza Sauce

We love pizza around here. I adore keeping these handy freezer crusts on hand. They are the perfect vehicle for cheesiness. But they are small. Even if you are doing two or three at a time, the amount of sauce needed is pretty small. Certainly less than even the smallest commercial jar of sauce out there. Plus, as far as I've seen, the commercial sauces tend to be a bit on the runny side. I like a nice, thick sauce for my pizza.

Like so many other things, I make a big batch at one time and freeze it in individual use portions. In this case, I freeze them in roughly 1/4 cup servings. That is enough to cover three of my individual size freezer crusts or enough to cover one small family pizza. Obviously, when you need sauce, you can thaw however many you need. They thaw so quickly in the microwave. 

To get the best thickness, I mix one can of plain tomato sauce and one can of plain tomato paste. Make sure you get the plain stuff (I also get it with no salt added), or the added flavors may make the final product a bit wonky. 

Add in the remaining ingredients. I like to add a little sweetness to my sauce and, believe it or not, light corn syrup gives the best flavor in my experience. You can leave it out if you'd rather. Or cut it down. Or double it. That's the nice thing about making things yourself at home - you can customize it to your family's tastes.

Freeze in individual portions. You could use a regular ice cube tray. I found this great cubical tray a couple years ago. I don't even remember where I got it, but it's great. The bottom is silicone, so you have some added leverage in popping the cubes out once they're frozen. These things keep for months and months as long as they're in an air tight container. and, again, they're super easy to thaw out when you're ready to make your own pizza.

Homemade Pizza Sauce
Yield: 1 1/2 cups sauce

6 ounces salt-free, plain tomato paste
8 ounces salt-free, plain tomato sauce
3 TBS light corn syrup (optional)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1/8 tsp ground thyme
3/4 tsp table salt (or to taste)

Mix all ingredients together. Freeze in individual portions. Thaw in the microwave as needed.