DIY: Make Your Own Pizza Sauce

One of our newer family traditions is homemade pizza night on Friday nights. Sure, we'd have pizza nights in the past - some expensive pizza place when we had more money. Then, when my husband lost his job over a year ago, it was one of those cheap pizza places. One day we said, hey, we can do this!

At first, we would buy the dough and the sauce. At supermarket prices, you'll spend quite a bit on those! Pizza dough in the dairy section can be up to $4 each at some of my local supermarkets. Trader Joe's has the best deal around here for dough -- plus they have a choice of whole wheat or regular. Pizza sauce will run about $3 depending on where you shop, which will probably make 2 pizzas. You can do better!

Right now, I'm going to focus on the sauce, since it's super EASY to make! My recipe is based on this one. You'll only need four ingredients, and they are:

1. 28-30 ounces of crushed (or homemade pureed) tomatoes. Use two 15 ounce cans if you can't find one 28 ounce can. If you've got your own canned tomato puree, that's perfect! Right now, with no canned sauce of my own, I buy 28oz crushed tomatoes at Target for $1.07. I think the crushed/pureed tomatoes make a really nice base for this sauce.
2. The second ingredient you'll need is one six ounce can of tomato paste. Again, if you have your own, that's great! If not, try supermarket brands or Costco or some similar place to get the best price.
3. Oregano (2 tbsp of whole dried flowers, crushed, or 1 tbsp of flakes) and 
4. Black pepper (1/2 to 1 tsp, depending on your taste).

Place all the ingredients in a medium sauce pan, mix well, and heat on medium low. Be careful  as this sauce thickens. Stir occasionally with the heat on low until the flavors are well blended, about 10-15 minutes. This makes enough for about 4 pizzas for us, but will depend on how "saucy" you like your pizza! My cost: approximately $0.50 per pizza.

.judi

This post is linked to Frugal Food Thursday over at Frugal Follies. Head on over there for more frugal recipes!