We go through a ton of pizza sauce in our home. We use it weekly! There’s always a jar of store-bought sauce in the fridge door. My kids love naan bread pizzas and my husband won’t eat a grilled cheese unless he can dip it in pizza sauce. So, it only makes sense that I would come up with a Homemade Fennel Pizza Sauce that I can whip together at home.
Let’s talk pizza for a minute. In my whole life, I’ve only found three pizza joints that I absolutely love. All are close to my hometown. One no longer exists, it’s been closed for years. But it was so good that I’m still searching for a replacement. The other two are still going strong in the little town across from ours. If you’re in the Atlanta area and know of a great pizza, send me an email, I’m always up for continuing my pizza search!
Anyways, I’m a firm believer that what sets these three pizza joints apart from the rest, is really REALLY good sauce and really REALLY good crust. We all have our favourite toppings, but really those can change. What really makes a pizza is the sauce and crust. I’m going to let you in, and a little bit of secret, my favourite pizza sauce of all time has just a hint of fennel seeds in it. And it is by far the best pizza sauce, I have ever had! It adds that little bite you totally don’t expect and it’s so good!
How to make Homemade Fennel Pizza Sauce
When you find something you like, it’s only natural that you want to recreate it to use at home. So, when I set out to make homemade pizza sauce, I knew the basics I was looking for, good tomatoes, olive oil and spices. But, I also wanted to add butter and sugar, they’re just such a great compliment to tomato-based sauces. Then of course garlic, a bit of onion and my must-have fennel seeds.
It’s a pretty quick, throw-together condiment. Start by sauteeing the onions in the olive oil and butter, let them cook until they are soft, and then add in the garlic and let that cook for about 30 seconds or so. Toss in the tomato sauce and tomato paste, add in all the spices and give this a stir to combine everything. Let it sit and simmer for about 15 minutes. Spoon it onto a pizza crust or use it for dipping right away and then freeze the leftovers.
It is so so good and it’s not just for pizzas. We use this on tons of things. We dip mozzarella sticks and jalapeno poppers in this. It’s also great for dunking grilled cheeses sandwiches in. Poured over sliced zucchini with a bit of cheese and baked until bubbly. You can use it on top of chicken for a quick chicken parm. Make pizza pasta. Really the options are endless.
And now that you know how to make your own, you can stop paying for the jarred variety and really enjoy the good stuff! It’s a recipe that is super easy to make, costs pennies, you probably have all the ingredients on hand and freezes like a dream! So, what are you waiting for? How about some pizza for dinner?
If you love Homemade Fennel Pizza Sauce, check out these other delicious recipes, I’m sure they’ll hit the spot:
If you get a chance to make this or any other recipe on the blog and want to share. Please feel free to tag @candyjarchronicles or use #candyjarchronicles on Instagram, so I can see your post. I’d love to see what you’re cooking in your kitchen!
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Homemade Fennel Pizza Sauce
Stop buying store-bought jarred pizza sauce. This Homemade Fennel Pizza Sauce is so much better and you probably already have all the ingredients in your pantry!
INGREDIENTS
- 28 oz tomato sauce
- 6 oz tomato paste
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup onions, finely minced
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 garlic cloves, pressed
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp basil
- 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
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Melt the olive oil and butter together in a dutch oven, over medium heat. Add in onions and cook until soft. Stir in garlic and let cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant.
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Add the tomato sauce and tomato paste. Rinse the cans with 1/4 cup of water and add to sauce. Stir in all the seasoning and let simmer for 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat.
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Spread on pizza crust. Freeze leftovers.