Pizza Sauce for Chicago Thin-Crust Pizza

By J. Kenji López-Alt

Published March 22, 2023

Pizza Sauce for Chicago Thin-Crust Pizza
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Total Time
About 5 minutes
Rating
5(491)
Comments
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In Chicago, pizza sauce tends to have an intensely savory flavor that comes from cooking down canned tomatoes heavily seasoned with dried herbs, like marjoram and oregano, and garlic. (This version uses a combination of fresh garlic and garlic powder.) There is debate over how sweet, how tart and how cooked the sauce should be. The sauce cooks pretty thoroughly on the pizza, so cooking it in advance changes it only incrementally. Sweetness and tartness can always be adjusted with extra salt or vinegar.

This recipe is part of our complete recipe for a Chicago thin-crust pizza. View the recipe for the finished pizza, as well as recipes for the dough and Chicago-style Italian sausage.

Featured in: Kenji López-Alt Spent 5 Months Studying Chicago Thin-Crust Pizza. Here’s What He Learned.

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Ingredients

Yield:About 4 cups (enough for 4 to 6 pizzas)
  • 1(28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes with their juices
  • 1(6-ounce) can tomato paste
  • 4medium garlic cloves, minced
  • 2tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2tablespoons dried Italian seasoning (see Tip)
  • 1tablespoon granulated sugar, or to taste
  • 2teaspoons red-wine vinegar, or to taste
  • 2teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

76 calories; 4 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 11 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 7 grams sugars; 2 grams protein; 301 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor, and pulse until mostly smooth but a few small bits of tomato remain. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Tip
  • Dried Italian seasoning is important here, as is garlic powder. If you prefer, you can use a mixture of any or all of oregano, marjoram, thyme, basil, parsley and rosemary, dried or fresh, in place of the Italian seasoning.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
491 user ratings
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Comments

Cate

Pay attention here, folks: the sauce is uncooked. That's crucial for a fresh tomato taste, which is crucial for Chicago pizza no matter what kind of crust. For a lighter touch on the tomatoes--making them more like one of the toppings--I use petite diced tomatoes plus vinegar, sugar, and herbs. I don't add salt or garlic, because there's so much garlic and salt in the sausage and the cheese. I distribute pinches of tomato atop the cheese & discard the remaining liquid.

Jack

"In Chicago, pizza sauce tends to have an intensely savory flavor that comes from cooking down canned tomatoes..." Read: Most Chicago pizza places cook down their tomato sauce. "The sauce cooks pretty thoroughly on the pizza, so cooking it in advance changes it only incrementally." Read: Kenji found that cooking it down isn't necessary, as it cooks on the pizza itself. It does change the flavor, but only marginally. If you want to cook it down, do so to your liking.

Ally

I made this yesterday and man is it good. I used SMs (the yellow can) and Penzey's pizza seasoning since I didn't have Italian seasoning. It has fennel seed and a little red pepper, which were great additions, and I have to get in a plug for them - their spices (and company ethos) are fantastic.

Anand Trivedi

Used fresh tomatoes, cooked for about 10 minutes. Left slightly bigger chunks of tomatoes. Turned out delicious !

Nikolaj

We love this! I cook it and use it as pasta sauce for the kids. Only 2 garlic cloves, 2 teaspoons herbs, 1 tsp sugar. Everybody adores it : )

K

My go to pizza sauce. We make a sourdough crust (Sam’s recipe) and bake 8 min at 600 on a pizza stone on our Weber Genesis. I use 1/4 C sauce per pizza (1/2 recipe covers 4 pizzas). The sauce slightly caramelizes to umami goodness. Slight mods - 13 oz high quality chopped tomatoes and no sugar. Stirred together and left to sit to meld flavors.

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