What Makes a Great Pizza Sauce?

Thick and rich with herbs, pizza sauce spreads easily across flattened dough and complements the flavors of mozzarella cheese—or any toppings you choose. While many pizzas are made with non-tomato sauces or without sauce at all, there’s a reason tomato pizza sauce is the favorite: it transforms the flavors of the dough, cheese and toppings into a sweet and tangy treat. Our chefs define a high-quality pizza sauce as having an intense, slightly cooked tomato flavor that is balanced by lower levels of herbs, spices and aromatics. It will be moderately thick, clinging to the raw dough without seeping off the edges, and it should complement the pizza toppings without any off notes. In the taste profile, the sweetness and sour notes from the tomatoes will be balanced by saltiness. These basic tastes, at the right levels, will create the appropriate taste balance. The intensity and character of the tomato flavor plus the balance of the sweetness, sourness and saltiness are the most ...  more