Authentic Neapolitan Pizza Sauce Recipe UK – Simple San Marzano Sauce

Great Neapolitan pizza sauce is much simpler than most people expect. You do not need to simmer tomatoes for hours, add sugar or bury them under dried herbs. Start with excellent tomatoes, season them lightly and let the heat of the oven do the rest.

For this recipe we use D.O.P. San Marzano tomatoes, hand-crushed and left uncooked. The result is a bright, fresh tomato sauce that works beautifully with Neapolitan-style dough, Fior di Latte and a very hot pizza oven.

Quick answer: hand-crush a 400g tin of D.O.P. San Marzano tomatoes, stir in about 4g of fine sea salt and use the sauce raw. For a 12-inch pizza, start with roughly 70–90g of sauce.

Neapolitan Pizza Sauce Ingredients

For approximately 4–5 12-inch pizzas:

• 1 x 400g tin D.O.P. San Marzano tomatoes
• About 4g fine sea salt, then adjust to taste
• Fresh basil, optional for finishing the pizza
• Extra virgin olive oil, optional for finishing the pizza

We use Zia Roza D.O.P. San Marzano Tomatoes. They are an ideal starting point for a simple sauce because the tomato itself provides the flavour rather than relying on sugar or lots of seasoning.

Shop D.O.P. San Marzano Tomatoes →

How to Make Authentic Neapolitan Pizza Sauce

1. Tip the tomatoes into a bowl

Pour the whole tin into a clean bowl, including the tomato juices. If your particular tin is extremely liquid, you can hold a little juice back and add it later until the texture is right.

2. Crush the tomatoes by hand

Use clean hands to gently break the tomatoes down. You want a soft, slightly textured sauce rather than a completely smooth purée.

A blender is not necessary and can make the sauce thinner than you want. Hand-crushing also gives you much more control over the final consistency.

3. Add the salt

Stir in about 4g of fine sea salt for a 400g tin, then taste and adjust. The exact amount can vary slightly according to the tomatoes and your preference.

4. Do not cook the sauce

For this Neapolitan-style sauce, leave the tomatoes uncooked. The sauce cooks directly on the pizza in the oven, which helps preserve the fresh tomato flavour.

5. Sauce the pizza lightly

Place the sauce in the centre of the stretched dough and use the back of a spoon to spread it outwards in a spiral. Leave the raised outer edge — the cornicione — uncovered.

For a 12-inch pizza, around 70–90g is a sensible starting point. Too much sauce can make the centre heavy and wet, especially when you are cooking very quickly at high temperature.

Should You Cook Pizza Sauce First?

Not for this style. A cooked tomato sauce can be excellent for pasta and other styles of pizza, but a simple Neapolitan sauce is designed to cook on the pizza itself.

That gives you a fresher tomato flavour and also makes pizza night considerably easier: crush, season and use.

Why Use San Marzano Tomatoes for Pizza?

San Marzano tomatoes are closely associated with Neapolitan pizza because they have a fleshy texture, balanced sweetness and a flavour that works particularly well when the tomato is kept simple.

The D.O.P. mark — Denominazione di Origine Protetta — identifies protected-origin San Marzano tomatoes produced according to the relevant specification in Italy.

If you want the full explanation, read our guide to San Marzano tomatoes for pizza.

Do You Put Sugar in Neapolitan Pizza Sauce?

We do not. With good-quality tomatoes there should be no need to sweeten the sauce. Sugar can mask sharp or poor tomatoes, but the aim here is to let the natural tomato flavour come through.

Should You Add Oregano?

You can, but we prefer to keep the base sauce neutral so the same batch works across different pizzas.

Oregano is particularly at home on a Marinara-style pizza. For a Margherita, fresh basil is the more obvious finishing herb. Keeping the sauce simple lets you decide pizza by pizza.

Should Olive Oil Go in the Sauce?

A little extra virgin olive oil can be mixed into the sauce, but we usually prefer to add it to the assembled pizza. That gives you more control and keeps the tomato sauce itself clean and simple.

You can also read our guide to olive oil on pizza if you want to know when and how to use it.

How Much Pizza Sauce Should You Use?

This is one of the easiest places to improve a homemade pizza. More sauce does not automatically mean more flavour.

Too much sauce can:

• weigh down the centre of the dough
• make the pizza more difficult to launch
• create excess moisture
• slow down cooking in the centre
• overpower delicate toppings

For one 12-inch pizza, start at roughly 70–90g and adjust from there.

The Simple Dough Dorks Margherita

Once the sauce is ready, you only need a few good ingredients:

• 48-hour fermented Dough Dorks pizza dough
• D.O.P. San Marzano tomato sauce
• Fior di Latte mozzarella
• Fresh basil
• Extra virgin olive oil

If you are unsure about the cheese, read What Is Fior di Latte?.

The point is not to add more ingredients. It is to make the few ingredients you use count.

How Long Does Homemade Pizza Sauce Keep?

Keep unused sauce covered and refrigerated and use it promptly. If you have more than you need, portioning and freezing it is a convenient option.

Always use normal food-safety judgement: keep it cold, use clean utensils and discard it if its smell, appearance or storage history gives you any reason for concern.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Neapolitan pizza sauce made from?

A classic simple approach uses good-quality tomatoes with light seasoning. For this recipe we use D.O.P. San Marzano tomatoes and fine sea salt, then add basil and olive oil to the pizza as desired.

Do you cook Neapolitan pizza sauce?

No. For this recipe the tomatoes are used uncooked and cook directly on the pizza in the oven.

Can I use passata for pizza sauce?

Yes. Passata will give you a smoother sauce, while hand-crushed whole tomatoes produce a more textured result. If you use passata, choose a good-quality one and avoid making the sauce too wet.

Can I use normal tinned tomatoes?

Yes. Good-quality whole plum tomatoes can make very good pizza sauce. D.O.P. San Marzano tomatoes are our preferred option when we want that classic Neapolitan-style tomato flavour.

How much sauce goes on a 12-inch pizza?

Around 70–90g is a useful starting point. The exact amount depends on the dough, toppings and cooking method.

Do I need sugar in pizza sauce?

No. With good tomatoes, added sugar is unnecessary. Taste the tomatoes before deciding they need anything beyond salt.

Make It With D.O.P. San Marzano Tomatoes

If you want to make this recipe with the same style of tomatoes we use, you can get them directly from Dough Dorks.

Shop Zia Roza D.O.P. San Marzano Tomatoes →

Pair them with our 48-hour fermented Neapolitan pizza dough balls and keep the rest simple.