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Pizza Sauce vs Marinara Sauce
Want to switch things up? If you’re like me, you love a Classic Italian Marinara Sauce! When I quickly need a versatile and flavorful sauce, I always resort to that!
However, despite how quick it is to make, you still gotta cook it! Of course it’s worth the fruits of your labor, but do you wanna cut time and dishes even more? This sauce for pizza is going to be your new go-to!
I was recipe testing my Easy Homemade Mozzarella Sticks and cooking up a Chicken Parmesan Sandwich. A lot was going on with the deep frying and I really wanted to focus on perfecting my mozzarella sticks and making myself a good sandwich. I didn’t want to deal with another thing on the stove! This sauce comes to the rescue!
I just thought of this on the spot and wow I can’t get enough of this! I used this sauce on top of my Napoletana Pizza two nights later and that was one of the best pizzas I’ve ever had! You’ll become addicted to this sauce for sure!
Easy No-Cook Pizza Sauce Recipe!
There’s no excuse not to make this pizza sauce! It really does come together in 5 minutes, and in one bowl! Isn’t that awesome! Here’s why you gotta make this sauce:
- Minimal ingredients
- Thick and easily spreadable
- Make-ahead friendly
- Extremely quick and easy - you can make this last-minute on the fly!
- Free of preservatives and added sugar that’s found in any canned sauce!
- Versatile - use it in so many ways (see the list at the bottom of this post!)
Have I convinced you? I sure hope so! Then let’s get to the recipe!
What is the Difference between Passata and San Marzano Tomatoes?▼
Passata is made up of strained tomatoes. Out of the bottle or can, this is already thick, the seeds have been filtered out, and it has a rich tomato foundation that is a great way to save time while making this quick 5-minute tomato sauce.
San Marzano tomatoes from a can are an even better option for a no-cook sauce. However, they can be used if time is not of the essence. The reason for this is that in a can, the whole San Marzano tomatoes contain lots of excess water and the tomatoes have to be de-seeded, de-cored, and any remaining skin removed so that what remains are chunks of rich, fleshy, sweet tomatoes. These tomatoes can then go through a sieve or can be hand-crushed. The key aspect here is to ensure what you are using for the sauce does not contain excess water since that will negatively impact your sauce, and therefore your pizza.
Tools Needed
Ingredients for No-Cook Italian Tomato Sauce
We won’t need much for our sauce, and this recipe really uses some pantry staples that are probably already laying around! Remember to go to the bottom of this post for the FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD so that you’ve got the right ratio of ingredient quantities based on how much sauce you’re looking to make. Let’s go over the ingredients:
- Passata strained tomatoes: Passata provides the thick and rich tomato base to this no-cook Italian tomato sauce.
- Extra virgin olive oil: I recommend the best quality of olive oil you can find!
- Oregano: I’m using dried oregano, but if you have fresh, go for it!
- Red chili flakes: Optional, but I do recommend them for that extra touch of heat.
- Tomato paste: Adds a nice richness and some extra depth to our sauce.
- Calabrian chilies: I love these so much! If you’ve seen some of my pasta recipes, sometimes I like to switch my marinara sauce up by adding in some Calabrian chilies. I’ve recently discovered Bomba, which is a spread made of Calabrian chilies and other vegetables. Of course I’m in love with this, so if you can find Bomba, I recommend it! Otherwise, you could just throw in some Calabrian chilies!
- Salt: To taste. I like to use Himalayan pink salt since it’s lower in sodium and I do like to have more control over the amount of salt I’m adding!
How to Make Easy No-Cook Tomato Sauce
- In a large bowl, add all the ingredients and mix well to combine. Taste and adjust the seasoning with more salt, Bomba/Calabrian chilis or chili flakes.
Cover with plastic wrap and enjoy on your pizza!
How to Use No-Cook Tomato Sauce
The possibilities to use this No-Cook Italian Tomato Sauce are endless! Here’s some inspiration!
- For dipping - Homemade Mozzarella Sticks are great here!
- As the base in a Chicken Parmesan Sandwich or a Meatball Sub
- In pasta, such as an Easy Baked Spaghetti Casserole or a Vegetarian Four-Cheese Lasagna!
- For a quick snack, like on a Pepperoni Pizza Bagel
- Or go all out and use it on your royal Napoletana Margherita Pizza!
Storing Your Tomato Sauce
You can store your No-Cook Tomato Sauce in the fridge or freezer. Your Italian tomato sauce will stay fresh in the fridge for one week, and you can freeze it for up to three months.
To store leftover sauce, transfer to an airtight container.
No Fresh Basil, No Whole Tomatoes, No Food Processor
Most no-cook sauces start with a can of whole tomatoes and a blender. This one does not. It starts with 400 ml of passata, which is strained tomatoes: already smooth, already seedless. That is the whole reason there is no food processor anywhere in the method and no blending step to wait on. If passata is hard to find where you are, the listed swaps are crushed tomatoes blended smooth, or fresh tomatoes blanched, peeled, blended and then strained. That second one is a lot of work to arrive exactly where a 400 ml bottle already is.
There is no fresh basil in it either, and no fresh herbs of any kind. The only herb is 1/2 tsp of dried oregano. For a raw sauce that is deliberate: fresh basil torn into something uncooked goes black and slippery within a day, and it has nothing to infuse into, because nothing is ever heated. Basil belongs on the pizza when it comes out of the oven, not in the sauce going on.
The only knife work is 3 garlic cloves minced and 2 tbsp of Calabrian chilies chopped. Not a clove of garlic but three of them, and raw, which is why they want mincing properly fine rather than a rough chop. One clove garlic would vanish completely against 400 ml of tomato.
Ten Minutes, No Fuss, and Why Seasoning Works Differently on a Raw Sauce
The entire method is one line: everything into a large bowl, mix well, taste, adjust. Ten minutes of prep and zero cook time, which makes this about the least fuss possible on a pizza night. The sauce is finished before the oven is hot.
Because nothing cooks, everything you taste is exactly what you put in, and that changes how you season it. The 4 tbsp of tomato paste is not a thickener the way it would be in a simmered sauce. It is there for depth, standing in for the concentration an hour on the stove would otherwise have given you. The 2 tbsp of olive oil carries the flavor of the raw garlic and the Calabrian chilies evenly through the sauce instead of leaving it in hot spots. Taste at the end and adjust with more salt, more Calabrian chilies or more red chili flakes. The recipe tells you to, and on a raw sauce that is the only chance you get.
Making it from scratch also gives you control over the heat in a way no jar does. Harissa paste is the listed swap for the Calabrian chilies, starting at 1 tbsp because it is stronger; crushed red pepper flakes loosened with a little olive oil work as well, though you lose the fruitiness. Whatever is left over goes into an airtight container in the refrigerator, and it is honestly better the next day, once the raw garlic has settled down.
Let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments! If you’ve tried this recipe, be sure to post it on social media and tag it with #cookingwithanadi and mention me @cooking.with.anadi. Thank you!
Recipe by Anadi Misra
Make the best no-cook Italian pizza sauce in minutes! Fresh, bold, and effortlessly simple — no simmering needed. Perfect for pizza night or a quick pasta dinner anytime.
No-cook
5.0 · 1 rating
10 min
Prep
10 min
Total
5
servings
makes 17–20½ fl oz
easy
Level
Ingredients
Ingredients
Tap any quantity to scale
Instructions
- 1
In a large bowl, add all the ingredients and mix well to combine. Taste and adjust the seasoning with more salt, bomba/calabrian chilies or chili flakes.
In a large bowl, add all the ingredients and mix well to combine. Taste and adjust the seasoning with more salt, bomba/calabrian chilies or chili flakes.
Nutrition per serving
Did you make this recipe? Tag @cooking.with.anadi on Instagram and hashtag it #cookingwithanadi
Tested & written in Anadi’s kitchen
Recipe history
- April 16, 2026 — Reworked and refreshed for the 2026 relaunch — new photography, restructured and standardized ingredients & instructions.
Filed under
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