Looking for a flavorful pizza sauce you can whip up while your oven pre-heats? Then this is the pizza sauce for you! This kid-friendly Hidden Veggie Pizza Sauce is perfect for pizza, pasta, or as a dipping sauce. Plus, it can be made in 15 minutes, is freezer-friendly and is perfect for any type of homemade pizza!
Medically reviewed and co-written by Jamie Johnson, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN), and Lauren Braaten, Pediatric Occupational Therapist (OT).
Pizza Sauce
Needing to up the veggie intake in your family, but not sure how to begin? Allow this hidden veggie pizza sauce to help you take one small step to getting veggies regularly in your kid’s meals.
And while store-bought pizza sauce is fine when you’re super short on time or just don’t feel like doing anything in the kitchen, it’s not always the most flavorful option. Plus, many store-bought sauces have added sugar and excess sodium, not something you really want to serve to your kids.
The good news is that this hidden veggie pizza sauce is easy to make, healthy, and even freezer-friendly. It’s perfect for so many different pizza ideas – bagels, English muffins, tortilla pizzas, and more!
Feeding kids can be tricky! But, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! Here you can find 40 Family Dinner Ideas, over 100 Kid Snack Ideas, great Hidden-Veggie Recipes, 50 Cooking with Kids Recipes and so much more! And for even more family-friendly recipes, check out my best-selling cookbook Little Foodies: Recipes for Babies and Toddlers with Taste.
Reasons to Love this Pizza Sauce
- toddler, kid and adult-friendly
- easy to make – 10 minutes
- hidden veggies
- healthy
- freezer-friendly
- is naturally gluten and dairy-free
Ingredients
- Canned Whole Peeled Tomatoes: we prefer to use Italian San Marzano tomatoes for this recipe. If your sauce is too acidic, then you may need to add in 1-2 tsp of honey (for 1-year-olds and older) or 1 tsp of butter to calm it down.
- Tomato Paste: to give the sauce a rich flavor
- Shredded Carrots: pre-shredded or shredded or grated at home both work for this recipe. You can also add shredded zucchini instead of carrots.
- Dried Oregano or Italian Seasoning
- Olive Oil
- Garlic
- Salt
Health Benefits of Hidden-Veggie Pizza Sauce
The word pizza does not usually equate to the word healthy but in this case, it does! This sauce is full of nutrients!
- Tomatoes are full of vitamins A and C and fiber and contain multiple antioxidants.
- Carrots are a great source of fiber and vitamin A.
- Garlic contains a compound called allicin that may help fight some viral and bacterial illnesses.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, bring olive oil to medium heat and then add garlic and carrots. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Add in tomatoes, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, and salt. Bring to a simmer and let cook for 8-10 minutes.
- Transfer the sauce to a blender and puree until smooth.
- Top on your favorite pizza.
How to Use Pizza Sauce
I love thinking slightly outside the (pizza) box and using this sauce for lots of fun pizza spin-off ideas and more.
How to Store and Freeze
This pizza sauce can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. To defrost – take the sauce out of the freezer and put it into the fridge 1-2 days before you want to use it. If you are in a rush, you can always take it out of the freezer, and place it into a sink full of hot water for 15 minutes before placing the sauce into a saucepan and reheating it on the stove. It will still be a lump of sauce but as it gets hot, it will thin out.
Expert Tips
- If using whole carrots or fresh zucchini, no need to worry about chopping your veggies too small, as you’ll use your blender to puree everything together at the end.
- You can easily make a double batch of this hidden veggie pizza sauce and freeze what you don’t need for later.
- Freeze this pizza sauce in ice-cube trays or silicone molds for the perfect portion when you need it.
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2-1 cup carrots, shredded or finely chopped see notes
- 1 28 oz can peeled whole tomatoes
- 2 tbsp tomato puree
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp oregano or Italian seasoning
Note on Tomatoes: I prefer to use Italian San Marzano tomatoes for this recipe. If your sauce is too acidic, then you can add in 1-2 tsp of honey (for 1 year olds and older) or butter to calm it down.
Note on Carrots: you can use 1/2-1 cup of shredded carrots. Adding 1 cup of carrots will result in a slightly earthier taste of pizza sauce, and adding in 1/2 cup of carrots will go unnoticed.