Saturday, March 9, 2013

Pizza Sauce ($0.46 per cup)




$0.46 per cup          54% savings          save $7.41 yearly


I looooooooooove pizza.
Like, a lot.

Luckily for me, my family is equally enamored by it.

If you know anything about me, you probably know that I don't have many fancy kitchen gadgets. My dinosaur of a toaster looks like it was salvaged from the dump, and my "5-speed" hand-mixer only goes 1 speed: insanely fast... like, "cringe-every-time-you-flip-on-the-switch-because-you're-scared-for-your-life" fast.

But, rather than spend money on a new toaster, or a new hand mixer (things I use constantly),  I bought a huge pizza stone and a fancy-pants pizza peel, just like you'd find in a brick-oven pizza place. Pizza gets the love... Sorry, dumpy toaster and jet-engine hand-mixer.

A love as profound as ours requires a lot of pizza sauce.
GOOD pizza sauce.

There are a million pizza sauce recipes out there with a million unique flavor profiles. Even though this one is not made from fresh-off-the vine tomatoes, and newly picked herbs, I would like to add it to the list.

This deceptively simple recipe has only 5 ingredients. Apart from opening a can or jar of the pre-made version, you aren't likely to find an easier pizza sauce. It's less expensive than the store-bought kind. The flavors are robust. And it tastes absolutely wonderful on pizza, or served as a dipping sauce for garlic bread.

Enjoy!


Pizza Sauce
Printable Version

*Makes about 3 1/2 cups (enough for 4  large-ish pizzas)

INGREDIENTS
1 (29 oz) can tomato sauce
2 tsp. jarred minced garlic
2 tsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. dried basil
1 Tbsp. sugar


DIRECTIONS
Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan over MED-HIGH heat. When it starts to bubble, reduce the heat to LOW, and let simmer 15-20 minutes.


~ Savings ~


Cost Breakdown:
29 oz. can tomato sauce - $1.24/can = $1.24
0.75 oz. oregano - $2.18 = 22 tsp = $0.099/tsp = $0.198
16 oz basil - $19.46 = 416 tsp = $0.047 = $0.094
25 lb. sugar - $13.98 = 945 T = $0.015/T = $0.015
32 oz. jarred minced garlic - $4.48 = 181 tsp = $0.025/tsp = $0.050
Total Recipe Cost = $1.60
Cost Per Cup = $0.46

The Contender:
Ragu Traditional Pizza Sauce (14 0z.) = $1.48
Per Cup = $0.99

Savings: 
54%

"Over a year" scenario:
Make Pizza Sauce 4 times = $6.40
Use Equivalent Ragu Traditional Pizza Sauce (14 oz.) = $13.81

Money Saved: $7.41





14 comments:

  1. I say the pizza stone and pizza peel are great investment. I've been wanting a pizza peel for the longest time but I invested the money in the stand mixer! :P It was on sale and use it for my dough kneading (for bread and pizza dough) so, there goes the $. Your pizza sauce looks great and so much better and cheaper to make my own than store bought as I can adjust the flavor in it. :) Thanks for sharing yours.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Amy. We really enjoy this pizza sauce, and I hope you will too!

      Delete
  2. I just found your blog, and LOVE it!! I have refried beans in my crock pot now, and am considering throwing the lentil bean soup in the crockpot over night on low...for lunches this week!
    Also, your pizza sauce recipe looks awesome...if you're willing to add a few cents to it, try adding in a little bit of butter (maybe a tablespoon) and letting it melt. It makes it just a little bit more decadent ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Brooke! I'm glad you found me. : ) I'm excited that you're giving the beans a go. They are a staple in my home. The butter in the pizza sauce sounds intriguing. I'll have to try it out.

      Delete
  3. I see above you are comparing 14oz to a cup (8 oz) so is that a true comparison or have you done something else I am missing. thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am confused....I see now what you did. thank you

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am new to your blog and just wanted you to know how much I enjoy it already. I have made the fried rice which was a HUGE hit, the cornbread-which we also liked. Today I hope to try my hand at the chicken noodle soup. Well, I know I am making the soup, just not sure if I will have time to try to make homemade noodles to go with it. I have never made homemade noodles before but yours seems do-able. Thanks for all the hard work you have put into this blog. Enjoy your day and God bless.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for the nice comment! I say give the noodles a try if you have time. They're not so hard as they seem, and they taste amazing. Either way, I hope you enjoy the soup!

      Delete
  6. I enjoy your blog. We think a lot the same way! Thanks for the encouragement.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Have you tried freezing this sauce? Does it freeze well?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I freeze it all the time! I use 1/4 of the batch immediately for pizza, then freeze the other portions in sandwich size ziplock bags, ad pull one out at a time to thaw as needed.

      Delete
  8. Omg I am so in LOVE with your site, I stumbled upon it from a pinterest post that took me to another blog then on that blog I found a link to your blog. Wow I have been reading through your recipes and am in love with the idea of making home made foods I made pizza from scratch for years when I ran a deli but I was very unskilled and only new how to make with all the fancy stuff love that all that is not required on here.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Super yummy pizza sauce! I was skeptical since the list was so simple...it didn't take an hour with 12 ingredients. MmmMMM. Thanks! Never wasting money on store bought again. Now, on to the English muffin pizza lunch for my toddler!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I had some cans of tomato sauce that were about to expire and needed to be used. I ended up making this sauce tonight. It was great!

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...