Keto Pizza Sauce
Published August 4, 2019 • Updated February 25, 2026
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I make this keto pizza sauce from whole canned tomatoes, garlic, and olive oil. At 1.2g net carbs per serving, it's the only red sauce I use for pizza night.
Homemade Pizza Sauce
I used to grab whatever jar was on sale at the store. A couple had about 3g carbs per quarter cup, which seemed fine, but they all had added sugar and that flat, tinny taste you get from processed tomato sauce. Not a little flat. Completely bland. I wanted something with actual tomato flavor that I could pull together fast when the pizza mood hit.
So I started making my own. Whole canned tomatoes, a food processor, garlic sauteed in plenty of olive oil, salt. That’s the whole ingredient list. What surprised me is how different it tastes. Pureeing whole tomatoes yourself gives you a brightness that crushed or pre-made sauces don’t have. The tomatoes aren’t sitting in a can pre-broken-down and losing flavor. You’re starting with the highest-quality canned product and processing it right before cooking, so everything stays intact. Reader Megan told me she’d tried six or seven other keto recipes before landing on this one, and her take was the same: “Pureeing the whole tomatoes yourself instead of opening a can of crushed is what does it. The flavor’s just different.”
The olive oil matters here too. Four tablespoons bumps the fat to 2.3 grams per tablespoon of finished sauce, which makes a real difference for your macros. Standard jarred tomato sauce has zero fat. And the recipe yields about 12 servings (2 tablespoons each), so one batch covers anywhere from six to twelve pizzas depending on how heavy you pour.
I don’t just use this for pizza, either. It works on my crustless pizza, in pizza bowls, as a dipping sauce with keto focaccia, and as the base for cottage cheese pizza bowls. Once you have a batch in the freezer, you start finding excuses to use it. That’s the part I didn’t expect when I first made this. The sauce itself is simple, but having it on hand changes how often pizza night actually happens.
Dina brought a pizza made with this to her sister’s birthday dinner. Her brother-in-law, who avoids anything labeled “keto,” had two slices and asked what brand the sauce was. That’s what whole tomatoes done right taste like. People just taste good food, not a diet workaround.
How to make homemade pizza sauce?
Four ingredients, one saucepan. Olive oil, garlic, canned whole tomatoes, and salt.
I puree the tomatoes in a food processor first (8-10 seconds, no more). Then I saute the garlic in olive oil over low heat until it’s fragrant, about 1-2 minutes, add the puree, and bump the heat to medium. The sauce thickens as the water cooks off, usually 10-15 minutes. Salt goes in at the end.
The whole thing takes under 20 minutes. I’ve made this enough times that I can have it done while the oven preheats.
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Ingredients
4 tablespoons olive oil -
2 cloves garlic, minced
-
1 (28 ounce) can whole tomatoes
-
salt and pepper to taste
Step by Step Instructions
Step by Step Instructions
Puree the tomatoes
Using a food processor, blender, or immersion blender, puree the whole tomatoes for about 8 to 10 seconds or until all tomatoes are broken down.
Sauté the garlic
Preheat a medium saucepan over low heat, then add olive oil and garlic. Sauté until garlic is fragrant, about 1 to 2 minutes.
Add the puree
Add tomato puree and increase heat to medium. Cook sauce until slightly thickened, about 10 to 15 minutes.
Add the salt & pepper
Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.
Nutrition disclaimer
The nutrition information provided is an estimate and is for informational purposes only. I am a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.); however, this content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your physician or other qualified health provider before making any lifestyle changes or beginning a new nutrition program.
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Get My Macros + Recipes →Frequently Asked Questions
How many carbs are in this sauce?
Each serving (2 tablespoons) has 1.2g net carbs and 1.6g total carbs. I've compared this to most store-bought options, and it comes in lower than anything I've found on the shelf, especially once you factor in the added sugars most jars sneak in.
Is Rao's a good store-bought alternative?
Rao's is one of the better options if you need something fast. Their marinara runs about 3g net carbs per half cup, which isn't bad for a jar. But I stopped buying it once I started making my own, because the flavor gap is real. Whole tomatoes pureed fresh give you something a low-carb jarred sauce can't. If you have 20 minutes, make this instead.
Is this a sugar free recipe?
No added sugar at all. There's a small amount of natural sugar from the tomatoes, but that's unavoidable with any tomato-based sauce. I've checked the labels on "sugar-free" store brands, and they still have the same natural tomato sugars. By industry standards, this qualifies.
What's the difference between using tomato paste and whole tomatoes?
I've tried both. Tomato paste is concentrated, so the carbs per tablespoon are actually higher, but you use less of it. The real difference is flavor. Paste gives you a thick, dense sauce that tastes cooked-down and heavy. Whole tomatoes pureed fresh taste brighter, more like actual tomatoes. I go with whole every time for this recipe.
Do I need to add a sweetener to cut the acidity?
I don't add any sweetener. The olive oil and the natural sugars in the tomatoes balance the acidity enough for my taste. Some people add a pinch of baking soda to neutralize acid, but I've never felt this sauce needed it. If yours tastes too sharp, try cooking it a few minutes longer. The acidity mellows as the sauce reduces.
Can I make a no-cook version with tomato paste?
You can mix tomato paste with olive oil and seasonings for a quick no-cook sauce, and I've done it when I'm short on time. But the flavor isn't close. Cooking the garlic in olive oil first and then simmering the puree is what builds the depth. The no-cook version works in a pinch, but I always come back to the cooked one.
Can I use this as a pasta sauce or dipping sauce?
I use it for both all the time. It works on anything that needs a red sauce. I've used it as the base when I make keto alfredo dishes that want a drizzle of red on top, as a dip alongside sugar-free ketchup on appetizer boards, and stirred into scrambled eggs for a quick shakshuka-style breakfast.
Never thought to make my own pizza sauce before but the garlic sautéing in the olive oil had the whole kitchen smelling incredible. Came together way faster than I expected. One question though: can I freeze this in portions or does it lose something when it thaws?
Yeah it freezes fine. I do ice cube trays for portioning, then transfer to a bag once frozen. The oil separates a little when it thaws but just give it a stir.
When I went keto two years ago, pizza night was what I mourned most, the sauce especially. Jarred low-carb versions taste metallic, and I'd just made my peace with that. Made this Saturday with San Marzanos; garlic sautéed in olive oil is what does it. Doesn't taste like a compromise. Still tweaking the simmer time to get my thickness right, which is the only reason I'm at four stars. This is the one I'll keep making.
Thickness is all in the simmer. I go 20-25 minutes and check with a spoon drag through the center. San Marzanos take a little longer to break down so you might need the extra time.
Swapped in fire-roasted instead of regular whole tomatoes. Smoky depth you can't go back from. Carbs track the same if you're counting.
Can't go back is right. I've had both in the pantry for months and the regular ones just sit there.
Brought this to pizza night and my friend who slow-simmers her sauce for three hours asked for the recipe when I told her it was just a can of whole tomatoes and two garlic cloves.
Three hours vs two garlic cloves and she still asked for the recipe. That's the whole argument for this sauce right there.
I have been buying the expensive jarred keto sauces for months because I was too nervous to make my own. Finally tried this and the step where you saute the garlic in olive oil first is what got me, the whole sauce just blooms differently. Store-bought versions taste flat compared to this now. Four stars because I over-salted mine on the first try, but that is a me problem.
Yeah the garlic in oil step is the whole thing. Salt at the end, not the beginning. The tomatoes already have sodium and it gets more concentrated as it simmers.
My son is 9 and suspicious of anything I make that's 'healthy.' He ate two slices last night and asked for extra sauce to dip his crust in. I didn't say a word. The garlic actually tastes like pizza sauce, and I think that's why he didn't question it. Keeping a jar in the fridge now.
The crust dipping is the tell. He went back for more on his own. The garlic cooked in the olive oil is what makes it read as actual pizza sauce instead of a healthy swap.
On my fifth or sixth batch and switched to fire-roasted canned tomatoes maybe two batches ago. The way they puree, you get this underlying smokiness that regular whole tomatoes just don't have. Still 1.2g carbs either way but I'm not going back.
Fire-roasted are genuinely better for this. The smoke just sits in the sauce in a way that doesn't happen with regular whole tomatoes. I keep both in my pantry but I reach for fire-roasted most of the time now.
I've tried probably four different keto pizza sauce recipes over the past year and they all tasted kind of flat, like something was missing, and I just assumed that was the trade-off. Made this last Friday (cold enough that pizza felt mandatory) and the garlic step hit me right away, that smell when it hits the olive oil is the whole thing. Every other recipe I was just blending canned tomatoes and calling it a day. Going back through my notes trying to figure out how to fix the others with that one change.
Yeah, that garlic in the oil is the whole thing. I've tried a no-cook shortcut and it doesn't even come close.
I've tried probably six or seven pizza sauce recipes since going keto, and most of them taste like they're working around the tomatoes rather than with them. Pureeing the whole tomatoes yourself instead of opening a can of crushed is what does it. The flavor's just different. Still tweaking the garlic ratio but this is the one I come back to.
Two cloves is conservative on purpose. I've bumped it to 3 or 4 depending on the pizza. The whole tomato part I wouldn't touch.
Brought homemade pizza to my sister's birthday dinner last weekend. Her husband who avoids anything labeled 'keto' had two slices and asked what brand the sauce was.
Ha. 'What brand' is the best thing he could have said. Whole canned tomatoes are doing a lot of the work there.
I've gone completely giddy! We will have a family heirloom of keto friendly recipes before it's all said and done. I will start a tradition of healthy eating and healthy bodies past adolescence. That's a privilege. I hope you realize just how much good you're doing and the lives you're changing and that you're so very much appreciated.
Family heirloom of keto recipes. I love that framing. My kids make this sauce themselves now, that's just how we cook.
So one could use home canned tomatoes to do this....
Yes! That works too
This is THE SAUCE!!! I love it! I added roasted garlic to mine and yum!!!!
Roasted garlic is a great call. Sweeter, way less sharp than the fresh minced. Adding that next time I make this.
Great recipe! I like mine a little sweet so I sneak in some sugar substitute! Tastes great!!
I've never felt it needed sweetening, the tomatoes have enough natural sugar. But some cans run more acidic than others so I get it.