Looking for a keto pizza sauce for your low carb fathead dough or cauliflower pizza crust? This easy 15-minute recipe has a fraction of the sugar found in store bought sauces. Make it while your keto crust bakes and it will be ready when your crust is. You’ll want to make this delicious sauce again and again.
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Great Keto Pizza is Possible on Your Low Carb Diet!
Following a low-carb or keto diet is easier than ever when you can enjoy great low carb pizza. The most popular keto friendly pizzas start with fathead dough, chicken pizza crust or a crispy cauliflower crust. All are great choices, so choosing a favorite depends on your preferred flavor and texture.
You’ll be surprised to learn that the while today’s keto pizza crusts are ultra low carb, it’s the sauces and toppings you’ll have to pay attention to. They may contain hidden sugars so make sure to read labels.
Carbs in Tomatoes
Tomatoes contain natural sugars and have a net carb count of 0.67 g per raw ounce. Tomato products, especially those which concentrate and thicken pureed tomatoes, are typically high in carbs. It’s common for popular canned/jarred tomato sauces and pizza sauce to add extra sugar to their recipes.
These hidden sugars often contribute to carb creep, causing stalls and weight gain for those on low carb keto diets. Luckily, my low carb sauce is so good you won’t even miss your old stand-by.
Keto Pizza Sauce
Several keto friendly pizza sauce recipes call for cooking-down fresh or canned whole tomatoes. And while I do that for pasta sauce, this method requires too much cooking time to make a quick pizza sauce.
Conversely, no-cook keto pizza sauce recipes mix a few dried seasonings with tomato paste and water. Yes, they are easy, but they lack the flavor of a cooked sauce.
My recipe takes the best parts of both methods, is easy and tastes great. While it’s not ultra thick like store bought brands (Pizza Quick), it has less carbs and better ingredients. Here’s how to make it:
- In a small pot, saute fresh chopped garlic in olive oil until softened and the raw smell cooks out.
- Add an 8 ounce can of tomato sauce to the pan and simmer with…
- Fresh chopped parsley, onion powder, dried basil, dried oregano, and red pepper flakes.
- Add a little sweetener because canned tomatoes are very acidic.
- Simmer about 5 minutes or until the sauce darkens a little and no longer smells raw.
Feel free to add chopped onion, fresh rosemary, dried marjoram, red pepper flakes or Parmesan cheese to make it your own.
NOTE: I had Contadina tomato sauce in the pantry but use your favorite brand. Just make sure that it doesn’t contain added sugars.
Other Keto Friendly Pizza Sauce Options
Some people can’t handle the acid in a tomato-based sauce anymore.* Still others want a new and exciting keto pizza flavor. Here are a few great keto pizza sauce options that will keep you loving your low carb pizza.
- Alfredo sauce
- Blue cheese dressing
- Caesar dressing
- Enchilada Sauce
- Garlic and olive oil
- Keto Barbecue Sauce
- Pesto
- Ranch dressing
TIP: Add a little baking soda to your tomato sauce to neutralize the acid. The amount of baking soda depends on the amount of sauce you make. Add 1/4 teaspoon at a time until you notice the sauce is more mellow and no longer “bites”. You can do this with your morning coffee, too. I add a pinch of baking soda to my coffee every morning!
What Can You Make with Sugar Free Pizza Sauce?
Spoon sugar free pizza over eggs for a quick-and-dirty Shakshuka (eggs-in-hell) recipe. It makes a great dipping sauce for cheesy keto breadsticks, mozzarella sticks or crispy fried eggplant . One of my favorite ways to use this sauce is for keto bagel pizzas. My kids love them as a snack!
Conclusion
It’s easy to make your own keto pizza sauce for your favorite low carb pizza crusts. It only takes a few minutes, you control the ingredients and it tastes great.
Easy Keto Pizza Sauce
Equipment
- Can opener
- Small sauce pan
Ingredients
- 8 oz Contadina tomato sauce
- 1 med clove garlic, pressed
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 2 tsp low carb sugar (Sukrin, Swerve, Lakanto, Besti)
- 1 tsp chopped fresh parsley (or 1/2 tsp dried)
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp dreid basil
- 1/4 tsp dried oregano
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
Instructions
- Measure the onion powder, basil, oregano and red pepper flakes into a small bowl. Chop the parsley and add it to the bowl. Open the can of tomato sauce.
- Pour the olive oil into a small sauce pan and add the pressed garlic. Turn the heat to medium and cook until the garlic is fragrant and loses its raw smell.
- Pour the tomato sauce into the pan and add the chopped parsley and dried seasonings. Add half of the sweetener and taste, adding the rest if needed. Simmer about 5 minutes or until the sauce darkens slightly and no longer smells raw.
- Cool and store in an airtight container for up to 5 days or freeze until needed. Thaw in the refrigerator.
- Makes 1 cup of sauce with 8, 2-tbsp servings at 1.25 NET CARBS PER SERVING.
Easy and ohhhh so tasty. Yummmmy… I used 2 cloves of garlic, dried parsley (didn’t have fresh) and only 1 teaspoon of granulated monk fruit (my preference for sweetener). Froze the leftover sauce. Made my first keto pizza today, it was delicious. This recipe will be stored and shared. Very tasty sauce, try it you won’t be disappointed. THANK YOU for this easy, quick and yummy pizza sauce.
Would Stevia work in this for low carb sugar?
If that’s what you are used to, then go for it. I prefer stevia glycerite because it is MUCH less bitter than other stevia brands and forms, but use what you have. -Kim
Very good. The pizza sauce was good on the chicken crust pizza we had for dinner.
This pizza sauce was really good. It wasn’t as thick as the kind in the jar, but it tasted better.
This was great on my Fathead pizza. Easy and delicious.
We used this sauce on the excellent cauliflower pizza crust also on your site. It made for an great low carb pizza, topped with sliced tomatoes, ricotta and basil. Delicious!
I cannot wait to try this as I am on a low carb diet and have diabetes. Thank you for the recipes!!!
Hi Jacqueline. You will love this on the fathead pizza doughs or my cauliflower pizza crust (which is actually crispy!). Being able to whip up a pizza in less time than waiting for delivery is a game changer. I have also frozen extra dough and pre-cooked crusts. This pizza sauce recipe is easy enough to customize to your tastes. Enjoy! -Kim
Hi Kim.
Am I able to Use another brand name tomato sauce if I can’t find Contadina. Would you have any suggestions.
You can use whatever you can find, Rosie. Just find one that has the least amount of carbs per an equal serving. You can use an already “flavored” one or plain. -Kim
If tomato sauce has added sugar why not use tomato paste? Thats what I used and added all your suggestions with a half canvof wayer and it turned out great!
Hi Cynthia. Tomato paste is fine, but since it is a concentrated product the sugars in the paste are concentrated, too. There are many recipes for pizza sauce with tomato paste and water. I feel this recipe is fresher in taste and I like the texture as it is more like a thick homemade sauce vs a paste-like product. -Kim
Thanks for this simple pizza sauce recipe. I hate the store bought ones but somehow never got around to making the sauce myself.
Would it be possible to convert to a large batch recipe and preserve by canning using traditional hot water bath methods? If so, would you exponentially convert measurements 1:1 as is in the original recipe?
I’m sure you can, Andy. Make the small batch recipe first to make sure you like it as is – you might prefer more garlic or to add fresh basil or whatever per your tastes. The recipe card has a scaler that will scale the ingredients for you. -Kim