Marinara Pizza

Add some zing to your next pizza night with this delicious marinara pizza recipe! Made with tomatoes, garlic, and herbs, this sauce is packed with flavor. Slather it on your favorite crust and bake until bubbly. Yum!

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We could quite possibly live on pizza, given half the chance; give us a Greek pizza or a white pizza, and we’ll be happy.

We loved how our marinara pizza turned out and think you will too!

Why you’ll love this easy pizza recipe

• You can make the marinara sauce ahead, leaving you more time to spend with your guests
• A pizza marinara is perfect for outdoor cooking, pizza night, or parties!
• It’s the pizza everyone loves, you can’t go wrong with them!
• All the ingredients are 100% vegetarian and vegan.

Ingredients you’ll need for pizza marinara

You’ll need all the ingredients shown in the photograph below.

The vivid red sauce gets you first, then you bite into your pizza with a satisfying crunch, the flavors are simple but oh so good!

How to make marinara pizza with step-by-step instructions

Making our marinara pizza is easy if you follow our simple instructions.

A full printable recipe and the measurements in both US customary and metric are available in the recipe card below.

If you are making homemade marinara sauce

You can use store-bought marinara sauce, but you can’t beat the flavor of homemade, plus you can freeze it too, so you always have it on hand for future pizzas!

Add San Marzano tomatoes (if you can’t get fresh, use canned peeled tomatoes) to a medium pan, then add onions, minced garlic, dried oregano, red pepper flakes, extra virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper, and stir to combine.

Over medium-high heat, bring to a simmer, and then reduce the heat and gently simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Then, set it aside to cool before adding it to a food processor or blender and blitz until it becomes a smooth pizza sauce.

If you are using a pizza oven

Preheat your oven to 840°F/450°C.

Lightly dust your pizza peel with flour, then place your pizza crust on the flour.

Spread marinara pizza sauce over the pizza crust, leaving a half-inch border, then add fresh oregano and optional sliced garlic.

Place the pizza in the oven for approximately 1 – 2 minutes, making sure you turn the pizza every 20 seconds using a pizza turning peel to ensure an even cook.

When ready, your pizza crust will be charred, and the topping perfectly cooked.

Remove from the oven, drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil or garlic oil over the pizza and serve immediately – enjoy your marinara pizza!

If you are using a kitchen oven

Preheat your oven to 500°F/260°C and if you are using a pizza stone, place it in the oven to heat up.

Lightly dust your work surface or pizza pan with flour, then place your pizza crust on the flour.

Spread marinara sauce over the pizza crust, leaving a half-inch border, then add fresh oregano and optional sliced garlic.

Place the pizza in the oven for approximately 8 – 10 minutes, making sure that you turn the pizza halfway through to ensure an even cook.

When ready, your pizza crust will be golden brown, and the topping perfectly cooked.

Remove from the oven, drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil or garlic oil over the pizza, and serve immediately – enjoy your marinara pizza!

Recipe notes and expert tips

• Fresh tomatoes
  If you’re lucky enough to get fresh San Marzano tomatoes, use these as they are sweet tomatoes; alternatively, use canned tomatoes. Whole or crushed tomatoes are fine, as you will blitz them in the food processor.
• Add flavor
  If you want to add a little more flavor, sprinkle some Italian seasoning on the marinara sauce before cooking and add fresh basil leaves before serving.
• Important
  Different pizza ovens, stones, or pans all cook differently. Watch your pizza, as you may have to increase or reduce the cooking time.

What to serve with marinara pizza

Serve it with your favorite dipping sauce; we love dipping it in pizza aioli, garlic dip, sour cream and chive dipping sauce.

Enjoy it with a side of sweet potato fries, or spice it up with peri peri fries.

Do I need to make my own pizza dough?

There’s nothing quite like homemade pizza dough coupled with homemade marinara sauce, the freshness that they bring to pizza is incomparable.

We’re bringing out our pizza dough recipe soon, so please check back.

But as delicious as lovingly made homemade pizza dough is, you don’t always have the time or inclination to make it.

In that case, it’s OK to use store-bought pizza dough or even a pizza crust; you can get some delicious crusts and save a lot of time!

How to store leftover marinara pizza

Your pizza marinara will keep for up to 3 days when stored in the fridge in an airtight container.

You can either reheat it or eat it cold.

Your pizza will also freeze for up to 3 months.

What’s the best way to cook a pizza?

We love cooking with our pizza oven, you get the authentic charred crust, and it’s cooked in as little as 2 minutes!

We’ve reviewed our pizza oven, and we’re so impressed with it. It’s the only pizza oven that is ‘recommended for Domestic Use’ by the Associazione verace pizza Napoletana, an authority on true Neapolitan pizza.

But if a pizza oven isn’t an option, we recommend using a pizza stone.

They are affordable and will transform your homemade pizzas. The stone heats to a very high temperature, which means that your pizza crust is cooked all over, and you have that satisfying crunch as you bite into it.

Then you have a pizza pan; a pizza pan has holes in the bottom, which allow a little of the heat to reach the crust.

You will get a better pizza using a pizza pan than you will if you use a baking sheet.

More easy pizza recipes for you to try at home

If you like our pizza marinara recipe, then you should give these recipes a try!

• Margherita pizza
• Mushroom pizza
• Cheese pizza
• Caprese pizza
• Pesto pizza

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