Difference Between Spaghetti Sauce and Pizza Sauce

The key difference between spaghetti sauce and pizza sauce is that spaghetti sauce is cooked while pizza sauce is uncooked. Pizza sauce gets cooked with the pizza dough and the toppings.

Spaghetti sauce is chunky and watery because diced tomatoes are used in making it instead of tomato puree, which is used in making pizza sauce. Spaghetti sauce also uses more herbs and spices along with seasoning to enhance its flavours. But pizza sauce does not usually use herbs and spices since the toppings used in the pizza has many ingredients and enhances its flavours.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Spaghetti Sauce 
3. What is Pizza Sauce
4. Spaghetti Sauce vs Pizza Sauce in Tabular Form
5. Summary

What is Spaghetti Sauce?

Spaghetti Sauce is generally made with crushed tomatoes. This makes the water level of the sauce increase, and as a result, it becomes thinner. This thin consistency makes it easy to spread on the spaghetti. This sauce usually needs more seasoning than pizza sauce, and this includes basic ingredients like salt, dried oregano and pepper. It may also have tomato chunks and meat.  Usually, the flavours come out only when this sauce is simmered a little. To add more taste, sides such as cheesy french bread or fresh green beans can be added. Spaghetti sauce usually includes the following ingredients:

• 1/8 cup olive oil
• 3 pounds ripe diced tomatoes
• 3 tbsp chopped fresh thyme leaves (optional)
• 6 cloves of garlic, diced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

After heating olive oil, the tomatoes are added along with all the other ingredients. Then it should be boiled by stirring frequently. After reducing heat, it is simmered for about 10 minutes, again stirring occasionally. While cooking, remember to crush the tomatoes using a spatula.

What is Pizza Sauce?

Generally, pizza sauce is uncooked, and it is made using plain tomatoes, tomato paste or pureed uncooked tomatoes, which may also contain spices and herbs. Therefore, this has a thicker texture than spaghetti sauce. This thicker texture prevents the pizza from getting soaked in the sauce while cooking. Pizza sauce may also use ingredients such as Italian seasoning, oregano, garlic salt, onion powder and sugar. These spices, along with the fats and oils in the cheese used in pizzas, combine to add an aromatic and appetizing flavour to the pizza. Before making the pizza, the sauce should be made ready, and then a thin layer of this pizza sauce is spread on top of the pizza dough, and then it is topped with the other ingredients and cooked along with those ingredients and the dough. The proper taste in this sauce is considered the key to a delicious pizza. Traditionally this sauce is red but, instead of this specially made pizza sauce, there are some famous alternatives for it as well. They are sauces such as,

• Olive Oil and Garlic
• Barbecue Sauce
• Pesto
• Alfredo Sauce
• Chimichurri Sauce
• Tapenade
• Sweet Chili Sauce
• Ricotta Cheese
• Ranch Dressing
• Balsamic Glaze
• Buffalo Wing Sauce

The ingredients in making a pizza sauce are,

• 6 oz. tomato paste
• 15 oz. tomato sauce (smooth, without any chunks)
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 Tbsp. salt or garlic salt
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder
• 1 tsp. granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp. ground pepper
• 1-2 Tbsp. Italian seasoning (to taste)
• Dried or fresh oregano (to taste)
• Dried or fresh basil (to taste)
• Red pepper flakes (optional)

All these ingredients are mixed to make the pizza sauce which should be used on pizza just after making it or can be refrigerated for up to a few weeks.

What is the Difference Between Spaghetti Sauce and Pizza Sauce?

The key difference between spaghetti sauce and pizza sauce is that spaghetti sauce is cooked while pizza sauce is uncooked. Since spaghetti sauce is considered cheaper, it can also be used instead of pizza sauce for homemade pizzas. However, they taste different.

The following table lists the differences between spaghetti sauce and pizza sauce for side by side comparison.

Summary – Spaghetti Sauce vs Pizza Sauce

Spaghetti sauce is cooked while pizza sauce is uncooked. Spaghetti sauce tends to be chunky and watery since it uses diced tomatoes, unlike tomato puree in pizza sauce, which makes it more creamy and smooth textured. Spaghetti sauces have more herbs, spices, and seasonings than pizza sauces to enhance their flavour. But pizza sauces have fewer seasonings since pizza toppings already have many seasonings. Thus, this is the summary of the difference between spaghetti sauce and pizza sauce.

Reference:

1. “Easy Homemade Spaghetti Sauce Recipe.” The Mediterranean Dish, 25 Jan. 2021.

1. “Dough Pizza Italian Flavour Italian Pizza Pizza” (CC0) via Max Pixel
2. “Spaghetti” By wEnDy (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) via Flickr