How to Make Freeze Dried Pizza Sauce

Name: Freeze Dried Pizza Sauce
Yield: 4 pint jars
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: 12lbs tomatoes (it's best to use a paste variety like Roma or San Marzano); 4 heads garlic (small-medium size); 1 tablespoon salt; 1 teaspoon black pepper; 3 small onions (or 2 medium size), diced; 1/2 cup fresh basil, finely chopped; 2 Tablespoons fresh oregano, finely chopped; 1/4 cup sugar; 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

by Becky May 15, 2024

written by Becky Published: August 24, 2022Updated: May 15, 2024

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Freeze dried pizza sauce is a great way to preserve tomatoes when they are in season. It is also delicious and freeze drying keeps a lot of the nutrition and fresh flavor!

This post contains affiliate links full disclosure can be found here.

What is Freeze Drying?

Freeze Drying is a process in which a completely frozen sample is placed under a vacuum in order to remove water, allowing the ice to change directly from a solid to a vapor without passing through a liquid phase.

Freeze drying is a relatively new process of preserving. At the time of writing this there is only one main company that sells at home freeze dryers and that is Harvest Right. In full disclosure, I am a Harvest Rig ht affiliate. You can learn more about Harvest Right and shop their freeze dryers HERE.

Why Freeze Dry Pizza Sauce rather than Can or Bottle Pizza Sauce?

There are three main reasons that I freeze dry rather than can foods.

#1 The number one reason being nutrition is preserved! A great deal of heat is used in canning and much of the nutrition is diminished during processing.

#2 The second reason is extra long shelf life. If I want to preserve something a really long time 15+ years, the only way to do that with pizza sauce or any other vegetable for that matter is to freeze dry it and store it in proper conditions.

#3 The third reason to freeze dry rather than can food is you can be creative with the recipe! Canning is a science and due to safety reasons all recipes must be tested and followed as it is written. With freeze drying the water is removed and bacteria can’t grow. Therefore you can make any adjustments to a recipe you like!

Is it Pizza Sauce or Seasoned Tomato Sauce?

We actually use our pizza sauce in recipes that call for tomato sauce as well. It’s nicely seasoned and can stand alone or be added to a soup or other dish.

One of our favorite ways to eat it aside from on pizza is a dipping sauce for homemade pretzels.

Freeze Dried Pizza Sauce

Serves: 4 pint jars Prep Time: 30 minutes Cooking Time: 2 hours + 24 hours of freeze drying 2 hours + 24 hours of freeze drying

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 5.0/5

( 2 voted )

Ingredients

12lbs tomatoes (it's best to use a paste variety like Roma or San Marzano)
4 heads garlic (small-medium size)
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
3 small onions (or 2 medium size), diced
1/2 cup fresh basil, finely chopped
2 Tablespoons fresh oregano, finely chopped
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 400ºF.
Cut tomatoes in half and place on a parchment lined baking sheet cut side down. It will take several baking trays to do all 12lbs.
Put the trays in the oven and set the timer for one hour.
Meanwhile, cut the tips off the garlic heads and drizzle with a teaspoon of olive oil. (The less oil you use the longer it will last in storage, so less is more here) Wrap garlic completely and tightly with foil. Place on one of the baking trays in the oven and let cook for the rest of the hour bake.
While the tomatoes and garlic are roasting take the diced onion and sauté it in a skillet on medium heat until soft. You can also chop up and measure the herbs as you wait.
When the timer beeps for the tomatoes, pull out the trays and set the garlic aside. Run the tomatoes through a food mill or sauce maker and then pour it all in a large mixing bowl. The one I use can be found HERE, it's a good one. See note below for alternative method if you don't have a food mill.
Then place cooked onions in a blender, squeeze out all the roasted garlic into the blender, and add a cup of tomato sauce. Blend throughly.
Pour the blended onion/garlic sauce into the bowl with the roasted tomato sauce. Add salt, pepper, basil, oregano, sugar, and red wine vinegar. Stir.
No need to heat it up, pour directly into freeze dryer trays. It should fit into four medium size trays.
Place directly into your freeze dryer or alternatively, freeze in a freezer then place in freeze dryer. We prefer to do the latter. Follow the instructions on the freeze dryer display to freeze dry.
After the freeze dryer is finished drying take out the trays and flip them onto a baking sheet. Crush with a rolling pin just enough to get it to easily fit in mason jars or mylar bags. We didn't blend it because we wanted chopped herbs left in larger bits in the sauce upon rehydration.
Package and store. There are several options, here is what we do. When we use mylar bags we add an oxygen absorber and seal with an impulse sealer. If we use mason jars you could also use an oxygen absorber or you can use a vacuum sealer for jars.
Rehydration: Heat water to a simmer. Pour the amount of sauce you'd like in a bowl. Slowly add the water and stir until it becomes the thickness and consistency you desire.

Notes

The food mill removes the skins and seeds from the tomatoes. I like to use it because I find the seeds can often add bitterness to the sauce. I also like to remove the skins because even after blending the texture of tomato skins isn't pleasant (my opinion) but feel free to do what you prefer. If you don't have a food mill, before putting your tomatoes in the oven, remove the seeds with a spoon. Let bake and then you can remove the skins, or keep them on if you like. Blend all the tomatoes in a blender after roasting.

Becky

The Weekly Digs #176

10 comments

Katie C. August 25, 2022 - 12:50 pm

Wow! Those are pricy though it sounds like fun.

I agree about the tomato skins and seeds. Our plants just aren’t producing enough this year probably due to the heat and lack of rain so I had to buy seconds at the farmers market. I’m putting odds and ends in the freezer to make something later. Given all that, I’ve canned 14 quarts of “tomato chunks” and 7 quarts of Ball’s vegetable soup. Cherry BBQ sauce, peaches, and chicken stock. Jalapeños and corn from a friend have gone into the freezer. I’m going to try to make hot pepper flakes this year and we have tomatillos growing. I hope to make green enchilada sauce.

Jenna Julianne August 26, 2022 - 6:16 am

THIS IS AWESOME! THANK YOU!!!

Elisabeth August 26, 2022 - 7:13 pm

Thank you!
I just made the sause. But I added a bit less suger and salt,will freeze ours . I love the idea to have it as dipping sause because it is delicious. I forgot to put some oliveoil on the garlic but it worked out fine. I have never done this before with a garlic. Amazing. Thank you!
Maybe I should add some oil when eating it later. Is it supposed to go with oil?
I mixed everything with a mixer because I do not have the applesause maker. It worked well. . I did take away all the seeds before I put it in the oven. This is my firts year with just Roma and San Marzano in tomatoesause and I really liked it. The texture and less juice.

It is actually the best sause recipe I ever tried. 👍

theseasonalhomestead August 26, 2022 - 8:10 pm

Great, so glad you liked it! If you are freezing it you could add the oil right away. I didn’t add much oil other than the garlic because I was freeze drying it and having fats in there reduces the shelf life. I will add a little additional olive oil to taste when serving.

DIANA August 31, 2022 - 11:12 am

WHEN YOU SAY TO USE 10 LBS OF TOMATOES ARE YOU TALKING AFTER YOU CLEAN THEM OR 10 LBS RIGHT OUT OF THE GARDEN BEFORE REMOVING SKINS AND SEEDS. THANK YOU, DIANA

theseasonalhomestead September 2, 2022 - 6:06 am

I cut off the bad spots and any tops, then weigh the 10lbs. It’s all weighed before I remove skins and seeds.

Inge September 1, 2022 - 3:23 am

I love the idea of freeze drying but unfortunately it’s out of my budget at the moment. I was sitting here eating my cup-a-soup and wondering how to make a healthy version – it’s only 3.5 stars on the packet (I haven’t read all the ingredients, but I’m sure there’s alot in it that isn’t considered food!) Could you freeze dry soup/stock into a powder, maybe add some chunkier freeze dried veggies and maybe some noodles? Then to eat it add hot water and it’s done?? I’d love to experiment with this idea – but obviously I don’t have a freeze drier!
Love your blog and videos – so inspiring.

theseasonalhomestead September 2, 2022 - 6:11 am

Thanks. Yes, you definitely could! One of the amazing things about the freeze drier is it can also do broths.

Val September 10, 2022 - 4:01 pm

Hi there just came across your web site,,just wondering about making the pizza sauce sounds so good but I don’t have a freeze dryer how else can I make this

theseasonalhomestead September 10, 2022 - 8:28 pm

You can make it and freeze it for later! Or I think it could also be dehydrated if you have a dehydrator. I haven’t tried it, but I would think it would work.