When you’re craving pizza, you have a lot of choices: You could make pizza from scratch, thaw (trust us!) and bake a frozen pie, or pull up an app and order delivery. Or, you could find the happy medium and blend outsourced items with homemade ones—and we think one of those shortcuts should be the sauce.

Although you might be surprised to hear it from chefs, just like with pasta sauce, there are some seriously solid options on supermarket shelves. (In case you missed it, here’s what makes pasta and pizza sauces different.)

“A ‘parlor trick’ that many people don’t realize is that their favorite pizza place might also be using jarred or canned sauce—and that’s okay,” says George Formaro, chef-partner of Italian cuisine-focused Centro in Des Moines, Iowa. “The difference between a parlor pie and a home pizza often comes down to experience and technique.”

 

So, which prepared pizza sauce brands do chefs swear by these days?

Our Panel of Pizza Sauce-Savvy Chefs

• Erin Clarke, Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based recipe developer and author of “Well Plated Every Day”

• George Formaro, chef-partner of Orchestrate Hospitality restaurants, including Italian-focused Centro, in Des Moines, Iowa

• Yumna Jawad, Grand Rapids, Michigan-based CEO and founder of Feel Good Foodie and the author of “The Feel Good Foodie Cookbook: 125 Recipes Enhanced with Mediterranean Flavors

 

Cento: Kaifer praises the short ingredient list, which includes tomato concentrate, salt, extra-virgin olive oil, basil, and garlic. “In many cases, the fewer the better in terms of number of ingredients,” he says, explaining that the tomatoes can really step into the spotlight.

 

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