In A Pinch, You Can Totally Turn Ketchup Into Pizza Sauce

Making pizza at home is not only a joyful experience that can help you save some cash on take-out, it also offers opportunities to get creative and customize for you and your diners' palates. And whether you go to the trouble of making your own dough, pick up a frozen option, or source it from your favorite pizzeria, there's no greater disappointment than realizing you've somehow neglected to secure another critical ingredient when go-time comes. Particularly for classic pies like pepperoni or straight up cheese, a foundation of delicious, tangy, umami-rich, and familiar tomato sauce is one of those elements. 

So what happens if you happen to be fresh out? Fortunately you don't have to panic; in just minutes you can rectify this culinary crisis by simply reaching for a few pantry staples (like vinegar, garlic and onion powder, and dried herbs), and another red condiment — classic ketchup.Thanks to its shared base ingredient (the all-powerful, always versatile tomato), ketchup can pair with many of the same pizza topping favorites you'd use otherwise. And while ketchup may have a bizarre evolution story, this transformation isn't weird at all — it's super handy, easy to pull off, and even personalize.

Putting together this makeshift pizza sauce is a cinch and won't slow down the process by much. In terms of ratio, a good starting point is to use around ½ cup of ketchup, a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, and then season it with ¼ teaspoon each of onion and garlic powder. You can go for about ½ teaspoon of dried oregano and salt and pepper to taste. You can also add tomato pasteor olive oil, which can help you dial in the texture of your topping to your liking.

You can experiment with the formulas, too. Swap cider vinegar for balsamic to add a moody, fruity complexity. Exchange oregano for dried basil — or even marjoram or rosemary. Add chili powder for a kick, or ancho powder for a smoky, complementary tinge. If you have fresh garlic or onion on hand and prefer their potency, lean into that instinct instead of the powdered stuff.

No matter how you put it together, this process showcases ketchup's versatility, which goes way beyond burgers and fries (it's also one of three ingredients you need for perfect homemade cocktail sauce in a pinch). And while there may be plenty of other questions you have about ketchup but were too afraid to ask, if one of them is whether you can convert it into perfect pizza sauce, this simple hack provides the sure answer.