Get Creative And Use Your Pizza And Pasta Sauces Interchangeably

As we all know, pizza and pasta sauce are similar to one another — and both are delicious. But did you know that you can use them interchangeably?

First things first, we need to understand the difference between the two. Pasta sauce is already cooked, while pizza sauce is yet to be cooked. The reason for this all comes down to the difference in process: the pizza sauce can cook along with the rest of the pizza, while pasta sauce is added after the pasta has already been cooked. Additionally, pasta sauce is more likely to have a thicker consistency and sometimes a chunkier texture, with bits of tomato, for example, while pizza sauce has a loose consistency and is smooth so that it can act as a level base for any of the pizza toppings.

Despite these differences, you can actually use pasta sauce for pizza and pizza sauce for pasta — with a couple of extra steps. For the pizza sauce, it will need to be cooked through, so you can bring it to a boil on the stovetop; when you add the pizza sauce, add a bit of water from the boiled pasta as well. During this time, you can add extra ingredients to make it a bit more flavorful, such as herbs and spices. As for the reverse process, you can smooth out pasta sauce by blending it in a food processor to then use it for a pizza; it will just be a bit thicker than traditional pizza sauce.

Once you've gone through the extra steps, then you can essentially use pizza sauce for any pasta recipe and pasta sauce for any pizza recipe. For example, maybe you use a traditional pasta marinara sauce for an Italian sausage and sweet potato pizza — the extra spices and flavor in the marinara sauce will make the pizza even more flavorful and delicious. Or, maybe you use a creamy vodka pasta sauce to switch up the flavor of a classic pepperoni pizza.

On the other hand, maybe you use pizza sauce — that has been boiled, with ingredients added, as described above — for a classic spaghetti and meatballs dish on a night that you don't have any pasta sauce on hand (but have leftover sauce from pizza night). Or, you can the process of transforming pizza sauce into pasta sauce to add just the right amount of spice for a makeshift arrabbiata pasta sauce — so you have total control over how much heat is in the sauce — then whip up a batch of penne arrabbiata.

Or, if you want to skip the process of cooking the pizza sauce, you can use it for the sauce for a baked pasta dish — this way, you can use it interchangeably without the extra steps because it will be cooked in the oven with the rest of the dish. Try using pizza sauce for baked ziti or even a classic lasagna bologonese.