If you’re parenting a picky or “selective” eater, this Veggie Heavy Pizza Sauce is about to become your new best friend. It’s loaded with cooked and puréed vegetables, yet tastes just like the tangy, rich sauce from your favorite neighborhood pizzeria.
You won’t find me hiding vegetables in meatloaf or sneaking them into dinners under cover of darkness. Partly because that sounds like a lot of extra work — cooking, puréeing, disguising — but mostly because I want my kids to know vegetables are the real deal. They help you grow. They make you strong. They fuel those big brain moments and even bigger muscle-flexing competitions at the dinner table.
I see it happen every day. One kid dramatically showing off their “muscles” after a bite of broccoli, the other not wanting to be outdone. It doesn’t always happen overnight, and it definitely takes persistence, but when you keep serving good food and speaking positively about it, something clicks.
This sauce is proof.
It’s packed with vegetables but blends into a smooth, vibrant, perfectly seasoned pizza sauce. Spoon it over crisp pizza dough, toss it with pasta, layer it into lasagna, or serve it over rice or quinoa. It’s incredibly versatile, which is why I almost always make a double batch and freeze half. Future dinner = handled.
So don’t sneak it in. Tell your kids exactly what it is: a bold, flavorful sauce made entirely from vegetables. (Yes, tomatoes are technically a fruit, but we’ll save that debate for another day.)
Knowledge is power — and in this case, it’s downright delicious.
Veggie Heavy Pizza Sauce
If you’re raising a picky or selective eater, this Veggie Heavy Pizza Sauce is about to make dinnertime a whole lot easier. It’s made from a colorful mix of cooked and puréed vegetables, yet tastes just like the rich, tangy sauce from your favorite pizzeria.
Instead of hiding vegetables, this recipe lets them shine. Bell peppers, carrots, celery, onion, and garlic are sautéed until tender, then blended with tomatoes into a smooth, flavorful sauce that’s perfect for pizza night. The best part? Your kids won’t feel like they’re missing out on anything — it tastes just like classic pizza sauce, only better.
Bold, veggie-packed, and family-approved — this is one sauce you’ll want on repeat.
Ingredients
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1 tablespoon olive oil
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1 red, orange, or yellow bell pepper, diced
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1 medium carrot
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1 stalk celery
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1 small onion, diced
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2 cloves garlic, minced
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1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
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2 tablespoons tomato paste
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2 (28-ounce) cans diced tomatoes, drained
Instructions
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Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat.
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Add the bell pepper, carrot, celery, onion, garlic, and salt. Sauté until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes.
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Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
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Add the diced tomatoes, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes.
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Remove from heat and purée using an immersion blender (or carefully transfer to a regular blender) until almost smooth.
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Return the sauce to the heat and simmer for 10–20 more minutes, or longer if desired. The longer it simmers, the thicker and more flavorful it becomes — up to 2 hours.
