Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce (meat or vegetarian!)

At a glance

What stands out: Start crockpot spaghetti sauce in the morning and forget about it all day. At dinner time, cook up a big pot of pasta and enjoy an absolutely rich from-scratch spaghetti dinner. This recipe is a rich slow-simmered sauce that’s hands-off.

How long it takes: 3 to 4 hours on High, or 6 to 8 hours on Low.
Equipment you’ll need: skillet, slow cooker
Servings: makes 9 cups of sauce

If you’re used to spaghetti sauce from a jar, you’re in for a pleasant surprise. From-scratch is so much better! Yeah, yeah, you knew we were going to say that, we know.

There’s nothing quite like the satisfaction of adding a little bit of this, a little bit of that to the pan and then letting that spaghetti sauce simmer, simmer, simmer while the house fills up with the smell of an Italian restaurant and everyone is just eagerly anticipating dinnertime because they’ve been captivated by that wonderful smell of sauce cooking all. day. long!

So enjoy! Don’t wait for a special occasion. Make a big crockpot full of spaghetti sauce, invite friends and family, and feast on a from-scratch spaghetti dinner. Serve it with fresh warm bread and olive oil dipping sauce. A glass of red wine would be nice, too.

From-scratch Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce

From-scratch sauce is better than store-bought. Sauce from a jar just falls flat in comparison to from-scratch. There’s a little more work involved with from-scratch. Obviously, you can’t get much easier than opening a jar although even when we do use sauce from a jar, we find myself adding all sorts of stuff to doctor it up so it tastes better. And when you make your own, you know exactly what’s in it, no added preservatives, sodium, or “natural flavor.”

Fix it and forget it. The recipe for this crockpot spaghetti sauce is similar to our popular stovetop spaghetti sauce. There are two differences: you make this sauce in your slow cooker and we've added meat to the recipe. The advantage of this recipe is that you can make the sauce in the morning (or right after lunch) and forget about while your slow cooker does all the work.

It’s not fussy about time. Not sure what time you’re going to be eating dinner? No problem, the sauce can simmer until you’re ready. It’s reliable for those days when you’re flying around doing errands, going to games, swimming lessons, or whatever is on your agenda for the day.

What goes in

• Meat of Your Choice: You can use ground beef, ground turkey, Italian sausage or no meat at all! Choose your favorite or what you happen to have in the house.
• Onion and Garlic: We usually use inexpensive yellow cooking onions for sauces and soups. And what’s spaghetti sauce without garlic?!
• Lots of Tomatoes: This recipe is made with tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, and diced tomatoes, all canned tomato products you probably have in your pantry. Look for no-salt added canned tomatoes. You won’t notice a difference in taste but there’s a big difference in sodium content.
• Sugar: We add just a hint of sweetness to balance all the acidity of the tomatoes.
• Red Pepper Flakes: Just a pinch is added for a suggestion of warmth. If you like spicy spaghetti sauce, add more, or serve red pepper flakes on the side.
• Dried Herbs: You can find the herbs you need right in your spice drawer: oregano, thyme, and bay leaf. Our from-scratch Italian seasoning is a straightforward shortcut.
• Fresh Herbs: Adding fresh basil and parsley at the end of the cooking time gives the sauce so much flavor.
• Butter: A dab of butter adds extra richness to the spaghetti sauce.
• Salt: We love the fact that you can add salt to taste when you make your own spaghetti sauce. Have you ever noticed how much sodium is in a jar of spaghetti sauce? Whew!

Adding Red Wine To Spaghetti Sauce

Wine adds another rich dimension of flavor to your sauce. Use a dry, fruity red wine such as Zinfandel, Cabernet Franc, Chianti, or Sangiovese, just to name a few. Use a red wine that you would drink but don’t pour in an expensive wine.
How to do it: Add a half cup to a cup of wine to the pan after the meat has browned and continue to cook until the wine has reduced almost completely. Proceed with the recipe as directed.

How it comes together

The sauce can cook it all day (6 to 8 hours) on Low or just for the afternoon (3 to 4 hours on High).

Begin the sauce by cooking the meat and onions in a large skillet. Break up any large chunks of meat. Add the garlic, sauté for a minute, then add the tomato paste, stirring and cooking briefly.

Scrape the contents of the skillet into the crockpot, along with all the canned tomatoes, sugar, dried herbs, and red pepper flakes. Cover and simmer until you’re ready for dinner, then stir in fresh chopped basil and parsley, and a pat of butter. That’s it!

Ways to change it

• Make it on the stovetop. If you don’t have a slow cooker, you can easily make this sauce on the stove in a large heavy pan or Dutch oven. You’ll have to give it a stir now and then as it simmers for one to three hours.
• Choose whatever pasta you like best: You’re not limited to spaghetti. Try fettuccini, linguine, pappardelle, rigatoni, penne, whole wheat or regular, or use gluten-free pasta. Instant Pot polenta or zucchini noodles are good choices, too. For an even quicker variation of this recipe, try crockpot spaghetti. The pasta is cooked in the crockpot with the sauce.
• Vegetarian spaghetti sauce: Simply omit the meat and proceed with the recipe.
• Add meatballs. Instead of ground meat, use meatballs. Try these baked turkey meatballs. Add the meatballs to the sauce for the last hour of cooking time.
• Use fresh tomatoes. If you have a surplus of fresh tomatoes, peel the tomatoes and use them instead of the crushed tomatoes. If your tomatoes are juicy, squeeze some of the juice and seeds out before adding them to the sauce.

Make-Ahead Ideas

Get a head start. Know you’re going to have a busy morning and not sure if you’ll have time in the morning to get this meal in the crockpot? Fry up the ground meat, onions, garlic, and tomato paste a day ahead and refrigerate it. Measure out the seasonings and set them aside so they are ready to go. In the morning, you’ll be able to get the sauce in the crockpot in 5 minutes or so.

Freeze the extra sauce. This recipe makes a big batch of sauce! Use freezer safe containers to freeze extra sauce up to three months for dinners in the future.

Keeping leftovers

Refrigerate/freeze: Leftover sauce will keep three to four days in the fridge or up to 3 months in the freezer. Thaw overnight in the fridge for best results.

Reheat leftover sauce: Reheat the sauce gently in a saucepan or the crockpot. If you want, use leftover spaghetti sauce to stuff spaghetti squash for another great dinner.

Free Meal Plan

Interested in a weekly meal plan that includes this recipe? Take a look at Meal Plan #82. You’ll find a wholesome recipe for each weekday plus a categorized grocery list. We add a new meal plan weekly.

Browse Meal Plans

• Yield: 9 servings
• Prep: 15 minutes
• Cook: 4 hours
• Total: 4 hours 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 ½ pounds ground beef, ground turkey, or Italian sausage
• 1 cup finely diced yellow onion (about 1 medium onion)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tablespoon minced garlic)
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 can (28 oz.) crushed tomatoes
• 1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce (preferably no salt added sauce)
• 1 can (14.5 oz.) petite diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 bay leaf
• ¼ cup chopped fresh basil (or 1 tablespoon dried basil)
• ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Salt, to taste

Method

1. In a skillet over medium-high heat, brown meat and onions, breaking meat up as it cooks. Cook until meat is cooked through and onions are translucent. Add garlic and continue to cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring, until incorporated.
2. Add the garlic to the skillet and continue to cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring, until incorporated.
3. Add the contents of the skillet to slow cooker along with crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, sugar, oregano, thyme, red pepper flakes, and bay leaf.
4. Cover slow cooker and cook on high for 3 to 4 hours or on low for 6 to 8 hours. Immediately before serving, remove bay leaf. Stir in basil, parsley, and butter. Stir until butter melts. Taste, and add salt if desired.
5. Serve over cooked pasta of your choice.

Notes

Nutrition information is calculated using 1.5 lbs. ground beef (90/10). You may choose to use more or less ground meat, as desired.

Less sodium: Look for no-salt-added or low sodium canned tomato products. You won’t taste a difference.

Stovetop instructions: Cook the sauce on the stovetop in a large heavy pan or Dutch oven. Simmer it for one to three hours, stirring occasionally.

Variations: Try a gluten-free pasta, polenta, or zucchini noodles if you prefer, instead of regular pasta. For vegetarian spaghetti sauce, omit the meat and proceed with the recipe.