Slow-Cooker Spaghetti Sauce

spaghetti sauce in the crockpot

Normally, I make pasta/pizza sauce on the stove top. It’s pretty yummy, if I do say so myself. But, with weekly pasta and pizza nights (and with the warming temps here in Houston), I’ve been trying to figure out a way to eliminate time spent in front of the stove.

The blog Life as Mom gave me the inspiration for the changes I made to my recipe — this brilliant mom makes her red sauce in the CROCK-POT!

Sheer genius . . . why had I not thought of this before? I love my crock-pot and have no qualms using it for ANYTHING. Making batches of red sauce/marinara sauce in the slow cooker, and freezing the sauce in divided portions, solves so many of life’s problems.

Well . . . my life’s problems, anyway.

Once thawed, this sauce can be used for pretty much everything; I’ve added cooked Italian sausage and mushrooms for an easy pasta night. We’ve spread the sauce on homemade pizza dough and I used it last week in a goat cheese lasagna.

Perfection each and every time.
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Slow Cooker Red Pasta Sauce

2 cans (14.5 oz size) whole or stewed tomatoes
2 cans (15 oz size) crushed tomatoes
3 cans (8 oz size) tomato sauce
2 cans (6 oz size) tomato puree
1 cup diced white onion
2 TB Garlic Powder (or fresh garlic if you have it)*
1 TB salt*
2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper*
3 TB Italian Seasoning (or equal parts dried basil, rosemary, parsley)*

Directions:

Dump all of the tomatoes, tomato sauce and puree into your slow cooker. Lightly whisk to incorporate the thick puree into the sauce.
Add the onion and spices and give the mixture a quick stir.
Cover, set the slow cooker on “Low,” and let it cook for 6-8 hours.
After cooking, use a food processor or immersion blender to puree everything. I used my immersion blender and it took all of 30 seconds to puree the sauce.
When finished, it can be used “as is” over your favorite pasta, or you can add in other ingredients such as cooked ground beef/Italian sausage, mushrooms, etc.

To Freeze:

Allow the sauce to cool and then divide it into freezer bags. (I found that 2.5 cups is similar to a “jar” of pasta sauce and is enough for pasta, lasagna recipes, and more than enough for pizza.) Place in your freezer till ready to use!

(makes around 5 or 6, 2.5 Cup bags of sauce)

*Note: these spice measurements are based on what I and my family like — you can always adjust the spices to your palate.

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