Slow Cooker Marinara Sauce {Tastes Like Rao’s}
42 Comments Sep 18, 2021
Updated Mar 16, 2025
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Make a flavorful marinara sauce in your slow cooker. This recipe makes a huge batch, enough for using all week or freezing for later. You won’t want to buy marinara sauce after making this! We use this for spaghetti pizza and more.
You can make just about any sauce in the slow cooker! We also make tomato butter sauce, slow cooker spaghetti sauce and slow cooker vegetarian spaghetti sauce.
Table of Contents
This rich, flavorful marinara sauce slowly simmers in your crockpot all day, developing a deep, authentic taste that rivals Rao’s. With just a little prep, you’ll have enough sauce to serve 12 standard portions—or 8 generous ones—depending on how much marinara you love to pile onto your dishes.
What makes this recipe truly special is how effortless it is. Simply add the ingredients to your crockpot in the morning and let it work its magic while you go about your day. The result is a sauce with the same savory balance of garlic, herbs, and tomatoes that Rao’s is famous for—without the premium price tag of store-bought jars.
Once you see how easy and delicious this recipe is, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without homemade marinara. Keep some on hand in the fridge or freezer for busy nights, and you’ll always be prepared for a quick, satisfying meal. The convenience and flavor are unbeatable!
What you need:
- Crushed tomatoes -While you can certainly use and cook fresh tomatoes for this recipe, I prefer meals I can quickly prepare. In the interest of quick and easy, we’re using canned tomatoes in our recipe.
- Diced tomatoes – These will add texture to your sauce
- White onion – Dice your onion small if you have picky eaters.
- Garlic cloves – minced (add as much as you like! We love lots of garlic)
- Seasonings – Dried oregano, dried basil, salt, pepper, sugar, and onion powder.
- {The full recipe is in the recipe card below the images}
Variations
- If you have fresh herbs on hand, feel free to use them! Personally, I prefer dried spices since they’re more budget-friendly and have a longer shelf life. You can also customize the flavor by adding up to four tablespoons of your favorite herbs or spices, like rosemary, thyme, oregano, or basil.
- Add a teaspoon of red pepper flakes for a bold sauce.
- A half cup of red wine is a great addition and will flavor the sauce wonderfully.
- Double or triple the garlic if you are a garlic lover.
- Some like to add vegetables to their marinara (chopped small) such as carrots, celery or button mushrooms.
Step by Step Directions
Step 1 – Add everything to a 6-quart slow cooker. Stir.
Step 2 – Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours, without opening the lid during the cooking time. You can do 5 hours on high if you are in a hurry. After the sauce is done cooking, uncover and let cool for about an hour before storing.
How to freeze
- Cool the sauce completely before ladling it into storage bags. Freeze for no longer than 3 months for the best taste.
- You can also store it in plastic or glass jars, leaving room at the top for the sauce to expand. Just remember that not all jars are made for the freezer, so check yours before you use them.
- When you’re ready to use the frozen sauce, place the bag or jar of sauce in the fridge to thaw the day before it’s needed.
Recipe FAQs
I recommend eight hours on low, this delicious recipe really works best when you give it the whole 8 hours to simmer and let the spices really incorporate with the tomatoes for a rich flavor. You can do five hours on high if you are in a pinch.
Canning tomatoes needs a special formula of acidity. This recipe was not created for canning, it’s great for freezing though!
You can put it over anything from a meatball sub sandwich to eggplant parmesan. Use it as a dipping sauce for pizza rolls or garlic bread, or over-baked chicken with a bit of goat cheese on top. I like to use it for homemade pizza and lasagna. It’s also great with spaghetti squash or zoodles if you’re trying to avoid gluten!
Ways to use this sauce up
- Use as a pizza sauce (we love this on Boboli pizza crusts or English muffin pizzas).
- Of course any type of pasta dish (lasagna, ravioli, chicken Parmesan and more!).
- Use a dipping sauce for garlic bread or bread sticks.
- Make meatball subs with the extra marinara later in the week.
Slow Cooker Recipes that use marinara sauce:
- Slow Cooker Baked Spaghetti
- Slow Cooker Pizza Meatballs
- Slow Cooker Stuffed Shells
- Slow Cooker Pizza Dip
- Slow Cooker Meatball Subs
- Slow Cooker Beef and Rice Stuffed Peppers
- Slow Cooker Spaghetti Squash and Turkey Meat Sauce
Slow Cooker Marinara Sauce Recipe
How to Video
Ingredients
- 84 oz. crushed tomatoes, (three 28 oz. cans)
- 29 oz. diced tomatoes, (two 14.5 oz. cans)
- 1 large white onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 Tbsp. dried oregano
- 1 Tbsp. dried basil
- 2 tsp. sea salt, standard table salt works fine
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 2 tsp. sugar
- 1/2 tsp. onion powder
Instructions
- Add everything to the slow cooker, stir. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours or HIGH for 4 hours, without opening the lid during the cooking time.
- After the sauce is done cooking you can use right away. Or, uncover and let cool for about an hour before ladling into freezer storage bags. Plastic or glass jars can be used, the same way you would with freezer jam, leaving room at the top for the sauce to expand.
- Freeze for up to 3 months.
- To use, place the bag of sauce in the fridge to thaw the day before the sauce is needed.
Sarah’s Notes
- Use as a pizza sauce (we love this on Boboli pizza crusts or English muffin pizzas).
- Of course any type of pasta dish (lasagna, ravioli, chicken Parmesan and more!).
- Use a dipping sauce for garlic bread or bread sticks.
- Make meatball subs with the extra marinara later in the week.
- If you have fresh herbs on hand, feel free to use them! Personally, I prefer dried spices since they’re more budget-friendly and have a longer shelf life. You can also customize the flavor by adding up to four tablespoons of your favorite herbs or spices, like rosemary, thyme, oregano, or basil.
- Add a teaspoon of red pepper flakes for a bold sauce.
- A half cup of red wine is a great addition and will flavor the sauce wonderfully.
- Double or triple the garlic if you are a garlic lover.
- Some like to add vegetables to their marinara (chopped small) such as carrots, celery or button mushrooms.
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
I have not made this recipe yet but am trying to reduce the measurements for less servings. How do I adjust?
I do not have measurements, I apologize.
Could I add cooked meat to this? When I make my own recipe on the stove I always add meat to it and freeze leftovers, which I use for lasagna, as well as, spaghetti and other pasta.
Can this sauce be canned instead of frozen?
I don’t think any of my recipes are suitable for canning, they have to have a certain acidic content to be safe.
Could you can this recipe?
The recipe is there in the recipe card below the images.
I have tried enough of your recipes to know just how good your food really is. So, we will try anything you post. And everybody knows kids are notoriously picky eaters. Well, let me tell you I’m not the cook anymore, my granddaughter is. God Bless and great cooking to ya.
Awe! that is such a blessing that she likes to cook!
Sounds wonderful and I can’t to make this soon. If I add diced green pepper will I need to adjust the other spices or sugar?
I would check after it’s done cooking and adjust then.