Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce
107 Comments Aug 04, 2023
Updated Jan 19, 2025
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Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce is a hearty blend of beef, tomatoes, and aromatic herbs, slow-simmered to perfection. This flavorful meat sauce pairs beautifully with any type of pasta for a satisfying, homemade meal.
We love pasta night at our house. When we aren’t making this classic spaghetti sauce in our crockpot, we have Cincinnati Chili, Slow Cooker Bolognese Sauce, or Ravioli Lasagna.
Table of Contents
When it comes to pasta sauce, your first thought might be to grab a few jars from the grocery store. While that’s certainly convenient, you can just as easily whip up a delicious, homemade sauce right in your own kitchen. Skip the store-bought jars and try this amazing recipe for a sauce that’s bursting with flavor.
You only need a few pantry staples—ingredients you likely already have on hand. This versatile recipe isn’t just simple; it’s adaptable too. Serve it in a variety of ways, or tweak the ingredients to create the perfect meaty sauce tailored to your taste.
What you need
- Ground Beef: Grab at least 1 lb. of beef for this recipe. You’ll brown it and drain excess fat before adding it to the crock pot.
- Canned Tomatoes: To harness the taste of fresh tomatoes, this recipe calls for a can of crushed tomatoes, a can of diced tomatoes (don’t drain), and a can of tomato paste (helps thicken spaghetti sauce). (You can use fire-roasted tomatoes if desired).
- White Onion: Diced and tossed into the sauce to add both flavor and heartiness to the meaty sauce.
- Garlic: I like to use fresh garlic cloves (minced) to capture the bold flavor of this ingredient.
- Seasonings: Brown sugar, dried oregano, dried basil, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes come together to make the best spaghetti sauce.
- {The full recipe is in the recipe card below the images}
Variations
- You can substitute one pound of Italian Sausage for the ground beef in this recipe. Cut the salt in half for the recipe in half if you use Italian sausage. You can also use ground turkey or ground chicken.
- Use a 2 lb. bag of frozen meatballs if desired in place of the ground beef.
- Add a half cup of red wine at the beginning of the recipe if you would like a red wine flavored sauce. I like to use red blend when I’m cooking (and for drinking).
- Add additional vegetables such as diced carrots or mushrooms.
- To make vegetarian: Add soy crumbles to this recipe instead of ground beef if desired. Or add chopped carrots, celery, bell peppers, and fresh sliced mushrooms. A can of fire roasted diced tomatoes would taste great as well.
Step-by-Step Directions
Step One – Add the crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, brown sugar, onion, garlic, oregano, basil, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to the crock pot.
Step Two – In a large skillet set to medium high heat, add the ground beef. Brown ground beef and crumble with a spatula or wooden spoon. Drain the fat. Add the meat to the remaining ingredients in the slow cooker and stir.
Step Three – Cover and cook the homemade spaghetti sauce on LOW for 8 hours or HIGH for 4 hours. Do not open the lid during cooking time. Serve the tomato sauce with desired cooked noodles. Enjoy!
How to Serve:
- Spoon this hearty sauce over your favorite noodles—spaghetti, angel hair, bucatini, or even zucchini noodles if you’re keeping it low-carb. Bucatini is my go-to since its thick, hollow shape holds the sauce perfectly.
- You can also use this sauce for lasagna or try it in a ravioli lasagna for something fun and different.
- Top it off with some fresh herbs, a dash of Italian seasoning, and plenty of Parmesan cheese for extra flavor.
- Serve it up with garlic bread, breadsticks, or any crusty bread you love to round out the meal.
- And don’t forget—this sauce freezes really well, so save some for an easy dinner later!
Recipe FAQs
A small can of tomato paste is what I use to thicken this spaghetti sauce. Do not forget to add it or you will have a watery sauce.
DO NOT add uncooked noodles to the slow cooker. The slow cooker doesn’t get hot enough, fast enough to properly cook noodles. The noodles will turn out mushy.
Add any remaining sauce into an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to a week. You can also make this a jarred sauce and store it for months. If you’re not familiar with canning sauces, you can use freezer bags to store the sauce for up to 6 months. Allow it to defrost before cooking.
More pasta night recipes:
- Slow Cooker Baked Spaghetti
- Slow Cooker Tomato Butter Sauce
- Slow Cooker Puttanesca Sauce
- Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce with Kielbasa
Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce
How to Video
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
- 28 oz. diced tomatoes, (two 14 oz. cans) do not drain
- 6 oz. can tomato paste
- 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
- 1/2 cup diced white onion
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 Tbsp. dried oregano
- 2 tsp. dried basil
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. black pepper
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes
For serving:
- cooked noodles
- parmesan cheese
Instructions
- In a large skillet set to medium high heat, add the ground beef. Brown and crumble with a spatula or wooden spoon. Drain the fat.
- Add the meat to the slow cooker. Add the crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, brown sugar, onion, garlic, oregano, basil, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Stir.
- Place the lid on the slow cooker. Cook on LOW for 8 hours or HIGH for 4 hours. Do no open the lid during the cooking time.
- Serve with desired cooked noodles and top with parmesan cheese.
Sarah’s Notes
- You can substitute one pound of Italian Sausage for the ground beef in this recipe. Cut the salt in half for the recipe in half if you use Italian sausage. You can also use ground turkey or ground chicken.
- Use a 2 lb. bag of frozen meatballs if desired in place of the ground beef.
- Add a half cup of red wine at the beginning of the recipe if you would like a red wine flavored sauce. I like to use red blend when I’m cooking (and for drinking).
- Add additional vegetables such as diced carrots or mushrooms.
- To make vegetarian: Add soy crumbles to this recipe instead of ground beef if desired. Or add chopped carrots, celery, bell peppers, and fresh sliced mushrooms. A can of fire roasted diced tomatoes would taste great as well.
- Spoon this hearty sauce over your favorite noodles—spaghetti, angel hair, bucatini, or even zucchini noodles if you’re keeping it low-carb. Bucatini is my go-to since its thick, hollow shape holds the sauce perfectly.
- You can also use this sauce for lasagna or try it in a ravioli lasagna for something fun and different.
- Top it off with some fresh herbs, a dash of Italian seasoning, and plenty of Parmesan cheese for extra flavor.
- Serve it up with garlic bread, breadsticks, or any crusty bread you love to round out the meal.
- And don’t forget—this sauce freezes really well, so save some for an easy dinner later!
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
Add some butter as an option near the end. Marcella Hazan would be proud.
Great recipe thank you.
Are these recipes available on tik tok ?
Hi Anthony! Some are! I need to start making more of them.
Will 4 QT crock pot be big enough for this recipe? Thank you
Yes!
How long will this last in the fridge? I need it for a big party (60 people) on Saturday. If I make it Thursday will it be ok for the party on Saturday?
I would make it fresh myself, ground beef can taste off if leftover that long.
Can you use meatballs and ground beef together in the crock pot
I don’t see why not!
Superb
This recipe sounds amazing! I have frozen tomatoes from my garden that I want to use up. Do you have a suggestion on how I could use them for this recipe?