Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce
121 CommentsUpdated Jan 31, 2026
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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.
Featured Comment
“My all time favourite spaghetti sauce!! The splash of wine gives it a nice edge.”
– Kevin
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 and also have plenty of leftovers. This is my mom’s recipe that I’ve adapted for the slow cooker. I think you’ll love it!
Recipe Ingredients
Ground Beef – Cooked and drained for a hearty base.
Canned Tomatoes – Crushed, diced (undrained), and tomato paste for rich texture and flavor.
Onion & Garlic – Diced onion and fresh minced garlic for depth and aroma.
Seasonings – A blend of brown sugar, oregano, basil, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes for the perfect balance of sweet and savory.
How to Make Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce
- Cook the beef in a pan, then remove any excess grease.
- Combine all the ingredients in the Crockpot.
- Set the lid on and let simmer away. Remember, the longer this cooks, the better it gets.
Tips & Variations
- Meat Swaps: You can substitute one pound of Italian Sausage for the ground beef in this recipe. You can also use ground turkey or ground chicken or 2 lbs of frozen meatballs.
- Adding Wine: 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).
- Veggies: Add additional vegetables such as diced carrots, celery, or mushrooms.
How to Serve:
Here is how I serve this spaghetti sauce from the slow cooker to my family and guests:
- Spoon this homemade spaghetti sauce over your favorite noodles—such as spaghetti, angel hair, or bucatini. Try zucchini noodles if you’re keeping it low-carb.
- You can also use this sauce for lasagna or try it in a ravioli lasagna for a fun and different twist.
- Serve it up with garlic bread, breadsticks, or any crusty bread you love to round out the meal.
- Reader Suggestion: Stir in some butter just before serving.
How to Store Extra Spaghetti Sauce:
Place extras in the fridge for up to four days. Or for more extended storage, spoon into small portions and freeze for up to three months. Great for last-minute budget meals.
Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce Recipe
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
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
More pasta night recipes:
Crockpot Spaghetti and Meatballs and Slow Cooker Baked Spaghetti are classic family favorites—one a saucy, hands-off dinner and the other a cheesy, layered casserole made right in the slow cooker.
Cincinnati Chili and Slow Cooker Bolognese Sauce are hearty meat sauces perfect for serving over spaghetti when you’re craving something rich and satisfying.
If you want something fun and easy, try Ravioli Lasagna. For a family style meal, try my slow cooker chicken spaghetti.
They are not NOODLES! It’s pasta or macaroni… Noodles are flat and long…or simply use the name of the pasta you’re using.
When making sauce I’m sure you can pick whatever PASTA you want to use with it. No need to be a wet noodle.
I am currently making our passed-down recipe, which I have made adjustments to, of course. 😉
I wanted to know if I could do it in the crock pot because I spend all day running into the kitchen to stir. I hopped onto the computer and this is the 1st site that popped up.
Thanks to you, I now know I can do my spaghetti sauce in my crockpot.
I bet yours is (almost) as good as mine.
I’m sure it will do great in the crockpot.
Delicious and easy to make! My family loved this spaghetti sauce! It isn’t super sweet or too salty, just a really nice sauce! Will definitely be making it again! Thank you!?
Best slow cooker spaghetti sauce ever, and I’ve tried a lot on my family. This is a keeper with a huge gold star. Thank you for sharing an awesome recipe. My family loves a meaty sauce so I did add crumbled sausage along with the ground beef.
If I don’t have dryed basil what can I add instead?
A large bay leaf. That’s what I’ve always used in mine, and I got my recipe from an Italian family member. Also add a pat of butter. It’s really good!
What temperature is “low” My slow cooker has degrees. I can’t understand why more people don’t rely on slow cooking at a certain temp rather than trusting the “low” setting of anywhere between 140 and 300 degrees.
I’ve never owned a slow cooker with a temperature setting like that, you’re the first to ask that here. I would set low at 200 degrees.
This recipe is SO easy and tastes so much better than trying to jazz up any jarred spaghetti sauce. My recommendation is to use one pound of ground Italian sausage meat (not in the casing) instead of ground beef. I also use Italian seasoned diced tomatoes, and red whine instead of beef broth. My Italian mother in law (who is EXTREMELY picky about Italian food) said that it tasted like home! I’m currently cooking it for dinner tonight
Thank you for the tips!
I couldn’t find a way to ask a question. How do you reduce this for one person? I always make enough for 3 servings – 1 for me to have, one for a leftover and one to freeze. Sooooo frustrating b/c recipes are always written for large families. Why do you ignore the large number of empty nesters and single people???? Much easier to enlarge a recipe than to try and reduce it.
Hi! I am a one-person show running this website. I cook for my family and publish the recipes. This recipe for instance you can freeze BEFORE slow cooking in small bags. So you can make fresh spaghetti sauce every week for a few weeks.
This is a brilliant tip!!! Thank you!!!
I also only cook for one but the ability to I scale the recipe is great. I understand that most people use slow cookers for families.
Sarah does a brilliant job and the scale tool works perfectly for every recipe I have tried.
Thank you for sharing Sarah you are a godsend to someone like me who wouldn’t know where to start.
Thank you Jayne!
I agree completely!
Just freeze more than one meal. Super easy.
Type in ” cooking for two “. Then hit search. You will find all kinds of wonderful recipes. Hope this helps.
Yummy: can’t wait to try this.
Best recipe for slow cooker spaghetti I have ever made. Secret is using the full 8 hours on low.