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Make a Sunday Sauce for pasta night right in your slow cooker. The sauce is flavored by Italian sausage AND meatballs. It’s rich and a great family meal.
You can make so many pasta sauces in your slow cooker! We make at least one a week; we love to make Slow Cooker Marinara, and Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce often.
Table of Contents
- Why This Recipe is a Keeper
- The Ingredients
- How to Make Sunday Sauce in a Slow Cooker
- What Meatballs Should I Use for Sunday Sauce?
- How to Choose a Wine for Spaghetti Sauce
- Can the Wine Be Skipped?
- Should I Slice the Sausage?
- How to Store
- What Other Meats Can Be Added?
- How to Serve Sunday Sauce
- What Other Pasta Recipes Can Be Made in a Slow Cooker
- Slow Cooker Sunday Sauce Recipe
Why This Recipe is a Keeper
- Sunday sauce, also called Sunday gravy, is a big pot of tomato sauce simmered with meat for a family Sunday dinner. This version lets the slow cooker do the simmering.
- The sauce is enough to feed a big family or enough to put up for later.
- This Sunday Sauce isn't a boring pasta sauce - it's flavored with Italian sausages AND meatballs. The sauce is made from canned tomatoes with a perfect blend of spices.
- Cooking meals like this at home can cut back on expenses (no need to dine out when you have good recipes like this one!).
- Sunday sauce differs from Bolognese sauce. Bolognese uses ground beef and includes carrots and celery. Sunday sauce has multiple kinds of meat and fewer vegetables.
The Ingredients
Italian Sausage: These are kept whole and browned in a skillet before adding to the slow cooker.
Meatballs: Frozen meatballs are great for this easy slow cooker recipe.
Seasonings: Oregano, basil, salt, pepper, and optional red pepper flakes.
Crushed Tomatoes and Tomato Purée: Make up the homemade sauce base.
Onion, Garlic, and Tomato Paste: Cook these in the skillet before adding them to the slow cooker.
Red Cooking Wine: Find this on the condiment aisle at the store.
How to Make Sunday Sauce in a Slow Cooker
- Brown the sausages up in a skillet.
- In that same skillet, add oil, onion, garlic, and tomato paste. Deglaze the pan with the beef broth and wine. This creates a rich sauce base.
- Add the onion mixture and meatballs to the slow cooker.
- Add the tomatoes and seasonings. Stir and cook until all the flavors come together.
What Meatballs Should I Use for Sunday Sauce?
Thankfully, slow-cooker cooking is very adaptable! I use frozen meatballs for this recipe for ease. You can use homemade meatballs (or use raw meatballs from the butcher area) - just brown them first.
How to Choose a Wine for Spaghetti Sauce
Red Cooking Wine: If you aren't a regular wine drinker, you may want to find red cooking wine. This is easy to find in the condiment aisle, and I've found it only keeps for 1-2 months in the fridge before going bad.
Red wine: If you drink red wine, use that! Use Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, or a red blend. If you like to drink it, it will be great in the sauce. If you aren't drinking the wine, the leftovers will go bad quickly, in about 4 days.
Can the Wine Be Skipped?
Yes, I understand some don't want to use wine. Simply use more beef broth instead. It will still taste great. Replace the wine with an additional ½ cup of low-sodium beef broth.
Should I Slice the Sausage?
You can slice the sausage before or after cooking. We like to keep them whole for serving; we usually do one per person, depending on their size.
How to Store
This Sunday Gravy stores well! Just like any other spaghetti sauce. Place in the fridge for up to four days or freeze for up to three months.
What Other Meats Can Be Added?
I only add two meats here to save money (meatballs and Italian sausage), but some like to add more! You can add country-style pork ribs, beef short ribs, pork shoulder, pork chops, or beef braciole to your Sunday sauce. Brown the meat first for extra flavor, and leave out some sausage or meatballs if the slow cooker gets too full.
How to Serve Sunday Sauce
Pasta: Choose your family's favorite pasta - it doesn't have to be standard spaghetti noodles. Try fettuccine or bow-tie to change up spaghetti night.
Toppings: Top it off with parmesan cheese and freshly ground black pepper. Some like to add chopped basil or parsley.
Sides: I can't eat spaghetti without having the usual sides - a green salad with ranch and garlic bread!
What Other Pasta Recipes Can Be Made in a Slow Cooker
Try Slow Cooker Lasagna for a hearty, cheesy dinner or Chicken Pasta Rosa for chicken and pasta in a creamy blend of marinara and Alfredo.
Slow Cooker Short Rib Ragu has tender beef in a rich red wine sauce, while Tomato Butter Sauce is a simple meatless option for pasta night.
If you tried this Sunday Sauce recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the 📝 comments below. Happy Slow Cooking!
Slow Cooker Sunday Sauce
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Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
- 1 lb. sweet or hot Italian sausage links, kept whole
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 Tbsp. tomato paste
- 1/2 cup low-sodium beef broth
- 1/2 cup red cooking wine
- 1 lb. frozen Italian meatballs
- 56 oz. crushed Italian tomatoes (such as San Marzano), (two 28-oz. cans)
- 28 oz. tomato purée
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes, optional
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
For Serving
- cooked pasta, such as rigatoni, spaghetti, or penne
- grated Parmesan cheese
- chopped Italian parsley
Instructions
- Heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add the whole Italian sausage links and sear for 4 to 5 minutes, turning occasionally until browned on all sides, then transfer them to the bottom of the slow cooker insert.
- Reduce heat to medium; add the other 1 Tbsp. of oil. Add the diced yellow onion to the skillet and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes, until softened. Stir in the minced garlic and tomato paste, cooking for 1 to 2 minutes until fragrant and darkened in color.
- Pour the low-sodium beef broth and red wine into the skillet to deglaze, scraping up any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pan, and simmer for 2 minutes.
- Transfer the onion mixture into the slow cooker over the sausages.
- Add the meatballs, crushed tomatoes, tomato purée, dried oregano, dried basil, optional red pepper flakes, kosher salt, and black pepper into the slow cooker. Gently stir the sauce around with the meats until everything is submerged.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours (or HIGH for 3 to 4 hours) until the sausages are extremely tender and the sauce has thickened.
- Season with additional salt and pepper to taste, and serve the sauce and meats piping hot over cooked pasta with extra grated Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!
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.
Are you putting the meatballs into the slow cooker frozen? Do they need to be thawed first? I thought you weren’t supposed to be putting frozen meat in the slow cooker. Thanks.