I’ve made a few variations of pasta sauce over the years, but this Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce is definitely one of my favorites. The long slow simmer caramelizes the sugars in the tomatoes and creates a depth of flavor that can’t be matched. Plus, what more could you ask for than to just throw some ingredients in a pot, forget about it for 8 hours, and then come back to a rich, delicious homemade sauce? Then you can divide the sauce into portions, freeze, and you’ll have delicious homemade pasta sauce on hand for quick busy weeknight dinners.
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Why make Homemade Spaghetti Sauce?
Pasta sauce can be bought premade really cheaply, so I think in a lot of cases it does make sense to just buy a jar and go with it. But if you want to have a little more control over the quality and ingredients of your pasta sauce while still keeping costs low, this Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce is a great option.
What Size Slow Cooker to Use
This recipe makes about 2 quarts of sauce, so I would suggest using a 3 quart or larger slow cooker. You don’t need anything fancy, just a very basic slow cooker with basic functions like warm, low, and high. I do find that slow cookers made with a thick ceramic insert (or “crock”) cook much more evenly than metal inserts, like you’d have when using the slow cooker function on an Instant Pot.
Why Add Balsamic Vinegar?
The balsamic vinegar in this recipe adds a subtle depth and brightness to the sauce. It can seem strong at first, but it mellows out as the sauce is cooked. If you’re not a fan of balsamic vinegar or just don’t have any on hand, this recipe will still make a really amazing sauce even if you leave it out.
Can I Add Meat?
I’ve tried this sauce before with ground beef and I found the cook time to be far too long for the ground beef, so if you do want to add meat I suggest browning it separately and then just stirring it into the sauce after cooking. You can also check out my quick Weeknight Pasta Sauce for an easy and flavorful meat sauce option.
How to Freeze Pasta Sauce
This recipe makes about 7 cups. I suggest dividing the sauce into two or three cup portions before freezing so you can take out just enough for one recipe at a time to thaw. Let the spaghetti sauce cool completely in the fridge, then transfer to freezer-safe containers to freeze. The sauce will stay good in the freezer for about three months, but this can vary depending on the conditions in your freezer. If you use quart-sized freezer bags and freeze them laying flat they stack nicely in the freezer without taking up much space.
You can thaw the sauce in the refrigerator overnight or just cut the bag away from the frozen sauce, place it in a saucepot, and heat over medium-low until it’s heated through (stir occasionally).
This sauce goes great with Homemade Meatballs (also freezer-friendly)!
Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce
Servings 7 cupsIngredients
- 1 yellow onion ($0.32)
- 4 cloves garlic ($0.32)
- 2 28oz. cans crushed tomatoes ($2.00)
- 1 6oz. can tomato paste ($0.69)
- 1 Tbsp dried basil ($0.30)
- 1.5 tsp dried oregano ($0.15)
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar ($0.03)
- 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar ($0.14)
- 4 Tbsp butter ($0.40)
- 1 tsp salt (or to taste) ($0.05)
Instructions
- Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Place both in a 3 quart or larger slow cooker.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, oregano, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, and butter to the slow cooker. Stir everything together well.
- Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on high for four hours or low for eight hours.
- After cooking, give it a good stir, then add salt to taste. Start with just ½ tsp of salt and add more if needed (I added 1 tsp). Use the sauce immediately, refrigerate, or freeze for later.
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Equipment
- Slow Cooker
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Looking for a stove top pasta sauce recipe? Check out our Easy Marinara Sauce.
How to Make Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce – Step By Step Photos
Dice one yellow onion and mince four cloves of garlic. Add both to a 3 quart or larger slow cooker.
Add 2 28oz. cans of crushed tomatoes and one 6oz. can of tomato paste to the slow cooker.
Also add 1 Tbsp dried basil, 1.5 tsp dried oregano, 1 Tbsp brown sugar, 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar, and 4 Tbsp butter to the slow cooker.
Give the ingredients a good stir until they’re evenly incorporated.
Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on high for four hours or low for eight hours. After cooking, it will look a little like the photo above (the white is just the milk fats from the butter). Give it a good stir.
Add salt to the sauce to taste. Start with ½ teaspoon and add more until the flavors pop. I ended up using one teaspoon total.
Use the slow cooker spaghetti sauce immediately or refrigerate then freeze for long-term storage.
Anon – I think cooking it twice would put it at danger of over cooking. I accidentally left my marinara in the slow cooker for a few extra hours once and I think the natural sugars went past caramelization and on towards burned. Unfortunately, refrigerating between cooking won’t help. Instead, I would just start with the fresh ingredients and cook it for five hours for the second recipe. It should still be great!
Hi – I was planning to make this sauce and use half of it in one recipe and the other half for a different recipe. If one of the other recipes requires meat (it’s braciole) simmer in a crockpot for five hours in (this) tomato sauce, am I at risk for the sauce overcooking, given it’s cooked the first time for eight hours and the second time for about five hours? Does refrigerating it in between the two cooking processes help?
I never made sauce on my own before. Laziness I guess but I love your site and love using my slow cooker and gave it a shot. I added some hot italian sausage, some mushrooms, and a couple bell peppers. Adding that much made it more of a stew than sauce so I threw in some tomato sauce in a can that I had and it was beyond delicious and it made so much, I’ll have sauce for daaaaaaaaaaays
I loved this sauce and so did Mr. Manfriend. We liked that it wasn’t sweet and tasted fresh. This will be my go-to pasta sauce now. I love your recipes! Your black bean quesadillas are my favorite thing in the world right now.
Ada – it should still work fine with a regular lid :)
My crock pot doesn’t have a locking lid will that be okay or should I put something on top of the lid to keep it down tighter?
Anonymous – I would suggest between 2 and 4 tablespoons of olive oil.
Has anyone used olive oil and how much
Came across a “Slow Cooker Chicken Marinara” spice packet and decided to give it a try. Used a whole chicken instead of the 2 1/2 lbs it calls for and diced tomatoes instead of stewed since I had diced and no stewed on hand. Came out a little watery from the chicken broth but tasted pretty good.
I’d forgotten I’d bookmarked this recipe and planned to make the above again but needed some Idea of spice volumes to use. I think I may drain some of the water off the diced tomatoes to account for the chicken broth.
Take part and combine in another can of paste and I got a good pizza sauce.
I should have read the comments on this before I made this. The majority or people who said they liked it also said they will never buy jarred sauce again. Which means they like the taste of jarred sauce– and that is exactly what this sauce tastes like. And I LOATHE jarred sauce. So this recipe is an epic fail, personally. It would be a great recipe for people who usually purchase (and enjoy) Prego or Ragu but want to easily make their own because that is what this tastes like. =(
I’ll definitely give this a try when I have an opportunity. Always on the lookout for good recipes.
Ruth – I’m not the originator of this recipe by any means, but I believe I’d put the mushrooms in right up front with the rest of the ingredients and not saute’ them. The slow cooking process should make them turn out fine, or at least I’d think so.
I wanted to let you know that I’m making this right now. A good friend gave me a WHOLE bag of delicious tomatoes from her garden. So I will let you know how it turns out with fresh tomatoes. I seeded them and did a rough dice. Piled everything and I’ll write back after 8 hours. :)
I just made this today and it came out excellent! Thanks for the great recipe!
I made this today and it was awesome! I made a few changes… added 1 tbsp of white sugar in addition to the brown to balance out the acidity. I also added 2 tbsp of olive oil and partially pureed it with my immersion blender. Really great recipe and super super easy!
This sauce looks amazing. For anyone whose sauce turned out too acidic, try adding 1/2 tsp of baking soda. The tomato soup I make calls for baking soda to balance out the acidity. Be careful not to add too much or the sauce will be unbearably sweet.
-Tiffany