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.
This post contains some affiliate links, which means that we make a small commission off items you purchase at no additional cost to you.
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.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
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.
I love all the recipes I’ve tried from here! Thank you! But if I were to double this one, how would that affect the cooking time? Thanks!
It probably won’t affect the coking time as long as your slow cooker is big enough to hold a double batch. :)
I’m planning on using this for a (frozen) meatball appetizer.. if i put the frozen’s in about an hour before this is done, will the additional water alter the thickness of this making it too soupy?
Hmm, I wouldn’t think there would be so much ice on the meatballs that it would drastically affect the sauce. :)
Really tasty and convenient. I often tweak these recipes a little to suit my taste. This one was pretty much spot on. Maybe more brown sugar next time. I also added 2 tbs of unsalted butter to give it a nice finish. Thanks so much for the site and the book!! Keep up the good work.
I love this recipe! Thanks for all of the vegetarian options!!
I made this and heated up a frozen jar of it for the first time tonight and had it with some fresh pasta: a tasty and easy meal. I roasted some cherry tomatoes because I wanted to use them up before they went bad; it was a nice addition to the sauce! This marinara sauce was really simple and tasty and convenient to freeze in single serving jars like shown above.
Can we use fresh tomatoes instead of canned?
It wouldn’t be an even swap. I think I’d have to experiment with it to see how the salt and sugar would need to be adjusted if using fresh tomatoes.
I made this tonight and it came out super bitter/tart. I added some regular sugar and seemed to help a little bit, but wondering where I went wrong.
The balsamic might be a bit much for you. If you happen to try it again, try without the balsamic and it might be more palatable for you.
This seems to have the same ingredients as your Homemade Marinara recipe. How is it different other than being cooked in the slow cooker? Trying to decide which one to try.
When you cook it at a low temp for a long time it caramelizes the natural sugars from the tomatoes a bit more, so it tastes a little sweeter. :)
Fan-flippin-tastic!!!! This smells and tastes delicious.
The only thing I did differently was about 1-2 hours before it was done, I took out the bay leaves and blended it a bit with my immersion blender to puree the onion chunks in with the sauce. I put the bay leaves back in and let it go awhile longer. Overall, it reduced down by a quarter and got super thick and chunky which is my preferred texture for marinara!
We ate it with your zucchini fries but also have plans to add meat for a meat sauce soon! Thank you Beth!!!
Do you think this recipe will work if cooked on high for four hours?
Thanks,
Amber
Yes, it probably will. :)
I just wanted to come back and say yes, it did. But, it’s not as good as leaving it for 8.
Yes! 4hr on high does work!
Yum! This made my kitchen smell so delicious, and when it was finished I spooned some sauce onto sliced bread and melted some mozzarella on top. Just couldn’t wait to try it!
For those in the US with an Aldi close by… I know it was mentioned before, but I just wanted to say that I was there today and it was $2.27 for the crushed tomatoes and paste (.99 and .29). Definitely cheaper than store bought sauce! :D
I made a batch of this about 2 weeks ago in advance for meals and decided to freeze all of it. This is a fantastic recipe. So easy to set and forget AND fully customizable with fresh ingredients!
I froze portions in Ziploc bags and used my first batch last night in a primavera recipe and it was absolutely delicious. I can’t imagine ever buying sauce again , there is no excuse and I love being able to control salt/sugar content too!
Great recipe!
For anyone in the UK I used 1 tin of chopped tomatoes and 1 tin a peeled plum tomatoes and gave them a good crush. The plum toms have a bit more of a thick juice which seemed to be a good thing.
You really can bung all sorts of things in this, it so versitile
I know this post was from a while ago but I just found it! I love the idea but have a few questions……1) how much does it actually make, how many meals could I get out of it assuming one meal would be a regular size jar of spaghetti sauce from the store. And 2). Does it have to be frozen? Or if it’s in an air tight container would that be fine too?
I don’t remember how many cups a normal store bought jar has, but I think it’s about 2.5 cups? So this would make between 2-3 jars. I would definitely freeze it if you can’t use it up within a week. Any longer than that and it will likely grow stuff just like a regular jar of sauce would if left in the refrigerator too long (because technically, it’s not sterile).
I agree to freeze it. See my review below I froze it all and it still tastes just as delicious :) Hope you enjoy it !!