But sometimes I want a little more – something a little different. Something with super bold, robust flavor that’s thick, rich, and filled with tons of meat. And that, my friends, is what this Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce is.
And the reality is that all it really takes to make this is time. There’s no special skill required. You don’t need your Sicilian great-grandmother’s secret recipe – I’m looking at you, Sophia Petrillo. And there’s no carefully watching over a pot of sauce for 14 hours.
If you can open some cans and brown some ground beef, you’ve got this recipe whipped. The slow cooker makes this process so. dang. easy.
And the result is a super thick, rich, flavorful meat sauce that’s great for spaghetti, baked ziti, lasagna, you name it! You can even just eat it with a spoon.
And this recipe makes a ton. You can seriously feed 8 to 10 people. And while most of us aren’t feeding that many folks for supper every night, I haven’t scaled this recipe down for a few reasons.
To start, it freezes and reheats beautifully. Store any leftovers in an airtight freezer container or bag and you’ve got sauce done for another busy weeknight.
It’s also great for sharing with friends. This sauce is so decadent and delicious, you’ll want to show off your cooking prowess by packaging it up and sharing with family and friends. And you can even tell them it’s a secret recipe to make it sound super special. I won’t tell the truth.
This recipe works great in perfect round numbers. You don’t have any half cans of ingredients or random onion pieces leftover in the fridge. I love recipes like that and scaling this one down would mean you’d have some extra stuff hanging around that you’d need to finding something to do with.
The other thing is this sauce is super versatile, like I said before. It’s spaghetti sauce one night and then makes a delicious lasagna or baked ziti later in the week.
Regardless of how you use it, I hope you’ll try this stuff. It’s seriously amazing. Even my wife, who’s not a huge spaghetti fan, loves this sauce. And I bet you’ll love it, too!
Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground chuck
- 1 medium onion, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 (18-ounce) can tomato paste
- 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons dried basil
- 2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- Brown the ground beef over medium high heat in a large skillet. Drain the grease away. Set aside.
- Lightly spray the crock of a 6-quart slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Add the onion, garlic, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, and tomato sauce. Mix well. Add the sugar, dried basil, dried Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. Mix well. Add the ground beef and stir to combine. Cover and cook on low for about 8 hours. Stir well and serve over cooked pasta.
Cheryl Kerspilo says
I’ve never seen a can of tomato paste that big. Are you sure that’s the right size? It sounds amazing
Stacey says
Yep! It’s correct. I usually buy it at Walmart. If you can’t find it, 3 of the little 6-ounce cans will work. Hope you’ll enjoy it!!
Susan says
A pat or so of butter will help that taste. I read this years ago and now I just add it. It’s butter, after all!
Janet says
I thought this had a acid tomatoey taste. I will not make again.
Stacey says
I’ve found that some canned tomato products do have an acidy taste. The solution is super simple. A pinch of baking soda – just a pinch – stirred in will eliminate nearly all of the acid flavor.
Rose E Dickerson says
Adding a little sugar…about a teaspoon…wwill take that acidy taste away…just keep adding until you are satisfied. This is a great recipe…my family LOVEDit…it’s a keeper.
Stacey says
Awesome! Glad it turned out great for you!
Denise says
Stacy Just made your spaghetti sauce but I added too much baking soda (to cut the acidity) It bubbled up and taste weird. So then I added more sugar and a little water. Taste better, but still not sure about it. Is there anything else I could do to cut the baking soda? P.S. This is My fault for adding too much baking soda. I should have been more careful when measuring.
Stacey says
You can actually add a little acid back in the form of a few teaspoons of vinegar and that will help.
Jacqueline says
The only change I made was 1/2 Cup red wine (Merlot). It was FAB! Thanx!
Stacey says
So glad you enjoyed it!!
Lu Loy says
I made this a couple of weeks ago and we loved it! For us, it was a little thick, so I added a can of diced tomatoes and it worked out fine! Didn’t use a slow cooker, just put it on top of the stove on low heat all day.
Stacey says
Sounds perfect! Glad to hear you enjoyed it!!
mary meissner says
Added some rind of parmesan. This is a good recipe!
Stacey says
Sounds like a great addition! Glad to hear you enjoyed it!
Linda says
Thanks for sharing this recipe, my grandson love spaghetti but hate diced tomatoes in it, so this solves the problem.
Stacey says
I was just like him when I was little! Hope he likes this version!
Bay says
How do I convert the recipe for use in my instant pot pressure cooker? That is to cook the spaghetti sauce in pressure cooker mode?
Stacey says
I’ve not done it that way, so I can’t say for sure. This makes a lot so you’ll have to have a pretty large pressure cooker.
Sharon says
Like this recipe..
Linnie says
Do you just hate it when someone tweaks your recipe? 🙂 Well I did a little bit. Since we like sausage or hamburger in our spaghetti sauce, I compromised and put 1 lb. of each in it, doubled the amount of garlic and added 1/2 tsp. of red pepper flakes. After cooking it for six hours, I used the sauce to make lasagna. My husband said this was the best homemade lasagna he’s ever had. We all know that the sauce is what makes the lasagna and I would have to agree it was the best sauce ever. I’m so excited to have found one that is so flavorful and we really loved.
Stacey says
No, I actually love to hear about folks taking my recipes and making them their own. I rarely make a dish exactly as the recipe states! So glad to hear y’all enjoyed it so much!!
Michelle says
I have canned tomatoes from my garden (quart jars). Do you think it will be ok to use those in place of the crushed tomatoes?
Stacey says
I think so. I might just break them up with my hands as I put them in there.
JH says
The best spaghetti sauce that I have made in a long long time . Not sure but I think it is the Worcestershire that made the difference . That’s a new addition for me. I didn’t make in the crock pot because I wanted to get it made and be done with it . Thanks for the recipe and look forward to enjoying many more . I remember Christy Jordon’s stories of your friendship. Enjoyed you on the Dads Kitchen podcast . Thanks for sharing your recipes.
Stacey says
Thank you so much, JH! I’m so very fortunate to call Christy a friend!
Rob says
Awful recipe honestly. I ended up having to add a bunch of water and other seasonings to it in order to balance the flavor. I’m waiting until tomorrow to try it, but if i end up having to throw away this whole thing of sauce ima be pissed
Stacey says
I’m so sorry to hear it didn’t turn out as you expected. This one has always gotten great reviews.