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!
Recipe Card
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.
