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To make an easy marinara sauce, you need this Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce recipe. It is a delicious, smooth, and fresh tomato sauce that cooks all day in the slow cooker so it has that cooked all day taste. It’s perfect for pasta night or you can freeze it for quick weeknight dinners!
Whenever I’m craving comfort food, I think about this slow cooker tomato sauce recipe. It reminds me of my childhood except this recipe is made in a crockpot so I don’t have to watch it; it cooks itself!
If you are a regular here, then you know I love my slow cooker recipes. They are almost effortless and always come out delicious. This slow cooker spaghetti sauce recipe is no different. Gone are the days when you have to stick to your kitchen for hours to stir and taste: set this and forget it. When you come home after this has been cooking all day you’ll feel like you’re in an Italian restaurant!
Ingredients Needed
- Celery, Onion, Carrot: I use these as a vegetable base for my sauce.
- Garlic: REQUIRED! I love tons of fresh garlic in spaghetti sauce.
- Crushed Tomatoes: Use a good quality brand, like Hunt’s or San Marzano. I also add tomato paste.
- Honey: A little sweetness helps cut the acidity of the tomatoes.
- Chicken Stock: This makes the flavor taste so deep, but you can also use water or vegetable stock or even beef stock.
- Spices: Gotta add tons of spice! I usually add salt, pepper, basil, oregano, thyme, and red pepper flake.
Click to see the recipe card below for full ingredients & instructions and below the recipe card for process shots.
How to make Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce
- Vegetables: I start my sauce with carrots, onions, celery, and garlic. I chop them small in a food processor so the sauce is fine and not chunky. Prepare the size of the vegetables as you wish, but a food processor or blender helps you chop them quickly.
- Dump: Once the vegetables are soft, add them to a crockpot along with diced tomatoes, chicken stock, tomato paste, and lots of herbs and spices. I also follow the advice of my dad and “add a little honey” for sweetness.
- The Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce cooks all day and is perfect for serving with pasta, chicken marinara, or freezing in jars.
- Can you make this a meat sauce? To make homemade spaghetti sauce with Italian sausage or ground beef, you’ll want to cook the meat first and drain the fat. You can add it to the crockpot with all the other ingredients or leave it plain and add meat as desired when serving.
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Expert Tips
- Use fire-roasted cans of tomato sauce for even more flavor! Regardless of what kind of diced tomatoes you use, be sure to use a GOOD brand. I buy store brands for lots of things, but not tomato sauce. I like Contadina, Hunt’s, or San Marzano for this recipe.
- Likewise, be sure to buy good chicken stock, not broth. Use Trader Joe’s, O Organics, or Kitchen Basics (those are my favorites).
- I use dried herbs in this spaghetti sauce; the long cooking time can be rough on fresh herbs.
- Be sure to taste for salt/pepper towards the end of cooking. I don’t like adding a ton of salt so if you need to add some, go ahead.
- Don’t have honey? Use agave or maple syrup instead, or even a few teaspoons of sugar.
Crockpot Spaghetti Marinara Sauce Recipe
Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 1 stalk celery
- 1 medium yellow onion peeled
- 1 medium carrot peeled
- 4 cloves garlic peeled
- 2 28 ounce cans crushed tomatoes
- 6 ounces tomato paste
- 2 cups chicken stock or water
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Place celery, onion, carrot, and garlic in a food processor and chop until fine. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat and cook the vegetables for about 5 minutes, or until tender. Remove from heat and place in a 5-7 quart crockpot insert.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, chicken stock or water, honey, and all spices to the crockpot insert. Stir to combine. Cover and cook on low heat 8-10 hours.
- Before serving, taste and add additional salt or pepper as desired.
- Store in refrigerator for up to 3 days or freeze for up to one month.
Recipe Notes
- You can freeze crockpot spaghetti sauce in plastic containers or jars for up to 3 months.
- Brown sugar, granulated sugar, or agave can be substituted for the honey.
Hi Dorothy: I’m presently without a cooktop. We got the new one, but it hasn’t been installed yet. Your crockpot marinara sauce looked like a great recipe for me at this time. It was fantastic. Usually, I’d use my huge pot and make four quarts or more for the freezer. It took forever to simmer and then another half hour to cook. Your recipe was very easy, and once assembled, it could simmer all day. Plus, I had all the ingredients on hand. I love your website and will be making many of your recipes. Hopefully, we can beat AI altogether. Kathy
Hi Dorothy!
I love your recipes & am subscribed to both notifications & emails.
I was wondering whether you would consider adding a “Cook Mode” widget just above the actual recipe? That way we could actually assemble & measure etc ingredients without our device screens “blacking” out – which I sooo frustrating. Thanks!
OOOH that’s a great idea! I’m having a whole site redesign done in 2022 so I’ll add that to my wishlist for the developer.
Incredibly delicious marinara! It really is the best and better than any store-bought marinara I’ve ever had… and so easy to make! Huge thank you for such a kick ass recipe.
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