Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce
A rich and meaty spaghetti sauce easily made in the crockpot – it makes enough to feed an army and you can freeze the leftovers!
Spaghetti sauce always came in a jar for us. The homemade version never existed. My mom was a home cook but only when it came to Korean food, although she did make a mean baked ziti. It involved store-bought spaghetti sauce of course.
But once I started cooking, my eyes were open to the wonders of homemade spaghetti sauce. I’ve made several variations throughout the years but my new favorite spaghetti sauce has to be this crockpot version. Loaded with crumbled ground beef and spicy Italian sausage, this gets cooked in a stew of amazing flavors for 8 hours. Yes, 8 hours!
Simply crumble up your beef, throw it in your slow cooker, and come back from work to the most comforting smell of all with a giant pot of spaghetti goodness. Best of all, it makes enough to feed an army so you can either take the leftovers to work the next day or throw it in the freezer!
Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 pound Italian sausage, casings removed
- 1 onion, minced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 14.5-ounce cans diced tomatoes, drained
- 2 15-ounce cans tomato sauce
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add ground beef, sausage, onion and garlic. Cook until browned, about 4-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the beef and sausage as it cooks; drain excess fat.
- Place ground beef mixture into a slow cooker. Stir in diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, bay leaves, oregano, basil, salt and pepper, to taste. Cover and cook on low heat for 8 hours.
- Stir well and serve immediately.
Did you make this recipe?
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How many cups does this yield???
About 10-12 cups.
This is amazing! Everyone raves about this when I make it. Instead of using ground beef I use venison and it tastes amazing. Thank you for a family favorite
I slightly modified the recipe with using fresh tomatoes and spices and removing the bay leaves after 4 hours. The leaves were just a tad bit over powering. I was extremely pleased with the results in taste and texture. It was definitely not the the thick jar sauce. This is my go to recipe for life!
My family loves this recipe however I just got an instantpot and I was wondering if you have an idea what mode and how long I would need to cook it by using an Instantpot? Thanks!
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications.
Did you ever figure out how this goes with an instant pot?
I have made this sauce several times. In fact it’s pretty much my go to recipe now. I’ve made it exactly to recipe specs and I’ve made it adding my own touches like adding green bell pepper and red pepper flakes, which gives it a nice “kick.” Also have used Italian seasoning instead of basil and oregano. Adding fresh sliced mushrooms in the last hour of cooking is really good, too. Today though I ran into a small issue. I thought I had an onion, I didn’t and I was short a can of tomato sauce. I improvised. I used dried minced onion and 15 oz. of pre-made spaghetti sauce I keep for emergencies. We’ll see. It’s hard to go wrong with this recipe!
How do you cook the noodles in the sauce?
SO DAMN DELICIOUS! I made this yesterday while I worked from home, which basically means I was trapped in my apartment drooling for 8 hours while this sauce filled the air with the most wonderful aroma. I increased the beef to 2 lbs + the 1 lb of sausage. For the sauce I used a 28 oz can of diced tomatoes (which I forgot to drain) smashed up a bit with a potato masher, 1 can of tomato paste, 2 698 mL cans of tomato sauce, and the other seasonings as per the recipe. In the end I was able to freeze 8 cups after my husband and I had dinner and after packing up leftovers for lunches, so I probably got 12 cups in total. Will absolutely be making this again, and, can’t wait for lunch today! Thank you for another fabulous recipe! <3
Thank you, Jen!
So my sauce is done. Can I now cook the spaghetti IN the sauce?
Yes!
Thanks for this recipe! For over 30 years I made my spaghetti sauce from scratch but went to the canned sauce after my divorce.
This recipe is going to get me to go back making it from scratch. It looks and sounds delicious and I’ve never made it in a Crock Pot before.
I just wanted you to know that my family and I love this recipe! I have also made it for another family and had the mom tell me she is Italian and it’s one of the best sauces she has ever had. Thank you for making this recipe!!!
Hi….i want to try this homemade recipie but 8hrs would it take too long… have to waut for those 8hours?
Oh, I am so going to make this this weekend! I was actually trying to find my Mom’s spaghetti sauce recipe in my e-mail (which includes chili powder of all things…weird, but it doesn’t taste like chili). I know hers has tomato paste, so I will probably use at least one can of that to get the texture I like.
I would like to add more veggies….my Mom always uses a diced green pepper, so I will add that for sure…..what about fresh mushrooms? I have successfully subbed them for 1/2 the ground beef in her recipe (which uses 2 lbs of beef), but I don’t think I’d want to do that for this one.
Yes, the additions of bell pepper and mushrooms sound so good!
I did make this about a month or so ago and it was very good. I think I left out 8 oz of the sauce and added at least 1 can of tomato paste. I didn’t drain the diced tomatoes, because it seems wasteful as the tomatoes are so expensive (I buy organic). I am paying for those juices in there! lol
I am sure I added a green pepper, but I didn’t try the shrooms yet. I really need to make another batch for the freezer, but I am afraid the shrooms will water down in the slow cooker.
I have made this meat sauce recipe a few times and it is really good. So easy to make too and definately makes enough for leftovers. Thanks for all the delicious recipes you share with us!
Can this dish be made without the sausage?
Yes, but I recommend substituting additional ground beef.
I tried this recipe yesterday and it turned out perfect. I followed the recipe as written. I was drawn to this recipe because it didn’t call for tomato paste. Tomato paste overpowers the flavor in most spaghetti sauces. This sauce is flavorful and delicious. It will be my new go to spaghetti sauce.
I used a little more paste and some wine. Very good
I was thinking of doing that too Julie! How much paste did you use and when did you add the wine?
serving size says only 6. But in article says feeds a crowd??
It can serve 6-8, which I think is a crowd, no? 🙂
Any thoughts on adding mushrooms to this recipe? Not sure if it would be good or not…
Yes, that sounds amazing!
I made this tonight get. I used my own ‘homemade diced tomatoes’ but it was a thin sauce. Next time I will use tomato paste and I think even another pound of hamburger. The sauce was delish!
can you please tell me the measurement of the herbs. I’m not use to using them, but want to. Thanks.
Hi Margie! The measurements of the herbs are actually listed in the recipe above. Hope that helps!
Does it have to cook for 8 hours? Would it still taste as good with less time
The longer it cooks, the better it tastes!
LOVE this sauce. An Absolute family favorite. Use it for pasta one night then Lasagna another night.
Just made it tonight. It was definitely more watery than I normally like sauces but boy was it delicious! I will definitely use this recipe again but thicken it up accordingly. Thanks for sharing!