This easy homemade Spaghetti Sauce recipe is perfect for busy weeknights! Made in the slow cooker, this delicious spaghetti sauce is full of flavor and makes a large batch which is great for freezing. Enjoy with your family tonight! Looking for more great dinner ideas? Try this chicken stir fry, my famous mac and cheese, and chicken fried steak!
Spaghetti Sauce
I’m really excited to be sharing this amazing spaghetti sauce recipe with you guys today! It’s super easy to make and is a great way to use up garden fresh tomatoes. Don’t have fresh tomatoes? NO PROBLEM. I give instructions used canned tomatoes too!
Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
I love making homemade spaghetti sauce for my family because it just tastes so. darn. good. You can really taste the difference. I used some of my favorite seasonings in this sauce but you can adjust according to your likes and dislikes.
I made this spaghetti sauce in the slow cooker and I love how the flavors just meld together to create the most delicious spaghetti sauce ever. Serve alongside this Cheesy Bacon Ranch Bread or with fresh, homemade dinner rolls and broccoli salad for a winning dinner the whole family will love.
Garden Fresh Tomatoes or Canned Tomatoes
This spaghetti meat sauce is one of my favorite recipes because it uses up a lot of my garden produce and it makes a nice big batch which is great for freezing.
I have picked HUNDREDS of tomatoes this summer and have happily supplied friends and family with with fresh produce from my garden all summer long. My tomato plants are a gift that keep on giving. Typically by this time each summer, my plants have died off and so has my interest in gardening.
The good news is I have more than enough produce from my side garden…more than I know what to do with most days! We are enjoying batch after batch of my Easy Garden Blender Salsa and my spaghetti-loving family has been going crazy for this spaghetti sauce recipe.
I used 5 pounds of garden-fresh tomatoes in this recipe but you could easily halve the recipe for your family.
If you want to use canned tomatoes, use three, 28 oz cans of crushed or diced tomatoes – or a combination of both in place of the fresh tomatoes in the recipe below.
How Much Does It Make?
The recipe yields about 4 quarts of spaghetti sauce that is ready to use or freeze.
Can I Freeze Spaghetti Sauce?
Sure can! It’s super easy too! To freeze
- cool the sauce in the fridge
- transfer to freezer quart-size bags
- lay flat on a small cookie sheet and freeze
- once the bag is frozen, remove the cookie sheet and stack the bags on top of each other for easy storage
What Kind Of Meat Should I Use?
I used a very lean hamburger meat for this batch but ground turkey, Italian sausage or a combination of these is EXCELLENT. The meat does not need to be cooked before hand so use the leanest meat you can find.
Tips for the Best Spaghetti Sauce
- This spaghetti sauce recipe uses fresh tomatoes so it’s important to not skip the first 4 steps of the recipe below. You will be tempted, but really, it’s very quick and easy, I promise.
- Don’t have access to fresh tomatoes? No problem. Use three 28 oz cans of crushed or diced tomatoes – or a combination of both.
- Feel free to season according to your family’s preferences. You can increase the garlic, omit the jalapeno, whatever you prefer. Since the spaghetti sauce isn’t being canned, you don’t need to worry about acid ratios or anything technical like that.
- This spaghetti sauce is freezer-friendly. To freeze, cool the sauce in the fridge and then transfer to freezer quart-size bags or larger bags if you prefer. Lay the bags flat on a small cookie sheet and freeze until solid. Once the bag is frozen, remove the cookie sheet and stack the bags on top of each other.
- I used very lean ground beef in this recipe but feel free to use Italian sausage or ground turkey instead. Please buy the leanest possible meat so you don’t have a lot of extra fat in the sauce. The meat gets cooked in the slow cooker so the fat that comes with the meat, stays in the sauce.
Keep out the meat and use this spaghetti sauce recipe with this 20 Minute Skillet Chicken and Spinach Parmesan or in this Lazy Day Lasagna << a family favorite!
More Must Make Dinners
How to Make Spaghetti Sauce
Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce
Ingredients
- 5 lbs fresh tomatoes (see note below for using canned tomatoes)
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion diced
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 1 jalapeno diced (optional)
- 3 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 6 oz tomato paste
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 to 2 pounds lean ground beef turkey, or Italian sausage
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- Fill a large bowl with ice water.
- Drop tomatoes 5-6 at a time into the boiling for about 45 seconds. Transfer to the ice bath. Repeat with all tomatoes.
- Peel skin off of tomatoes and squeeze out excess liquid and seeds. (The skin should very easily just peel off.)
- Heat olive oil in a medium saute pan. Add onion and peppers and saute for 4 to 5 minutes until onions are translucent. Sir in garlic, salt, and pepper and cook for an additional minute.
- Combine tomatoes, onion mixture, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, basil, bay leaves, Italian seasoning and sugar in a large slow cooker and stir to combine.
- If you are making a meat sauce, stir in meat now.
- Place a folded paper towel between the lid and the insert of the slow cooker and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or on high for 3 to 4 hours.
Notes
- Don't have access to fresh tomatoes? No problem. Use (3) 28 oz cans of crushed or diced tomatoes - or a combination of both.
- Yields 4 quarts.
Nutrition
Original recipe posted July 30, 2015.
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Leslie says
This is the first time I ever attempted homemade spaghetti sauce. As usual this recipe was a huge hit! Every single time I want a recipe that lights up the table, I come here. With summers tomato bounty, I figured I’d always wanted to try sauce. I even used a juicer for the first time! My family of 9 (plus friends) knows that when I try a new recipe, it’s usually yours and it’s a hit EVERY time. Thank you1
elaine stenzel says
do you cook the ground beef,sausage or turkey before adding to sauce or do you put it in raw.I would think you have to cook the meats before putting in sauce..
elaine stenzel says
sorry i read on and saw the answer
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
From the post: I used very lean ground beef in this recipe but feel free to use Italian sausage or ground turkey instead. Please buy the leanest possible meat so you don’t have a lot of extra fat in the sauce. The meat gets cooked in the slow cooker so the fat that comes with the meat, stays in the sauce.
Venecia says
Do you cook the meat first? Or, do you add the meat in the crockpot raw??
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
From the post: I used very lean ground beef in this recipe but feel free to use Italian sausage or ground turkey instead. Please buy the leanest possible meat so you don’t have a lot of extra fat in the sauce. The meat gets cooked in the slow cooker so the fat that comes with the meat, stays in the sauce.
Varieties says
That’s a first for me, but just thinking about it the flavor combination seems delicious! Definitely need to try this
Rahul Digital says
OMG! this looks delicious!! I can think of about a million ways to enjoy this!
Lindi says
Love Love your recipes…I’m a southern girl…my mom was a very bland cook. She doesnt like a lot of seasonings, so I pick up recipes that I can try that r different. My husband loves any and all kinds of spices (lol sometimes I have to reel him in). Until I stopped working I hadn’t realized that my meals were so repeative.
So any suggestions are greatly appreciated!
Barbara says
Your tomato sauce recipe sounds delicious. What is the purpose of the paper towel? To absorb moisture? Do you place it only where the lid meets the pot, or across the entire pot with the lid on? I wouldn’t normally place paper near the heat source.
Thanks.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Yes! To absorb moisture so the sauce doesn’t get watered down. It shouldn’t be near the heat source at all.