Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce with Meat

Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce with Meat

Homemade spaghetti sauce is one of those “basics” every cook should have in their collection. Gosh knows, recipes abound depending on tastes, ethnic background as well as amount of time available for cooking. Well here is mine. Simple, flavorful and best of all, there is no slaving over the stove for hours as the simmering process takes place right in your crockpot!
Author: Linda Shapiro, © Meal Planning Maven

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 3 carrots peeled and finely chopped
  • 2 large onions chopped (less if you prefer)
  • 5 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 1/2 pounds lean ground beef can also use ground turkey
  • 1 28 ounce can whole tomatoes, coarsely chopped, undrained
  • 1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
  • 2 1/2 cups cut-up fresh tomatoes about 1 pound or 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 1 28 ounce bottle marinara sauce (without sugar)
  • 1 6 ounce can tomato paste
  • 2 tablespoons dried Italian seasoning
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt or to taste
  • Pepper or crushed red pepper flakes to taste optional (I didn’t use)

Instructions

Crockpot:

  • in a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Sauté carrots and onions for about 5 minutes or until softened and lightly browned. Stir in garlic; continuing sautéing for 1 minute.
  • Add ground beef; continue sautéing for about 5 minutes or until browned and crumbled. Drain off any accumulated fat.
  • Transfer vegetable-ground beef mixture to a 6-quart crockpot. Stir in remaining ingredients.
  • Cover and cook on High setting for 1 hour and Low setting for about 6 hours or until sauce has thickened. (Can also cook on Low setting for about 7 hours.) Reduce heat to Keep Warm until serving time. As crockpots vary, adjust cooking time if needed.
  • Remove bay leaves. Taste; adjust salt and seasonings as desired .

Notes

Make Ahead and Storage Tips: if desired, this dish may be prepared in the crockpot (and not cooked) up to 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Cook as directed; allowing additional time as mixture will be cold. (probably up to an hour longer) Leftovers may be reheated in the crockpot on Low, stirring occasionally, for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until hot. For faster reheating, transfer to a large pot; cook over medium-low heat (covered) for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sauce may be frozen for up to 4 months.
Rather make on the stove-top? In a 6-quart stockpot, sauté vegetables and ground beef as above; ; stir in remaining ingredients. Cover; cook over medium-low heat for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Uncover, simmer for about 45 minutes or until sauce has thickened. Remove bay leaves. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired.
This sauce is quite versatile! Great served over any type of pasta, rice, greens or spaghetti squash. If you prefer, you may use lean ground turkey instead of ground beef. Leftovers would be yummy on a “Sloppy Joe” or even a pizza!
Mushroom lovers variation! Add 8 ounces of your favorite sliced mushrooms to crockpot along with vegetable-ground beef mixture.
This recipe makes a bunch! Consider freezing meal sized containers for time-crunched nights.
Looking for great gluten-free pasta? Try any of the pastas made by Lundberg or Tinkyada.
A fun and yummy meal using leftover sauce is Cheesy Spaghetti Squash Boats. Simply ladle hot spaghetti sauce into roasted spaghetti squash halves. Top with half with your favorite shredded cheeses. Place halves on a cookie sheet with sides. Bake at 400 degrees for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. To brown cheese a bit, broil for about 30 seconds.

 

8 Responses

  1. Kecia
    Wonderful and hearty sauce! Right in the crock pot! Yum!<br /><br />I just made this sauce again tonight...it's so easy and YUM! Hope you have the chance to try it sometime! ~Linda
  2. Wanda Jackson
    Linda, tried this recipe tonight and so very good! Let it cook all day! I used my own tomato sauce that I canned this summer and put in some tomato sauce! I will do this again because it was so much easier than fixing in skillet. Really liked having it in my crockpot
    • Linda Shapiro (Meal Planning Maven)
      Hi Wanda! I am so excited to hear from you and am thrilled you loved my meat sauce! What a great idea to use some of your home canned tomato sauce which I'm sure enhanced the flavor. Thank you for letting me know and hope you have the chance to stop by again soon!
  3. Wanda Jackson
    Tomato paste instead of sauce
  4. Your spaghetti sauce would be a great addition to a Super Bowl buffet party. Looks delicious! And easy too. I like that!
    • Linda Shapiro (Meal Planning Maven)
      You are so right...what a great Super Bowl dish for sure!
  5. Looks wonderful, but all those canned tomatoes are full of Sodium! Any way of getting around that and still have the great flavor? Btw, its hard to find low or No sodium in tomato sauce. Thanks..
    • Linda Shapiro (Meal Planning Maven)
      Hi Annie...thanks so much for your note. I absolutely understand your concern...you can certainly used fresh tomatoes or try some of the unsalted brands. Woodstock and Muir Glen offer unsalted varieties (organic) as does Hunts and Del Monte. I agree, unsalted tomato sauce is hard to find. I have used Muir Glen in the past. To add more flavor to compensate for the loss of salt, I would increase the spices as desired. I would also consider adding a "pop" of heat (if you like) from crushed red pepper flakes or cayenne. Hope this helps and thanks bunches for stopping by!