Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce

a bowl of crockpot spaghetti sauce with tomatoes and herbs

4.97 from 32 ratings

This fresh, homemade crockpot spaghetti sauce is a delicious meatless sauce made from scratch. This sugar-free slow cooker spaghetti sauce creates magic from fresh tomatoes and herbs.

Prep Time35

Cook Time7

Total Time7 35

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: crockpot spaghetti sauce, slow cooker spaghetti sauce

Servings:

Author: Sarah Cook

Equipment

Ingredients

10 cups tomatoes roughly chopped
ice
2 tbsp fresh basil {or 2 tsp dried}
1 tbsp fresh oregano {or 1 tsp dried}
1 tbsp fresh parsley {or 1 tsp dried}
6 cloves garlic {roughly chopped}
1 cup onion {chopped}
6 oz canned tomato paste {optional}
1/8 tsp baking soda {optional - see notes}
salt and pepper to taste

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Rinse tomatoes and core them. Drop tomatoes in a pot of boiling water for one minute.
10 cups tomatoes
Scoop tomatoes out with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl of ice water. Now the skins will slip off easily.
ice
Cut in half (quarters for larger tomatoes) and push out the seeds out with your thumb.
Add the tomatoes and all the ingredients (except baking soda and tomato paste) to the slow cooker.
2 tbsp fresh basil, 1 tbsp fresh oregano, 1 tbsp fresh parsley, 6 cloves garlic, 1 cup onion, 6 oz canned tomato paste
Cook on low for 10 hours or high for 7 hours. Stir occasionally if possible. The sauce should be reduced by about half.
If you want a less chunky sauce, pulse it a few times with an immersion blender or mash it a bit with a potato masher or large spoon. Add the canned tomato paste at this point if you'd like a thicker sauce.
Add the baking soda (it will foam a bit), salt and pepper, and additional herbs to taste.
1/8 tsp baking soda, salt and pepper to taste

Notes

Store in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Making this all day and then refrigerating it overnight gives it an extra kick of awesome in the flavor department.
The (optional) baking soda is a great way to neutralize the natural acidity of tomatoes without adding additional sugar.
You can freeze this sauce in a wide-mouth canning jar. Make sure to leave 1 inch of space between the top of the sauce and the top of the jar to allow for expansion during freezing.

Nutrition