Slow Cooker Pasta Sauce
My kitchen is brimming with garden tomatoes right now so yesterday, I used them to make this homemade spaghetti sauce. Since the tomatoes are watery, I mixed them with canned, drained tomatoes. And to keep things easy, I didn’t bother peeling or seeding the tomatoes.
Tomato sauce is best when you give it time to simmer but making it on the stove means you have to sit and watch it. The slow cooker is a much better option.
This recipe makes a lot of sauce so make it on the weekend for a week of dinners or freeze some of it. Serve it over any type of pasta or for fewer calories and carbs, use spaghetti squash (which has just 42 calories per cup!). Enjoy!
Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce
1 pound lean ground beef (I used grass fed beef)
1/2 large onion, diced
6 garlic cloves, minced or chopped
6 medium fresh ripe tomatoes
6 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes, drained (or half of a #10 can, drained)
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning, crushed
2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
Cooked spaghetti or spaghetti squash
Fresh grated Parmesan cheese
Brown beef in a large deep saucepan, adding onion and garlic halfway through. Drain fat, if needed. Add fresh tomatoes and cook over medium-high heat until they soften and break down a little (about 5 minutes). Add diced tomatoes, spices, sugar and salt. Stir and let simmer about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool a few minutes. Use a handheld immersion blender to blend mixture into a sauce-like consistency, (be careful not to splatter yourself!). Ladle the sauce into a 5-quart slow cooker and cook on Low setting for 4-6 hours. Serve over cooked spaghetti or spaghetti squash.
