Slow Cooker Pasta Sauce with great ingredients. Delicious homemade goodness and freezer friendly too! This crockpot tomato-based sauce is packed full of flavor, using a variety of fresh herbs in addition to Italian sausage, tomatoes, and garlic. The flavor matures and becomes richer if kept overnight.
This is an "eyeball it" recipe and Italian grandmas do it all the time (including me) and it's delicious. All done in the slow cooker, the flavors develop nicely.
Serve with pasta, rice or some nice warm bread rolls. You can even use this as a topping over baked potatoes. It's really flexible and will freeze well too if you wanted to make batches.
Prep time
10 minutes
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Cook time
6 hours
Serving size
2 - 4 Persons
Ingredients
2 (14.5 oz) cans of crushed tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
½ can (the crushed tomatoes can) of water
1 pound plus Italian Sausage
a large handful of FRESH chopped basil
a large handful of chopped fresh parsley
½ a chopped red bell pepper (green is too bitter)
½ a large head of fresh garlic - smash the cloves and take off the skin- give it a couple of "dices" - throw in the pot
fresh ground black pepper over all
salt (to taste)
dried red pepper to taste
1 tablespoon of THYME
1 teaspoon of sugar (cuts the acid)
Note: For the sausage, I like hot -not sweet, as it really adds flavor to your sauce.
Instructions
1. Throw all the ingredients into the crockpot EXCEPT the Italian sausage and set to LOW.
2. Chop and dice the Italian sausage into 2-inch pieces and brown in a pan.
Add a ¼ to ½ inch of WATER to the sausage and cook on a medium heat.
Do not add any oil. When it's done - the pan will be brown and dry. Transfer the sausage to the crockpot. Then add about a quarter cup of water to deglaze the pan and then put THAT liquid in the crockpot also.
3. Cook on low for about 6 hours. If at any time you feel the sauce is not thick enough take the lid off the pot for about an hour.
4. This sauce is best eaten the following day, so if you have the time, do as follows, otherwise, you can serve as normal once cooked.
Refrigerate overnight. Next day, around noon, plug in the crockpot on HIGH for about an hour -then adjust to LOW, and let it simmer until dinner time.
Top tips
- Serve with any RIBBED pasta, like Penne or mostaccioli (with ribs) it holds the sauce better - and don't overcook "al dente" please
- This is best with grated fresh ROMANO cheese...not Parmesan - and some good crunchy bread for dipping and a bottle of red wine!
- You can also freeze the sauce in batches if you wish. Simply follow the instructions at point 4 when you want to serve.
We'd love to hear from you and what you thought of our post. Did you make any changes or add some other goodies? Let us know in the comments below. Thanks for reading and happy cooking!
Recipe Card
Slow Cooker Pasta Sauce
Slow Cooker Pasta Sauce with fresh herbs, tomatoes and Italian Sausage. Delicious homemade goodness and freezer friendly too!
Ingredients
- 2 oz cans of crushed tomatoes, 14.5
- 1 can tomato paste
- appr ½ can of water, the crushed tomatoes can
- 1 pound plus Italian Sausage
- a large handful of FRESH chopped basil
- a large handful of chopped fresh parsley
- ½ a chopped red bell pepper, green is too bitter
- ½ cloves a large head of fresh garlic - smash the and take off the skin- give it a couple of "dices" - throw in the pot
- fresh ground black pepper over all
- salt, to taste
- dried red pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon of THYME
- teaspoon of sugar, cuts the acid
Instructions
- Throw all the ingredients in to the crock pot EXCEPT the Italian sausage and set to LOW.
- Chop and dice the Italian sausage into 2 inch pieces and brown in a pan. Add a ¼ to ½ inch of WATER to the sausage and cook on a medium heat. Do not add any oil. When it's done - the pan will be brown and dry. Transfer the sausage to the crock pot. Then add about a quarter cup of water to de -glaze the pan and then put THAT liquid in the crock pot also.
- Cook on low for about 6 hours. If at any time you feel the sauce is not thick enough take the lid off the pot for about an hour.
- This sauce is best eaten the following day, so if you have the time, do as follows, otherwise you can serve as normal once cooked.
- Refrigerate over night. Next day, around noon, plug in the crock pot on HIGH for about an hour -than adjust to LOW, and let it simmer until dinner time. Serve with any RIBBED pasta, like Penne or mostaciolli (with ribs) it holds the sauce better - and don't over cook "al dente" please
- This is best with grated fresh ROMANO cheese...not Parmesan - and some good crunchy bread for dipping and a bottle of red wine!
- You can also freeze the sauce in batches if you wish. Simply follow the instructions at point 4 when you want to serve.
Recommended Products
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Ninja Auto-iQ Multi/Slow Cooker with 80-Pre-Programmed Auto-iQ Recipes for Searing, Slow Cooking, Baking and Steaming with 6-Quart Nonstick Pot (CS960) -
Instant Pot DUO Plus 60, 6 Qt 9-in-1 Multi- Use Programmable Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker, Rice Cooker, Yogurt Maker, Egg Cooker, Sauté, Steamer, Warmer, and Sterilizer
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 2Amount Per Serving: Calories: 462Total Fat: 32gSaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 24gCholesterol: 65mgSodium: 1100mgCarbohydrates: 21gFiber: 4gSugar: 12gProtein: 25g
Nutrition information isn’t always accurate
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nancy
says:what size can of crushed tomatoes do you use?
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Nancy, the size of each can is 14.5 oz. Apologies for it not being so clear. I’ve updated the ingredients so it shows the size!! Thanks for writing in and please enjoy!