How to Make Crock Pot Spaghetti Sauce {Homemade Marinara Recipe} - My Frugal Adventures (2024)

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How to Make Crock Pot Spaghetti Sauce {Homemade Marinara Recipe} - My Frugal Adventures (1)

Here is a great recipe for summer and really for the craziness that fall brings as well.

Have you ever tried making your own marinara sauce in the crock pot? It just requires tossing in a few ingredients, set it to low for 6 hours and you will have a ton of yummy marinara to pop in the freezer for quick dinners.

I like this recipe because you can customize it to the flavors you like and you will know precisely what is going into your food. This is perfect for clean eating diets because there is nothing but goodness going into the slow cooker.

Plus this recipe is so adaptable- it is a great way to use up stray veggies in your fridge. I like to put lots of veggies in this recipe that my family might not otherwise eat so that is one more bonus.

Now this can be adapted to any flavors you like but here is a basic recipe that I use. There are several ingredients listed and please note you really don’t need to buy a bunch of stuff. As long as you have garlic, the tomato products, and Italian seasonings (oregano, basil etc..) you are pretty much there. I like to cram extra veggies in so I added several other things I had on hand.

In the past I have added mushrooms, red peppers, eggplant, broccoli– the sauce has turned out to be delicious every time and best of all I don’t hear one person complain at the dinner table. (Booyah!)

4.7 from 3 reviews

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Crock Pot Marinara Sauce

Author:My Frugal Adventures

Recipe type:Slow cooker, sauces

Cuisine:Italian

Prep time:

Cook time:

Total time:

Serves:15

Quick and easy slow cooker marinara sauce. Makes plenty of sauce to pop in the freezer for quick and healthy weeknight meals. Adapt this recipe to whatever flavors you like or whatever you have on hand. Perfect with almost any Italian dish!

Ingredients

  • 2 cans Peeled Tomatoes or Diced Tomatoes (28 oz each)
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • Fresh or Dried Basil Leaves
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • 4-6 cloves garlic
  • ¼ cup diced onion
  • 1 tablespoon dried oregano (or fresh if you prefer)
  • ½ cup diced green pepper
  • 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • ½ cup diced carrots
  • ½ cup diced celery
  • 1 bay leaf

Instructions

  1. Add 2 cans of whole peeled tomatoes or diced tomatoes to a crock pot.
  2. If you use whole peeled try to mush them up a bit with your hands.
  3. Add 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  4. Add 4 to 6 cloves of minced garlic (according to your taste)
  5. Add onion, celery, carrots and green pepper
  6. Mix in red pepper flakes, one bay leaf and oregano.
  7. Roughly chop or tear fresh basil leaves and season well with salt and pepper;.
  8. Let simmer on low for about 6 hours.
  9. Discard the bay leaf.
  10. Remove sauce from heat and add to a food processor until you get the consistency you like.
  11. Serve immediately or pop in the freezer.

So you should get a ton of sauce from this recipe and you can pop it into a freezer bag (fill it and lay flat until the sauce is cool and then stack in the freezer) or I prefer the little plastic Ball Jar freezer cups.

Pull this out for a quick meal- pasta, Calzones, spread it on french bread with cheese for a fast lunch, homemade pizzas, use it as a dipper for garlic bread, serve with roasted eggplant or try this simple roasted Eggplant sandwich.

This is perfect if you need to drop off a meal to a new mom or a sick friend. Just add a great box of pasta, a hunk of Parmesan cheese, fresh bread from the bakery and a simple green salad. You have a meal that is comforting and easy for the person to put together and looks like you put in a lot of effort.

Here is what my yield was for the recipe above. I am going to guess roughly (4) 12oz jars or so of sauce. I keep a mason jar in the fridge for dinners this week and then the freezer jars in different sizes for meals later.

How to Make Crock Pot Spaghetti Sauce {Homemade Marinara Recipe} - My Frugal Adventures (2)

A lot of people swear by San Marzano tomatoes but I just used the salted variety from Trader Joes. These are only $1.49 each and all the other ingredients I actually had on hand. So this is a very inexpensive recipe for the quality you will get!

You should get about 4 mason jars of pasta sauce. Sometimes I cut the recipe in half and I get 2 full jars from that.

How to Make Crock Pot Spaghetti Sauce {Homemade Marinara Recipe} - My Frugal Adventures (3)

A few notes:

  • The carrots will add a sweetness to your sauce so be careful with how much you add. I have done an entire cup of carrots in the past and found the sauce a little sweet.
  • The tomato paste will thicken your sauce so if it appears to be too thin for your taste, add a little more tomato paste.

And here are a few other recipes you might enjoy:

Homemade Blender Salsa- so easy and sooooo good!

How to Make Crock Pot Spaghetti Sauce {Homemade Marinara Recipe} - My Frugal Adventures (4)Homemade Almond Butter— this is a staple in our house. Healthy and a million times better then the stuff you buy at the store.

How to Make Crock Pot Spaghetti Sauce {Homemade Marinara Recipe} - My Frugal Adventures (5)

How to Make Crock Pot Spaghetti Sauce {Homemade Marinara Recipe} - My Frugal Adventures (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between marinara sauce and spaghetti sauce the same? ›

This is also why folks often use the terms marinara sauce and spaghetti sauce as one in the same. They are similar, spaghetti sauce is essentially a version of a marinara sauce. Spaghetti sauce usually contains added ingredients such as ground beef to make a bolognese sauce.

Can marinara be used as spaghetti sauce? ›

Marinara can be used as a spaghetti sauce or with any other type of pasta, or it can be used as a dipping sauce for mozzarella sticks, breadsticks, and more. Spaghetti sauce uses all those same base ingredients and then takes it to the next level with proteins and/or vegetables.

How do you add flavor to homemade marinara sauce? ›

While stirring, add rosemary, basil and oregano. Allow sauce to bubble. Sprinkle with sugar and mix again. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Is marinara sauce healthier than spaghetti sauce? ›

Which is healthier, spaghetti sauce or marinara sauce? A. Marinara sauce has more vitamins and minerals and is even healthier. Both contain tomatoes.

Do you have to add sugar to marinara sauce? ›

For any marinara purists, adding a bit of sugar to the sauce may seem sacrilegious. But the truth is, sometimes tomato sauce needs a bit of sugar. Because great sauce relies on a tomato's inherent sweetness, which is released when they're cooked down and concentrated.

What makes marinara sauce taste good? ›

Build flavor with garlic and onion.

Fresh garlic and onion go a long way in a dish, especially marinara. Heat up 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan, and once it's hot, add 1/2 diced onion (a red, yellow or sweet onion will do), and either chopped or smashed garlic cloves.

What is classic marinara sauce made of? ›

You'll need only five basic pantry ingredients to make this delicious marinara sauce: good canned tomatoes, onion, garlic, dried oregano and olive oil. That's it! This marinara is exceptionally easy to make, too, so it's perfect for busy weeknights.

What is the closest thing to marinara sauce? ›

Tomato soup

Why is Rao's sauce so good? ›

Rao's Homemade® quickly became the world's leading brand of premium pasta sauce and for good reason: Rao's sauces are simmered slowly and made in small batches with only the best ingredients, like pure Italian olive oil and hand-picked, naturally ripened tomatoes from southern Italy.

What can I add to spaghetti sauce to make it taste better? ›

Tossing in strips of basil, a sprig of thyme or some oregano can take your sauce to the next level. Although fresh herbs might pop a bit more, dried herbs and spices can work just as well. Sprinkling in some red pepper flakes, a pinch of parsley and a dash of salt and pepper can liven up your jarred pasta sauce.

Why does my marinara sauce taste bland? ›

Blandness usually comes from lack of seasoning. When you prepare a dish like spaghetti sauce you want to season as you go, not just at the end. Salt enhances the flavor of foods as well as performs some important functions during cooking, like drawing moisture out of ingredients and intensifying their flavor.

Does marinara sauce taste like spaghetti sauce? ›

Marinara is typically a simple tomato sauce. Spaghetti sauce, however, usually implies that a little something extra has been added, like meat or vegetables. But that begs the question…

Does marinara sauce taste like pasta sauce? ›

While many recipes would lead you to believe otherwise, true marinara is a relatively plain sauce that really showcases the taste of the tomatoes without a lot of other supporting characters muddling the flavor. It's more traditional than other popular American versions of Italian sauces.

Can you substitute marinara sauce? ›

Tomato juice can be used as a marinara substitute in a pinch. It can be used as a base for pasta sauce or meat stew. Note that there is an evident difference in texture: marinara sauce is thicker and more concentrated, while tomato juice is thinner and more liquid.

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