Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce
Are you tired of using canned spaghetti sauce? Why not try making your own with fresh tomatoes in a crockpot? It’s super easy and tastes amazing!
The key is to use ripe, juicy tomatoes and let them cook low and slow in the crockpot. You can add in your favorite herbs and spices to customize the flavor to your liking.
You can easily store any leftovers by either a water bath or canning. Put them in the mason jars and place in the canner and keep them covered with at least 1 inch of water. Keep the water boiling. Process the jars in a boiling-water bath for 40 minutes for pints and 45 minutes for quarts. Remember to adjust the time if you are at a different altitude other than sea level!
You can freeze pasta sauce. Simply put your sauce into a freezer bag or container and it will keep its authentic flavour for up to six months. When you want to use it again, just bring it out of the freezer and allow it to defrost at room temperature for a few hours.
Trust me, once you try homemade spaghetti sauce with fresh tomatoes, you’ll never go back to the canned stuff again. Give it a try and let me know how it turns out!
Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce
Ingredients
- 5 lbs fresh tomatoes
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion diced
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 1 jalapeno diced optional
- 3 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 6 oz tomato paste
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tbsp sugar
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- Fill a large bowl with ice water.
- Drop tomatoes 5-6 at a time into the boiling for about 45 seconds. Transfer to the ice bath. Repeat with all tomatoes.
- Peel skin off of tomatoes and squeeze out excess liquid and seeds. (The skin should very easily just peel off.)
- Heat olive oil in a medium saute pan. Add onion and peppers and saute for 4 to 5 minutes until onions are translucent. Sir in garlic, salt, and pepper and cook for an additional minute.
- Combine tomatoes, onion mixture, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, basil, bay leaves, Italian seasoning and sugar in a large slow cooker and stir to combine.
- If you are making a meat sauce, stir in meat now.
- Place a folded paper towel between the lid and the insert of the slow cooker and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or on high for 3 to 4 hours.
