Crockpot spaghetti sauce {with meat}

Making crockpot spaghetti sauce with ground beef is a fun and easy recipe. Because the tomatoes stew for a long time, they fall apart completely and become nice and sweet. And the best part of this Italian recipe? You put all the ingredients into the slow cooker and you don't have to look after it for a few hours (until it's time for dinner).

This Italian spaghetti and meat sauce is so easy to make that I never buy it ready-made. And certainly not once you've tasted this delicious meal. Because you can't buy a sauce this good in the supermarket.

And since you only need a few minutes to put everything into the slow cooker, it takes less time than drive to your supermarket and gets back. And it's much healthier too. I would say try it yourself!

Crock pot spaghetti sauce with meat the BEST Italian recipe you've ever get.

Jump to:

• 🥘 Ingredients
• 🔪 Preparation
• Top Tips
• 🥘  Other delicious recipes
• 📖 Recipe

🥘 Ingredients

A full list of ingredients can be found at the end of this blog.

• Tomatoes: are used in the form of a paste, peeled (or diced) tomatoes, and sieved tomatoes. Because tomatoes are, of course, the main ingredient. And while you can use fresh tomatoes, they are only tasty when in season (ie in summertime). But the tomatoes you buy in a can are always picked in season. And therefore have the best flavor. And it makes this recipe easier and just as healthy.

• Onions, garlic, celery, and carrots: vegetables and fresh seasoning. Clean them, peel them, and cut them into small cubes. If you want to make it even easier, buy everything pre-cut in the supermarket.

• Bacon, sugar, and Italian seasoning: sugar is added to taste the sweetness of the tomatoes. The bacon and spices, including Italian herbs, provide just a little more depth. Place the bay leaf on top after mixing all the ingredients, so you can remove it easily when your stew is ready to eat (you can't eat a bay leaf). If you don't want to use sugar add 1 teaspoon of baking soda (it will reduce the acidity)

• Red wine: with a dash of red wine this recipe becomes even better. And a great tip is to use the same red wine, that you're planning to serve with your dinner.

• Ground beef: For this meat sauce I use ground beef. But you can also replace this with half-and-half meat, the meat of Italian sausage, or Vega minced meat.

🔪 Preparation

You can find a recipe that you can easily print at the bottom of this blog.

Step 1: slice all your vegetables.

Slice the onion and squeeze your garlic. Cut the carrot and celery into small cubes.

Step 2: Bake the onion, bacon, and tomato paste

Heat some oil in a large skillet and bake the onion, bacon, and tomato paste for three minutes. Then add the garlic and stir-fry for thirty seconds.

TIP: if you're short on time you can discard this step. It's not necessary (but it will give more flavor to the end result.

Step 3: Fry the beef until brown.

Add the minced beef to the onion mixture and bake for four to five minutes until brown.

Step 4: Put everything into the crockpot.

Put the ingredients of your frying pan and the remaining ingredients (except the bay leaf) into the slow cooker. Stir well.

Then place your bay leaf on top (that way you can find it back easily to take it out of the sauce). Turn the crockpot on, low heat, for at least 5 hours.

Top Tips

• Before serving, taste the end result. The acidity of the tomatoes can differ from time to time. Therefore it might be necessary to add some extra sugar.
• Frying the tomato paste in the pan for two minutes, will sweet it (otherwise it could be a bit sour).
• In the frying pan, we bake the onion, bacon, tomato paste, garlic, and minced meat before we add it to the sauce. This will take you about ten minutes. If you have just a little bit of time, you can omit this step. It's not really necessary (although it does add extra flavor).
• Wine contains alcohol, but this will evaporate during heating it in the slow cooker. If you prefer not to use wine, you can leave it out.
• You can replace the peeled tomatoes with fresh, tomatoes. Only do it when they're in season. Then their flavor is optimal. In other seasons it's not recommended because canned tomatoes almost always taste better.
• You can also replace the ground beef with half-and-half meat (which is budget-friendly) or with ground chicken. If you prefer a vegetarian/vegan dish use Vega minced meat and substitute the bacon with slices of mushrooms or sun-dried tomatoes.
• This tomato sauce is delicious to serve with spaghetti or any other pasta. But you can also use it as a meat sauce for your lasagna.

• This crockpot spaghetti sauce with meat can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
• You can also freeze this sauce. Use an airtight container to store it. That way this sauce will keep up to 2 months in the freezer. Let it defrost in the refrigerator. TIP when you double the ingredients you can store a second portion in the freezer. That way you got a healthy and easy meal during a busy night.

🥘  Other delicious recipes

Did you make this recipe? Tag #byandreajanssen via Instagram. I really enjoy seeing what your creation looks like. Video recipes can be found on my YouTube channel. And don't forget to save the recipes on Pinterest so you can easily find them next time!

📖 Recipe