Linda’s Old Fashioned Spaghetti (Crock Pot)
Linda’s Old Fashioned Spaghetti is my mother in law’s signature dish and one we always look forward to whenever we visit them in Georgia. A meaty spaghetti with a sauce that is definitely a step up from your typical store bought canned sauce and far more flavorful than what most folks are used to. Linda usually makes it on the stovetop, setting aside hours for it to simmer and cook down. Last time we visited she mentioned that she would like to have a slow cooker version so that she could put it in the crock pot in the morning and not have to fuss over it throughout the day.
Well all she had to do was tell me she wanted it! I came home and immediately set out to adapt the recipe for the slow cooker. Now we can all have this bold and flavorful meat sauce spaghetti just by tossing in the ingredients and walking away.
One of my favorite features of a slow cooker is that it’s the closest I’ll ever come to having kitchen staff 🙂
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 You’ll need: Browned ground beef, Garlic powder, a jar of mushrooms, tomato paste, basil, rosemary, a pinch of cayenne pepper (it isn’t spicy, I promise!), bay leaves, and salt. Oh and some water. I’m gonna assume you have that. Isn’t it nice to have water readily available? Lots of folks don’t.
Brown your meat and drain the grease. Place in 5-6 quart slow cooker. Add in Basil, Rosemary, Garlic Powder, Salt, Pepper, Cayenne (just a tiny pinch, don’t freak out!), tomato paste, and water. Stir that up real good. Hint:Â This is easier to mix if you use hot water.
Drain mushrooms and gently stir those in.
Add Bay leaves and don’t stir (because they will break up), just spoon some sauce over them. Fish those out later, before serving.
Eat it up!
Ingredients
- 2 -3 pounds lean ground beef or ground chuck
- 1 large can tomato paste 12 oz.
- 2 cups warm water
- 1 ½ Tbs. Basil
- 1 ½ Tbs. Rosemary
- heaping teaspoon garlic powder
- 1.5 teaspoons salt
- Pinch red cayenne pepper
- 1 jar of sliced mushrooms 6 oz.
- 3 Bay leaves remove after cooking
Instructions
- In large skillet, cook ground beef until browned and fully cooked, drain and place in slow cooker.
- Brown your meat and drain the grease. Place in 5-6 quart slow cooker. Add in Basil, Rosemary, Garlic Powder, Salt, Pepper, Cayenne, tomato paste, and water. Stir that up real good.
- Drain mushrooms and gently stir those in.
- Add Bay leaves and don't stir (because they will break up), just spoon some sauce over them.
- Cover and cook on low, 7-9 hours, or high, 3-4 hours. Before serving, remove bay leaves. Serve over fresh cooked noodles.
Nutrition
” I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life.”
~Deut 30:18
Christy – this is off subject but I want to know where you found your apron that you have on in the video of you your mom and the girls. I can only find the ones that go around your neck and they bother me since I have had a disc fusion in my neck.
Thanks- Cheryl Brown — look forward to seeing you at Becoming in 58 days! (can you tell I’m looking forward to the conference?)
This looks and sounds yummy! I will do everything exact except for the rosemary. No matter how many times I try it, rosemary tastes like a pine tree smells. I guess I’m by it like some people are by cilantro tasting like soap. I will replace it with a little oregano I guess.
i am the same way about rosemary! let me know how the oregano works for you. knowing me i would just bump up the garlic or use store bought italian seasoning.
My mother says the EXACT same thing! 😀 Oregano would be a wonderful substitute, or even just a little Italian Seasoning if you want a milder Oregano flavoring. Even though there is Basil in the Italian seasoning, it would still be great to add in.
Me too! I feel like I;m eating a Christmas tree! I’m all for using the Italian seasoning. Sounds great.
This recipe will be a good way to use up some of my spices. I’m more of a stove top kind of girl – any real difference in ingredients for stove top method?
On the stove you want to use a great deal more water, triple it, and then let it simmer until it cooks down to this consistency.
Ok thanks!
Yay! Thank you for this recipe! I love a good spaghetti sauce that has simmered for a good long while but I work out of the home so I don’t get to make it very often. I will definitely be adding this to my next menu plan. Coming home to slow-cooked spaghetti sauce sounds wonderful. My family may wonder if I even went to work on that day 😉
can you give me a hint: When I place meat sauce on my spaghetti on the plate it start to run a liquid off. Tried everything! any hints to stop this from happening
When this happens to me it means I haven’t drained my pasta very well. That sauce actually kinda presses it out of the pasta and then it is a very watery light orange color. I do this all the time! The trick is to let your pasta drain in the colander for a few more minutes, then give it a few good shakes before removing it. That should help! 🙂
I have found that a bit of cornstarch slurry works to tighten the sauce so it doesn’t run.
Wow! That sounds so good. Gonna try that soon. Spaghetti is one of our definite go-to meals. Thanks for sharing.
Looks really good can we leave out the mushrooms? I was thinking of adding chopped onion when browning the beef. Do you think that will work?
Absolutely, that sounds like a great substitution!
Yes to both — you can leave out the mushrooma and onion & or onion powder will work great in this as well. I use 1 can tomato sauce in mine to make it a little saucier and leave out one of the paste.
Oh, my side, Sally!!! (No real person, just something I say when excited!) This sounds JUST like the spaghetti we had in high school!! I know lots of folks never cared for school food but we had the BEST dietician!!! Lena Grace Broome!! Later in life I had the opportunity to be her hairdresser!! I asked if she would make me some of her “high school spaghetti” and she DID!! I just forgot to ask for the recipe!! I plan to make this ASAP!! Thank you SO much for this recipe!! YAY!! Early Christmas present to me!!!