Super Easy Spaghetti Sauce in the Crockpot
All we need is 6 ingredients to jazz up store-bought spaghetti sauce and make this super easy spaghetti sauce recipe, full of tasty tomato flavor, ground beef, and seasonings.
I love store-bought spaghetti sauce, even though my mother didn’t even know it existed until we were nearly teens. Once she tried it, she was hooked on the ease and the quality. Still, I like to dress mine up a bit. This both customizes the flavor but also serves to make your pasta sauce go further.
Making your meat sauce go further is important because I REALLY want you to have some leftover spaghetti sauce. It is VERY important you have some leftovers, so you can make my spaghetti lover’s soup. This is a supper recipe everyone in my family loves.
Now, it couldn’t be easier to make my super easy spaghetti sauce (hence the name!). All you need is store-bought spaghetti sauce, Italian seasoning, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, sugar, and ground beef. Then we do my favorite type of cooking: dump the ingredients in the slow cooker and walk away! After a long day at work, you’ll come home to a kitchen smelling absolutely delectable and dinner done. Just cook your favorite pasta and serve it to your hungry family. It’s that simple.
Alright, who’s ready to make my easy spaghetti sauce recipe now?
Recipe Ingredients
- Spaghetti sauce
- Diced tomatoes
- Tomato sauce
- Italian seasoning (you could also use our zesty seasoning recipe if you like)
- Sugar
- Cooked ground beef
How to Make Super Easy Spaghetti Sauce
Dump everything in the slow cooker: sauce, tomato sauce, tomatoes, and beef. If you have fresh tomatoes, by all means, cut up a few of those and put them in there instead of the canned tomatoes.
You absolutely do not have to cook this in a slow cooker. I just like the convenience of having it cook all day and then all I have to do is boil my pasta to have supper!
Be sure you put a few tablespoons of water in the sauce jar and give it a good shake to get the last bits out, too!
Add some Italian seasoning. I am using about a tablespoon and a half.
And I always add a tablespoon of sugar to help bring out the sweetness of the tomatoes.
Give it a stir, cover, and cook on low all day.
If you’d rather cook this on the stovetop, I recommend bringing it to a boil, reducing the heat to low, and simmering the homemade spaghetti sauce for about 30 minutes.
Serve over your favorite cooked pasta (it doesn’t have to be spaghetti noodles) and dinner is complete!
I also recommend sprinkling some
and like fresh basil on top if you have some available.Storage
- Store leftover spaghetti meat sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. You can quickly reheat them in the microwave.
- You can also freeze leftovers for up to 6 months. Thaw in the fridge before microwaving.
Recipe Notes
- If you’d rather, you can substitute Italian sausage or shredded chicken for the beef.
- To thicken this sauce recipe (and include some secret veggies), add 2 grated carrots. Other veggies you can include are finely diced onion, mushroom or bell pepper, and grated zucchini.
- To make this vegetarian, simply remove the ground beef. The pasta sauce will still taste delicious without!
- For heat, add a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes.
- Instead of serving with spaghetti, go low-carb and use zoodles (zucchini noodles).
- When it comes to , if you like, you can substitute the for a can.
- For more , add .
Recipe FAQs
What do you serve with spaghetti sauce and pasta?
This is a delicious main dish as is, but if you like, you can serve your pasta with a side dish, like Italian cucumber salad, Caesar salad, garlic bread, or zucchini and squash.
Check out these other Italian-inspired easy supper ideas:
Linda’s Old Fashioned Spaghetti (Crock Pot)
Cheese Stuffed Shells (3 Cheeses Included)
Ingredients
- 2 jars spaghetti sauce
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 1 can tomato sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 1/2 pounds ground beef browned and drained
Instructions
- Dump all ingredients into a slow cooker. Cover and cook on low all day. Serve homemade sauce over freshly cooked pasta.2 jars spaghetti sauce, 1 can diced tomatoes, 1 can tomato sauce, 1 1/2 tbsp Italian seasoning, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
I use this sauce for my baked spaghetti. It was so easy and simple to make. Gives a lot of flavor to my recipe. After subscribing to your new letter, I have surprise my hubby with some great new dinner options. Thanks Christy.
I make spaghetti sauce too! It is almostssimilar to yours, only I don’t sdd sugar to mine. I ues ground meat sometimes, and I’ve known to mix Italian sausage with ground meat. I also use store-bought spaghetti sauce, a can of tomato sauce, (Cantadina is my favorite) and I buy those packs of spaghetti sauce in powder form, because someone gave me the idea years ago. When I make this dish, my sister is FOREVER grateful– she loves it when I make this spaghetti dinner! Thank you for sharing your receipe!
And thank you for sharing yours Patrice!!
Do you have a recipe for making spaghetti sauce from just canned tomato sauce as a starter?
Christy, I noticed in your photo tuitorial that you show 2 jars of Classico brand spaghetti sauce, but two varieties..do you tend to mix one of each variety when you make your sauce? Do you brown your ground beef up ahead of time and freeze in freezer ziploc bags?
Do you serve any garlic bread with your spaghetti meal? Salad or cole slaw?
We love garlic bread sticks and I do tend to mix sauces or grab whatever I have on hand, it all blends really well 🙂 And yes, I love to have pre cooked ground beef in the freezer. You know all my secrets! 🙂
Christy, Delmonte makes a good canned spaghetti sauce and a can is only .94 cents. Once you doctor it up it makes a very yummy cause at a great price. Even if I bought the expensive jar stuff I doctor it also. The can is a large can and even if it’s not on sale a great price. The other canned option that is good is Hunts brand and it is .97 cents.
OOPS! I meant it makes a very yummy SAUCE not cause. my fingers and my mind were not coordinating with each other.
That happens to me a lot Marsha!
I make spaghetti sauce too! It is almostssimilar to yours, only I don’t sdd sugar to mine. I ues ground meat sometimes, and I’ve known to mix Italian sausage with ground meat. I also use store-bought spaghetti sauce, a can of tomato sauce, (Cantadina is my favorite) and I buy those packs of spaghetti sauce in powder form, because someone gave me the idea years ago. When I make this dish, my sister is FOREVER grateful– she loves it when I make this spaghetti dinner! Thank you for sharing your receipe!