Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce

So, I got a slow cooker for Christmas…and one of my resolutions was to use it a lot and post the recipes. On the plus side, I have been using it a ton however I’ve just been too lazy or unorganized to ever blog about it. Mainly, I’ve just made a lot of chili and a bunch of roasts…

However, I do have a recipe for you today! Finally! I had been craving spaghetti and meatballs for most of last week and so when the weekend finally rolled around, I decided to make a nice hearty meal for Matt and I. I decided to make the meat sauce in my slow cooker and it turned out really well. Plus my house just smelled incredible all day.

I also threw in some meatballs that I already had in my freezer, made this garlic bread to accompany the meal and these chocolate chip cookies for dessert…it was a serious comfort food party.

P.S. I NEED to do a post on those chocolate chip cookies. They are quite possibly the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had. EVER.

Slow Cooker Meat Sauce

Ingredients:

2 lb lean ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 can (28 oz) diced or whole tomatoes*, undrained
1 bottle (24 oz) strained tomatoes
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
dried thyme
dried oregano leaves
salt
pepper
crushed red pepper flakes
olive oil

*I only used whole tomatoes because I originally thought it was a can of diced…it didn’t make too much of a difference though, I just had to break them up a bit but diced would’ve probably been better.

Directions:

In a large skillet, cook onions in a drizzle of olive oil on medium heat. When onions are just starting to get soft, add garlic and cook for another minute or two. Add beef and cook until it is no longer pink; drain.


Spoon beef mixture into your slow cooker. Stir in remaining ingredients. (*Note: I rarely measure spices so unfortunately I didn’t really have an idea of how much I put in…plus, I just ended up adding more to taste later anyways.)

Cover; cook on high heat for 4-6 hours or low heat for 8-9 hours.



Spoon over your favorite pasta and enjoy!