Crock Pot Spaghetti Sauce

Another good crockpot recipe!  Most of the time, I use crockpot recipes on those days when I’m going to be away from home all day.  But on a recent Saturday, I assembled this recipe for a big spaghetti dinner that night.  All the kids were home for Superbowl weekend and this meal has always been a family favorite.  This recipe can be assembled and placed in the crockpot on low all day, or you can start it around lunch time (if you are home) and cook it on high until it comes to a boil then set it back to low.  Either way, I think it’s a recipe you’ll enjoy.

Ingredients:

1 lb. mild Italian Sausage (I use turkey sausage)

1 diced onion

29 oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained (I prefer the petite diced variety if I can find it)

8 oz. can tomato sauce

6 oz. can tomato paste

1 bay leaf

1 Tablespoon brown sugar

4 cloves garlic, diced

2 teaspoons dried basil

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon thyme

I added an additional can of tomato sauce and an additional 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes because I was cooking for 8 people.  The ingredients can easily be adjusted up or down for the amount of servings you need. 

Directions:

Dice the onion and slice the Italian sausage into chunks. 

If you prefer, you can remove the casings from the Italian sausage and crumble it up like you would for ground beef, making a meat sauce instead of a sauce with chunks of sausage.  My family prefers the chunks.

Saute the onions and sausage chunks in a skillet until the onions are soft and the sausage is mostly done (it’ll finish cooking in the sauce).

Add the minced garlic at the end and cook for an additional minute or two just until tender.  Garlic burns easily so it’ll only take a couple of minutes.

Pour off any remaining fat (there’ll be very little if any when using turkey sausage).

You can even brown the onions and sausage the night before and refrigerate for a quicker assembly the next morning.  If you choose to do the browning the night before, you would want to cook the sausage fully, not partially since it will sit overnight in the fridge before cooking.

While the sausage and onions are cooking, put the tomatoes, tomato sauce, and tomato paste in the crockpot and stir to combine.  Add the spices and the bay leaf.

Add the drained sausage, onions, and garlic to the sauce in the crockpot.

Stir to combine.

Cover with lid and set on low and simmer all day, or set on high around lunch time and cook until it comes to a boil, then turn to low to finish.  Serve over hot cooked pasta and top with fresh parmesan cheese.