Slow Cooker Meat Sauce (Best Spaghetti Bolognese Sauce)

This Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce Recipe is an easy, hearty spaghetti sauce made with ground beef, tomatoes, Italian herbs, and seasonings that simmer together low and slow. The result is a rich, flavorful Bolognese-style sauce that’s perfect for tossing with spaghetti, layering into lasagna, or serving with just about any of your favorite pasta dishes.

I love making spaghetti sauce in the slow cooker because the longer cooking time gives all those savory flavors a chance to really come together—and it makes dinner so easy. Just get everything going earlier in the day, then come back to a warm, comforting dinner that’s ready when you are. It’s also perfect for meal prep because it makes great leftovers and freezes beautifully.

Looking for a stovetop recipe? You can also try my one-pot homemade meat sauce recipe, or this meat-free roasted tomato marinara sauce.

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A slow cooker full of slow cooker spaghetti sauce.

Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce Recipe

This is one of those recipes that the slow cooker was made for. Not only does it make the cooking process easy, it actually brings out the richness of the ingredients by cooking them low and slow.

There are crockpot meat sauce recipes out there that skip the stovetop saute, but I highly recommend spending the extra 10-15 minutes to do this. There’s no way to replicate that in the slow cooker—it’s the best way to develop those layers of flavor from the very beginning.

Recipe Notes

Another benefit of making spaghetti sauce in the slow cooker is that it fills your kitchen with the most incredible aroma all day long. As the tomatoes, herbs, beef, and sausage simmer together, the flavors meld into a sauce that tastes like it has been tended to for hours—even though the slow cooker is doing most of the work. It’s the kind of recipe that’s perfect for meal prep, Sunday dinners, or anytime you want a comforting homemade meal waiting for you at the end of the day.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Freeze it for later. This batch makes about 3 quarts, so you could save one quart to use now and freeze two for later!
Hands-off! Once you have sauteed your onions, garlic, and meat, you can set the slow cooker and let it do the rest of the work for you. There’s no need to babysit a pot in the kitchen.
Rich and flavorful. Because we saute the onions, garlic, and meat before putting into the slow cooker, and then cook for hours, the flavors have plenty of time to develop into a super rich and delicious sauce.

Key Ingredients You Will Need

Olive Oil – the olive oil in this recipe is for cooking, but it also adds a lot of flavor to the sauce.
Garlic – don’t skimp on the fresh garlic. It’s a key ingredient that adds loads of flavor depth.
Ground Beef – to avoid a greasy sauce, use lean ground beef. You could also substitute ground turkey if your family prefers.
Italian Sausage – remove the casing from your sausage before cooking.
Crushed Tomatoes – San Marzano tomatoes are my preference, but any type of crushed tomatoes will work great. You could substitute a bit of diced tomatoes as well if you like your meat sauce a little chunkier.
Sugar – you will almost always see some form of sugar in a tomato-based spaghetti sauce because it helps balance the acidity from all of the tomatoes.
Italian Seasoning – you can stick with Italian Seasoning only, but sometimes I like to add a bit of fennel seed and crushed red pepper flakes.
Parmesan Rind – this is optional but adds a deep umami flavor that’s hard to replace. I like to save my own Parmesan rinds, but you can also often find them for sale at the grocery store in the specialty cheeses section.

How to Make Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce

Saute the onions and garlic. Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven. Once shimmering, add the diced onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are softened and golden brown—about 8-10 min. Add the garlic and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
Cook the meat. Add the ground beef, sausage, and water. Cook, breaking the meat into small pieces, until browned and no longer pink, about 5-7 min. Drain excess grease if needed.
Add everything to the slow cooker. Transfer the meat mixture to a 6-quart slow cooker. Add the crushed tomatoes, sugar, salt, Italian seasoning, black pepper, and parmesan rind. Stir until combined.

A slow cooker showing ground beef, tomatoes, and other ingredients for making bolognese sauce.

Cook. Cover and cook on low for 5-7 hours, or high for 3-4 hours, stirring once or twice if possible. Remove and discard the Parmesan rind before serving.
Serve. Serve over cooked spaghetti, fettuccini, rigatoni, or your favorite pasta. Garnish with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley if desired. Enjoy!

A ladle scooping meat sauce over a plate of spaghetti.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much sauce does this recipe make?

This recipe will make about 12 cups, or about 3 quarts, of sauce—give or take a cup or two depending on the amount of time it cooks and individual measuring of ingredients.

Can you use fresh tomatoes instead of canned?

Sure! If you want to use fresh tomatoes, you will need about 10 fresh tomatoes per 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes. If you want to remove the skins, you can blanch them first for a minute, then plunge into ice water. The skins will be easy to remove after that, then you can dice them before adding.

Can you freeze pasta sauce?

Yes! This sauce freezes perfectly. Just transfer to a freezer bag and freeze flat for up to 6 months.

Recipe Tips

This sauce is perfect for spaghetti, baked ziti, stuffed shells, and lasagna.
Double the recipe and freeze half for an easy future meal.
For an even richer flavor, cook the sauce on low for the full 8 hours.

Storage Instructions

Storing instructions: store in an airtight container or jar in the fridge for up to 5 days, or frozen for up to 4 months. To thaw, transfer to the fridge overnight.
Reheating: add leftover sauce to a saucepan with a touch of water and reheat over medium low, stirring occasionally until warmed through. You can also reheat in the slow cooker by putting it on the warm setting.