Slow Cooker Marinara
I’ve made a few variations of red sauce for Budget Bytes, but this Slow Cooker Marinara is definitely the best of the best. I don’t like using my slow cooker for everything, but for a few things it works complete magic (beans and meat, for instance). The magical long, slow cooking process caramelizes the sugars in the tomatoes and creates a depth of flavor that can’t be matched!
Plus, what more could you ask for than to just throw some ingredients in a pot, forget about it for 8 hours, and then come back to a rich, delicious red sauce?
The price of this Slow Cooker Marinara will depend greatly on what you’re able to get your canned tomatoes for. When I made the original (non-slow cooker) version of this recipe a couple of years ago, I paid almost half what I paid for canned tomatoes today. So, the price this time around was about the same as the store bought jarred equivalent, but hey, I made it myself and it’s so much tastier!
Since this recipe makes quite a bit, I pour the extra into freezer bags and freeze it for up to about 4 months. Make sure you cool it down in the refrigerator before pouring into freezer bags, though ;)
Slow Cooker Marinara
Slow Cooker Marinara
Ingredients
- 2 28oz. cans crushed tomatoes ($3.47)
- 6 oz tomato paste ($0.56)
- 1 medium yellow onion ($0.54)
- 1/2 Tbsp garlic, minced ($0.10)
- 2 whole bay leaves ($0.10)
- 1 Tbsp dried basil ($0.15)
- 1/2 Tbsp dried oregano ($0.07)
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar ($0.02)
- 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar ($0.09)
- salt and pepper to taste ($0.05)
Instructions
- Cut the onion into a small dice and mince the garlic (or use pre-minced garlic from a jar). Place both in the slow cooker. Also add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, bay leaves, basil, oregano, and freshly cracked pepper. Stir well to combine. If your slow cooker tends to lose moisture and dry things out, add 1/2 to 1 cup of water as well.
- Secure the lid on your slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hrs.
- Remove the lid on the slow cooker, stir the sauce, and remove the bay leaves. Season with salt to taste (I added about 1 tsp). Enjoy over your favorite pasta!
Nutritional values are estimates only. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Now how easy was that? You can also try adding other ingredients like sliced mushrooms, Italian sausage (cook separately and add to the sauce after it has cooked), crushed red pepper, olive oil (for a richer sauce), bell peppers… the sky is the limit.
The first time I made this sauce, I served it over homemade gnocchi and almost died and went to heaven.
Step By Step Photos
Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Place them in the slow cooker.
Add two (28 oz.) cans of crushed tomatoes and one (6 oz.) can of tomato paste. Crush tomates are the perfect texture for marinara sauce. They aren’t as chunky as diced tomatoes and not as silky/pureed as “tomato sauce”.
Also add the balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, basil, oregano, bay leaves, and cracked black pepper.
Stir everything really well (try to mix in that tomato paste). Secure the lid and cook on low for eight hours. My slow cooker retains moisture really well so I didn’t need any extra water. But, if yours lets a lot of steam escape or you notice that food usually dries out in your slow cooker, you’ll want to add a little water (up to one cup).
Eight hours later, it looks a little something like this. You can see how the color went from a bright, vibrant red to a deep dark maroon. That’s how you know the sugars have caramelized and created that nice deep flavor.
Give it a good stir, remove the bay leaves, and it’s ready to go!
If you plan on freezing some of your Slow Cooker Marinara, make sure to fully cool it in the refrigerator before freezing. I usually refrigerate mine over night and then divide and freeze the next day.
Stay tuned tomorrow to see the awesome pasta dish that I made with this delicious sauce!
I’ve just sautéed the onion and a carrot & celery until soft. I’ve put it in a tub with all the rest of the ingredients all ready to put in the slow cooker in the morning. It’s tasting lovely already, can’t wait to taste it when it’s cooked all day!
OMG! this looks delicious!! I can think of about a million ways to enjoy this!
Thanks Rahul!
I’ve made this recipe many times over the years, to rave reviews! Thank you, thank you! Here are my “tweaks”: First, I use fresh herbs from my kitchen garden when I can – basil, oregano, rosemary, parsley, & garlic chives. I put in whole sprigs of the first three & add chopped parsley & chives at the end for “brightness.” We’ve had a long, hot summer, so as my basil is just getting ready to go to seed, I’m making multiple batches of sauce for the freezer now! Secondly, instead of sugar, I use an old Italian cook’s tip for sweetness: boil down a carrot (or tonight baby carrots, as they were handy!) until squishy-soft & only a couple tablespoons of boiling water remains, then crush the carrots with a fork & add with remaining water to the sauce – perfect sweetness without refined sugar!
Thanks for sharing Angela!
I’ve made this before with canned tomatoes and it’s delicious! I was wondering if you have any idea how to substitute fresh in this recipe? As in how many fresh tomatoes = crushed, or any tips like should I chop them or use a food processor to crush them myself, and any extra seasonings?
Unfortunately I haven’t tested this with fresh and I think it would take quite a bit of tweaking to make that substitution.
Hi Beth. Thank you for this recipe! I was fortunate to learn to creatively cook & bake on my Memèré’s apron strings. I am, as I type, making a version of this recipe that started with a bag of “Canning Tomatoes-FREE” from a co worker. I took those Roma tomatoes, dipped them in boiling water, removed the skins and my husband (a Chef Ramsay fan who can never be left out of anything…) ran a knife through them to course chop. Added fresh chopped onion & garlic; balsamic vinegar, br. sugar, tomato paste, & whatever dried sprigs from the herb garden that smelled right (at the moment). Our intention was to purée the lot, but it is approaching divinity-I believe we’ll leave it as is🤤
This made a really good sauce. I’m used to making sauce on the stove top, with many more steps and ingredients- an all day affair. I was looking for a replacement for the delicious but super expensive Rao’s jarred sauce I buy when I don’t feel up to making my own. I wanted something simpler and the crock pot method is perfect for the summer heat. This came out so good and my picky family all liked it- I’ll probably opt for this recipe more frequently than my standby method in the future. I added homemade meatballs at the four hour mark, and everything was cooked to perfection at the end of eight hours. Five stars for ease, cost, and taste.
OK. THIS is a good sauce. My crockpot runs a little hot, even on low, so I turned it down to warm after 4 hours and it still simmered down to a fabulous sauce in 8. I DID do it a “little” differently because I had time – I cooked the onions and garlic in olive oil until the onions were just clear and deglazed the pan with about 1/4 c of red wine (my hub has to have red wine in his sauce) and then poured it in the pot to make sure i got all the onion flavor. A REALLY good, old school sauce reminiscent of an Italian restaurant…WILL make again at 2x the recipe. Made enough for at least 2 dinners for a family of 4.
This recipe is just what I’ve been searching for to make a no-sodium marinara sauce. What kind of balsamic vinegar is best? I have red Modena.
I love your recipes – many of them are the best things I cook !!
I actually haven’t tested this with multiple types of balsamic vinegar, but I’m quite sure that whatever I used (I made this recipe probably 8 or 9 years ago), it was inexpensive and probably not very high quality. LOL The better the quality balsamic vinegar, the better the marinara will taste!
Would you rec ommend substituting red cooking wine for. The sugar?