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Our family eats a lot of pasta. And for years, I’ve bought marinara sauce in a jar because it’s fast and convenient. But these days, we are trying to be more mindful about what we eat, so I started making homemade slow cooker pasta sauce.
Aside from it being incredibly delicious, I love that it doesn’t have the added preservatives that a jar sauce contains. I’m also able to put in as many vegetables as I’d like for added nutrition.
You add everything to your slow cooker in the morning or afternoon, and it’s ready for dinner. If you have a smaller family, you can store the remaining sauce in a jar, in the refrigerator for a week, or freeze it in a freezer-safe container for up to a month and use when needed.
This slow cooker pasta sauce is the first of many healthier option recipes that I’m going to be sharing. And the story behind them is one I had to share (it wouldn’t be a food blog if there wasn’t a story behind it, right?)
I know how hard it is to find recipes that are both healthy and taste delicious. A few weeks ago, I reached out to a long-time friend, Rachel DiNapoli to see if she wanted to take our family’s favorite recipes and make them healthier.
Our family has known Rachel for about ten years, back when she was dancing at the same dance studio as our daughters. She later became one of their favorite dance teachers.
These days, Rachel is a fitness trainer and helps people to lose weight and eat better. Rachel is a NASM certified personal trainer (National Academy of Sports Medicine) and boot camp instructor in Boca Raton, FL. She is the proud owner of FAITH, WEIGHTS, PROTEIN SHAKES LLC, an online training and nutrition company.
Rachel was 50 pounds overweight and after losing weight by eating healthy and exercising, she now uses her own personal health and fitness journey to help others. In addition to encouragement, motivation, and exercise routines, she also shares tips and tricks to healthier eating on her Instagram page @rachdinafit.
You can dice your veggies according to how chunky you like your pasta sauce but remember the larger the chunks, the longer they will need to cook. If you’re running short on time and you chopped your veggies a little too big (or you like to hide the veggies from your kids), you can put the sauce into a food processor or blender when it’s done, for a smoother consistency.
I also use my food processor to shred the carrots. This will save you lots of time over hand grating them. For the onions and the celery, I hand chop them.
This slow cooker pasta sauce is great over pasta. If you prefer real pasta over zucchini noodles, Rachel recommends Barilla ProteinPLUS Multigrain Spaghetti. I’ve had it a few times now and my family really loves it. It doesn’t taste any different than regular pasta, it’s just 100% Plant-based protein and non-GMO, so it’s a better, healthier option.
It would also be great on top of chicken with a side of veggies! We love ours with my healthier oven-baked meatballs, another recipe I worked with Rachel.
Side note… you’ll want to pick up one of these clip-on pan strainers. The best tool I’ve purchased in a while! Just clip it onto your pot and strain your pasta. I absolutely love it.
The steps in the photos above, show exactly how I make my slow cooker pasta sauce.
Step 1: All veggies and spices in the slow cooker.
Step 2: Mix all ingredients in step one together and add crushed tomatoes.
Step 3: Add vegetable stock.
Step 4: Stir until combined and slow cook for 4-5 hours.
Now that you know a little bit about this slow cooker pasta sauce, I’m excited to share our recipe.
Slow Cooker Pasta Sauce
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Slow Cooker Pasta Sauce
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 4 hours
- Total Time: 4 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
This slow cooker pasta sauce is packed with veggies and tastes better than any sauce you can buy in the store. Only 77 calories per serving.
Ingredients
- 28oz can crushed tomatoes
- 1 cup vegetable stock
- 1/2 cup diced Vidalia onion
- 1 cup grated carrots
- 1 cup diced celery
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tbsp dried basil
- 1/2 tbsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp kosher or sea salt
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, optional
- fresh basil for topping, optional
Instructions
- Place all ingredients into your slow cooker and stir until combined.
- Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours.
- Serve on top of pasta, meatballs, or any healthy alternative.
- Top with fresh basil, if desired.
Nutrition
- Calories: 77
- Fat: .1g
- Carbohydrates: 14g
- Protein: 2.6g
If you make this slow cooker pasta sauce, we’d love to hear your thoughts. If you post it on social media, we’d love for you to tag @thesupermomlife! Don’t forget to check out all of our family-friendly recipes.
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Neely Moldovan
March 17, 2021You had me at slow cooker! Seriously I feel like thats where my cooking skills are haha.
Nilakshi
March 8, 2021Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe. Will try this out in the weekend.
★★★★★
Rik
March 1, 2021That looks so good. I always make my own pasta sauce too.
Blanche
March 1, 2021This looks perfect and delicious!! Thank you for sharing,
Emman Damian
March 1, 2021I love your slow cooker pasta sauce. It looks so good. It’s so easy to do too! I can’t wait to make it on weekends.
★★★★★
Tweenselmom
March 1, 2021Totally stealing this recipe! It’s a must for super busy moms as you can just leave them in the slowcooker.
Blair Villanueva
February 28, 2021I love pasta at home! Great to learn your recipe coz this will be great for our family as well.
★★★★★
Aarika
February 28, 2021This looks absolutely amazing! I am drooling over these pics and want to eat it immediately. It sounds so fresh. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Mahnoor Khurram
February 28, 2021I had red sauce pasta just today! I’m a huge pasta lover and this looks delicious.
★★★★★
Clarice
February 28, 2021Wow! This looks delicious. Your post just inspired me to cook pasta today and would love to try this recipe. I also use a slow cooker to prepare one. Thank you for sharing.
aisasami
February 28, 2021This looks like a really nice and delicious sauce! Now I wish I had a slow cooker!
★★★★★
Amy
February 27, 2021Oh that looks absolutely delicious! I would really like it over zucchini noodles actually just so reduce the carb in take. Do you think it would be ok with spaghetti squash instead of pasta too?
★★★★★
Heather
March 1, 2021Hi Amy! Absolutely! It would be perfect with spaghetti squash!
Chiache
February 27, 2021Oh wow! This recipe looks really delish! I would love to have this over dinner tomorrow! 😋
Catalina
February 27, 2021This is an amazing pasta sauce. A must try recipe for sure!
★★★★★
Krysten Quiles
February 27, 2021Oh yum that looks SO GOOD, will have to try that!
★★★★★
Marysa
February 27, 2021It would be fun to make a big batch of our own pasta sauce. We are picky about what we like and it is nice to be able to tailor your own recipe.
Melissa Cushing
February 27, 2021Love this recipe and love that it is a delicious slow cooker recipe as I can set it and forget it for the day 🙂 Looks delicious too 🙂
★★★★★
Gideon
February 27, 2021This sauce does look yummy, worth giving a try someday.
Sarah M
February 27, 2021This sauce looks so delicious and most ingredients are also easy to find on shelves. I’d love to taste it.
Mama Maggie's Kitchen
February 27, 2021This sauce will be perfect for our pasta night tomorrow! It looks really delicious!
★★★★★
Romy Schorr
February 27, 2021I love a good homemade sauce! Lots of goodness in this recipe
★★★★★
Nikki Wayne
February 27, 2021Meatless pasta?? Wow, that’s so awesome..! And it looks great!
★★★★★
Jasmine Martin
February 26, 2021I never thought about making pasta sauce in the slow cooker before. I am going to have to try this out really soon.
Lavanda Michelle
February 26, 2021That looks delicious. I’ve hears of slow cooker chili but not slow cooker pasta sauce. I will try to make this over the weekend, I have most of the ingredients. Thanks for posting!
Carrie Ann
February 26, 2021I’ve been experimenting with making my own pasta sauces lately – I can’t stand how sweet most jarred sauces are. I haven’t tried making any in the slow cooker yet, so I’m excited to try your recipe!
Rosey
February 26, 2021This sauce looks really tasty. I like the word dinnerware too.
Norma
February 26, 2021I can’t wait to try this pasta sauce. My family is getting tired of the one we were using and now we are experimenting with different options but I have not found one we really like. Just from looking at the ingredients and pictures, this recipe may be the one. I will try it once I have all the ingredients.
Tisha
February 26, 2021I love making homemade sauce! So good, and even better in the slow cooker!
★★★★★
Kita Bryant
February 26, 2021Low and slow is the way to go with pasta sauce. This looks so hearty and delicious.
★★★★★
Yeah Lifestyle
February 26, 2021Such a healthy recipe and one which I can’t wait to try as we love eating healthy as a family
★★★★★
Jessica Collazo
February 26, 2021Oh this sounds very interesting. I need to get a slow cooker and I think this recepie is going to be a good excuse.
★★★★★
Chad
February 26, 2021I can’t can’t wait to try out your recipe, looks delicious!!! I will cook it over the weekend.
Lyanna Soria
February 26, 2021That pasta sauce is looking delicious and would love to try this out sometime. It’s would be great to know a thing or two about making pasta sauce.
★★★★★
Mimi
February 26, 2021Girl! This looks so yummy! It screams Sunday lunch =)
Leslie
February 26, 2021Mmmm. I love a good homemade sauce with plenty of vegetables, and Vidalia onions are such a great way to add sweetness without added sugar
★★★★★
Brittany
February 26, 2021Yummy! I love all pasta but this sauce sounds so flavorful and delicious I just know my whole family will love it!
Samantha
February 26, 2021This sounds really good! I’ll have to try it next time.
Wren LaPorte
February 26, 2021This looks delicious! I have never tried making sauce in a slow cooker before, now I will have to try it!
Lynndee
February 26, 2021Looks good! I’d love to try to make homemade pasta. We just always get the ones from the store.
Amy Liu Dong
February 26, 2021I love homemade pasta sauce and this one looks really delicious. I am going to try this, thank you!
★★★★★
Melanie williams
February 26, 2021Ooo now how lovely and yummy does this look. The pasta sauce looks so fresh and fab – perfect for a dinner or lunch x
Lyosha
February 26, 2021I love slow cooker recipes! It is always very useful and handy. the pasta looks great as well, I need to make one soon as well
Rose Ann Sales
February 26, 2021It looks so nice, I bet it’s so delicious even without meat.
★★★★★
Monica Simpson
February 26, 2021This sauce looks delicious! I’m saving this recipe to try next week.
Ryan Escat
February 25, 2021No matter what I eat, I always like my tomatoes sliced as small as possible. Especially on my pasta. Thanks for the tip.
★★★★★
Nikki Wayne
February 25, 2021Sometimes I like my pasta meatless, this sounds like my next favorite.
★★★★★
Celebrate Woman Today
February 25, 2021I’ve never made one in a slow cooker, only on stove top. But I’ll save this yummy recipe.
Amber Myers
February 25, 2021Thank you so much for this! I love when I can use my slow cooker. This sauce looks fabulous.
★★★★★
Ben
February 25, 2021Thank you so much for sharing this one! I tried to make spaghetti sauce in a pot so many times, and I always burn. I can’t imagine I would have that problem with this crockpot recipe. Boom!
★★★★★
Arūnas
February 26, 2021I am glad that more and more people are getting mindful of what they eat and start making food at home. This pasta sauce looks delicious. I have to try it.
Tara Pittman
February 25, 2021My family loves pasta. This will make a great dinner for this weekend.
Tammy
February 25, 2021I love pasta sauce so much and love trying different versions of it. Thanks for sharing your recipe and I must try it soon.
★★★★★
melissa chapman
February 25, 2021We also eat a lot of pasta and always from the jar sauce. Your hearty sauce may make us change our tune because it really makes a difference.
Briana Baker
February 25, 2021What a great time saver! And love that it won’t splatter tomato juice/sauce/parts all over my stovetop!
★★★★★