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Homemade Crock Pot Marinara Sauce is easy to make – set it and forget it in the crock pot. It smells fantastic as it cooks, and it has all the full flavor of a sauce that you stirred for hours on the stove top, but you saved yourself a lot of energy!
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Summer Tomatoes
It’s perfect for those summer tomatoes too! I often end up with so many beautiful summer tomatoes that I can’t eat them all.
With my Homemade Crock Pot Marinara Sauce problem solved! Make up some of this, and it freezes well too. You will be in summer tomato heaven for a long time to come!
Home grown or canned
I started making this Homemade Crock Pot Marinara Sauce over the summer. Now, you don’t have to start that early. I was processing the home-grown summer tomatoes before they went bad.
This is a great way to use up all those tomatoes. But, if you don’t have any home-grown tomatoes, or if you want to start this in the winter, use canned tomatoes, they’ll work perfectly.
I cooked down the tomatoes
It was too hot to cook the tomatoes inside, so we started them on the grill. I cut each in half and put them in a large ovenproof casserole dish.
I don’t bother to peel them before hand either. As they cook down, the peels come off and float to the top. When they do, fish them out with tongs, a slotted spoon, or your fingers (watch out, it’ll be hot!).
You can freeze tomatoes
I cooked the tomatoes down to about half of what was there to begin with. Let them cool, and then I froze them.
A few months later (or just a couple days ago) I decided to use the cooked down tomatoes in marinara.
And, this is a great marinara sauce! It’s so easy because it’s done in the crock-pot. Also, the sauce is really budget-friendly (even cheaper if you use tomatoes from the garden!).
What onions should you cook with?
I used ½ a red onion and ½ a sweet yellow onion (because they were in the fridge and needed to be used up). Any onions will work in this recipe.
How much salt should I add?
Also, I actually didn’t add any salt to my marinara. I’m still doing the super healthy food, so I’ve eliminated most salt from the stuff I cook. But, I do think the sauce would benefit from salt. Leave it out entirely if you want, the sauce is still great.
How to use marinara?
We had the marinara over simple spaghetti last night with some meatless meatballs. Tonight I’m going to make little individual pizzas using this marinara as the pizza sauce. And, over the weekend I think I’ll make Red Pepper Lasagna.
Other great recipes to use your sauce in:
- Weeknight Italian Tomato Soup
- One Pot Pizza Tortellini Bake
- Red Pepper and Fresh Mozzarella Lasagna
- Serve some marinara for dipping with my Skillet Pizza Bombs
- Baked Meatballs in Balsamic Tomato Sauce
- Serve up some Pizza Sticks with marinara for dipping
This recipe makes a large batch
I don’t think I’ll have to worry about using up all of this sauce, but it makes a large amount, so you may want to can it or freeze it to preserve it. If you’re going to freeze it, allow it to cool before placing it in the freezer.
If you’re looking for another great sauce, make sure to check out my Meatless “Meat” Sauce. If’s hearty and delicious!
If you’re going to can it, while it cooks, prepare (get out and make sure they are squeaky clean) the jars you’ll use to store it.
Transfer cooked sauce to the clean & ready jars. Please follow the instructions from the USDA’s National Center for Home Food Preservation, the official site from the makers of Ball jars, or the makers of the Weck Jars.
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Recipe
Homemade Crock Pot Marinara Sauce
Ingredients
- 8 cups crushed tomatoes or 2 (28 oz) cans crushed tomatoes
- 6 ounces tomato paste
- 1 medium onion coarsely chopped
- 2-4 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 2 whole bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- ½ tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt if desired
- freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in the slow cooker. Stir well to combine. Secure the lid on your slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours or high for six hours. Stir the sauce and remove the bay leaves. Taste for seasonings, adding more salt and some freshly ground pepper as desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations, and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.
Debra
That looks amazing! I need a good marinara to go with mozzarella sticks! Thanks!
Krystal
It just looks and sounds amazing. What an awesome recipe!
Healing Tomato
I have never made a crockpot marinara sauce. This is a brilliant idea. Thanks
Jillian
Such a fabulous idea-pinning! P.S. Your photography is gorgeous!
mealplanmaven
I love a good homemade marinara sauce and yours looks fantastic!
Dee Johnson
Will try this! Can fresh herbs be substituted for the dry herbs?
Debi
Dee, yes, definitely you can use fresh herbs. Use more fresh herbs than dried ones, and the flavor concentrates in dried herbs. I usually try double the herbs if going from dried to fresh. You’ll love it!
Richard Tebaldi
I actually used a larger can of tomatoes (106 Oz. Nina’s brand whole peeled from Costco) and added mushrooms, red bell peppers some heat, green peppers, Worcestershire sauce and leeks to the recipe.
I had realized over time, that occasionally I got an off taste from the tomatoes when using crushed tomatoes.. I found out that crushed tomatoes tend to be the worst of tomatoes because they don’t have to “look good.
I stopped using crushed years ago, and haven’t had the problem since. This was my first time using a crockpot! Tried my sauce and it was supper!Make a big batch and freeze it in usable size portions for the workweek.
Enjoy! ciaotebaldi
KC
Hi! Recipe looks great! I have a ton of tomatoes already and think I will make a big batch of your sauce. If I did want to cook them down inside how would I go about doing that? Stovetop? Oven?
Debi
Hi Kc, I think either method would work well – stovetop or oven. I’d probably go with the stovetop so I could stir it often and so that I didn’t have to heat up the oven during the summer. Cook them on medium in a big pot on the stove. If you decide to do them in the oven, take a big casserole dish and cook at 350 degrees until reduced, but I think this would be a little harder to control the outcome, and may take a long time. The tomatoes could even be roasted to give them a toasty flavor. This recipe will give you an idea of how I’d do that: https://lifecurrentsblog.com/balsamic-roasted-tomatoes-onions/
Richard Tebaldi
I’ve not compared stove top to oven to crock pot at one time, but if you take the time to brown your onions, red peppers, and tomatoes, use good wine and e.v.o.o… you CAN make a damned good sauce as I have….not everyone has the time to watch a pot for 4-5 hours, so crock pots ARE an alternative to a good tomato sauce for those folk.
Betty
Did you strain the seeds out?
Debi
Betty, no I didn’t strain the seeds out. I’m pretty lazy when I cook, and the seeds don’t bother me at all. They kind of melt right into the sauce. If you look at the picture of the sauce in the little Weck jar you can see a couple of the seeds hanging out.
Richard Tebaldi
Yep, as many seeds come out as I can. Seeds can give your sauce a bitterness that is not pleasant. I also prefer canned San Marzano tomatoes from Italy. Good fresh tomatoes are sometimes hard to come by.
Jhoei
I have some tomatoes in my chill tray and I found this recipe. I am planning to use my tomatoes for this sauce. Can I use this for quesadilla? Thanks!
Debi
Jhoei, You can use marinara in a pizza or Italian flavored quesadilla. If you’re looking for a more traditional Mexican-style quesadilla, I’d recommend a salsa, more like this one: https://lifecurrentsblog.com/roasted-tomato-salsa/
Deb Clark
Thank you the tip to cook down the tomatoes, I think that made all the difference in the sauce!!!
Jess
A bit confused about the recipe. You cook down the tomatoes but the recipe calls for 8 cups of crushed tomato – is the crushed tomato the cooked down tomato? If using the cooked down tomatoes do you still need tomato paste for the recipe? Thanks! Looks delicious and can’t wait to try it.
Debi
Jess, I cooked down fresh tomatoes to make 8 cups of crushed tomatoes. Since most people might not want to cook down fresh tomatoes, they can also use the canned tomatoes. Yes, you still want to use the tomato paste. Fresh tomatoes have more liquid than canned or cooked tomatoes, so I wanted to cook them down first. Hopefully that helps. I know you’ll love it!
Richard Tebaldi
I don’t use anything but whole peeled plumb tomatoes, mostly canned and from San Marzano, and/ Cento brand or a good American brand, like Red Pack. I use a potato crusher to mash the whole tomato. I’m told that crushed tomatoes are inconsistent. Canned whole tomatoes are picked at their freshest, I’m told. I’ve been using the above for 40 years, have tried some other brands, these are my favorites.
I use a half a teaspoon of brown sugar to cut the acidity. OOPS! Sorry! I just realized I have 3 other comments on the same issue. Oh! Don’t use a cheap olive oil. I use Costco’s EVOO. It’s the best deal and taste for the money. A little drizzle and a good few pats of butter gives your sauce a good body and shine. A decent leftover red wine or marsala can help your sauce as well. Fresh garlic goes in last with fresh basil leaves