This Healthy Crockpot Tomato Sauce is an easy lighter twist on a classic Italian recipe. The slow cooker does all the work to make a delicious tomato sauce. Perfect with meatballs + a big bowl of pasta or zoodles, this sauce is whole30 friendly, paleo and gluten free.
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Click here to read my policy and more about affiliate links.
I did a poll on Instagram stories the other day asking how many people bought jarred sauces vs making their own… and I was SHOCKED.
I don’t know if it’s just because I grew up pretty much only eating homemade sauce (yes, I’m spoiled) but up about 2 years ago… I hadn’t tried jarred sauce.
When I saw the results of the poll – it looks like you guys typically opt for jarred over homemade, but that’s all going to change with this Healthy Crockpot Tomato Sauce recipe, I promise!
Being Italian, sauce and pasta are staple dishes in my family.
Sauce is easy to make on the stovetop, but when you allow your crockpot to do the work – it’s even better.
Traditionally, Italians start their sauce Saturday and cook it basically all day, and then turn it back on to cook for even longer on Sunday before finally eating it for dinner.
Unfortunately… I’m usually running around too much to watch my sauce on the stove for days, but the crockpot is a lifesaver. I literally only cook my onions/garlic on the stove + then let the crockpot do it’s thing!
P.S. – If you love crockpot recipes, check out these 45 Healthy Crockpot Recipes!
Why We Love Healthy Pasta Sauce
- Flavor: The flavor of this Healthy Crockpot Tomato Sauce is just as good as any sauce that’s cooked over the stove. The crockpot is great for making really rich, slow cooked foods – and it does an amazing job of making yummy tomato sauce!
- Quick to make: If you have literally 10 minutes to spare in the morning, you can make this for dinner tonight
- Easy to make ahead. You can make this ahead of time! Sauté the onion/garlic, mix all the ingredients + put it in the fridge. In the morning, take it out of the fridge, put it in the crockpot, turn it on + walk out the door.
Things you’ll need to make healthy crockpot tomato sauce:
To make crockpot tomato sauce you’ll need a few pantry staples:
You can find substitutions for all of these ingredients below in the green shaded box.
How to Make Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce
Making Crockpot Tomato Sauce literally couldn’t be easier.
- Cook your onions/garlic in olive oil on the stove until translucent.
- Stir into crockpot with remaining ingredients and cook on low for 8-10 hours.
If you can give it a stir occasionally that’s great too – but if not, it will still be delicious!
Slow Cooker Tomato Sauce Tips
- This does make a good amount of sauce. If you’re just one or two people, I recommend making the full recipe + freezing half of it. I store my sauce in containers and just pop it in the freezer.. then when I need a fast dinner or lunch, I will take it out of the freezer the night before, defrost + cook
- Add meat for flavor: I love this Healthy Turkey Meatballs recipe or our Homemade Meatballs for adding into the sauce!
- Use fresh herbs if you can.. they just taste 100x better and give SO much flavor!
- You can also use this sauce in recipes like my Whole30 Crockpot Stuffed Peppers, Whole30 Turkey Bolognese Stuffed Zucchini, or Whole 30 Unstuffed Pepper Bowls
Adding meat to this sauce:
What I always do with my sauce is add my Healthy Turkey Meatballs or sausage to it to cook. I’ll bake the meatballs the day before I’m going to make sauce and then just put the completely cooked meatballs right into the sauce while it cooks in the crockpot.
It makes the meatballs SO tender.. they literally fall apart! It’s hard to find Whole30 sausage from the store that is good for sauce… I’d check with a local grocer/farmer if you can because they typically don’t add fillers/funky ingredients to their meat.
Whether you add meat or stick to meatless, this Healthy Crockpot Tomato Sauce is LOADED with flavor and super easy to make.
Healthy Pasta Sauce Substitutions
Fresh herbs – I prefer to use fresh herbs in this recipe. Depending on what you use, I do a 3 to 1 ratio of fresh to dried spices. For example, you can use 3 tablespoons of fresh chopped herbs or 1 tablespoon of dried herbs.
Red Pepper – If you prefer a less spicy sauce, simply omit hot pepper flakes
Tomatoes – I prefer to make this with canned crushed tomatoes but you can make them with whole tomatoes that you puree or hand crush.
Ways to Use Slow Cooker Tomato Sauce
Here are our favorite ways to use crockpot tomato sauce:
- over pasta- these Homemade Ricotta Cavatelli are my favorite!
- over zucchini noodles
- mixed in with Whole30 Stuffed Peppers
- Freeze it for another day
- Add a little bit to this Healthier Alfredo Sauce to make a creamy red pasta sauce
- with Homemade Ground Beef Meatballs or Healthy Turkey Meatballs
You can also try this Rosemary Chicken Sauce or Healthy Bolognese if you’re looking for a higher protein sauce with meat or if you’re looking for a cream sauce, try Healthy Alfredo Sauce or Lemon Cream Sauce.
How to Thicken Spaghetti Sauce:
This spaghetti sauce is thick as is. If you want to make it thicker, you can try cooking it for longer or adding some tomato paste.
Turn your slow cooker on high to try to thicken it. Be careful to watch your sauce towards the end because it could burn.
How to Store and Reheat Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce
How long does tomato sauce last in the fridge: This tomato sauce will last in the refrigerator for up to 4 days in an airtight container.
Freezing: You can freeze this sauce recipe for up to 3 months. We like these containers for freezing. Code CLEANEATINGCOUPLE works to save $$ on them!
Reheating: You can reheat this sauce recipe in the microwave, or on the stove. Reheat directly from fridge or freezer or thaw completely and reheat.
Crockpot Tomato Sauce FAQ
We’ve never had an issue with this, but you can turn your slow cooker on high to try to thicken it. Be careful to watch your sauce towards the end because it could burn.
Yes, it’s possible to over cook tomato! We don’t recommend cooking tomato sauce for more than 10 hours.
You can, but you might get a watery sauce. If using fresh tomatoes – the stovetop is better. You could also try our Fresh Tomato Sauce Recipe!
Crock Pot Spaghetti Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 3 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley 3 tablespoons fresh
- 1 teaspoon dried basil 3 tablespoons fresh
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 tablespoons pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
Instructions
- In a pan, heat olive oil. Sauté onions + garlic until translucent, approximately 5-10 minutes.
- Combine olive oil mixture with all ingredients in the crockpot + stir until combined. Set crockpot to low for 8-10 hours.
- Serve over pasta or zoodles! You can also add cooked meatballs/sausage to the sauce for extra flavor + for a full meal. I like to bake my meatballs in the oven + then add them to the sauce to cook for even longer. It makes them SO tender!
Video
Notes
- Fresh herbs – I prefer to use fresh herbs in this recipe. Depending on what you use, I do a 3 to 1 ratio of fresh to dried spices. For example, you can use 3 tablespoons of fresh chopped herbs or 1 tablespoon of dried herbs.
- Red Pepper – If you prefer a less spicy sauce, simply omit hot pepper flakes
- Tomatoes – I prefer to make this with canned crushed tomatoes but you can make them with whole tomatoes that you puree or hand crush.
Diane Selzam says
I’m usually a sauce on the stove all day kinda girl….this was so easy and the sauce is super tasty!
The Clean Eating Couple says
Right?! I’m a sauce on the stove all day kinda girl too for the most part, but you just can’t go wrong with this recipe!
Kim says
I have stopped buying jarred sauce… this recipe is so easy to make and it is so delicious. I like to make a large batch and freeze it for the month!!!!! LIFE CHANGING 😋
The Clean Eating Couple says
Love hearing that, Kim! Isn’t it so simple?! Making/freezing it is the way to go – doesn’t get any easier than that!
George basden says
Can this be frozen into smaller batches and if so, what is the lifespan? Also, how long is the lifespan if in refrigerator? I am a disabled Vietnam Vet and I am looking for a healthy pasta sauce and this looks like it will work for me.
The Clean Eating Couple says
Hi George – Yes, this can definitely be frozen in smaller batches. I keep it in the fridge for a month or so. Lifespan in the fridge is probably 3-4 days! I think you will loove this 🙂
Kimberly says
I make this a least once a month. It’s the only sauce we use now. It freezes well, is so easy to make and it is incredibly tasty. Total crowd pleaser!!!
The Clean Eating Couple says
Yay! Thank you so much, Kimberly! Glad you like it!
Timothy Robb says
Can you do it for 4 or 5 hours in the crockpot?
The Clean Eating Couple says
If you’re short on time, I’d turn the crockpot on high. The tomatoes need to cook for a while or at least on high heat to help get rid of any acidity!
Becky says
Can you water bath can this sauce?
The Clean Eating Couple says
Hi Becky – I’m sorry but I don’t know anything about water bath/sauce. I would think you can but it’s not something I’ve ever done!
Cynthia says
This is really good!! I made it exactly like the recipe but put it in the crock pot on low and let it cook all day long! It smelled so good made with the fresh herbs. And it tasted so good, too. Everyone loved it. I put meatballs in it about halfway through. This is a winner. I will be making this again and again.
The Clean Eating Couple says
Thank you so much, Cynthia! I’m so glad you liked it!
Dawn says
Hi. Do I need to blanch my fresh tomatoes and peel the skin off?
The Clean Eating Couple says
That’s up to you. This recipe is for canned crushed tomatoes. If you’re using fresh tomatoes I’m not sure how this will work, but I would probably blend them or roughly chop before putting in the crockpot.
BY says
This sauce was ABSOLUTELY delicious! Used the turkey meatballs recipe as well but subbed ground turkey for ground chicken! DELICIOUS! Clean eating for me & everyone in my household enjoyed it just as much as I did.
The Clean Eating Couple says
Thank you so much! Glad you all enjoyed it!
Berni says
I have a no sugar recipe that the hubs found online and it was just alright. I saw your instagram post just last week on this and figured I would make it to see if the Italian could make a better sauce than a jar, And you did!! This was so good. Even my kids who don’t like red sauce were dunking their garlic bread into it. It makes a lot so I froze into single serve ball jars and will be so easy to grab one for dinner now
The Clean Eating Couple says
So glad you liked it, Berni! Thank you so much!
Maureen Ryan says
I’m making this sauce tonight …I’m starving !!
The Clean Eating Couple says
Hope you like it!
Mary says
This sauce is AMAZING! It has a nice sweet taste. I will not buy jarred sauce ever again. It’s super easy and makes leftovers. Don’t scroll past this recipe. You want be disappointed.
The Clean Eating Couple says
Thanks, Mary! So happy you liked it!
Marisa says
Super easy. So flavorful! I made it in the crockpot this morning, and used it for dinner. I only had dried herbs, so used those instead of fresh. Tasted great!
The Clean Eating Couple says
Glad you liked it!
Becca says
The sodium in this appears to be too high. Do I need to leave out the salt or perhaps reduce it, and will that impact the taste?
The Clean Eating Couple says
Use low or no salt canned tomatoes or skip the salt and add to taste. canned tomatoes typically are higher in sodium
Laura Freeman says
I am making this for dinner tonight. I added mushrooms, Turkey meat and tomatoes paste. Going to have it over gluten free pasta. Let you know how it works out.
Martha Villasenor says
I’m confused. Your recipe says 1 teaspoon of dried herbs but your notes say 1 tablespoon. Which is correct?
The Clean Eating Couple says
The recipe calls for dried herbs. The notes are talking about how to sub for fresh herbs. its 1 teaspon dried herbs or 1 tablespoon fresh herbs