Slow Cooker Marinara Sauce

Use your slow cooker or Crock-Pot to make an easy homemade marinara sauce without overheating your kitchen (or yourself). Double or triple the batch to freeze for the winter months.

Course Main Course, Sauce

Cuisine Italian, Mediterranean

Keyword Crock Pot Marinara Sauce, Marinara Sauce, Slow Cooker Marinara Sauce

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 6

Total Time 6 10

Servings cups

Calories 74kcal

Ingredients

10 large tomatoes or about 3 1/2 to 4 pounds
1 large yellow onion chopped
1 bulb garlic or about 8 cloves, peeled
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp dried Italian herbs such as oregano and thyme
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp MSG
1/2 tsp salt
1 can tomato paste 6 oz
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup fresh basil

Instructions

Wash and chop the tomatoes in quarters or chunks. Place them in the bowl of the slow cooker or Crock-Pot.
Chop the onions, peel the garlic, and add to the crock pot with the remaining ingredients, except the balsamic vinegar, tomato paste, and fresh basil.
Cook on LOW for a minimum of 4 hours, up to 8 hours. After 6 hours, the sauce should be darker in color and the tomatoes almost fully broken down.
At the end of cooking, stir in the balsamic vinegar, tomato paste, and fresh basil. Remove the bay leaves and discard.
Blend the mixture until smooth using an immersion blender, upright blender, or food processor. Work in batches if needed.
Adjust flavor with additional salt or MSG to taste. Serve immediately with a recipe of your choice, or transfer to airtight containers to store in the refrigerator or freezer.

Notes

If using a blender or food processor to combine the sauce ingredients after cooking, blend in batches and allow the steam to escape to avoid a buildup of pressure from the heat.

Use immediately or store in the refrigerator (up to 5 days) or freezer (up to 6 months).

Nutrition