Amazing Homemade Slow Cook Spaghetti Sauce for Canning

Are you looking for a delicious homemade Slow Cook spaghetti sauce that is so good you can make and enjoy all year?

Folks, this is the homemade slow cook spaghetti sauce for you! I’ve used other spaghetti sauce recipes in the past. This one is my favorite and I’m sharing with you today. How exciting is that? 

You can easily double or triple this recipe to make large batches to water bath can for long term enjoyment. It’s really easy and takes a while to cook, but the best things in life come slowly. This sauce is definitely that. 

In this post, I’m going to share:

• A good way to thicken homemade spaghetti sauce.
  
• How to make this great home canning spaghetti sauce recipe.
  
• Good ways to use this homemade slow cook spaghetti sauce (besides spaghetti).

Ingredients You Need

• 32 Cups tomatoes, peeled & cored
• 2 1/2 Cups chopped bell peppers
• 3 Cups Chopped Onions
• 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
• 1/2 tsp. Pepper
• 2 TBSP Salt
• 3/4 C Parsley
• 1 TBSP Basil
• 1 TBSP Thyme
• 6 Cloves Garlic, Minced 
• 1 TBSP Oregano
• 3 Bay Leaves

How to Make It

To start, you’ll need to prepare the veggies. Core the tomatoes, onions and peppers and cut into smaller pieces. Make the veggie pieces bigger for a chunky sauce or run it through a food processor for a smoother sauce.  

Ok, this next part is super easy. The first thing you’re going to do is throw the tomatoes, peppers, onions, brown sugar, pepper and salt into a large stock pot or crock pot. Let this mixture cook slow for about 3 hours. 

Then, add the parsley, basil, thyme, garlic, oregano, and bay leaves. Now, you can cook for as long as desired. 

Seasoned or Unseasoned? 

You can totally make this sauce and leave out the seasonings. Why would you do this?

Well, maybe you have family members who are sensitive to certain seasonings. 

Here’s what I do:

The first grouping of ingredients listed above is what I will cook. And then I will can it and label it “unseasoned tomato sauce.”

Then, when I go to use it, I will add seasonings as needed. That way I’m safe in case I have someone coming for supper that doesn’t like a certain seasoning or herb. 

The other reason I make a batch of unseasoned spaghetti sauce is because I like to use it in other recipes. Not all of those recipes are Italian based so having an unseasoned option works great for me. I just season as needed. 

Now, for the full on seasoned delicious spaghetti sauce, herbs and spices are a huge part of the tastefulness. Also, the way it is cooked down also makes a huge difference. Here are a few different ways I’m slow cooked this spaghetti sauce. 

Which Slow Cookers to Use

18 or 22 Quart Slow Cooker

I have done HUGE batches of spaghetti sauce in a couple of 22-quart roasters. This one has an amazing slow cook option that allows sauces to cook for at least 12 hours. Just make sure you stir ever hour or so and adjust the heat as needed. 

7 Quart Crock Pot

You will probably want to use a crock pot if you have limited space and ingredients or making a smaller batch. 

A 7-quart slow cooker is the one I use the most. I love it because it is so easy to use. Simplicity is awesome here. Sauce can cook for at least 8 hours until desirable thickness. 

Stock Pot (Choose Your Own Size)

 For a little bit quicker ‘slow cooking’ this stock pot is very ideal. It holds a lot of sauce but you can choose between several sizes. 

I’ve cooked sauce for around 5-6 hours in this stock pot on low. Just make sure to stir it so it doesn’t stick to the pot.

How to Thicken Homemade Spaghetti Sauce in Slow Cooker

If your spaghetti sauce is still too runny for your liking, I have a little trick for you to help it thicken. Tomato paste.

Tomato paste is a healthy ingredient to add in to the sauce while it’s slowly cooking away. I usually add about 3 of the 6 ounce cans.

If you don’t want to add in tomato paste, it’s ok! Go ahead and can it, but then later you can just cook it longer when you’re actually making your sauce to eat.

How to Use This Homemade Slow Cook Spaghetti Sauce

So many ways to use spaghetti sauce. Of course, you can use it with any kind of pasta to create an amazing Italian dish. 

After I open the jar, I cook it in a skillet on the stove. I’ll add ground hamburger or pork burger because…well, we are meat eaters. Then, I will cook the meat and sauce together slowly until the sauce is as thick as I like it. 

I’ve also used the sauce with meat balls, stuffed peppers and squash. The possibilities are endless. You can use your own imagination and create your very own recipe. I’d love it if you’d share with me what you come up with!

Canning This Spaghetti Sauce

This recipe is super simple to can for later. You can put away a lot of sauce for the off season that tastes delicious because it’s fresh. 

Here’s a few things you need to start water bath canning:

• Water Bath Canning Kit
• Ball or Kerr Quart Jars and Lids
• Lemon Juice

Now, the steps to take to can this spaghetti sauce is super simple. First of all, you need to clean and sanitize jars and lids. You can also heat them up so they are warm when you put the sauce in. You can also add 2 T. lemon juice into each quart jar. 

Next, take your funnel that comes with the kit above and place it into one jar. And a big ladle spoon. Pour hot sauce into the jars and leave 1/2 inch headspace from the top of the jar. 

Then, adjust the two piece caps and place into the water bath canner. When all jars are full and canner is full, you can put the lid on and turn up the heat. I have a gas stove and I just turn the burner up all the way. 

Don’t start the timer yet.

The water needs to be boiling so you need to just wait and check to see when it gets to a rolling boil. When it is at the rolling boil, set your timer for processing. The time listed for seasoned spaghetti sauce is 40 minutes for quarts. But, you’ll need to adjust your processing time according to your altitude. 

Check out my water bath canning guide for altitude adjustments

For example, I have to add 5 minutes to my processing time when I water bath can anything. So, for this recipe I process jars in the boiling water bath for 45 minutes. This adds to the safety of the finished process. When, your timer goes off and processing is over, carefully lift jars out of the hot water. Set them in a safe place so that they can finish sealing. 

You do you know when the lids are sealed? 

Just listen. You’ll hear the ‘pop’ sound and that is the sound indicating a sealed jar. You can also check them later and make sure the center is popped down and the rim is tight around the edges. 

And that’s it! You have canned tomato sauce that you can store in a cool, dry, dark place for later. 

What if you love this recipe and want to grow your own produce for it? Let’s chat about that. 

Growing the Best Produce 

Want to grow your own onions, garlic, tomatoes and peppers for this tomato sauce? And other recipes as well?

You can!! Please don’t tell me you DON’T have a green thumb. I really can’t stand it when people tell me that because it’s not true. 

Everyone and anyone COULD be a gardener. You can do this. If you have trouble growing your own fresh produce, it’s not because you’re bad at it. It’s because you’re forgetting one of the best practices that goes into growing awesome produce. 

Location, soil health, temperature and sunlight all goes into growing great produce. Within these parameters, there are a few little things you should probably be doing in order to change how growing a garden is happening for you. 

I wrote a best practices book just for you based upon my 30 + year of gardening, research and teaching others how to grow a garden. 

Also, check out this post for growing amazing tomatoes for this spaghetti sauce:  Growing Great Tomatoes

Enjoy This Amazing Slow Cook Spaghetti Sauce

Well, we have reached the end of this post and you now have a great recipe for this awesome spaghetti sauce. 

I truly hope this helps you add one more recipe to your list, use up fresh produce and allows you to put away some for winter. I didn’t mention this before, but you can also freeze this recipe in freezer bags if you don’t want to can it. Just a quick mention there. 

And I’d love if you would let me know how much you love this homemade slow cook spaghetti sauce recipe on Pinterest or right here in the comments below. Take care and enjoy!

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