SLOW-COOKER MEATY ITALIAN SPAGHETTI SAUCE

Slow-Cooker Meaty Italian Spaghetti Sauce image

If you've been searching for "the one," that is a reliably delicious spaghetti sauce that will please the family, freeze well and get better overnight, we humbly suggest this recipe. No hard-to-find ingredients here, just everything you'd expect to be in a basic red sauce. Before stewing to perfection in your slow cooker, this sauce does require a crucial couple minutes of skillet time. Taking the 15 minutes to brown Italian sausage and onions to golden-brown perfection doesn't just bring out the best in these ingredients, it also leads to a sauce that's considerably more delicious than it would be otherwise. And after you do it, it's just a matter of tossing all the ingredients into the pot and letting them simmer together into a rich and savory red gravy!

Provided by By Betty Crocker Kitchens

Categories Entree

Time 8h15m

Yield 24

Number Of Ingredients 13

Ingredients

2 lb bulk Italian pork sausage or ground beef
2 large onions, chopped (2 cups)
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms (6 oz)
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 can (28 oz) Muir Glen™ organic diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cans (15 oz each) tomato sauce
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
1 tablespoon dried basil leaves
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Steps:

Spray 5-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. In 12-inch skillet, cook sausage, onions, mushrooms and garlic over medium heat about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until sausage is no longer pink; drain.
Spoon sausage mixture into cooker.
Stir in remaining ingredients.
Cover; cook on Low heat setting 8 to 9 hours.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 90, Carbohydrate 7 g, Cholesterol 15 mg, Fiber 1 g, Protein 4 g, SaturatedFat 1 1/2 g, ServingSize 1 Serving, Sodium 450 mg, Sugar 4 g, TransFat 0 g