This is Michael's mom's spaghetti sauce, the one he grew up with. His mom has quite a sense of humor. She jokes that she isn't Italian so she can't make Italian spaghetti, but she's Polish so she can make "Polish spaghetti." Authentic or not, it's a good, easy multi-purpose sauce that you can use for spaghetti and meatballs, lasagna, or other baked pasta dishes, and you can cook it all day in the slow cooker or in a couple hours on the stove.
Recipe Notes
This makes an all-purpose sauce that we use for many things. Throw in some meatballs during the last two hours of cooking, or use the sauce for lasagna. It's also delicious spooned over roasted vegetables.
To make a meaty sauce, cook with browned Italian sausage, one pound spicy and one pound sweet.
The sauce is naturally gluten free, so read the labels if you decide to add sausage or meatballs.
Ann’s Spaghetti Sauce
Equipment
- 6-quart slow cooker or 6-quart pot with a lid
Ingredients
- 28 ounces canned diced tomatoes
- 28 ounces canned crushed tomatoes
- 15 ounces canned tomato sauce
- 12 ounces canned tomato paste
- 1½ cups water
- 1 teaspoon dried minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1½ teaspoons dried basil
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning (optional)
Meat Sauce
- 1 pound spicy Italian sausage
- 1 pound sweet or mild Italian sausage
Preparation
- Slow cooker: Put all ingredients in the slow cooker and stir. Cook on high for 1 hour and then on low for 6 hours or more. Remove the bay leaves before serving.
- Stove: Put all ingredients in the 6-quart pot and stir. Cover and cook on medium until the sauce just begins to boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for about 2-½ hours. Remove the bay leaves before serving.
- Meat Sauce Variation: Brown the Italian sausage and drain the fat. Add the remaining ingredients and finish cooking.
I don't wonder that this is a favorite. It reads remarkably close to a sauce I've been making myself for over 30 years. I use all sauce and paste and not the crushed and diced, leave off that optional italian seasoning (and the salt; there's plenty already even in plain commerical canned toamto sauces). But the pepper, garlic, basil, oregano and bay leaves read very familiar and their ratios to one another. I've got some cooking today, and there will be good eatin' tonight 🙂
Dave, I'm like you. I use POWDERED onion, garlic, tad of cumin, but the rest is like yours. (Allergy reasons) Depending on what I'm making, I might add meat to the noodles or chili powder for TX chili, etc. My family LOVES it. Been making it for over 40 years.
Any suggestions for using and converting to fresh minced garlic vs. dried garlic?
Hi Hap. I have used both fresh and dried garlic in the sauce, and the answer depends on what type of dried garlic you use. If using garlic powder, use about 1/8 teaspoon for each clove of fresh garlic. If using dried minced garlic, try 1/2 teaspoon dry in for each clove of fresh garlic. Let me know how it turns out for you!
can I use fresh tomatoes?
how to keep this sauce for use later
Hi Martha. Yes, you can use fresh tomatoes. You may can to precook them and remove the skins, and then chop or crush them to make the sauce. I freeze extra sauce in quart containers and them thaw them out when needed. Thanks!