Crock Pot Pasta Sauce with Sausage

This easy, 5-ingredient Crock Pot Pasta Sauce made with chicken or turkey sausage is perfect for busy weeknights!

Slow Cooker Pasta Sauce with Sausage

On those busy weeknights when you don’t have time to cook, using your slow cooker is a lifesaver! Turn it on in the morning, then come home and boil some pasta (I love Barilla’s new protein pasta), roast some spaghetti squash or spiralize some veggies and pour the sauce on top. More easy slow cooker recipes you will love are  Chicken Cacciatore, Crock Pot Italian Turkey Meatballs and Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili!

Ingredients

• chicken Italian sausage or turkey sausage, casings removed
• extra virgin olive oil
• fresh garlic, smashed with the side of a knife
• can of crushed tomatoes, I swear by Tuttorosso green label
• crushed red pepper flakes or fresh cracked black pepper, to taste

How To Make Slow Cooker Meat Sauce

1. Brown the sausage in a large skillet over medium high heat, breaking up any large pieces with a wooden spoon.
2. When sausage is browned, drain any fat if needed and transfer to the crock pot.
3. Wipe the skillet with a paper towel and set heat to high; when hot add the oil.
4. Add garlic and cook until golden but do not burn; add tomatoes and garlic to crock pot along with fresh cracked pepper. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
5. If you wish, take an immersion blender and blend the sauce a 2-3 seconds to break the sausage up into smaller pieces to combine with the sauce.
6. Serve over your favorite pasta or veggie noodles!

The best tip I can give you when you make this is to use good quality chicken or turkey Italian sausage and a can of Tuttorosso crushed tomatoes green label. I’m very brand loyal to Tuttorosso if I am using crushed tomatoes because I think it makes the best tasting sauce. Other brands tend to be too acidic, and I have to keep adding things to doctor up the taste, but never with Tuttorosso. Of course, you may have a favorite brand of crushed tomatoes you are loyal to, if so feel free to use that instead.

Variations

I kept this really simple since sausage has plenty of flavor, but you could add more stuff to this sauce if you wish, some roasted red pepper would be wonderful, some crushed red pepper if you want more heat or some fresh herbs like basil right before serving would be wonderful too.

How To Serve

Serve this over your favorite pasta or even over spaghetti squash with a dollop of ricotta cheese for a complete meal. Enjoy!

Which is the best slow cooker to buy?

I love my slow cooker and have been using this 6 Quart Hamilton Beach Set ‘n Forget Programmable Slow Cooker for years. I love it because you can adjust the time you want it to cook, and it automatically turns to warm when it’s done. It also has a probe for meat that automatically shuts off when done. I hated my old crock pot, it burnt everything and my food had a weird taste. This slow cooker is so great, I actually own several!

More Slow Cooker Recipes