Old Fashioned Crock Pot Spaghetti
This old-fashioned Crock Pot spaghetti is a set-it-and-forget-it supper featuring a simple meat sauce that simmers low and slow in the crock pot, delivering rich, classic spaghetti flavor with hardly any effort. Just spoon it over some hot noodles when it’s time to eat!
A Quick, Delicious Way to Feed the Whole Family!
If you grew up eating spaghetti on busy nights, chances are it was hearty, heavy on the meat sauce, and meant to feed the whole family. This slow cooker version keeps all that comfort but makes it even easier. Once everything goes into the crock pot, it pretty much handles itself, which is a blessing on days when life’s moving fast, and dinner still needs to happen.
What makes this recipe work is letting the sauce do the heavy lifting. Instead of using jarred spaghetti sauce, you’re building a rich meat sauce from tomato paste, water, and dried herbs that have time to mellow and deepen as they cook. You can find the recipe for this easy spaghetti sauce here!
Now let’s get to cookin’!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Lean ground beef or ground chuck
- Tomato paste
- Warm water
- Basil
- Rosemary
- Garlic powder
- Salt
- Red cayenne pepper
- Sliced mushrooms
- Bay leaves
Helpful Tips Before You Start
- Brown the meat first. Even though this is a slow cooker spaghetti recipe, browning the ground beef in a skillet over medium heat first adds a whole lotta flavor and keeps the sauce from getting greasy. Drain it good before you add it to the Crock Pot.
- Stir well, except the bay leaves. Once all your sauce ingredients are in there, give ’em a real good stir so that tomato paste dissolves right in. Add the bay leaves last and just spoon a little sauce over top so they stay whole.
- Low and slow is best. Cooking on low for 7–9 hours gives you the richest flavor, but high for 3–4 hours works when you’re short on time. Either way, don’t rush it; that sauce just gets better the longer it simmers!
- Cook pasta separately. This is the best way to keep your spaghetti noodles perfectly al dente and avoid leftover pasta soaking up all that good sauce.
How to Make Old-Fashioned Crock Pot Spaghetti
Step 1: Brown the Ground Beef
In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the ground beef until fully browned. Drain the grease and transfer the meat to a 5–6-quart slow cooker.
Step 2: Build the Sauce
Add basil, rosemary, garlic powder, salt, black pepper, cayenne, tomato paste, and warm water to the slow cooker. Stir everything together until well combined.
Step 3: Add Mushrooms and Bay Leaves
Drain the mushrooms and gently stir them into the sauce. Lay the bay leaves on top and spoon a little sauce over them without stirring.
Step 4: Slow Cook
Cover and cook on low for 7–9 hours or high for 3–4 hours. Before serving, remove the bay leaves.
Step 5: Serve
Serve the meat sauce over freshly cooked spaghetti noodles. Top with parmesan cheese and serve with garlic bread if you’ve got it. You can also go for some Parmesan crisps!
Storage & Leftovers
Let leftover spaghetti sauce cool, then store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat gently on the stove or in the microwave. If the sauce thickens, just stir in a splash of water. Leftover spaghetti sauce also freezes well, making it a great option for meal prep or future quick dinners.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Ground turkey works well and still makes a flavorful meat sauce.
A small splash of red wine can deepen the flavor, but it’s completely optional.
Absolutely. Italian seasoning is a great shortcut and works just fine here. You can also make your own garlic bread seasoning!
Ingredients
- 2 -3 pounds lean ground beef or ground chuck
- 1 large can of tomato paste 12 oz.
- 2 cups warm water
- 1 ½ Tbs. Basil
- 1 ½ Tbs. Rosemary
- heaping teaspoon garlic powder
- 1.5 teaspoons salt
- Pinch red cayenne pepper
- 1 jar of sliced mushrooms 6 oz.
- 3 Bay leaves remove after cooking
Instructions
- In a large skillet, cook ground beef until browned and fully cooked, drain, and place in a slow cooker.
- Brown your meat and drain the grease. Place in a 5-6 quart slow cooker. Add in Basil, Rosemary, Garlic Powder, Salt, Pepper, Cayenne, tomato paste, and water. Stir that up real good.
- Drain mushrooms and gently stir those in.
- Add Bay leaves and don’t stir (because they will break up), just spoon some sauce over them.
- Cover and cook on low, 7-9 hours, or high, 3-4 hours. Before serving, remove bay leaves. Serve over fresh cooked noodles.
Christy,
Will you please remove my name and email address above? I thought the email address was not suppose to be published.
Thank You,
Shirley Walker
Hey Shirley!
I’m afraid I can’t find another comment from you on this post and you are correct, the email address field is never published. What I think you are looking at is the box where you can leave comments. If you have left a comment before, those fields are often filled in automatically by your own computer, so you will see what is in the fields (your name and email address) and then a big blank box to type a comment, should you want to. Once you hit enter, all that goes up on the site is your name and your comment. Hope this helps clear things up and thanks!
I really can’t comment on your recipe, since I’m adapting it with onion, garlic, red wine , Newman’s marinara, fresh mushrooms, oregano, and 2 heaping tbls. of tomato paste. Your recipe inspired me to make these adaptations for the crock pot. Thank you for providing the basics. Tastes pretty good too.
Thanks Vicky! I’m honored to have offered up some inspiration and know your family is blessed to have you cooking for them!
You got to push it-this esanstiel info that is!
Hey Christy, have been doing sauce in the crock pot for as long as I’ve had one, which is around 37 years now, and I still have that one, the crock doesn’t come out, and I’m the only one who can make it work (the switch is a pain) but still have it. I generally use canned tomatoes, diced, or crushed, or whole and crush them myself, doesn’t matter, I’ve used the Hunt’s pre spiced ones, they have Italian seasoning, or garlic etc, I’ve used the plain ones and spiced myself, its all good! I always add garlic and onion to everything, and have been known to throw in handfuls of dried flat leaf parsley too! I like thick rich meat sauce, love the mushrooms of course, but can’t use them if my daughter is eating, she’s allergic to them, but one of my favourite things is if there is any left over (rarely) I get to put it onto a slice of bread or toast, if its bread you have to have a toaster oven, and toast it until the bread is toasted on the bottom, and the sauce is warmed through. Ate that many times for lunch the next day!
Oh my goodness, what a great idea for the leftovers!!!
Recipe sounds delicious…as usual. I always love your recipes! I was thinking of making this at my bunco party. There are 12 of us. Was wondering how much this made. Do you think it would be enough if I double the recipe. Most of the ladies eat like birds, but some of us eat more like a truck driver 🙂 Especially if it’s good! I hope I didn’t overlook the serving size.
Thank you!
How much fresh rosemary (or fresh oregano) and fresh basil would you use? Is there a go to way of know how to substitute the amounts of dried herbs for fresh? I have a brand new herb garden and am new to using fresh herbs.
Also, do you think that adding in fresh mushrooms would work as well as jarred mushrooms?
Hi Meagan!! I’m afraid I can’t tell you exactly since I have always used dried. If it were me I would start with a minced tablespoon of each and go from there. The great thing is that once you add your herbs in you can allow the flavors to meld for a bit, taste and adjust if needed. And yes, you can use fresh mushrooms. 🙂 I hope that helps a little.
A great spagetti recipe, some people like to mix their spagetti and meat sauce together, but it all goes down the same. Thanks Christy!
LOL, that it does Annette!!