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.
Thanks, this is a must try soon for church.
I hate to be one of those annoying people asking annoying questions, but do you know how much pasta this recipe requires. I usually don’t keep recipes if there isn’t a pasta amount because it hurts my brain to try and guess…maybe it’s because I usually cook for one! ME!!! sorry=(
This recipe doesn’t require any set amount of pasta. You just make the sauce and make as much pasta as you want to eat, then add as much sauce as you want. Leftover sauce can be frozen beautifully and you could even make your life easier by freezing it in individual servings (perhaps one cup bags). 😀
Thanks anyway…it’s about half way through the cooking time and smells good. I’ll punt!
Another tip I learned in Disney about pasta. Make it according to the package directions but undercook it just a bit (a few minutes), then drain, rinse with cold water, and put in a plastic bag in the fridge or bowl. This reheats really well so you can get exactly the amount you want.
Hi Christy , Today I made our Shrimp Pasta Salad recipe. Oh was it good . I had a few people over tonight. They really loved t . It was very good. I will be making this again .
In the instructions you write “Add…Salt, Pepper, Cayenne, tomato paste”, but you do not list black pepper in the ingredients, nor is it in the photo (camera shy?). So when you write pepper and then cayenne I’m guessing you mean just the cayenne? I’m making it now so I am going to assume that is the case and not put in any black pepper.
It was cayenne pepper. You successfully read my mind! Please teach that trick to my husband 🙂
I’ll correct the recipe today. Thank you!
The recipe states 2 – 3 pounds grd. beef……
Is this 6 lbs of meat?
Two to three pounds of ground beef. 🙂
Oh my goodness! I wondered how a spaghetti sauce could possibly taste good without any ONION in it??? LOL, joking , of course. Like you always say, Christy, food is all about your personal taste. Anyway, except for the bay leaves that I leave out and a few other ingredients I put in, this looks like and is almost the same as the spaghetti sauce I make. I would add about a Tablespoon of Italian seasoning (to taste), 4 large minced cloves of garlic, instead of the dry garlic, plus one 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes, and “at least” one, very large Vidalia onion, chopped, and 2 medium bell peppers chopped. I just brown my meat, add the onions and peppers to cook for a few minutes in my meat with a bit of salt and pepper, then dump that whole thing in my slow cooker, plus all the other stuff and I don’t even bother to drain the mushrooms. Stir it around. Then turn it on and let ‘er rip! Comes out thick like in your pictures but quite a bit more red with the tomato stuff in it. I used to do this all day on the stove top, stirring it from time to time and it does get thicker on the stove. So if you do want a bit thicker sauce and you are using a slow cooker, just take the top off and turn the heat up for the last half hour or so and let it cook down. Another thing I like to do is make a LOT of extra sauce, maybe 3 or 4 quarts extra. I freeze the left over sauce in quart freezer zip bags. This way I always have a great sauce for a quick spaghetti dinner anytime.
It’s back to school time and crazy busy around here once again. Having this for dinner tonight with a salad and garlic bread. The house smells wonderful. So thankful for your crockpot recipes!
I hope you enjoy it and everything goes well with the first days of getting back to school!!