Slow Cooker Crock Pot

If you have a small slow cooker because you’re cooking for one to three people, here’s an easy spaghetti sauce recipe that makes around a quart of sauce that’s generously good for, at least, a pound of pasta. It will take about 15 minutes to prepare this dish and 6-8 hours to cook in a slow cooker that is set on “low”.

Spaghetti sauce ingredients:

1/2 pound of ground pork (you can use ground beef, if you like)
1 teaspoon minced garlic (approximately two medium garlic cloves)
1 small onion, chopped
1 small red or green bell pepper, diced
1 16-ounce can of spaghetti sauce (also comes in a jar)
1/2 teaspoon of Italian seasoning
Pinch of dried basil or oregano
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of pepper

Take a skillet, heat a bit of vegetable oil and stir fry the onion, red bell pepper and garlic. Add the meat to the sauté and continue stir-frying it until the ground meat has browned (this will take around 10-15 minutes). We are browning the meat first because this process generally adds more flavor to any slow cooker recipe.

When the ground meat has changed color, turn the heat off and drain out the oil. You can do this by spooning the sautéed ingredients on to a plate with a paper towel or in a wired strainer, or you can just use a slotted spoon to let the oil drip off prior to dropping them inside the slow cooker pot.

Add the rest of the ingredients — spaghetti sauce, dry spices — in the slow cooker as well. Give them all a little stir to mix them well. Cook the sauce on “low” for 6-8 hours and also, give it a taste after that and add more seasonings if you wish. What’s more, cook the pasta (as directed on its container) separately when you’re about 10 minutes from finishing the spaghetti sauce.

This dish is very hearty and it goes well with garlic bread and a side of salad, either, with Caesar’s salad (that is salty) or one with poppy seed dressing (that is sweet). You cannot get much simpler ingredients to this easy spaghetti sauce that’s why it’s bound to be a staple in one’s home. Cooking it in a slow cooker definitely gives it a cooking-all-day taste and better yet, if you still have some left over, it easily stores in the fridge for days or even the freezer for a couple of months as well.

Tags: Food, Slow Cooker, Rival, Cooking, Recipes