Crock Pot Pasta Sauce with Sausage – Lazy pasta sauce would have been a better name for this slow cooker recipe, such an easy recipe and only uses 5 ingredients!
Crock Pot Pasta Sauce with Sausage
On those hot summer days when you don’t want to heat up the kitchen and you don’t feel like going outside to grill, using your crock pot is a lifesaver. More of my easy to make crock pot pasta dishes are Chicken Cacciatore, Crock Pot Italian Turkey Meatballs and Pollo in Potacchio (braised chicken dish made with tomatoes).
The best tip I can give you when you make this is to use the best chicken or turkey Italian sausage you can find and a can of Tuttorosso crushed tomatoes, green label. I’m very loyal to Tuttorosso if I am using canned tomatoes, I just can’t make a bad sauce whenever I them. Other brands I have to keep adding things to help 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.
I love the sausage I get from my Organic market, it’s made with fresh wholesome ingredients and very little fat. But since their is no nutritional info, I am using the nutritional info from Isernio turkey Italian sausage. 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 right before serving would be wonderful too.
Serve this over your favorite pasta (5 points extra for 1 serving pasta) or even over guiltless spaghetti squash and top it with a dallop of reduced fat ricotta for a complete meal. Enjoy!
Which is the best slow cooker to buy?
Since so many are asking, although I have and love my Instant Pot, I still love my slow cooker! I have the 6 Quart Hamilton Beach Set ‘n Forget Programmable Slow Cooker (affil link). 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!
Crock Pot Pasta Sauce with Sausage
Ingredients
- 1 lb lean chicken Italian sausage, casings removed
- 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 5 cloves garlic, smashed
- 28 oz tuttorosso crushed tomatoes
- fresh cracked pepper
Instructions
- Brown the sausage in a large skillet, breaking up any large pieces with a wooden spoon.
- When sausage is browned, drain if needed and add to crock pot.
- Clean skillet with a paper towel and set flame to high; when hot add oil.
- 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.
- 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.